Why Bike Commuting Makes Us Happier with Jenn Dice

0:02When you ride a bike, you arrive happy. You connect with your neighbors. You see your friends. You feel the wind in your hair. You smell the coffee at the local coffee shop. You really experience every season. You smell spring. You feel summer. You know, you get excited for fall. You have, you know, better gear in the winter. but you really feel connected to your community and nature through the simple bicycle.

0:33A lot of us do our adventuring in our free time, going on a hike over the weekend or taking a week off of work to go camping. But getting outside and moving your body doesn't always have to be something you carve out time for. It can happen on the way to work, running errands or meeting up with friends. For Jen Dice, one of the simplest ways to make that happen is by bike. Jen is the CEO of People for Bikes, an organization that aims to improve safety and accessibility for bikes in the U.S. In this episode, we're talking to Jen all about the benefits of cycling, both for commuting and for recreation.

1:10She also shares which cities are best for biking. Spoiler alert, my city, San Diego, is not one of them. I'm also speaking with my longtime producer, Annie Fassler, who lives in Portland, Oregon, a city that, according to People for Bikes, is great for cycling. Hi, Annie. Hi, Shelby. The type of biking that Annie does is exactly what Jen is working to make more accessible. Short daily trips that most people currently take in their car, but they're just more fun on two wheels. I'm Shelby Stanger, and this is Wild Ideas Worth Living, an REI Co-op Studios production presented by Capital One and the REI Co-op MasterCard.

1:56It's no surprise that Jen Dice has made bike advocacy the focus of her career. When she's not working on transportation policy, Jen is an endurance cyclist. She actually met her husband at one of the biggest bike races in the country. Jen Dice, welcome to Wild Ideas Worth Living. I know you've had a lot of wild ideas. I think we should just start with one. How many times have you raced the Leadville 100? 14, Shelby. I'm thrilled to be here and I did Leadville a bunch of times for sure. On a mountain bike? On a mountain bike. Met some of my best friends through the Leadville 100. Met my husband through the Leadville 100.

2:33I had so many great epic adventures. Wait, I really love a good adventure love story. How did you meet your husband on the Leadville 100? In the registration line. Oh, that's hot. What year was that? 2008. And the registration line took forever. Thank God, because I chatted with him the whole way to the front. And I saw him throughout the whole weekend. And by the end of the weekend, more or less, I asked him out to go on a mountain bike date. And sure enough, a couple weeks later, we went on a mountain bike ride. And the rest is history. Around the same time that Jen started racing at Leadville, she also began leaning into advocacy.

3:12For a few years, she worked as a transportation lobbyist at the Colorado State Capitol before narrowing her focus to bike policy. Today, Jen leads People for Bikes, which advocates to make the U.S. the best place in the world for cycling.

3:30Why do bikes matter so much right now, especially in the U.S.? They connect communities. They connect people. You know, we're certainly not anti-car. We're just saying, try a bike for some trips. When you're in a car, you're hermetically sealed in your own little world. And we have this nation that is, you know, we have a loneliness epidemic. We have an anxious generation. We have sedentary lifestyles. And to us, the bicycle is a simple solution to a lot of our world's problems. What communities are doing really well when it comes to, like, cycling? Every year we release our city ratings program and some of the best cities in the United States for bicycling are Minneapolis, Portland, Austin, Texas, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Brooklyn, Ames, Iowa, Bentonville, Arkansas, Fort Collins, Colorado, Boulder, Colorado.

4:24You know, there's so many cities doing great things for bikes. Each year, People for Bikes rates the best places are across the country for bicycling. So what makes a city good for biking? What does that even mean? What makes a city good for bicycling is connected bike paths, lower speed limits. Basically, imagine from where you live to where you want to go. When you get in a car, you never worry that you can't get to the grocery store or you can't get to work. You have a seamless connected road network. We want the same thing for bikes. So the idea is you can get in a bike and bike anywhere you need to go for your life.

