November - December 2005

More cyclists are taking to the roads. It’s up to us to make them feel welcome and safe.

According to figures provided to USA TODAY by Bikes Belong, a supplier and retailer coalition, U.S. bicycle sales in 2005 could surpass 20 million. That would be cycling’s biggest sales year since 1974, and it’s also three million more than the amount of automobiles and light trucks that Americans will buy this year. U.S. oil consumption has declined 3 percent from last year, brought about by $3 gallon gasoline and the Katrina/Rita after-effects that include refinery shutdowns and spot shortages. Your local independent bike dealer, the online stores, and the mass merchants will all benefit from that. The executive director of Bikes Belong, Tim Blumenthal, told USA TODAY that, “for bicycles, high gasoline prices are a good thing.”

Well, with all due respect, history indicates otherwise. The Seventies bicycle sales boom was in response to the first “energy crisis,” when the world was supposed to run out of oil in 30 years. In the winter of 1973- 1974, real panic was triggered by an embargo of Middle East oil. We had long lines at gas stations, “odd-even” days, people dumping their full-size cars (which were even less fuel-efficient than today’s biggest SUVs) for subcompact imports, and commuters starting to ride bikes to work. The same thing happened five years later. But just as those crises passed, people returned to old habits. Most of those bicycles sold in the early Seventies sat in garages gathering dust.

Part of the problem was product. There were no hybrids, mountain bikes or comfort bikes. The fashion trend was dropped handlebars, which many people didn’t enjoy riding, just as most men hated wearing leisure suits. There were also few trails and no greenways. Motorists were scary. And then there were all those snotty cyclists on their fancy mounts whizzing past them, creating instant inferiority complexes and resentment.

Comparatively, the good old days are today. There’s plenty of product choice. We have rider and motorist education, safe lanes, traffic enforcement, and more cohesive transportation policies to accommodate bicyclists. Yes, they need to be much better, but the progress has been enormous. So maybe this time, the new frugality will have “legs” and people will truly change their habits about auto dependency.

What can we do to keep our emerging fellow cyclists engaged? Make them feel appreciated. We call ourselves “New York’s Friendliest Bike Club” for a reason. There’s never been a better opportunity than this moment in history to display it.

See ALL OF YOU on the road!

Peter Engel
Newsletter Editor, 2005
newsletter@5BBC.org