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How do we get more people on bikes?
by Tim GrahlThat’s quite literally the billion dollar question.
If you watched the video I posted last week, Tim Parr of Swobo makes the argument that it’s not about about telling people their fat, playing the environment card or anything else. We have to make cycling fun and cool again. Bring it out of the sport-only mindset that involves way to many men in spandex, and get people on bikes as part of their life style.
So back to my billion dollar question…
How do we get more people on bikes?
There seems to be so many barriers to it.
- People ARE fat and out of shape. Getting on a bike seems very daunting.
- Lack of cycling infrastructure.
- Good bikes to ride and try. Most people don’t have a lot of extra bikes laying around for their friends to borrow and try out. How can we get people on bikes that aren’t $32 Bike Shaped Objects?
As we’ve seen, the bike industry is turning out more and more commuter/urban/comfort bikes but what’s happen to put more seats in saddles?
So I pose two questions to you…
What can us normal nine to fivers do to get more people on bikes?
What should the bike industry be doing differently to get more people on bikes?
Leave your thoughts and answers in the comments.
Apologies for the long submission.
I can only speak for myself.
I offer my own experience “converting”
to bike commuting as one source of information.
I don’t doubt there are hundreds of stories like mine.
Perhaps a collection of and study of them might
show some common threads that would help
get more seats on saddles?
When fuel prices hit $3.00 I decided to bike
commute and so got busy “training” for it
this past June. Spent a month doing that
mainly proving to myself that I could do it
I guess, and then began commuting in July.
I live in the rural mid-western U.S.
Cows outnumber humans 2:1 & hogs 3:1
My commute is 13.6 miles one way
over narrow, poorly maintained county roads
with no posted speed and no lane markers.
My “co-commuters” are pick-ups, grain trucks,
combines, etc. until I get into town when the
college student traffic dominates – but that’s
only for about 2 miles. The trip takes about
50 ~55 minutes when the wind doesn’t fight me.
My commute used to be the usual 8 a.m.-6 p.m.
but is now midnight to 8 a.m. I have not
ridden since November-ish when
concerns about bike-sizing/knee pain
and winter weather combined to sideline me
but I am getting antsy to get “back on the bloody bike”.
Commuting at night has not been a problem
as traffic is non-existent and I’ve gone
out of my way to make myself visible.
What got me to commute was
1) Fuel prices. I simply cannot afford to fill the tank of a v-8
pick-up once a week. It has been wondefuel to let it sit there
and only do what I got if for – haul loads.
2) concerns about health
What has kept me biking is
1) enjoying it – when I get to work I am
invigorated when I get home, same thing.
My obstacles in getting started were
1) cost of new bikes
2) ignorance of the topic
3) questioning if it was realistic
or even possible for a middle-aged
person who had not been on a bike
since maybe junior high and was never
involved in sports of any kind to do this
What would have made the transition easier?
1) a mentor
2) Greater accessibility/lower cost of something like the
Breezer Uptown or a Raleigh Superbe with an 8 or 9 speed
hub, lights, baskets & racks & fenders. That Swedish or Norwegian
army bike? That looks good. Those bikes the folks in St. Augstine
are importing but cost way more than I can afford, etc.
Where I live I am semi-isolated. There’s not a lot of selection
or availability of bikes, bike stores & folks knowledgeable about
bikes with the time and inclination to help a total novice.
Yeah the internet is a great resource but it’s not the same thing
as being able to go to the LBS and ride 3 or 4 different bikes in
your frame size.
One thing I find interesting – as far as I can tell there is really
no need for my purposes for anything like indexed shifting
and the other innovations that have occurred since I was a kid.
Down tube friction shifters work fine and I really only use
two “gears” on my ride. But then again I don’t live in the mountains
either.
