Nov
20
Urban Cyclists and the Outdoor Retailer
Filed Under Cycling, Deep Thoughts, Industry News, Interbike | 1 Comment
I’m always on the look out for coverage of cycling in the non-endemic media, and am especially interested in non-endemic trade media mentions, which are rare. Well, I just had one of these rare sightings and it’s an valuable read for bike dealers.
The September/October issue of SGB (Sporting Goods Business) magazine has an interesting article by Kate Siber entitled, “The New Morning Commute – Thrift, Gas Prices and Urban Style Make Cycling Hip Again.” The point of the article, given the reader audience of SGB–sporting goods and outdoor retailers–is to enlighten them to the evolution and growth of transportation and utilitarian cycling of the last few years that we in the bike industry are well aware of, AND the business opportunities they present to the outdoor retail channel. The article causes a lot of questions to be raised about what the existing bike retail channel is doing to serve or not serve the new cyclists’ needs.
“The take away is that now is an excellent time to tap the burgeoning bike-commuter market.”
The logic seems solid: who among us cyclists doesn’t also frequent outdoor goods stores? REI and, recently, Canada’s Mountain Equipment Coop have very visibly figured this out. What’s happening now is that the growth of the non-enthusiast urban cyclist means that potentially even more of the outdoor stores’ existing customer base are cyclists and in the market for gear and apparel to meet their new riding and style needs.
Is this a warning to the bike industry that someone else is looking to take advantage of a cycling segment that, as we’ve discussed in the past, we’re not adequately serving? Or, conversely, would the prospect of wider availability of cycling related goods help to broaden the “brand awareness” of the bicycle? That would help grow the pie for all of us. And make the world a better place. Right?
This opportunity is being missed by many outdoor stores, the article states. Despite the growth in urban cycling, “many outdoor stores do not identify the bike commuter as one of their core customers.” Upon calling a downtown Portland, OR, outdoor store, the author was told that they “weren’t involved with bike commuters.” I love her response to that:
“No bike commuters in an outdoor store in downtown Portland? Perhaps they were in disguise as regular old customers.”
The article goes on to say that many independent bike dealers are on to this trend and have begun to take advantage of this market. It’s good to hear that what had previously existed mostly outside of the manufacturer-to-retailer-to-cyclist ecosystem has started to move to the dealer channel best equipped to service the cyclist. Boston’s Wheelworks and Denver’s Salvagetti are IBD success stories called out by the magazine. Personally, I’ve also noticed many new “urban-centric” and “fixie-centric” shops opening up over the last couple of years to serve this market, answering the question that Bicycle Retailer asked last year, “Are bike shops selling the bikes new bikers want to buy?”. And for anyone who visited the Electra booth at this year’s show and saw their new Ticino line of components, it’s clear that manufacturers are really starting to step it up with gear to help IBD’s serve these emerging and trendy categories better.
Ms. Siber also discusses the growth of fixed gear bikes and fixie culture and lifestyle. The importance of style to the category, she writes, could be very well addressed by outdoor retailers because of their experience with selling fashion and apparel. The perception of different store types’ strengths by casual and urban cyclists is critical to note. IBD’s are still perceived, for the most part, as purveyors of lycra and spandex. As apparel maker Sheila Moon is quoted in the article:
“These customers tend not to expect these types of duds in bike shops. Whenever they think of bike shops and clothing, they think of spandex.”
We definitely saw a noticeable increase in attendance by non-bike dealers this year at Interbike in the form of outdoor recreation and performance sports stores. Bikes continue to be sold in bike shops, mainly, but customers will look to a variety of other stores for apparel. At Interbike, we have tried to directly target this situation with the launch of the Urban Legend fashion show. The concept was to put these casual, urban apparel brands and styles and bikes in front of the industry and retailers to educate them on what’s happening out there.
Now I don’t necessarily take the knee jerk reaction that these new sellers of bike gear are bad for the IBD. As I mentioned earlier here and in previous posts, I think that we need to put bikes in front of the non-cyclists in the places they shop because that’s not necessarily in bike shops. I think we also need to continue to work to soften some of the enthusiast focus of retailers if we want to appeal to a broader audience. That’s not to say that there’s no place for our beloved pro shops. But as for taking advantage of new categories of riders (customers!), we need to address the aspects of our existing retail experience that may be intimidating, at best, or off-putting, at worst, to them. Maybe Shimano’s Coasting project uncovered the right challenges that we need to address, but ended up with the wrong solution. Instead of new displays inside of existing bike dealers, maybe they should have been placed in the habitats of the non-cyclists that we all want to reach. (Heresy?)
