Googlers, Greens and getting around in Mountain View

I spent Friday evening cycling around Mountain View, California. When you cycle around the Googleplex -- Google's headquarters in Mountain View that occupies Silicon Graphics and Adobe's former headquarters along Shoreline Boulevard between Highway 101 and Amphitheater Parkway -- you can't help but notice the hundreds of blue bikes parked outside of Google's buildings and in use along the roads. Google provides the free bikes for anybody to borrow on the honor system in order to help manage traffic congestion in the north Shoreline/Amphitheater area.

I don't know if this guy on the green bike works for Google or not, but I did see several bike commuters southbound on Shoreline Boulevard Friday evening. Google donates $5 to the charity of their choice for every day a Google employee bikes to work. Most of these bike commuters were dressed "business casual" like the guy in this photo, riding bikes of every style imaginable -- retail store Bike Shaped Objects, city cruisers like this green Novara from REI, a few nice mountain bikes, and road bikes of almost every material and age.

Finally, I ran into Tian Harter holding up his "DON'T BE FUELISH" sign on El Camino Real at Castro Street. Tian is a member of the Santa Clara County Green Party and has run for Mountain View City Council and U.S. Senate. He's one of those goofy environmentalists who rides a bike to get around -- imagine that! Tian's website is at tian.greens.org. I traded one of my zeropergallon stickers for one of his "Mend Your Fuelish Ways" stickers.

Tags: google, mountain+view, green+party, cycling, bicycle, googleplex, googler