I started commuting on a Trek 820 because it was on consignment
at the LBS and I could afford it. I was amazed at the difference
when I switched to a generic 80’s UJB road bike that I got free
from Freecycle. The Trek has way too many low gears and the wide
fat tires are a liability on my trip. In short IMHO as others have said
an affordable version of the Raleigh Superbe with the Nexus
or Sram 8 or 9 speed hub and those thin road rims/tires
would be something I could get really excited about
if I could afford it. As it is I am riding 80’s road bikes
I got free from Freecycle or dumpster dived.
I have yet to get a pair of bike shorts or bib tights
because of the horrific prices.
I am fortunate at work as they let me bring the bike into the building
and park it in my cubicle – something apparently unheard of in Gotham
and D.C. I leave work clothes there and change into them. It would be
very nice if the “Recreational Sports” facility at work had a membership
fee for access to the showers/locker rooms only as I cannot afford and
will not pay a years membership for the sole privilege of taking a shower.
They have a health & wellness program for employees but the showers
are not available when I need them (big surprise). A simple key card
system combined with security cameras would remedy any security issues
I would think.
Anyway. There it is. I have learned a lot in the last 6 months and am
glad I’ve done it. Can’t wait for it to warm up enough for me to
re-build the free bikes I’ve acquired over the winter and get back on
the road. I am out there by myself but my co-workers do not cease
to be interested that I am doing it.
I’m a 50 year old woman who’s been commuting by bike for 30 years, starting in Seattle, then Wisconsin, Texas and now in Augusta, Georgia. While some areas have been more bike friendly, it’s always been a fun way to get to work, parties, shopping, etcetera.
My incentive: FUN! I love to ride my bike. I keep a dedicated commuter bike, which is outfitted for the season. I ride a nice road bike because I want to enjoy the ride. I choose a route that takes me through the beauty of nature, and then I hit city riding for a few hip-hop miles. I smile, make eye contact, and hopefully inspire others to try riding instead of driving.
I ride to work in my lycra, and when I get to work, I clean up with baby wipes (I shower before coming in) and brush my hair, and change into scrubs. . I have a blow dryer and make up at work, if I need to freshen up more.
As a nurse, I am a positive influence on my patients, who see a happy healthy nurse who comes in ready to charge into the day. Every postive thing we do while on and off the bike is a way to promote others to try the same. I feel so dedicated to bicycling…it keeps me young!
The justification for biking to work is neither merely rational or visceral–it is genetic. When you bike an hour to work, gene expression mirrors that of our ancestors hunting for game on the savannah. What does the gene expression of an SUV commuter mirror–our ancestors starving on the tundra.
Biking to work is about more than feeling good, loosing weight, and having more energy. It is how we thrive with a genetic code that is maladapted for an environment where an abundance of food can be acquired with little effort.
I don’t commute to work on my bike, since I am on a ship and all I have to do is walk a couple of feet from my stateroom to the engine room. However, I do have a folding bike onboard and I ride that to get around town when I have time. I do get a lot of comments and questions about my folding bike (mostly cost). I do smile at people, and try to act like normal traffic. There are exceptions to this, I ride on the sidewalk when going to the doctors since it is along a three lane road. I also ride on the pedestrian bridge going to downtown Norfolk, since legally I can’t ride on the interstate to cross. I have also gotten some questions about it when we were at little creek amphib base from sailors, since they saw me fold it up and walk through the security turnstyle. I guess I try to show by example: commuting for errands.
the more people ride bikes… the more people ride bikes.
I recently started biking to work. The most influential factor for me is my father. He is in his late 50’s and bikes to work (14 mile round trip). He has done it now for about 4 years. He now has several of his coworkers biking to work, some take the same route.
I have had several bikes over the years, but they have all been recreational. Changing my mindset that this new bike would be a vehicle rather then a toy was my first hurdle. Once I saw the bike as a vehicle, my hunt for a new bike became more like shopping for a car. I road at least a dozen bikes to find the one I felt was the most comfortable to me.
My second hurdle has been adjusting to the various weather/riding conditions and wanting to get back in the warmth and comfort of my car on a cold morning. Again it was a mental block to overcome. Finally the challenge of changing for work. Each day I learn something new, and it is now becoming first instinct to get on the bike to run my errands.
