Sara Walfoort has timed it out.

From the moment she pulls her bicycle out of the shed through the time she changes and gets to her desk, it take her 10 minutes longer to bike to work Downtown from her home in Emsworth than it takes her to ride the bus.

Ms. Walfoort, 49, who has been biking to work on and off for a few years, is part of the growing contingent of bicycle commuters in Pittsburgh.

Just six years ago, Scott Bricker, the executive director of Bike Pittsburgh, knew just about everyone who was cycling around the city, if not by their names, then by recognizing their bikes.

Since then the bike scene has completely changed. Bike Pittsburgh has more than 700 members, and Pittsburgh was rated 13th out of the nation's 60 largest cities for the percentage of people who bicycle to work.

Mr. Bricker said a combination of factors has led to more commuting by bicycle, including rising fuel costs, a greater awareness of driving's effect on the environment, a certain hip mystique attached to bicycling and Lance Armstrong -- "I think he brought cycling into the national consciousness."

"Biking is fun and now you can actually have fun on your way to and from work," he said. "Say 'no' to hydrocarbons. Say 'yes' to carbohydrates."

The rising interest in bicycling locally is apparent. Bicycle shops are all over the region. The city and local companies are installing Bike Pittsburgh's Three Rivers Rack, a round bicycle rack with the three rivers design in the center. Even the parking lot at the East End of the Eliza Furnace trail, a starting point for many bicyclists, has only a few spaces left by the time the morning commute is over.

Mr. Bricker and another of Bike Pittsburgh's founders, Lou Fineberg, were the featured speakers last week at a seminar on commuting by bicycle at REI at the SouthSide Works.

There, seasoned and potential bicycle commuters learned the value of fenders, the importance of U-Locks and the various ways (bags and baskets) one can tote their work stuff on a bike.

The organization also hosted a Bike-To-Work Day breakfast Friday in Market Square, with food donated by Mix Stirs, where, despite the rain, bicyclists gathered and mostly talked about routes and gear with Mr. Bricker showing off his latest in rain apparel.

One of the gathered, Stu Strickland, 49, of McCandless, said he gets Downtown with the help of Port Authority of Allegheny County. He rides his bicycle to the bus stop, loads his bike on the rack, rides in on the bus and often bikes the 12 miles back home. His use of the bicycle/bus combination has allowed his family to get rid of their second car.

Bike Pittsburgh also has produced the first bike map of Pittsburgh since Sophie Masloff was mayor.

The map notes bike trails, on-street bike routes and bike shops. It also includes notations for steep hills, very steep hills and Canton Avenue in Beechview, which according to the map has a 37 percent grade and is "arguably the steepest street in the world."

Tips include never to ride on Bigelow Boulevard and that "Neville Street (in Oakland) has a poor road surface. Also beware of the wild turkeys often seen here -- they are very territorial."

The two biggest reasons people give for not biking to work in Pittsburgh are the winters -- which hard-core cyclists note, do not stop people from going outdoors to snowboard and ice skate -- and the hills.

"You live in Pittsburgh. Hills build character. If you're going to be intimidated by the hills, you'll never get out," Ms. Walfoort said.

And big hills, she said, can always be walked.

Alyia Paulding, 26, of Swissvale, who has started biking to her job at the Student Conservation Association, Downtown, said, "It helps to be around these 'green' people."

She said she started slowly, parking near the jail and biking the rest of the way, then parking at the end of the Eliza Furnace Trail and biking from there.

Eventually, she said, she hopes to use the bicycle all the way to work and eliminate her car from her commute.

After sitting through the seminar at REI and listening to tips on how to get used to biking in traffic, she looked toward the other people who had attended the talk and said, "It's a great community for bikes."