Bob Riley: Bike to Work Day

Tomorrow, May 18, is the annual Bike to Work Day. Bob Riley tells us why he participates.

I’m looking forward to going to work!

I almost can’t believe I’m saying that! For three years, I’ve been avoiding going into the office. Now it feels like I’ve been released from a three-year limbo, and ready to get back to normal – but hopefully what we accept as normal is evolving.

There are two reasons I am excited to go into the office now – the first is that tomorrow is the annual Bike to Work Day. Thousands of riders will be using this day as a celebration of using road biking as an alternative to car commuting. Volunteers will be helping at energizer food stations to encourage riders in the morning. I’ve been participating in this event for decades.

I’m also excited because my office is now structured with a hybrid work model – three days in the office and two days are Work from Home. Work from Home reduces carbon emissions into our atmosphere, and also improves my home environment by maintaining a prudent work/life balance.

Sure, it’s reasonable to have time in the office. Benefits include collaboration on new processes and enhancing company culture, but it feels like the pendulum will swing toward no remote work allowed. Many of the largest employers in the Bay Area are giving a ‘my way, or the highway’ approach to Work from Home, and without much employee input.

What is decided over the next few months will become normalized. I think, we will be missing a HUGE opportunity to permanently restructure the workplace and help reduce climate change. So get ready for the all-too-familiar line of cars snaking the Altamont, clogging the 24 interchange, idling over the San Mateo Bridge, and crawling onto the Bay Bridge. That was life in the Bay Area three years ago. Hopefully we don’t need to repeat it.

Hopefully, my generation could leave a better work/life legacy to future generations.

With a Perspective, I’m Bob Riley.

Bob Riley is a marketing specialist for a food retailer. He lives in Danville and is the proud dad of three Millennials and one Gen Z-er.