I agree with Dan…the more people ride bikes…..the more people ride bikes. Several coworkers are looking into biking to work and are always asking how my ride was. It takes one person to start. Once that person is doing it, they can influence others. I also believe in teaching children to bike or should I say cycle. When we were kids bikes were the toys we got for Christmas or birthdays. We didn’t see them as vehicles or anything more then how fast we could go or how far we could jump. Most of the world views bikes as a means of transportation, while we have been raised to view bikes as toys.
The long and short of it is that our society doesn’t understand biking as well as they understand driving. I know many people who feel more comfortable buying a $40,000 car then they do buying a $500 bike because of lack of knowledge, awareness, and other people biking.
This is a complicated issue. America, by and large, is not designed with bicycles in mind–AT ALL. I read stories from folks who live in NYC, Portland, Seattle, SF, etc, and I am envious of the accomodations they have.Bike lanes, networks of MUPs, bike parking, etc. I live in a semi-rural town on the Florida Gulf Coast. This, like many areas, was once agrarian and grew up quickly in the past decade. Now we have triple the traffic the two lane roads were designed to handle. I do my ride a couple of times a week and regularly have to deal with aggressive drivers. I’ve been hit and then I returned to riding the same route, but how many people will even attempt riding on a 45mph two lane with no shoulder or bike lane? The other bike commuter I know just had a car turn left in front of him, causing him to T-bone it and shatter his shoulder. Since he’s an oral surgeon, that’s not good, and surely didn’t make his staff or wife happy. He’s hardcore, but this is the third time a commuting crash has jeopardized his livelihood. I think he’ll quit doing it.
Most people DO live too far from work, but how many people can really live within 10 miles of work? I’m not concerned with the people who live 50 or 60 miles away from work. They are never going to be able to do anything but drive or take a train. How do you convince someone who lives 15 miles away to go through all the prep needed to do an hour + ride in the morning and evening? Health benefits? No, because it’s easy to stop by the gym on the way home. 45 minutes in the gym is easier to do.
Some think gasoline prices hitting a certain price would do it. I don’t think so. Most people would just cut back on other expenses.
Can we target the youth? I don’t think so. Parents are SO paranoid about kidnappers and molesters that their children are treated like fragile little treasures and never allowed any independence. I ride by an elementary school on my route. This school has bike lanes leading from connecting streets to the street it’s on, and a HUGE bike rack. How many kids ride to school? None. Zero.
I grew up in a small town in south Louisiana. From the time I could ride I was pretty much turned loose. Never felt scared. Traffic was light. I wouldn’t turn my 10 year old loose in Citrus County, FL on a bike. He would likely be run over.
It’s a sad situation, and I hate to be a downer, but converting even 1% of drivers to bicyclists would require MASSIVE infrastructure upgrades. If people could ride to work on dedicated bicycle paths, never have to interact with automobiles, receive a tax credit for doing so, have their health insurance rate plummet, and have showers at every jobsite—maybe.
I agree with #8 Mike, a little smell won’t kill anyone, and showering *before* your ride does help a lot. That’s what I do, and quite frankly, I sweat, and it dries within the 1/2 hour after I arrive. Just bring a towel to work to sit on while you dry off.
People don’t realize how much money goes into making a good bike. If you want cheaper, be ready to accept a Chinese or Taiwanese-made bike. Not that these are all cheap (http://www.rivbike.com) or cheaply made, but consider who is building your bike. In china, it might be some 12-year-old boy or girl. Buy used on craigslist!
Also, regarding #57, most people live within 8 miles of their jobs, or closer. Now, where’s that study…
Morning all, Patrick makes a great point but what he does not see is that almost every bike under 2000 bucks these days is made in China that means TREK, GIANT and the rest, they make them for nothing yet charge us as if they are still made here in the usa
It is a sad state of affairs, definitely. All the more reason to just get an older bike fixed up by your LBS and resist their efforts to sell you a Giant. I think Trek still makes most of it’s bikes here. One reason to buy Trek, though:
from the Trek site:
“Is my bike made in the U.S.A?
