Bend News

TO MAKE COMMUNITIES STRONGER, HEALHIER, MORE AFFORDABLE

Bikes Belong

By Bill Schneider, 5-31-07

It’s finally happening. Bicycling is finally catching on as a way of life in America, even in the rural New West. I see it every day, now, here in Helena and elsewhere. Most people own a bicycle, of course, but now according to a new bicycle advocacy group, the Bikes Belong Coalition, 40 percent of us actually ride them instead of letting them collect dust in the garage.

And not a minute too soon.

Why? The current upsurge in gas prices was clearly a tipping point for some people, but participation in bicycling has been trending upward for many years, according to the Outdoor Industry Association (OIA). More people are riding bikes for a myriad of reasons, the same reasons we all know about--for fitness and health, for energy conservation and protection of wildlife habitat, for saving money, and because of the “Lance Effect” the media fanfare created on by seven-time Tour de France champion, Lance Armstrong.

I say, whatever, as long as it happens. And it is happening. The OIA tells us that when considering all types of bicycles (road, mountain, track, touring and commuting), more people, 107.4 million Americans, in fact, participate in bicycling than more than any other outdoor activity, more than the number of golfers, skiers and tennis players combined.

We all know about the health, financial and environmental advantages of bicycling, but also interesting to me are the economic benefits. The bicycle business has grown with the increase in participation and is now a $5.5 billion industry, according to the National Sporting Goods Association. And for the marketing folks, bicyclists have great demographics--higher-than-average income well distributed over demographic groups (male/female, married/unmarried and age groups).  Nowadays, cycling enthusiasts will pay $5,000 to $10,000 for a top-of-the-line bicycle.

Saving money at the gas pump might be driving the current increase in bicycling, but it’s the health benefits that are staggering. Now, 61 percent of American’s are overweight or obese, and it costs us $117 billion in deal with health issues caused by our bulging waistlines. Riding a bike as little as three hours per week can cut the risk of a heart attack or stroke by 50 percent.

(The Rocky Mountain states, incidentally, is the least obese region of the country and have the highest percentage of people who participate in outdoor activities.)

All of the above is documented in a spiffy brochure produced by Bikes Belong. You view it or download it here.

But the bicycle boom is not catching one important, if not most important, demographic group, our children. Bikes Belong tells us that in one generation the number of kids bicycling or walking to school has gone down 75 percent. Meanwhile, the number of overweight children has tripled.

Bikes Belong doesn’t say this, but this dramatic decline is not about “safe routes to schools.” It’s about child predators. It only takes one article about a pervert stalking around a school to trump all the valid reasons for parents to encourage their children to ride a bicycle to school. As it should be, of course. You hate to see the incredible traffic jams at every elementary school twice a day, but until we can make children safe from predators, this won’t change.

But more and more adults are getting on their bikes--many millions, in fact. Still, we have a long way to go before we become a bicycle culture like we see in many other countries. We can afford to buy two or three motor vehicles per family and even pay for $4.00/gallon gas, which might not be the case in many parts of the world, so it might be a while before we see members of Congress riding bikes to work.

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