“Carol Smith has more company these days during the final stretch of her commute by bike from her home near Secor to her job at State Farm Insurance Cos. in Bloomington. | Educators learn lesson in biking

Smith, 55, who has a four-day work week, takes about two hours each way to pedal the 50-mile round trip at least once a week, twice if she can.

Smith only sees occasional wildlife while she speeds through the rural areas of northern McLean County on her recumbent bike. But she’s recently witnessed an upswing in bike traffic when she reaches Constitution Trail, the Twin Cities’ popular linear park.

“Last year when I was riding in, I seldom saw people riding to work. This year, once I get to town on the trail, I can definitely tell there’s more traffic that’s work-related,” she said.

Whenever weather permits, Mike Wolf, 26, commutes by bike the five-mile roundtrip from his home in Bloomington to the Normal office of the Farnsworth Group, where he’s an engineer and in charge of the company’s bike-to-work wellness initiative. Like Smith, Wolf has noticed more cyclists wearing business casual than spandex on Constitution Trail this summer.

“Some people even have suits on,” said Wolf, a recent Illinois Wesleyan graduate.

Bicycling for reasons other than health and recreation is one way more and more people are responding to the arrival of gasoline prices that remain near $4 a gallon. The idea is to leave that car, truck or SUV in the garage more often.

The increase in bicycling is evident at area bike shops, which are having a hard time keeping pace with a surge in sales that operators think is fueled by higher gas prices. Stripped of 2008 inventories, some well-known bicycle brand names are rolling out their 2009 models several months earlier than usual, said Bernie Camp, sales manager at Russell’s Cycling in Washington.

“They expected a downturn in the economic conditions, but they didn’t anticipate the upsurge (in new customers),” Camp said.

“We’ve been out of some 2008 bikes for weeks,” agreed Scott Davis, general manager of Bloomington Cycle in Bloomington. “We’re waiting for 2009s.”

Ironically, expect bike prices to rise soon due to increased demand and higher costs for raw materials, he said.

The bulk of the new riders are buying hybrid and comfort bikes, which are best suited for commuting and casual riding. But road bikes like pro cyclist Carlos Sastre rode to earn the yellow jersey at the recent Tour de France are selling well, too.

“Our hybrid sales are up 30 percent over the same time last year,” said Andre Conton, sales manager at Vitesse Cycle in Normal. “June and July were crazy, and we’re still moving at a pace above normal.”

“We saw it last summer. Everybody was freaking out when gas prices went up last year,” added Davis. “But as soon as weather got nice out this year, we were run over. We were hit hard.”

Customers also are emptying shelves of carryall bags, helmets, fenders to keep from getting splashed, lights and other accessories. Some items are becoming hard for retailers to get from distributors.

The National Sporting Goods Association said 37.4 million people age 7 or older bicycled in 2007, up 5 percent from 2006. But Jack Wilson, owner of Wilson’s Cycle in Bloomington, said in increase in cycling for exercise and recreation can’t account for the powerful buying trend he’s seen in 2008.

“(Customers) are making comments. … They mention fuel prices,” said Wilson, who’s never been as busy as he is now, including during the gasoline crunch during the 1970s.

Shops aren’t only seeing an increase in new sales. Their mechanics also are logging extra hours trying to keep up with a crush of repairs on older bikes that are being dusted off and pressed into service.

“I’ve seen bikes 20, 25 and 30 years old,” Wilson said.

The bike trend is likely to last, all agree.

Though people three decades ago may have viewed the oil shortage as temporary, they’re convinced today’s higher gasoline prices are here to stay, Wilson said.

Indeed, habits are changing, according to the Federal Highway Administration. Since November 2007, Americans have driven 40.5 billion fewer miles, compared to the same period a year earlier. Motorists logged 9.6 billion fewer miles in May than in May 2007.

“I don’t think this is going away,” Davis said. “People are looking at alternative transportation. Gasoline prices have gone down a little, but it won’t go down to three bucks again. People are getting into the mode of things. They think, ‘I’m only going six blocks, I can ride a bike.’”

