Dan Casey is The Roanoke Times' metro columnist.

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Dan Casey

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I and a handful of other Roanoke Valley cycling enthusiasts would like to introduce you to the joys of bicycle commuting.

There's no better day for that than Friday morning, which marks the Roanoke Valley's fourth annual Clean Commute Day.

Consider this an invitation to join us on a guided ride to work downtown and play a role in a fun and growing event. Depending on where you live, we'll help you get there. Our goal is to make this the biggest and best Clean Commute Day ever.

You'll meet other folks interested in bike commuting, be treated to a healthy breakfast and, if you wish, you'll be interviewed on camera about your reaction to the ride.

"We're hoping that people will come down and share their stories, whether they're veteran bike commuters or novices," said Jeremy Holmes, director of Ride Solutions, the transportation alternative agency operated by the Roanoke Valley-Alleghany Regional Commission.

There's no doubt it's impractical for many people to ride their bikes to work, even in warm weather.

Some people live too far from their workplaces. Others need cars for their jobs, or to run errands around lunchtime. For late-shift workers, riding at night is far more dangerous than during the day.

But if you live close to work, have a day desk job and you haven't tried bike commuting, you're missing out on some definite benefits.

Among them are the money you can save, calories you'll burn and cleaner air in the Roanoke Valley.

Let's take a hypothetical example of a five-mile one-way bicycle commute. According to Ride Solutions, over the course of a year, those 10 round-trip miles will:

• Save you $1,118 per year in gasoline and vehicle maintenance (and even more if you pay for parking).

• Burn 33,800 calories, which is roughly equivalent to 10 pounds of body fat

• Add one month to the life span of your car

• Keep 2,034 pounds of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere

(You can do a custom analysis at ridesolutions.org/ridesolver.asp)

Besides all that, a 15- or 20-minute ride in the morning gets your heart pumping, puts extra oxygen in your brain and puts you in a good mood.

As a morning wake-up, it's worth at least two cups of coffee. And your evening jaunt home will help dissipate any stress left over from the daily grind.

Six ride leaders, including myself, will convene at different locations around the city on Friday morning, rain or shine, to help guide bike commuters downtown.

Ride Solutions will provide coffee and some healthy breakfast options outside the Virginia Museum of Transportation from 7:30 a.m. to 9 a.m.

If you prefer something a little meatier, Tudor's Biscuit World is offering a $2 coffee and breakfast deal to anyone who shows up on a bicycle each Friday during the month of May.

So grab your helmet, brush the dust off your bike and join us on the commute this Friday. You might enjoy it more than you think.

Note: We're still looking for folks willing to lead rides from Northwest Roanoke and Salem, arriving downtown about 7:30 a.m. If you'd like to lead one, please give me a phone call or drop me an e-mail. I'll get it up on the blog, and Ride Solutions will put in on their Web site, too.

Dan Casey's column runs Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday.