Sonoma County Bicycle Coalition: Tom, when did you become a bike commuter?
Tom Robinson: In college in 1992. My car broke down a month after I got to college for my first year, and I fixed it a month before the end of my first year. So, that forced me to be a pedestrian, cyclist, hitchhiker and bus rider. And it really broke my habit of driving. And, I learned that on a bike a felt much more free; the bike affords you much more freedom. You can get places much more quickly — or in the same amount of time, and you’ve gotten some exercise. You don’t get as hot on a bike as you do in a car because you’r enot all enclosed.
SCBC: How had you been commuting to that point?
TR: Mostly by car. I grew up in Quincy, CA, in a rural town. And, bikes were a big part of our lives growing up. if you had a bike growing up you could go anywhere. My friends and I would go everywhere on our bikes. I certainly grew up on bikes and riding bikes. There’s a feeling of joy and freedom that comes with riding your bike. But, in my hometown it was cold, and so you drove cars to get around. And in HS of course it wasn’t cool if you rode a bike, which is sort of a sad commentary.
SCBC: So you got started as a bike commuter mainly because your car broke down?
TR: Later I did get another car, but you know, I realized it was really expensive to drive it. I think that I have to give a little disclaimer...I’ve always -- from boy scouts or camping as a child -- I’ve always had a kind of understanding about our impact on the environment — even before I knew about global warming. Well, but, really saving money on gas was a big factor. I went to school in San Diego, and I could bike to school and to work and I wouldn’t have to pay for parking. A lot of it was money and saving money. Then I ran out of money and I had to sell my new car to pay for tuition. OK, I have to say that the environmental aspect came after college when I started to really think about my impact on the world. I started to think about the impact of individuals, when viewed collectively, made all the difference in the world. We would study systems as part of our degree (ecology) ecological systems — and what you see is that even the smallest changes in natural systems over time add up and create large changes.
SCBC: Did you have any mental or logistical challenges to overcome in order to make the switch?
TR: Oh my god, yeah. San Diego is a series of deep mesas and canyons. I worked 3 mesas away from where I lived. It would take me 50 minutes to get there, and then a quick 10-minute shower before my shift at REI started. And, you know sometimes when you ride, and it’s hot and you take a shower, and you’re still sweaty, so I’d get out of the shower and go out onto the floor with wet hair, like, “How can i help ya?” I was working 3-hour shifts, and my commute was the equivalent of 2/3 of my shift. The other thing was that my girlfriend lived way south of me — it was like an hour to get to her house and the buses never worked very well. So my whole sphere shrunk — it was interesting, and to this day, I’ve grown to have sort of a narrow field. When I was younger — if something I wanted to go to something that was 3 hours away — I would get into my car and go. Now, if it’s even an hour away I often won’t. Even the coast is like 30 minutes from us (in Santa Rosa), but we (his family) rarely go out there because our sphere is so much smaller. Riding a bike has really localized my sphere, and that has turned out by default to be very environmentally-friendly.
SCBC: What is your work?
TR: I’m a conservation GIS analyst at the Sonoma County Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District. I use computer systems and eco-data to help the District focus its efforts on its adopted conservation priorities.
SCBC: Tell me about a weekday in the life of Tom Robinson, Bicycle Commuter of the Year.
