The commuter's magazine
The ride to work
is the best part of the day.
Bike2Work Day is an independent magazine for everyone who pedals to the office, the workshop, the school gate or the station. We test the gear, map the routes, and tell the stories of the quiet revolution happening at 8 a.m. on two wheels.
Start here
Four guides that answer the questions every new commuter asks first.
Gear
Build the commuting bike
Fenders, lights, lock, bags — the honest kit list, and the three things worth overspending on.
Routes
Find the calm way in
The fastest road is rarely the best road. How to map a route you will actually enjoy.
Health
What the ride does for you
Thirty minutes of moderate exercise, twice a day, hidden inside a trip you had to make anyway.
Weather
Outride the forecast
Rain, wind, cold and heat: layering, lighting and mindset for every season.
The challenges
Twice a year we run open, informal challenges. No app required, no entry fee — just a month of riding and a community doing the same thing.
Main event
The Commute Challenge
Thirty days, one bike, your ordinary trip to work. Rules, milestones and the week-two wall.
June to August
The Summer Challenge
Long light, early starts and the hottest tarmac of the year. Heat strategy for commuters.
Newsletter
The Commuter Brief
One email a week: one route idea, one piece of kit, one story from the bike lane.
Read next
Culture, community and the view from the saddle.
Culture
Bike-to-work days worldwide
From National Bike Month in the United States to Cycle to Work Day in Britain and Mobility Week in Europe.
Gallery
The commute, observed
Written vignettes of dawn riders, cargo-bike parents and the winter peloton.
For employers
Why workplaces go bike-friendly
Parking, showers, mileage challenges — what a serious commuter program looks like.
Why we publish
Most cycling media is about the bike you ride on Sunday. This magazine is about the bike you ride on Monday. The commute is the most repeated ride of your life — five days a week, fifty weeks a year — and it deserves the same attention as any sportive: the right equipment, a well-chosen line through the city, an honest understanding of weather, and a bit of pride at the end of it.
We publish in English for an international readership, because the morning commute looks surprisingly similar in Portland, Preston and Porto: a person, a machine, and ten kilometres of city to negotiate. Our editorial line is independent — no affiliate links, no brand loyalty — and our guides are written by riders who have done the miles they describe. If you run a workplace program, start with the employer's guide; if you want the backstory of bike-to-work campaigns, our culture pages trace them from the 1950s to the bike buses of today.
New here? Read the Commute Challenge first. It is the distillation of everything this magazine believes: that the fastest way to change your working day is to change how you arrive at it.
The questions every new commuter asks
Short answers here; full answers one click away.
Do I need a special bike to start?
No — the working bike in your shed, tuned up, beats a new one ordered in doubt. Buy the big three first: lights, a lock worth the bike, and contact points that fit you. Everything else can wait for a birthday.
Isn't riding in traffic dangerous?
Risk is route-dependent more than rider-dependent. The rider on the protected lane and the rider on the six-lane stroad are playing different sports — which is why we put so much of this magazine into route planning and why the health case still comes out clearly ahead.
What about arriving sweaty?
Pace, not showers, is the first answer: conversation speed on a sub-ten-kilometre ride leaves most riders presentable. For the rest, a shirt at the desk and the layering tactics in our weather guide cover nearly every climate.
How do I keep going past the first rainy week?
Structure beats willpower. Log the month with the Commute Challenge, take the weekly Brief for company, and let the gallery remind you what the winter lane looks like from inside it.