I’ll leave with a final quote from the article that is encouraging if only because it seems to equate bike lifestyle with that holy-grail of predominantly non-enthusiast customer categories: surf wear. Only a few short years ago, this statement would have been laughable.
“Much like the surf market, bike style appeals to a demographic far broader than just the enthusiasts. It represents an ethos.”
Aug
11
The strength of the IBD in a tough economy
Filed Under Deep Thoughts, Industry News, Interbike | 3 Comments
Bik Biz, the UK’s bike industry trade publication, has an article out today announcing that July 2009 IBD sales are up 5.8 percent. A “record” sales figure, according the Association of Cycle Traders. Sounds reasonable, given that we’ve been hearing so much lately about how strong the European bike market is this year amid manufacturers’ growing inventory woes as a result of lower bike sales. Bike Biz’s editor, Carlton Reid, even went so far a few months back as to invite the US to send over excess bikes over the pond to meet their demand – and help us Yanks out a bit with our apparent warehouses full of unsold bikes.
But this same article mentions that this growth in sales comes amid a drop in bicycle imports, similar to what we’ve seen in the US. Bicycle Retailer’s August 1 issue reported statistics that describe a drop in US bicycle imports through April 2009 of over 1.3 million units – a 25% percent drop over last year. Bike Biz recently reported the UK import figure as a 35% decrease over the previous year.
So where is the growth in sales coming from? I think it’s easy to see that the growth must be coming from parts, accessories and service sales. With the struggling world economy, people are holding off on buying new bikes, but that same economy is encouraging more bicycle riding as a solution to reduced household budgets. It goes back to last year’s revelations about people pulling out the old 10-speed from the garage and fixing it up to use as a commuter.
While some manufacturers may be struggling in the current economic climate, this is a beautiful thing for cycling and it highlights the strength and value of the independent bicycle dealer to society. There’s a constant discussion (and concern) in the cycling community about the role and future of the brick and mortar bike shop in the internet and big-box retail age: do they add enough value to overcome some of the attractions of the other sales channels? But the very nature of the traditional bike shop is now its strength: the ability to service, repair, revive and sustain bicycles for what ever use its owner intends. I think this real added value is what puts the full service bicycle retailer in a better position than most retailers in other markets to weather these economic storms – and help society in the process.
And like I said, that’s a beautiful thing.
Sep
9
Companies Still Avoiding Social Media Despite Benefits
Filed Under Attendee News, Blogging, Deep Thoughts, Events, Exhibitor News, Industry News, Interbike | 14 Comments
Courtesy of a Basecamp Communications Twitter post this morning, is this interesting article on a survey that was just released on the level of adoption of social media in the corporate world despite the documented benefits that it can provide a company (and its inevitable infiltration regardless of company policy).
The article is super timely since I’ve been working on our new seminar series at this year’s show that will focus on Web 2.0 and Social media for the bike industry. Actually had a great conference call (old-school, I know) yesterday with about half the panelists to get the conversation going (Mike Geraci from Basecamp is one of them, btw). This is going to be a great panel for everyone to attend whether you you think you know all about social media or whether you don’t know that you don’t know.
That last line is key, as we were discussing on the call yesterday: those that don’t know that they don’t know. I think that most us who have been using social media tools for their or their clients’ businesses for some time have seen what it can do whether it’s been a branding exercise, a customer service tool or has added new sales. Many, though, have had challenges in pitching social media to upper management as an important part of the official marketing strategy. Most companies in this day and age have a social media evangelist who “gets it” on the payroll. Maybe they’ve even launched some social media efforts on their own for the company – it’s “invading the workplace by stealth” as the article linked above describes it. Companies need to develop their social media strategies and how they fit into their company’s mission – and employees that get it need tools to help explain it and sell it to their management that may not. The article goes on to mention the ever present technological generation gap and how the next generation will be bringing social media with it to the workplace in a big way – regardless of how ready the company is.
Speaking of social media evangelists, long-time bike industry executive and consultant Rick Vosper, who will be on one of the panels, said he thinks they can be some of the best investments a company can make. I agree.
