For morning commuters, the hours trapped in gridlocked traffic are a ripe time for fantasies of drastic change. It is little wonder that many have pondered the notion of pedaling a bicycle to work.
But even for those who live in Sun Belt cities with ample bike lanes, this drive-time fantasy usually runs aground on bluntly practical shoals. There are laptop computers to lug and children to drop off at day care. There are potholes and thunderstorms. And, of course, there is the sweat riders work up, which clashes with an US$800 business suit.
For a growing number of bicycle fantasists, however, the obstacles no longer seem quite so insurmountable in the face of US$70 fill-ups at gas stations. Bike manufacturers have reported significant sales increases since the summer, when gas in many areas passed US$0.80 a liter.
At the Interbike International Bicycle Expo, an industry convention late last month in Las Vegas,
commuting was a major "buzz topic," said Tim Blumenthal, the executive director of Bikes Belong Coalition, a trade association. He said the industry is seeing "a whole new breed of customer, people who haven't ridden bikes at all, coming in mainly because of eyeball shock at the gas pump."
Janelle Gunther, a scientist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California, is among the recent converts. "A couple weeks ago I was
joking with some friends and saying that when gas goes over US$0.80 liter, I won't pay it, I'll
refuse to use my car," Gunther, 35, recalled.
The next thing she knew, she was leaving her Toyota Camry in the driveway and pedaling the 8km to the lab. She figures she is saving about US$40 a week. She usually showers and changes at work, although more than once she has found herself scurrying into an early
morning meeting still clad in her Lycra cycling gear. "No one bats an eye," she said.
Bicycle sellers are unsure what percentage of the recent sales gains can be attributed to
commuters as opposed to recreational riders
inspired by another Lance Armstrong victory this summer in the Tour de France. But several sellers, including Chris Hornung, the chief
executive of Pacific Cycle in Madison, Wisconsin the largest distributor of bicycles in North America, including the Schwinn and Roadmaster brands -- said that the timing of the boom and the types of bikes that are selling indicate that commuters account for a healthy portion.
Hornung pointed out that it was sales of multigear adult cruiser bikes with medium-wide tires and cushy seats, "the sort commonly associated with commuting," that "jumped off the Richter scale," rocketing 20 percent in the week of Sept. 7 in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and the spike in gas prices.
At Breezer, in Sausalito, California, a manufacturer of comfort-oriented "transportation" bicycles -- they feature fenders, bells and cargo racks -- sales have risen 33 percent this year. During this past summer of fuel-price surges, sales were double those of the summer before, Joe Breeze, the company's founder, said.
Kevin Coggins, who owns a bike shop called the Spin Cycle in Cary, North Carolina, said inquiries about commuter bikes like Breezers are up. He also has noticed he has more company on the road each morning during his 45-minute bicycle commute from nearby Raleigh. "Normally when I ride to work, I see four or five people" in the bike lanes, he said. "Immediately after Katrina, I would see one or two dozen."
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