The majority of the bicycles are manufactured in the U.S.A. All models are designed and engineered at Trek’s world headquarters in Waterloo, Wisconsin, but entry level models for road, hybrid, and ATB lines (including all children’s and BMX bikes) are produced by Trek specific venders overseas. These vendors are hand picked by Trek and following the same standards as our domestic manufacturing facilities. Regardless or origin, all Trek bicycle frames (and rigid forks) carry a limited lifetime warranty.”
Trek designs in Waterloo but I was told by a trek dealer that they only make their high end road bikes here the rest are made by china which is sad as we use to make great bikes here
The area I live in is increasingly bike friendly, although the only place with any real bike infrastructure is the local University. I am unsure if bike lanes would go over well with Joe Taxpayer around here. What has made the difference is the people who ride. As I am in the mountains of Northern Utah, I am one of an elite handfull that still ride in the winter, but we still ride. In the warmer months, there are many more of us on the roads.
The local clubs and shops make a big difference by promoting commuting and by promoting club participation. These local entities keep themselves in high visibility and this helps keep others aware of bikes on the road.
Another thing that helps promote bicycle awareness is the fact that this area hosts America’s longest single day road race, the Lotoja Classic.
All we can do to let those around us know that we are here, we ride and we enjoy it makes a difference. People will see it as an option when it is time to tighten a belt or flatten a stomach and then become hooked. I started riding to save on gas, but I also found a passion and felt more fit than I had in years. I dropped 20 pounds and found myself able to do more for longer and just plain felt good. I was hooked. I am sure I will stay hooked.
The point is that the horse must draw the cart. If we build the infrastructure but nobody uses it, what is the point? If instead, we promote cycling wherever and however we can and get involved in groups and events that increase the visibility and awareness of cycling as a pastime and as a lifestyle, more people will become interested and involved in cycling. As more people start riding, the lack of bicycle oriented infrastructure will become glaringly obvious, and movements will be made to change it .
Just as we would not want bikes to be legislated off the roadways, we should not advocate or support legislation that is aimed at forcing people out of their SUV’s We should let a natural course of events draw them out. Maybe rising fuel costs will do it, maybe health, perhaps one of us will start a trend at our workplace or along the daily route. It is a gradual change, not an overnight one, and our best bet here is to keep riding and making it look good.
What has been said here about commuting in clothes that look more “normal” is a great idea. Lycra has its advantages, but does it scare people away?
Cannondale builds in america.
Please, let’s not turn these great ideas into a “where it’s made discussion” because that is irrelevant in this discussion.
My commute is not long, (about 5km each way) and I commute in my work clothes when it’s not ungodly hot. I think the lycra is something that puts some people off- especially people with bodies they feel are not fit to be seen in lycra by the general population. I have riding clothes, but I leave them for touring- days of several hours of riding. With a bike that fits well and my split seat I’m able to comfortably ride in blue jeans.
Here in Korea people are big on having the clothes to go with the sport- hiking, biking, or whatever it may be. And I think that idea of cycling as a sport is exactly the biggest part of the hump. As long as cycling is primarily viewed as recreation, it will not be primarily transportation, which is the goal here.
I think what others have said is right- Biking needs to be cool (Loved the Miller High Life ad: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=beF_gjnwU5E), and getting ad companies to portray it that way might be some of the best use of advocacy efforts by advocacy groups (a bit of stream of consciousness, here). PSAs and whatnot will also help. Biking needs to be re-branded as fun, cool, accessible, and above all NORMAL before people will pick it up. (most) People believe what you tell them to believe.
…how do we get more people on bikes ?…
…redefine the culture…
…& in this vast country that was defined by transportation, that is not an easy task…
…the majority of our innovation has gone towards making everything easier, more accessible…
…put that creative energy into sustainable concepts & teach people to think for themselves…
…sorry, that is my post @ #67 but i hit the button to soon…
…short term, ya make cycling more fun but there is a bigger intrinsic problem at hand involving the environment & natural resources & while numbers of people are already addressing it, education will make all the difference in the world…
I think when people see more of their friends die from heart disease, lung disease, etc., then maybe people will commute more.
