Bike commuting is a great way to work exercise into your day, avoid the cost of commuting and reduce your C0 2emissions. Many people’s top concerns about bike commuting are arriving wet and safety on the road — fortunately our area has good solutions to both, and good weather for biking.

May is National Bike Month, so hop in the saddle and learn bike commuting with a free class. All bridges offer bike routes or bus transfers, and most transit systems carry bikes for free. Have a lot of stuff? Get yourself a SUB — that’s Sports Utility Bicycle — at xtracycle.com. Helmets, lights, a jersey, and a waterproof bag will get you set up. To see how much you can reduce your impact by going without a car visit carboncounter.org and get pedaling. Berkeley and Emeryville have a new bike map at cityofberkeley.info.  Join the Bike Buddy Program at to make the first trips easier. 511 also has a sleek interactive bike map, bikes on transit information and bridge crossing info.