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Geico workers pedal to Stafford complex

August 23, 2010 12:35 am

By RUSTY DENNEN

Stephen Hu's morning commute is quite different from those of most of his Geico co-workers.

Hu, 46, an Internet analyst and tester at the insurance company site off U.S. 17 in Stafford County, leaves his car in the driveway at his Fredericksburg home.

About 6:45 a.m., after donning his riding clothes and packing his work clothes, he climbs on his Raleigh fitness hybrid bike.

It takes him about 40 minutes to negotiate mostly back roads to work. Hu has been bike commuting since May--saving gas, helping the environment and getting exercise, he says, all at the same time.

Hu is among a small but growing cadre of riders opting for two wheels instead of four in an area that is not exactly bike friendly.

"I thought about it for a long time. I noticed other people in the office were biking in," he said. "I started asking questions--how to do it, what route to take."

Geico encourages its employees to commute; a small group of workers who ride their bikes have a link on the company website.

"We're lucky. We have showers and a locker facility. I get in early enough to cool down, stretch, and take a shower before I have to be at my desk."

He's tried other commuting alternatives, such as the FREDericksburg Regional Transit bus. "I don't mind doing that, but riding is more fun, and I feel like I have more control." Sometimes the bus gets hung up in heavy traffic along U.S. 1 and 17.

He avoids U.S. 17 whenever possible.

"I take the scenic route across Chatham Bridge" to River Road and Route 1. At Falmouth, he takes Truslow Road, cuts behind England Run then crosses U.S. 17 to Geico.

Some of the Geico riders, he says, do take U.S. 17, "and there are some advantages to a wider road, but the traffic is so much heavier."

One morning, in his haste to cross U.S. 17 at a traffic light, he ran a red light and got pulled over by a Stafford deputy. After a warning to be more careful, he was back on the road.

PLANS HIS RIDES

Anywhere on the route, "I try to be as visible as possible," with lights and reflective material on his clothes. He leaves work about 4:30 p.m.

Hu has been riding his bike to work three or four days a week. He watches the weather to plan his riding days and hopes to keep riding through the fall and winter.

"I won't do it if there's ice on the road. I've ridden through rain a few times."

Robert Cleveland was one of the first bike commuters at Geico.

Cleveland, 53, a former Marine, was stationed in Okinawa, Japan, for 13 months. With no car, he rode a bike everywhere.

"It evolves as a way of life."

Back in the states, he worked for Geico in Chevy Chase, Md., where he'd ride his bike at lunch. He began working at Geico's Stafford location seven years ago. After about two years, he thought bike commuting might be an option.

Cleveland, who lives off Old Plank Road in Spotsylvania County, rode to work for the first time about five years ago.

He went from Leavells Road to Harrison Road, behind Salem Church, then went through Maple Grove behind Walmart to U.S. 1, which he took across the Falmouth Bridge.

The bridge, he said, "was the scariest part. The sidewalks are torn up and the bridge is narrow. It's still kind of hairy going across."

From his home, the trip is about 16 miles, including some pedaling on busy State Route 3, U.S. 1 and U.S. 17. He also takes side roads whenever possible. His ride takes about an hour and a half.

SEVERAL OPTIONS

Cleveland rides a couple of days a week. Depending upon his schedule at work, he loads his Trek FX 7.5 bike in his truck and starts at the Gordon Road commuter lot or the Ukrop's parking lot.

"That way, you don't have to ride the whole way. From Ukrop's, it's exactly an hour. Any day it's not raining, or if there's no thunderstorms, it's a day to ride."

Sometimes he has company.

"Another guy in my department lives off Leavells Road. Sometimes we can meet at a trail behind the Harrison Road dump" for the ride in.

Like Hu, Cleveland has had a few problems on the road, but nothing serious. Drivers sometimes don't give bikes enough room, he says, or even realize they have a right to be there, like any other vehicle.

Both say a lot more could be done locally to encourage bike commuting.

Many states have extensive bike lanes even on main highways. There's little of that here, though there are efforts locally to add to a small network of recreational bike paths, and plans to include bikes in future road planning.

Still, Cleveland says, pedaling to work "is a good way to get exercise. I would like to see more people doing it. It's a good way to get around" when gas prices spike.

More Americans are biking to work, according to Meghan Cahill, spokeswoman for the League of American Bicyclists in Washington.

As a result, "More businesses have more people who ride, and they are going to have to start to support and encourage" the practice, she said this week.

"And there's a great reason to encourage it: healthier, happier employees" who tend to use less sick time.

Cahill said the size of a company isn't necessarily an indication of how likely it is to support bike commuting.

"We have IBM, and small mom-and-pop-type restaurants."

In fact, "Sometimes, there's more red tape" with larger companies, but they have more money to support such programs.

There are incentives available to businesses. Under the 2009 Bicycle Commuter Act, employers can offer $20 a month for worker commuting expenses.

A U.S. Census report found that between 2000 and 2008, the number of people riding bicycles to work increased by about 43 percent.

Rusty Dennen: 540/374-5431
Email: rdennen@freelancestar.com