5:01So the best in class is you separate bikes from cars or we do what's called neighborhood greenways, where in neighborhoods you have maybe a little slower speed limits. You have side paths. You don't have to separate bikes from cars because you're in sort of a low stress zone where you just feel your shoulders go down and you take a breath of air and you're enjoying the scenery a little bit more when you turn into these neighborhood greenways. And it's just kind of the communities we all want to live in, where the streets are safe and it's easy to bike around.

5:38This year, People for Bikes assessed over 2 ,000 cities across the United States and rated how accessible they are for biking. I think these ratings are really interesting. And I was surprised by how low San Diego scored, just 28 out of 100. But other parts of the country are much more bike-friendly. My producer Annie lives in Portland, which scored 55. It may not sound that high, but it's in the top 10 cities with populations over 300 ,000. Annie has been commuting by bike for almost 10 years. Nearly six years ago, she got an e-bike, which has given her some fun stats about her riding history.

6:17Jenn Dice:So my e-bike has an odometer and I'm about to hit 5 ,000 miles, which feels pretty momentous. My husband also has – I mean both of our bikes have odometers and he's nearing 6 ,000 miles on his bike. And a friend was just here visiting and he was riding my bike. I was riding my husband's bike. And he was like, wow, you guys have ridden a lot of miles. And he was like, that's 10 ,000 miles you didn't ride in a car. And I had never really thought about it that way. I was like it's probably closer to like 7 ,000 miles I haven't ridden in a car because I'm with – we were biking side by side so much of the time.

6:50Jenn Dice:but when he put it like that I was like that's kind of incredible like that's a lot of miles to not put on a car you ride your bike everywhere with your husband and kid yeah we ride pretty much every day we ride to work and we ride to the farmer's market and when my son was younger we were putting him on the back of our bike to go to school he now is riding his own bike to school will be going into first grade. It's one of the highlights of my day. Absolutely. And you do it rain or shine? We try to do rain or shine. Yeah. How many miles do you think you bike a day? If I am biking from, let's see, let me think about this.

7:31Jenn Dice:I'm probably biking between six and 10 miles a day on my e-bike. But this is all of your commuting. So like all of your commuting is by bike. Yeah. So we'll go to the grocery store on bike. We'll go to school on bike. We go to work on bike. We go to play dates on bike. How do you take your groceries home? I always have a watermelon this time of year. Like, what do you do? Well, watermelon would be hard. That would be a two-person trip to the grocery store for sure. My husband and I both have bike baskets. So, you know, if it's a normal week of groceries, I can usually get it all in my bike basket.

8:07Jenn Dice:Or I also always carry bungee cords in my bike basket as well. So if I need to and I don't have my kid on the back, I can bungee something into his seat where he usually goes. Amazing. How often are you actually driving a car then? In the summer, we drive a car maybe once a week. And in the winter months, it's probably closer to like three to four times a week. That's incredible. Like I drive a car multiple times a day. Yeah. We really try to, it's like for Costco runs or swim lessons or things that are far away.

8:45I love the idea of only getting in my car once a week. That's so much less gas, which means less impact on your wallet and the planet. The average American spends at least 45 minutes a day driving. When you spend that time on your bike instead of sitting in a car, you're getting much more time outside, more exercise, and for most people, more fun. But it's easier said than done. Personally, I don't feel that safe biking across San Diego. What are the biggest barriers preventing more people from riding bikes today? You know, the number one barrier is, of course, cars, personal safety and the perception of safety as well, too.

9:22So we have to win hearts and minds and you have to make it the easiest mobility choice. Like I said, I spent a lot of time in Boulder. I happen to be in Bentonville, Arkansas today. the easiest way for me to get home to run errands is definitely by bike. I get cranky here when I have to get in a car because it's just so easy to operate. Same thing in Boulder.

9:44Jenn Dice:Annie, what have you done that just makes riding your bike an easier choice? For me personally, getting an e-bike really changed the game as far as how comfortable I was riding in the city. It also just looks so fun. Every time I'm on an e-bike, I just feel like a little kid. Yeah, well, it's fun. Yes, but it's also nice to like I get to the office and I'm not sweaty, which is great. I can put my son on the bike. He's not light anymore. I've also carried like a 20 pound box of tomatoes home from the farmer's market on my bike with like no problem. And there's some big hills on the way. So it just makes it it makes it so I don't have to think about whether or not I want to bike because biking is pretty much always the easier option.

