Last October, a coworker and I, who both live near the Anaheim Packing House, had to be in Irvine at 8:30 a.m. for training. Gratefully, I made it on time. My coworker wasn’t so lucky.

We’ve all been there, the freeway at a standstill as the minutes of our lives tick by: late for class, an important meeting, or our kid’s game. Over half a million Orange County workers (nearly 40%) commute over 30 minutes to work, and more than 100,000 travel more than an hour.

My secret to beating the traffic? I took my bike. I know. I know. It sounds crazy, but it was faster to get from Anaheim to Irvine on a bike than in a car.