Name: Brad Stockwell
Employer: Microwave Power Products (MPP, Inc.) / Original SRP employer: Varian Associates, first tenant in Stanford Research Park
Job Position: Engineer at MPP, Inc.
Where did you grow up, and when did you learn to ride a bike? My family moved around a lot, but I got my first bike in 1968 in Manlius, New York. It was a Sears copy of the Schwinn Stingray. Since it was the '60s I decorated it with "flower power" stickers. It immediately expanded my world! I would roam around town and country for hours on that bike.
Where do you commute from? The unincorporated area near Menlo Park. For decades my route was Middlefield > Bryant Bike Boulevard > N. California underpass > Park Avenue, which is a great route.
After a few decades, I became aware that at some point every routine wears a kind of “bruise” in your brain, so now I try to vary my route to use all the bridges across San Francisquito Creek and all the ways across the railroad tracks.
How many years have you been commuting by bike? 44 years
How often do you commute by bike? Always. Under sun, under moon, under rain.
Why do you bike to work? I commute by bike because I enjoy it, it makes me feel good, I get my dose of endorphins and such. I have a panicky brain and the rhythmic action of cycling pacifies it. Somehow it seems as though I always end up coming up with solutions to nagging engineering problems during my rides.
Riding gives me a reason to refresh the air in my lungs. The extra activity allows me to stay in the same size pants year to year. When there is stress in the office, the ride gives me a chance to reach equilibrium before I get home. I avoid being trapped in a car stuck behind other cars that are also stuck. Daily riding means being outside everyday – no matter the weather.
When I ride past houses in the evening I can smell dinner cooking, then there’s bacon and coffee aroma in the morning, flower blossoms in the spring, the sweet smell of fermenting leaves in autumn, and that day when it rains for the first time after summer and you can smell the dissolved and evaporated earth from the warm pavement. I like it all.
What tips would you share for someone starting out as a new bike commuter? For the sake of comfort I like to commute in bike clothes and change at work (I leave the work shoes at the office to reduce the baggage). I ride at about 12 to 14 MPH; a distance of 5 to 10 miles allows for a commute of less than an hour – a reasonable investment considering it is also my daily exercise and "friluftsliv" ritual. In the morning I add 10 minutes for a sink bath and clothing change after arriving.
For longer commutes: a colleague who lives 30 miles from work rides just once or twice a week and uses public transit to get home. I have also used the bike accommodations on buses and trains to go longer distances.
What do you wish drivers knew? I think drivers are generally well-behaved and predictable compared to pedestrians and cyclists. May we all never run into each other.
Any fun or especially memorable biking stories you’d like to share? Riding on rural roads while attending college in the '70s, I was sometimes subjected to the frightening disapproval of unsympathetic drivers.
Fast forward to the first time I experienced “Ride to Work Day” in Palo Alto: being cheered by volunteers who were handing me free stuff. Stopping in at Palo Alto City Hall, I was introduced to a celebrity I had read about in college: Ellen Fletcher, the champion of the Bryant Street Bike Boulevard -- the first of its kind in the nation, and the centerpiece of my daily commute. I was delighted to tell her in person how much better my life was because of her. While there, I was offered Hobbee’s coffee cake and Peet’s coffee. With caffeine and good vibes I became euphoric. Ever since, I have always felt a warm glow on each Bike to Work Day.
Part of the experience of cycling is forging on against resistance, which can give rise to a feeling of wholesome virtue – and yet how pleasant it is to have a little less resistance every now and then.
When I ride past houses in the evening I can smell dinner cooking, then there’s bacon and coffee aroma in the morning, flower blossoms in the spring, the sweet smell of fermenting leaves in autumn, and that day when it rains for the first time after summer and you can smell the dissolved and evaporated earth from the warm pavement. I like it all.