Smith expects she’ll have two-wheeled company on the road for a long time to come.

“If fuel prices drop off, some (of the newer bike riders) will drop off, but some will be hooked and keep riding,” she said.

“I think once people make the first step with biking, they realize they enjoy it,” added Wolf, who hopes city officials do more to encourage bicycle use, such as designating more bike routes. “You get your exercise, you don’t use gas, plus you’re saving the environment. It’s an all-around good deal if you look at it.”

“For some time now, the writing staff at Wheelbase Communications has been pushing the virtues of saving gas by getting out and stretching the old limbs by walking to the corner store or, better yet, really tearing up the miles by riding a bike.

Other journalists have echoed the sentiment, jumping on the bandwagon, citing recent (and steady) gas-price hikes as the motivation we finally need to get off our high-backed bucket seats.

Fair enough.

It’s obvious enough, but yours truly recently wrote that you’ll be doing your heart, mind, stress level, body fat ratio and the environment a whole lot of good by hanging up the keys and strapping on a bike helmet.

With enough participation, lower pollution levels and less delay-causing road maintenance (less money) over the long haul are distinct possibilities.

However, many of us have neglected to consider one teeny, tiny detail: The North American road infrastructure is just not set up to accommodate cyclists/roller bladers/skateboarders, or just about any other kind of alternative transportation, whether it be solar-powered scooters or giant paper airplanes with 12 cupholders and seating for seven. That’s just how narrow the thinking is: There’s little or no consideration for anything other than cars as personal transportation modules. A recent trip to Europe really drove home this point.

Sure, there are bike paths around parks and sparsely populated suburban areas, but not much to get you safely downtown in rush-hour traffic. In most cases, you’re taking your life into your own hands just leaving the driveway. And when you get to work, where are you supposed to park your wheels? Does your work provide a bike locker indoors? How about a shower? Or, what about adequate bathroom facilities to reapply makeup or at least toss on a fresh top? No?

This is how dependent we’ve become on our personal gasoline-powered conveyances: We’re just not set up to do anything else.

Drivers are not used to seeing anything other than other cars on the road, most cities haven’t adequately planned for anything other than cars — even people who own pedal bikes wouldn’t dream of actually taking it to work.

Despite this, the reasons for pedaling couldn’t be any more obvious. In fact, given the congestion in most of our downtown areas, it’s quite likely that your morning commute on a bicycle would not only be healthier and cheaper, but faster. Great, but could the odds be stacked any more heavily against cyclists?

What would it take to put bike/rollerblade/scooter lanes on most streets? Not much. A little paint, in the form of divider lines, because, lord knows, the roads in most cities are wide enough to add a bike lane. If you don’t think so, spend a little time driving in Europe.

So, who’s going to get the ball rolling and be the first to draft a real plan to encourage people to use other forms of personal transportation? Who will be the first to offer discounts on health insurance for daily cycle commuters? What will be the first workplace to step up with a proper cycle garage? And who will spring for the first drum of lane paint?

We’re not talking about a few streets here, but a real infrastructure that rewards people — or at least accommodates them — for working hard at being socially responsible.

It’s doubtful that your trusty sport utility vehicle will ever give way to two-wheeled propulsion, but, right now, in most places, you don’t really have a choice. You have to drive to survive.

So bring it up at your next city-council meeting or kick it around at the coffee machine tomorrow morning.

Riding a bike is a great idea that just needs a little help to actually make it more socially acceptable and practical as a means of transportation and not just a means of recreation.

Rhonda Wheeler is a journalist with Wheelbase Media, a worldwide supplier of automotive news, features and reviews. You can e-mail her by logging on to www.wheelbase.ws/media and clicking the contact link.”

Taken from sustainablecitiescollective.com

We all know the talking points. The benefits of bicycles have been tirelessly elaborated upon; bicycles improve health, ease congestion, save money, use less space, and provide efficient transportation with zero fuel consumption and zero carbon emissions. The culmination of a population on two wheels can have a drastic impact on the overall wellbeing of a city. However, none of these come close to the most meaningful aspect of cycling, a factor that cannot be quantified but has endless value to those fighting to improve their communities.