Also, people could at least ride more if they made riding a life decision. You don’t have to commute to work to get a ride in. You could ride during lunch, park 10 blocks from your work, just figure it out.
When I lived in Georgia just south of Chattanooga, I tried to get people who lived close, very close, to work to bike instead of drive. Over three years I could not do it. They saw me ride every day and never had to watch my weight, still they had it in their head that they are above bicycles. Several of those people had weight, heart and other major health problems that biking would help. I even contacted the GA DOT and had them send me bicycle guides and handed out dozens of them. I rode my bike through neighborhoods and shopping centers so they could see it was easy to do. Still, pulling my own teeth would have been eaiser than getting one person to even try.
It will take a major shift in our culture for changes to happen. That is something that would take the big corporations to participate in, and they are too greedy. They make money by keeping people slaved to their car. If I am not wrong, our car-culture is the worlds largest business.
I moved to Minneapolis where I am not harresed by motorist or police like I was in Georgia and lots of people ride bikes. I still promote bikes as a way of life. If enough people chip-away at the car-culture maybe we can change it over time.
Just came across this article in The Times
My apologies if posting it is redundant
the blog search didn’t pull anything up
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67fFDiPRsrk
Well that was clearly the wrong link
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article2500754.ece
From The Times
September 21, 2007
Ride a bike? You must be rich
For four years Ive worked for a well known mountain bike manufacturer, and it is a crime how few of the employees ride bikes to work. Eventually I was able to get a bike to work incentive program implemented, but the numbers never really increased that much.
Of the 60+ employees, easily 45 of them lived within five miles of the facility.
It was a regular bone of contention between my comrades and me, to say the least.
Ho boy, you got to realize that we are talking about an addiction fueled by a multi billion dollar auto marketing machine.
The car and gas and tire companies successfully created a company to pull up all the electric train and street car track on the west coast of California and convinced people it was for “public safety”. How twisted is that.
They have bombarded the whole country with concept that if you don’t drive a car you are: poor, a looser, you will never get a date, life will pass you by, you will not be complete until you have a car. We all know the imagery on TV, billboards, etc.
OK, that’s on their side. For my part I have a Taoist approach. I don’t try to convert, I just am. I’m on my bike, I’m showing up to work, I don’t smell bad, I talk about my bike commute when it is appropriate, how it is an aid to my health, I don’t try to force the issue, I offer aid and assistance to interested persons when they ask, I hope I look like I’m having fun and enjoying life on my bike because I am.
When the weather is good, the bike cage at work is pretty full. It’s a start.
74 replies and nobody mentions electrics….I just test rode a few models and every problem addressed above on why people are reluctant to ride is solved by providing pedal assisted biking. In my case, 40+ y/o with a couple of big hills that I need a day to recover from are no problem with the technology.
A lot of people, including myself, live too far from where they work to bike to work. But having just bought a new bike (a Brompton folder) that rekindled my love of riding, and being eager to find more opportunities to ride it, I came up with a great idea. Just because I live too far from work to ride my bike there doesn’t mean I can’t at least ride PART of the way! So, I drive to work but park a couple of miles short of my destination, pop my folding bike out of my trunk and ride the rest of the way to work. It’s a perfect way to get exercise into my daily routine, it invigorates me, and having my car parked a couple of miles away from work “forces” me to ride back to my car after work, ensuring that I get my full exercise every day. I hate to exercise, but this is really enjoyable to me. So what do you call this? Multi-modal commuting using your own car and bike!
PS, Tim – please change the “their” to “they’re” in the 2nd paragraph of your original post – it’s “telling people they’re fat,” not “their fat.”
I would like to say this is a matter of interest. If someone has interest in biking they just need a push through these kinds of articles….nice try.
Completely agree with your comments on this , thanks for taking the time to post.