In Houston, you have to drive to bike to work apparently.

This Friday is NOT, bike to work day.  Last Friday was.  And, judging by the responses ChronBlog aggregated from Twitter Houston isn't even getting that right.

Parker pushes pedaling as way to get to work. ChronBlog

For many in Houston, every day is a day to bike to work.

Mayor Annise Parker gave them a shout-out with today’s Bike to Work Day by encouraging cyclists to pedal the short jaunt into work from seven locations. Departure points included bike stores and bike repair shops.

The mayor’s office estimates that the trip from each spot would take about half an hour

Isn't that great?  If you live at one of the seven destinations that is.  However, I know few people who live at either a bicycle store or a repair shop so that travel time estimation is silly, much like the rest of the commute to work bilge that's being pumped through our local media by City Hall.

Of course, most Houstonians live in the suburbs, from which it's almost impossible to mount a bicycle and ride down a Houston freeway to get into the office.  Plus, this only works during selected months in our fair city. Note that these days aren't held in June, July, August, September.  In Houston, for a very select group of people who live near their offices, commuting to work via foot power is an option for around 90 days out of the year.  Possibly March, April, October and November, at least the parts that don't rain.  For the rest of us, biking is not a viable option.  Unless we want to do it the way favored by the sardine urbanists, who would like us to ditch our cars somewhere outside the Loop and bike in on a rented BCycle.

Political events such as bike to work are only good for the unproductive class (h/t Kevin for the name) who don't have to work at jobs but want to try and convince us that the city should be structured around their chosen lifestyle at the expense of the overwhelming majority. People with paying jobs, on a schedule can't afford the luxury of waiting for all of the interested politicians to speak and get photo ops before heading in the final 5 miles to work in a pool of sweat and flash photography.  One guesses that Ma Parker's people chose one of the few routes in Houston that was relatively pot-hole free, or she'd have a better idea of the issues facing work-a-day Houstonians.

Of course, the poor and middle class aren't on the minds of our fair Mayor these days, as she moves mountains to try and shore up her support with the Caucasian, upper-class progressive set.  She's going to need their money to win re-election after all.