In American cities, it's unfortunately intimidating to get started with bicycle commuting. Traffic safety and theft are the biggest issues. Once you overcome those concerns, it's by far the fastest, funnest, most efficient, and most environmentally-friendly way to get around! I hope this guide helps you get started. By the way, you can avoid theft and up-front costs with bikeshare (not covered in this guide).

What you need

Don't feel intimidated by spandex-clad cyclists with sleek carbon bikes—you don't need to spend thousands to get started. Here's what I'd recommend you get, in priority order. Fancy pedals and clothing are not necessary for most commuters, but I'm including them for completeness or in case your commute is more than 10 miles long.

1. Bike: (unless you start with rideshare). Consider buying it used on Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace, or starting with borrowing a friend's bike. If you buy a new bike, consider an e-bike, especially as a commuter. Rad Power Bikes are the market leader, and they cost under $1,500.
2. Lock: A good U-lock and cable are critical, especially in urban areas. For chill suburban/rural areas, a U-lock alone will probably suffice, but generally make sure your U-lock secures the back wheel and frame, and cable secures the front wheel. For high-risk urban areas, I recommend double-locking U-locks, and never leaving a bike unattended with any quick-release elements, like a bike light or seat.
3. Lights: If you'd ever bike at twilight/night, front and rear lights are a must. Rear lights are under $20, but brighter front lights for $50 are worth it in my opinion (but don't get them stolen, see above).
4. Clippy pedals and bike shoes: These are optional; I use them for longer, recreational trips, not for commutes. Most road bikers use 3-point clippy pedals; I use 2-point SPD-style ones because I was scared of being stuck clipped in (and these are easier to clip out of). With combo pedals, you can use the same pedals for clipped-in road rides and casual commuting.
5. Spandex clothing: Again, I'd only recommend these for a long commute, or for recreational cycling. I do think a cycling kit more comfortable on long rides than street clothes, but the underwear-less format of the cycling bibs takes a lot of getting used to, changing is a hassle, and it's expensive.

Routefinding

Finding a good bike route can be the difference between a terrifying trip and a relaxing one. It can be hit and miss, but bike infrastructure in many American cities has gotten better over the last decade and continues to improve.

Road hierarchy

Here's the types of road surfaces you should prefer, in order starting from the best.

If none of these options are available, choose between: taking the entire car lane (see below), biking on the road shoulder / right-most part of the lane, or taking the sidewalk (if available) to avoid competing with fast traffic on narrow lanes.

Navigation (use Google)

• Audio navigation from Google Maps is great. You don't need to pull out your phone (even to start navigation, just ask Google assistant), and it uses road names and is generally easy to follow.
• Google Maps's bike routefinding is pretty good. It'll minimize elevation gain and prefer roads with bike lanes.
• Use Street View to scope out potentially sketchy sections of the route in advance.
• Unfortunately, bike routes tend to end abruptly, funneling you to compete with cars on busy roads. The area around South Van Ness and Howard St is a good example of this in San Francisco. If you encounter this, or otherwise feel unsafe on your ride, it's fine to head for the sidewalk and either ride on it, or stop and search for an alternate route.

Safe riding tips: offense is the best defense

Instead, avoid the door zone, and when that's too close to cars for comfort, take the lane: bike in the middle (or even towards the left) of the car lane to force cars to pass you in the next lane over. You still need to be careful: always look over your shoulder before taking the lane, but I do this all the time in San Francisco.

Taking the lane feels aggressive, but especially in urban, dense areas with slow-moving average traffic speeds, drivers rarely get annoyed. It's even recommended by REI. Remember that, in good visibility (daytime or nighttime with bright lights), cars are highly unlikely to deliberately murder you by plowing you from behind. Plus, it's affirming and satisfying to take the space on the road that you deserve, and let the cars wait their turn.

Another potentially dangerous interaction is merges: you're approaching an intersection in the bike lane, and a car must merge across the bike lane before turning right. Assume drivers don't check their mirrors and may not notice you during a merge. When possible, look behind and to your left before the intersection, and if it's clear, preemptively merge into the car lane well before the intersection, so that cars must merge right behind you. As a bonus, this makes it easier to pass (on the left) any queue of cars waiting to turn right to quickly reach the intersection.

Caveats

This guide is based on my perspective as (a) a white guy who is (b) tempermentally in the top 10% in terms of cycling aggressiveness. I'm aware that other people, especially if from different identity groups, may experience the road differently than I do. For example, a woman can get catcalled, or a Black cyclist can face more adversarial drivers, or hassling from police even for legitimate maneuvers. I think those issues are deplorable, and we should work to address them, and I don't mean to suggest the above tips will work for everyone.

Coda

Thanks for reading! Let me know of any errors, comments, or simply if you found this a useful guide! You can also find me on Twitter @barakgila.

Thanks to Daylen and Kevin for reviewing this piece.