10:27And you can just wear your regular clothes to bike. So you don't have to wear like bike clothes.

10:32Jenn Dice:Yeah, I just wear regular clothes. The only thing about riding an e-bike is that you're not working that hard. And so I still have to like layer up, especially for riding in the winter. And I really this past season, I really dialed in my my rain proof gear. So riding in the rain like wasn't a big deal at all either. So you ride in the rain. No problem. That's not something I do. I mean, I don't know about no problem, but yeah, I just don't mind it so much because I'm warm and dry underneath. What do you wear to stay visible to cars? That's very important to me as well, especially now that my son is riding his own bike.

11:11Jenn Dice:My husband and I both wear HiViz stuff, which is like, you know, the neon yellow reflective gear. And especially when it's dark or rainy, like that is, it's a non-negotiable for us. and also making sure you have really good lights on your bike that you're visible. That high-vis stuff, you don't feel cool necessarily, but it's safe. And luckily, I also like to wear a lot of bright colors. So if it's summer and I'm not in my high-vis stuff, I'm usually still wearing some pretty bright clothes.

11:48Safety is a big concern for a lot of people who might otherwise consider commuting by bike. If you've ever ridden on a busy road with a small shoulder and no bike lane, you know what I mean. That's where People for Bikes comes in. Along with advocating for safer places to ride, the organization also leads international study tours for local policymakers. On these trips, elected officials can get a firsthand look at some of the most bike-friendly cities in the world. One of my favorite things about our international study tours is school drop-off and pickup. And we usually take our study tours to watch school drop-off and pickup because it's just magic.

12:31It's so beautiful. Children play, parents are chatting, and all separated bikeways as you go into school. And the schoolyard just turns into this sort of vibrant sense of community when people arrive by bike. And so it's one of those things that when we take elected officials or key stakeholders from the United States, we want them to see these communities that have embraced the bike as the easiest mode of transportation. If you walked around with a microphone on those schoolyards and asked moms and dads, you know, do you consider yourself a cyclist? They'd actually say no. They'd say this is the easiest way for me to get to school is by bike.

13:11And one of my favorite things is San Balto's bike buses. And they started in Portland. And there's an NBC clip that everybody should Google and look up. And it's San Balto on, like, whatever their morning show is. And I challenge you not to cry because you see these kids bike commuting with their parents and teachers. Good morning, bike bus! Let's go to school! Woo! All right, wait for the seeker.

13:42and it was so wildly popular that it kept going and kept going and now there's bike buses all across the country you know i also saw this thing on the news about these portland moms who ride with their kids or moms and dads who ride with kids like certain days of the week and it's like this big bike gang or i don't know what you call it the bike bus yeah the alameda bike bus yeah so

14:07Jenn Dice:So there's actually the guy who started it, Sam Balto, Coach Balto. He started this kind of movement at one of the elementary schools, I believe, where he just started a bike bus and got some adults to kind of ride like at the beginning in the middle of the end and they pick up kids along their route. So people will like bike to the route and join them along the way. And he plays music. And it's like, I mean, the videos of it online are kind of incredible. And he's gotten a number of celebrities to join the bike bus when they're like in town for a concert. So like Justin Timberlake rode with them.

14:38Jenn Dice:Benson Boone rode with them. He's gotten all these people to like come bike with them, which is really – the kids are stoked. The idea is instead of riding with your mom in the car to school, you ride the bike bus. Yes. Bike with all your buddies. Bike with all your buddies. I mean you can see the kids are just like very joyful and it's probably also nice for the parents because they just like bike their kid to the bike bus and then the bus takes them to school. We actually, my husband, signed up with our school to start a bike bus in the fall. And what does Simon, your six-year-old, think about riding on the back of the bike or riding his own bike now?

