May is National Bike Month and Friday is Bike to Work Day. It's great to hear about people who cycle to Beverly Hills for their 9-to-5.

For those on the green scene, it couldn’t get much better than working for a socially conscientious company like Participant Media, housed in a Beverly Hills-built LEED building. Workers here can cycle to the office and park at bicycle racks provided by the city inside the building's parking structure.

Bronwyn Beck, a program analyst for Participant Media's TakePart division, has been car-free for about four years. She has cycled to work for nearly three years, having biked to Participant since March when she started with the company. Without an easy bus route from her home in Silver Lake, she rides down Melrose Avenue in the morning and Santa Monica Boulevard on her way home. The total commute is about 19 miles round trip (9.5 miles each way).

Beck thinks Beverly Hills could become more bike-friendly with sharrows—a pavement marking on streets popular with bicyclists but too narrow for conventional bike lanes. She personally prefers the lanes that are marked with a bold icon "because they indicate to drivers that bicycles belong on the street and have a right to take the lane."

As for making the streets safer for bike riders?

"I think lowering speed limits is the most important thing to improve safety for cyclists, pedestrians and motorists alike," Beck said.

Joe Crowley, IT manager, has been with Participant Media for almost two years. He doesn't own a car nor does he have a driver's license. His commute to work includes riding as well as putting his bike on the MTA bus.

"Riding into work, I take the La Cienega bus north, the 105 or 705. I dismount at Santa Monica Boulevard, then bike west to Beverly Boulevard and then take Civic Center Drive into our workplace. That's about 3 miles," Crowley said. "My commute home is all bike: usually east bound on Burton Way to La Cienega, south, down to my house near Pico Boulevard."

Beverly Hills is challenging for bikers and walkers, as well as and drivers, Crowley said.

"It would be nice if motorists would obey stop signs in this area. I believe that what is needed is really a culture change, not just painting in sharrows and more bike signs," he said. "Perhaps participating in CicLAvia and shutting down a few streets over a weekend can help raise awareness that bikes are here to stay if L.A. County is to grow."

Who else rides in BH?

Dr. Paul Heimberg, D.D.S.: A vibrant man in his 80s and Beverly Hills dentist for more than 40 years, Heimberg rides to his practice almost daily, combining driving and then cycling. One of his patients said he's "amazing!"

Barbara Linder, Friends of The Beverly Hills Public Library president and gardener extraordinaire: Her routes: "To get to the library, I always take Gregory to Rexford. To get to my homeless program, I ride on Gregory to Camden, and north to All Saints Church on Santa Monica. To get home, Santa Monica east to Canon (because Crescent is closed), south to Little Santa Monica, then south on Crescent so I can stop in at Whole Foods, then south back to Gregory. These are rides I do every week, weather allowing."

Jodi Dybala is a special education aid at El Rodeo School, and travels east from her place in the Pico Boulevard and Sierra Bonita Avenue area. In the mornings, Dybala will usually take Wilshire and then the Number 20 to El Rodeo. Without a car, often she rides home the entire way.

Manuel Gomez, who spoke to Patch for a brief moment while stopped at a light on his way to his workplace, The Beverly Hilton, rides about four miles along Wilshire Boulevard from his home. (Reporter’s note: Quite a happy cyclist, he was humming loudly before we spoke—and carrying a rose.)

Jeremiah Burbank works in the produce and floral departments of Whole Foods Beverly Hills. As a cyclist and relatively recent transplant from Cambridge, Mass., he was used to riding a bike, but acknowledges transitioning to the road conditions of Los Angeles have not been easy. Car-free by choice, he cycles daily or takes the bus on inclement days.

With cities working on cyclist and driver education as well as safety concerns, now is the time to ride. The rewards are many, including some of the perks offered to bikers throughout the county as listed by our West Hollywood neighbor, environmental writer and activist, Siel Ju a.k.a. GreenLAGirl.

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