

Brian Forsee was already a regular commuter when he saw a bike- to-work challenge calendar from a bicycle component company. He downloaded their 2024 calendar and decided to see how few times he could drive to work. By April, he had biked the 8.2-mile round trip from his home near Tower Grove Park to his office in Maplewood every day. That’s when he decided to go for the full year—and he did it!
“I have been commuting to work via bike full time since 2018. Since then, I’ve averaged 5-10 driving days per year but never kept any kind of record. So, when I saw the Paul challenge calendar I thought it would be fun to see how low I could get that number for 2024. By the time April or so rolled around I hadn’t missed any days on the bike, and I knew if I was stubborn enough I could make it the whole year without driving to work. I ended up being successful and completed 225 round trips to and from my office. Lots of things were working in my favor to accomplish this, including a flexible work schedule, casual dress code, and already having all the necessary commuting gear. Most of my bike route is on residential streets but I am thankful to be able to utilize a section of the River Des Peres Greenway to eliminate the most stressful and traffic-filled section of the route. I believe greenways are an essential tool for reducing the barrier to getting around St. Louis car-free whether that be via cycling, walking, public transit, or some combination thereof. Combine that with their capacity for outdoor recreation and habitat restoration and I can’t think of anything better than more greenways!”