15:12Jenn Dice:He loves riding on the back of the bike. I mean, if you ask him if he wants to bike or drive somewhere, he will usually choose bike, which is pretty great. And now he's very proud of himself for riding his own bike to school. And he started kind of a little bit of a trend among his class. He was like one of the first kids in his kindergarten class that started riding to school. And he started riding and then his friend Emma started riding and then his friend Jeremiah started riding to school. And so I can tell he's proud and he's proud to like show off his bike, which is parked by the playground at school.

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18:41Today we're talking all about bike commuting and how to make biking easier and more accessible. Jen Dice, president and CEO of People for Bikes, is out here working to make the U.S. a safer and more fun place to ride. Last year, Jen actually did a TEDx talk all about the link between happiness and biking. Tell me more about happiness and bikes. Tell me more what you've learned. Some of the happiest countries in the world are also the countries with the highest rates of bicycling in the world. So Finland, Sweden, Iceland, Denmark, the Netherlands, the simple pleasures of riding a bike add up into a happier, healthier society.

19:25So you connect with your neighbors, you see your friends, feel the wind in your hair, you smell the coffee at the local coffee shop, or you really experience every season by bicycle. So living in Colorado, you smell spring, you feel summer, you know, you get excited for fall, you have, you know, better gear in the winter, but you really feel connected to your community and nature through the simple bicycle. I've never gone on a bike ride, even the rides that I get caught in snow or rain or whatever. I've never gone on a bike ride and regretted it. And from so many years of bike advocacy work, I've gotten to travel to all these happy countries and gotten to experience it firsthand.

20:15What communities, what neighborhoods, what life looks like by bicycle. And it's a beautiful thing.

20:25You don't have to live in one of these international bike friendly cities to ride on a daily basis. Annie's husband grew up in Chicago, and his family has never owned a car. I think I remember you telling me that your husband's family doesn't even use a car. Like, they only get places by bike or public transport.

20:48Jenn Dice:Yeah, so he grew up on the north side of Chicago, and his family does not own a car. So they just bike and use public. And that's kind of why I started biking, is I kind of had to, because that was the expectation. that's incredible in a major city yeah they um one time they moved a piano by bike which is a pretty amazing thing and jona's dad jona's dad built like a trailer to put the piano on and then they biked with a bunch of friends around him biking so anytime they basically just tried not to stop so anytime they got to a stoplight even if it was red they would kind of go into the intersection and stop traffic the other riders would so that he could just keep moving and not stop i don't know about stopping traffic like bikes bikes get a lot of crap out here like like cyclists and drivers are kind of mean to them out here yeah i think we all could use to think about like could we bike instead of drive like i went to the pool this morning at 5 a.m and then i went to check the surf and i saw the girl that was in the lane next to me also checking the surf and i was like you just got here faster than me she's like yeah it's faster on a bike and I was like oh you're right I should get a bike the other thing honestly that I really really like about it is in my day-to-day life I'm not spending a ton of time outside and just that like you know it's about a 15 minute commute to me for work and just that much time outside fresh air and seeing you know watching the seasons change throughout the year watching the leaves change and then watching them fall and then oh when the trees start budding like Like, it's just really refreshing.

22:29Jenn Dice:I have really felt an impact on my kind of mindset having that nature time built in. Like, yeah, I'm still in the city, but I'm enjoying being outside. And you don't have traffic. No. And it would be our ride to work would be 13 minutes by car and it's about 15 minutes by bike. It's lovely. The way Annie talks about bike commuting sounds idyllic. I'm envious of how bikeable Portland is, but I also know there's some pretty great places to ride popping up all over the United States and even in San Diego. You have this bold goal, Jen, of making the U.S. the best place in the world to ride bikes. What does that actually look like in practice?

23:18It's communities that you can get to where you want to go. So in practice, it's people who walk, it's people who bike, drive, take transit, bus. It's all modes of travel, but it's giving people choice of how they move around their community. So access to safe bike networks, placemaking through the outdoors and parks and open space. It's bike parks in town so that kids can ride. And it's single track trails. We do a lot of work on public lands protection and funding for bike parks, trailheads, open space, you name it. And so our vision is bringing in all these bike friendly public policies, better bike infrastructure, lower speed limits and a fair amount of cases and separating bikes from cars.