Cycling Really Does Pay--In Denver

I've been paid to ride my bike, though not in a way I envisioned in my hopes or dreams.

Like other young riders of my generation, I had images of myself riding with the pros--in Europe, of course, because that's where most of the pros were.  Specifically, I saw myself pedaling with the peloton past sunflower fields, vineyards and castles, through river valleys and up mountains in France, Belgium, Italy and other hotbeds of cycling.  It was near the end of Eddy Mercx's reign, and before the dawning of Bernard Hinault's.  There were some great riders, but none had dominated the field the way Eddy and Bernard did.  So I thought I had a chance to, not only become the next champion, but to become a standard-bearer for my country.

Well, obviously, that dream didn't pan out.  My amateur racing career didn't last long:  I did muster one third-place finish. But I discovered that riding as a job isn't nearly as much fun as riding because you want to.

What led to the discovery of the latter was being a messenger in New York City.  For a while I actually enjoyed it, or at least I was OK with it because, really, during that time in my life, I couldn't have done anything else.  And I was getting paid to ride my bike!

That last aspect of the trade, if you will, lost its appeal to me after I slogged through slush a few times--and when I admitted to myself that I was doing it because I couldn't--actually, wouldn't--deal with a few things I wouldn't until much later.  And I wasn't riding much when I wasn't on the job.  

Still, though, the idea of getting paid to ride a bike always appealed to me.  (If I were President, I would...) So imagine my delight upon learning that in a major American city, people will have that privilege--at least for this month.

Bike Streets, a Denver nonprofit, has launched an all-volunteer project focused on getting residents of the Mile High City to change how they travel around their city.  Folks who sign up will have their mileage logged by Strava; depending on how many sign up, riders will earn 15 to 30 cents a mile, for a maximum of $75 a month.

Photo by F Delvanthal

Oh, and riders can pedal wherever they want:  to school, work, the store or a park, along a trail or a street.  Bike Streets founder Avi Stopper hopes that the reward will entice people to "discover riding a bike, not just for fitness, but to get to every destination they need to go in Denver, is really a viable thing and a fun thing to do as well."

That sounds like a fine reward to me--though I wouldn't turn down the money, either.

By the way, in 2018 Bike Streets created the Low-Stress Denver Bike Map, which has been used about 425,000 times. They're accepting donations to help pay for this month's project, as well as ongoing work like the map.