Name: Tony Le

Employer: Stanford University Medical Center

Job Position: Mass Spectrometry Research Group Leader, Dept of Pathology

Where did you grow up, and when did you learn to ride a bike?
Cholon, Vietnam and San Mateo, California. During war-time Vietnam, I rode a one-speed bicycle with no brakes and a way too large bicycle. To stop, I'd gently apply my left flip-flop thong to either the front or rear wheel! Definitely not a recommended technique! I was able to roam the city and a little bit of the countryside -- very exciting for a kid.

In San Mateo, I had three newspaper routes: SF Chronicle in the morning and two San Mateo Times routes in the afternoon to help make ends meet as a refugee. Looking back, it certainly was more fun cycling on those paper routes than working at a fast food restaurant.

Where do you commute from?
San Jose, 25 miles one-way. Although I often take Caltrain in the morning, especially when it’s windy, it’s still a 10-mile bike commute combined with Caltrain.

How many years have you been commuting by bike?
Nearly 50 years.

How often do you commute by bike?
At least 3 times per week.

Why do you bike to work?
When I was a graduate student at Caltech, we couldn’t see Mt. Wilson until it started raining in December, due to all the smog. On a clear day, it’s beautiful. It’s so obvious that a simple solution is to minimize driving an automobile. Once I started bicycle commuting, all the unexpected benefits became apparent: a gazillion times healthier, less cost, no stress, and invigorating!

Besides bike commuting, what other kind of cycling do you enjoy?
I enjoy cycling all over the Bay Area, finding great bakeries - from tiny Freestone’s Wild Flour to famous Gayle’s in Capitola. We are also blessed with many great climbs around this valley that bring out the best in us as cyclists.

Our cycling infrastructure did not come freely. It took great leaders like Ellen Fletcher, Bill Bliss, and Alex Zuckermann, who came before us. You can find commemoratives reminding us of these three pioneers: Ellen Fletcher Bike Boulevard, Bill Bliss Statue on the Palo Alto Bay Trail, and the Alex Zuckermann Bay Bridge Bicycle Path.

Following in their footsteps, I've been serving our cycling community as President of the Almaden Cycle Touring Club (ACTC.org) ten of the last thirteen years, and teach cycling classes at San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition, and ACTC.

What do you wish drivers knew?
All drivers should celebrate every time they see a cyclist! One less car on the road!
Also: bicyclist is no different than any other vehicle. I drive a car too and always give cyclists some room when passing.

What would you say to new bike commuters - or those who want to be?
Try it one day a week. First, get prepared. One way to do that: bring a change of clothes, shampoo, towel, and U-lock (if no indoor bike parking) on Monday. Bike to work on Tuesday. Bring dirty clothes home on Wednesday. Rinse and repeat until it feels like a comfortable routine that you can expand to biking more days per week.
If you are not sure of a safe biking route: ask the Stanford Research Park team, a friend, or colleagues who bike for suggestions. Test ride it on a weekend before you start on a weekday.

Are you willing to help new cyclists in any way?
Of course - yes!

Any fun or especially memorable biking stories you’d like to share?
I always go on vacation with my bicycle. People treat us differently when they see panniers on the bike. They ask "where are you from, where have you been, where to next?" They offer suggestions on where to eat, what’s not to miss... so many things that are hard to come by even in these days of instant information. The bicycle brings down walls, probably because bicyclists don’t make good robbers. We can’t make a quick getaway!