From the top of Wai'alae Avenue in Kaimuki, a bicyclist's view of morning rush hour is mostly taillights and traffic. The road ahead is alive with movement, from cars swapping lanes to pedestrians in crosswalks.

This is where Jesse Kline shifts the gears on his commute to Downtown Honolulu.

"I wait at the top of Wai'alae for the light to turn green, and then I blast off downhill and make all the green lights," he said.

Twenty minutes later, Kline comes to a stop at Laird Christianson Advertising on Bishop Street, invigorated by a journey that didn't cost him $4 a gallon, plus parking.

"I love to be on a bike," said Kline, a senior art director at the ad firm. "Obviously there is gas savings, and health, and that's why I do it. And it doesn't hurt to be helping out the planet. But I physically feel gross if I don't bike to work."

Kline is not the face of modern commuting just yet, but he's definitely part of a hardy group of cyclists who say that biking to work is a safe and easily achievable alternative to gas-guzzling vehicles.

If you've prepared, you don't need to fear the road, they say. Equipment, bike-handling skills and a little confidence are all that's needed.

"In the beginning it is not going to be easy, but it will get easier," said Kline, who for the past 22 years has ridden a bike to work in urban centers that included New York City, New Orleans and San Francisco.

"For someone who is ... not used to traffic, it is a little disconcerting in the beginning," he said. "You have to get used to cars coming up behind you and trusting they will not hit you."

One trick: Kline practices "defensive riding."

"People will muscle you around a little, maybe run you into a curb," he said. "But if you look like you are riding fast and look like you are going for it, they take a step back."

That's not all of it, though. When it comes to riding in Hono-lulu, where drivers are less accustomed to cyclists than the other big cities he lived in, a strong mental focus is a must, Kline said.

"You just really got to be constantly alert," he said. "You see the body language of the car and you kind of know what it is going to do. If the driver grabs the wheel on a certain part, you know he is going to turn."

ISLAND BICYCLISTS

Historically, commuting by bike has not been a huge success in the Islands. In 2006, about 1.4 percent of workers 16 and older — roughly 2,500 cyclists — commuted by bike on O'ahu, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

State transportation officials offer a bike map of O'ahu, available at most bike shops, and the city has an online version. It lists the three types of bikeways available: dedicated bike paths, bike lanes marked with stripes, and shared routes on streets that are expected to be less crowded with vehicles, such as Young Street.

People chose routes based on their comfort level and skill on a bike, said Chris Sayers, the city's bicycle coordinator.

"I think it is a little bit of trial and error to find a place that is comfortable for them," he said. "Some people just feel safer on Young Street and some on King Street."

The city, which last month began a yearlong effort to expand the number of bike-friendly routes, does not now have a Web site or hot line to help novice riders plan their routes. But Wayne Yoshioka, city Department of Transportation Services director, would like to see that created.

"It is something that would be worth exploring as part of our bicycle master plan study," he said. "It could be helpful if we could find a way to do something like that. At a minimum, a hot line."

But you can learn to ride on what's out there. Introductory courses on safe riding are available from bicycle shops as well as through the Hawaii Bicycling League, said Mitchell Nakagawa, the league's executive director. They offer insight into route options as well as a dose of confidence.

"We teach the basics of safe cycling," he said. "They can come out on a group ride and learn what it is like to ride in traffic."

Nakagawa is seeing more riders around town but said there are no surveys locally to back that up. Bike shops have reported increased sales of 10 percent to 15 percent since gas prices started to spike in April, he said.

PACK A BIKE TO WORK

The ranks of Honolulu's bicycle commuters now include a greater number of riders who prefer folding bikes. At Bikefactory, owner Wally Parcels has sold them since the 1970s but in the past month has sold out all three shipments of a triangular-shaped bike called a Strida.

The cost of gas is helping sales, but that's not the only reason, he said.

"It is real simple," Parcels said. "People are changing from a bicycle as a recreational item to a bicycle as a functional transportation medium."

The bikes, which might look more at home under a circus clown, can get a person to work, then collapse in about five seconds to the size of a baby stroller for easy storage in an office.

"Folding is a special niche," Parcels said. "It is not for everyone. They look different."

One of Strida's new converts is Peter Rosegg, a Hawaiian Electric Co. employee who started to riding one to work last month. His is an easy commute — two miles mostly downhill from Nu'uanu to Downtown.

The 62-year-old Rosegg, who previously commuted by bus, said the bicycle not only gets him in touch with the environment, but gives him options.

"The advantage of my folding bicycle is I can ride downhill in cool air in the morning, but if it is hot in the evening, my bike is so light, I can fold it up and carry it on the bus." he said. "It is designed to go into elevators or sit in your cubicle. It doesn't take up any real space."

'YOU CAN DO IT'

The king of Honolulu's bicycle commuters could easily be Frank Smith, who has pedaled from his Palolo home to wherever he worked on O'ahu since 1976. At one point, he was riding every day to Marine Corps Base Hawai'i in Kane'ohe — a 35-mile trip over the Pali and a return ride nearly as long on the Likelike Highway.

"The bigger streets where there is more than one lane are the ones I prefer, because it allows cars to overtake you by going into the other lane," said Smith, now 64 and the owner of Island Triathlon & Bike in Kapahulu. "If it is a two-lane road, it is hard for them to do that. Going through Kaimuki, I would chose Wai'alae over any of the parallel roads like Harding."

Smith, whose current commute is a leisurely 3-mile ride, has harsh words for cyclists who say they won't ride until the city improves its network of bike lanes.

"Get over it," he said. "It is not as bad as you think. If you have effective cycling skills and are visible and predictable, you can do it."

But what about the side effects of bicycle commuting? In the rush to ride to work, doesn't anyone sweat anymore? It would seem the most pungent of down-sides to the whole idea.

Even though he has a shower at his bicycle store, Smith said, he doesn't need it, mostly because the 3-mile ride to work is downhill.

"It's not the sweat that is smelly, it is later on when the bacteria ripens," he said. "You got a bathroom, you can go in and do a sponge bath."

Kline has a similar solution. He does his dry-cleaning Downtown, which allows him to keep a change of clothing in his office at Laird Christianson Advertising. And if he needs it, he belongs to a nearby gym which has a shower.

"Once I walk into the air conditioning, it's like I am cooling off already," he said. "I get to work and I change. It works for me and I don't stink."

The afternoon commute is different. "On the way home, it is definitely hotter," Kline said. "I am covered with sweat."