TR: My schedule changes day to day. Two days a week, I take my one year-old son, Nate, to day care. He sits in a seat on my bike just in front of me, facing out, and he’s got a little windshield. I drop him off at day care, and I continue on to work. At work, if I have a meeting or an event in town, I just bike — I can get there in the same amount of time. Because I have an Xtracycle (a mechanism that extends the back of a bike to allow for the rider to carry cargo and passengers), I can carry up to 150 pounds and large items — like our display board and event box — on the bike. For the Way to Go Expo last year, I carried everything on the Xtracycle. When I pulled up to the Sonoma County Bicycle Coalition bike valet parking, ready to flaunt my Xtracyle -- “Hey, you guys ever seen one of these?” -- this other guy rolls out this model that was way better than mine with an electric motor! At the end of the day, I go pick up my son, and we’ll go by the store to go grocery shopping, which is next door to day care. We try to build on that one trip. My commute is about 4.5 miles each way. That’s one of the things that makes me bashful about getting this award — my piddly little 4 and a half-mile commute. We have only one car, and my wife uses it for work, so I do bike to work in the rain. I just don my raingear. It’s made by Sierra Designs. It’s the most lightweight raingear I could find. I used to wear a much heavier gear, and I’d arrive to work covered with sweat, like a sweat-box. The gear I have now packs up into a little pouch.
SCBC: What do you wear on your feet in the rain?
TR: Just regular leather shoes. I have my shoes waterproofed by the cobbler on Mendocino Ave at 5th Street — every autumn I take a whole bunch of shoes in there. I know I could probably waterproof my own shoes, but, how many cobblers are out there, you know? And, he does a great job.
SCBC: You’ve done some things in your workplace to encourage your co-workers to ride their bikes to work; what are some of those things?
TR: I have a theory that more people would choose to ride their bikes if:
- Their bikes were comfortable and/or rideable. In terms of comfort, you know, like they bought a racing bike, and don’t like the posture or it hurts their neck or wrists. In terms of being rideable, maybe the gears need to be fixed, or it has a flat tire. Most people don’t know how to work on bikes, and I’ve learned because I like tinkering. I want to remove barrier number 1, so I offer to my colleagues that I can help make their bikes more comfortable (more appropriate handlebars, or just raise the handlebars) or I’ll fill the tires, adjust the gears. That’s important — and I’ve worked on about half my co-workers’ bikes. I’ve also offered clinics in how to fix a flat. That’s a concern for people — what if I’m riding and I get a flat -- people don’t know what to do.
- From their experience driving cars, most people probably can’t imagine themselves competing with car traffic. So, as a geographer I love maps and figuring out ways to get around, so I help people find safe routes. I’m a big fan of staying off of the main roads — the roads that they know because they drive on them — we find routes that take them on neighborhood roads.
Last year, we had three-quarters of our staff participate in BTWD — their bikes were ready, they had routes planned. We all lined up for a photo, and afterward — and we didn’t plan this -- everyone got on their bikes and started riding in circles around the parking lot — it was like we were 8 years old again — zipping around all over the place. It was classic. That really told me most people like riding bikes, and if they were given a bike that’s comfortable and a safe route. Here in Santa Rosa we have good weather, and with a little forethought, Santa Rosa could have wrested from Davis, the title bike capital of the world.
SCBC: What’s your favorite favorite thing about commuting by bike?
TR: Bike Commuting helps me strike up conversations that I wouldn’t have if I was riding in a car. In part because my bike has the Xtracycle, so people ask questions. You get to know your community better — it’s a cross-section of your town and your community that you get to know on a much more intimate level. Since I primarily stick to residential roads, I see people’s house renovations from start to finish. I’ll see in the paper that the City is paying people to rip out their lawns, and then I see people doing it, and 4 mos later I’ll see this beautiful native grass. Also, it’s a repetitious activity and it allows me to clear my mind, or to think more in-depth about something, especially when I’m just cruising down a residential road. it’s a very relaxing and repetitious activity. I come home a much happier person, and I get to work a much happier person. And that’s the most important thing. It’s a built-in time for me to do my thinking.
SCBC: And, how does it feel being named Bicycle Commuter of the Year?
TR: It’s a great honor. I remember last year’s awardee was a young woman, a high school student, who motivated 2 schools to get high school students to bike to school. That impact is so much bigger than my impact. To make bicycle commuting cool to high schoolers is a feat, and you have to be a high school student to that. It really says a lot about the caliber of our community that she was able to motivate her fellow students. So, to be included in the realm of folks who are making that type of impact is just a great honor.
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