by KYW's Mike DeNardo

Rain was falling in Philadelphia on Friday, but commuters were still pedaling to their jobs on "National Bike to Work Day." 
   
With a police escort, Mayor Nutter (checking the weather in photo above) rode a bicycle the full length of the Ben Franklin Parkway, from the art museum to City Hall, to promote Bike to Work Day:

"It presents a unique opportunity to get people around, out of their cars.  Obviously there's an exercise benefit to this as well.  You also get to see the city in a very different kind of way."
      
One veteran bicycle commuter says the mayor's ride was nice, but what's going to push people to bike to work is going to be the economy:

"It's symbolic. But what's going to influence people is what they pay for gas, what they pay for parking. And when it reaches a critical limit they'll say, 'You know, it's better this way. It's cheaper. I have the bike in the garage. It's been sitting there for 20 years, I've used it five times. I could use it to go to work.' "

(Photo by KYW's Mike DeNardo)