The most vital element for the future of our cities is that the bicycle is an instrument of experiential understanding.

On a bicycle, citizens experience their city with deep intimacy, often for the first time. For a regular motorist to take that two or three mile trip by bicycle instead is to decimate an enormous wall between them and their communities.

In a car, the world is reduced to mere equation; “What is the fastest route from A to B?” one will ask as they start their engine. This invariably leads to a cascade of freeway concrete flying by at incomprehensible speeds. Their environment, the neighborhoods that compose their communities, the beauty of architecture, the immense societal problems in distressed areas, the faces of neighbors… all of this becomes a conceptually abstract blur from the driver’s seat.

Yes, the bicycle is a stunningly efficient machine of transportation, but in the city it is so much more. The bicycle is new vision for the blind man. It is a thrilling tool of communication, an experiential device for the beauty and the ills of the urban context. One cannot turn a blind eye on a bicycle – they must acknowledge their community, all of it.

Here lies the secret weapon of the urban renaissance.

You see, those of us fighting for our cities, we struggle because too few see the problems, and fewer understand the solutions. They are quite literally racing past the issue, too busy to see, too fast to comprehend.

I cannot approach the average citizen and explain the innate intricacies of land use and transportation relationships, how density is vital to urban sustainability, how our sprawled real estate developments are built on economic quicksand, how our freeways shredded the urban fabric like a rusty dagger, how deeply our lives would be enriched by a collective commitment to urbanism.

Aside from glazed eyes, I will be met with outrage. No one wants to be told that they must radically alter their lifestyle, no matter how well you sell it.

The bicycle doesn’t need to be sold. It’s economical, it’s fun, it’s sexy, and just about everyone already has one hiding somewhere in their garage.

Invite a motorist for a bike ride through your city and you’ll be cycling with an urbanist by the end of the day. Even the most eloquent of lectures about livable cities and sustainable design can’t compete with the experience from atop a bicycle saddle.

“These cars are going way too fast,” they may mutter beneath their breath.

“How are we supposed to get across the highway?”

“Wow, look at that cathedral! I didn’t know that was there.”

“I didn’t realize there were so many vacant lots in this part of town.”

“Hey, let’s stop at this cafe for a drink.”

Suddenly livability isn’t an abstract concept, it’s an experience. Human scale, connectivity, land use efficiency, urban fabric, complete streets… all the codewords, catchphrases, and academic jargon can be tossed out the window because now they are one synthesized moment of appreciation. Bicycles matter because they are a catalyst of understanding – become hooked on the thrill of cycling, and everything else follows. Now a new freeway isn’t a convenience but an impediment. Mixed-use development isn’t a threat to privacy but an opportunity for community. And maybe, just maybe, car-free living will eventually be seen not as restrictive, but as a door to newfound freedom.

The real reason why bicycles are the key to better cities?

Some might call it enlightenment.

As gas prices surge beyond $4 a gallon, more Americans are cycling as a way to stay fit, save money, or both.

Sales of new bikes rose 9% in the first quarter of this year, compared with the same period in 2010, and sales of road bikes — commonly used in commuting — jumped 29%, says Scott Jaeger, senior retail analyst with Leisure Trends Group, a Boulder, Colo.-based retail tracking firm.

Sales of gas-powered scooters are up even more: nearly 50% in the first quarter compared with a year ago, says the Motorcycle Industry Council, a trade group.

“We see spikes when fuel prices rise,” says Ty van Hooydonk, the group’s spokesman, noting many scooters average 60 to 80 miles per gallon.

Read the entire article here.

It’s some pretty amazing footage, and even more amazing that the rider manages to make it down all those steps and jumps without crashing (even when a dog runs out in front of him).

Maybe this could be a new X Games event, but does anyone know where there is a hill in L.A. that could host a similar race?

VCA 2010 RACE RUN from changoman on Vimeo.