Thursday Thoughts: More Cyclists?

Here are the facts.

Define a “cyclist” as someone who rides a bike three times a week, on a somewhat regular basis.

There are about 2.5 million cyclists in the United States.

The number of cyclists is growing, but slowly.

Most “new” cyclists are over the age of 40.

The fastest growing segment of cycling is time trial (triathletes).

Those stats paint a grim picture.  If our sport is to flourish, it must grow.  We have to a do better job of recruiting.

Traditionally, almost every kid in the country rode a bike.  Many used them to get to school, to travel to friends, to run errands, to get to sports events, and just generally for transport and fun.  But that was 40 to 50 years ago.  Since then our country has changed, and changed radically.

We’ve rebuilt the entire nation, and done so around the automobile.  The neighborhood school is gone.  The old style “grid and square” city plan has all but vanished.  It is next to impossible for a child to go anywhere on a bicycle now.  When kids ride (if the ever do) it’s as a recreation.  Most stop playing with their bikes by the time they are 13.

If our sport is to continue, we have to find ways to bring more people into it, and we have to find ways to recruit the young.

That bears thinking about.