I’m going to be posting a complete list of the panelists in the next day or two, but they’re all accomplished members of the bike industry or of the social media world. I’m really excited to be working with all these great people and can’t wait to sit in on the talks. I’m really proud that Interbike, with the support of sponsors Sportgenic and our Nielsen BuzzMetrics colleagues, will be able to provide education on such a high tech and timely topic such as this. We’ve also got a survey out to the industry currently looking find out about the online and social media habits of the bike industry and will be presenting the results at the seminars.
The bike community at large has a truly large and vibrant online presence. The industry itself could use a little help in catching up. The seminars will be at 2:30 p.m on Wednesday Sept 24 and Thursday the 25th in Casanova room 601.
Going back to the original topic of the article that I mentioned at the top, how many of your companies have formal social media strategies or policies in place? Is your company’s social media presence by way of the “stealth” mode?
Aug
22
Pre Show Numbers on Schedule to Match or Exceed Last Year’s
Filed Under Attendee News, Cycling, Deep Thoughts, Exhibitor News, Industry News, Interbike | 1 Comment
Sent out a press release yesterday with an update on the show now that we’re a month (!) out from Interbike. I hate focusing on raw numbers since there is so much more to any story than just the stats, but before the show takes place, there’s not much else to use as a predictor.
In most cases, Interbike’s performance is really tied to and is a reflection of the health of the bike industry. This year, the conventional wisdom is that the industry is enjoying a strong period due to the continuing high cost of oil and the increasing acceptance of the bicycle as a legitimate and environmentally friendly mode of transportation.*
Regardless, I think that this year is shaping up to be another stellar show because the bicycle is very vital and present in the consciousness of the population as a means of social change both in terms of financial and environmental impact. Manufacturers and retailers are tuned into this and taking advantage of this opportunity. Add to the business side all of the other elements that take place at Interbike with the parties, riding, fund raising, racing, media coverage, education and networking and we really have the biggest true celebration of the bicycle business in the world.
Maybe not in total raw numbers, but definitely in passion and impact.
Read the release here.
* I’m reminded of something that Tim Blumenthal of Bikes Belong told me recently that we need to be careful to not be smug about the oil situation and gloat about how we are benefiting from the proverbial “pain at the pump” since there is real pain being felt by a lot of real people out there right now.
Jun
30
The Bike Racing Community and Advocacy
Filed Under Advocacy, Deep Thoughts, Interbike, Racing | 3 Comments
I’ve had a feeling for some time now that there is a very large wasted resource in the cycling family when it comes to bike advocacy issues. Maybe “wasted” is too harsh a word, but the fact is, though, that there is a huge group of cyclists that are as passionate about cycling as the most fervent and active advocate, but that don’t appreciate how important – and relevant to them – advocacy efforts are.
I count myself as a part of that group who has seen the light. My entry into cycling was just about riding my college roommate’s bike for fitness, but quickly evolved into cycling competitively. Cycling was a sport – a recreational activity. A very serious one, though, that I devoted an insane percentage of my waking hours thinking – no, obsessing – about, and invested too many dollars in. You may know the feeling…
Racers complain about unsafe drivers, or poor road conditions, but for the most part, our contribution to advocacy has been limited to complaining to the police officer who has pulled us over for not riding single file. Riding, most of the time, involved loading up the roof rack with your bike and driving to a training ride or race. Commuting to work on your bike was a way of getting a few more training miles in.
I’ve given passing thought on how the industry could harness the racing community or at least open their eyes to how impactful and important advocacy is to all cyclists. I remember getting mail from the League of American Wheelmen (the old name of the League of American Bicyclists) back in the day and actually thinking that it had nothing to do with me. That was for those wacky bike nuts. It just never clicked until much later. Advocacy was for those wacky bike nuts. There was and still is a big disconnect between the passion of the typical racer and that of the advocate for cycling rights, access issues and cycling friendly legislation.
So about a week ago, a friend of mine at LeMond Fitness, Eric Stobin, forwarded me a link to an interesting article on VeloNews.com that struck a chord. Rick Crawford, who wrote the article (Circles: Wasting energy in an energy challenged world), expressed a similar train of thought in his piece.
With gas prices so high, I’m looking at the bike quite differently these days. For 32 years now, I have viewed the bike as my sporting medium; my racing tool and speed fix. Rarely have I viewed it as the extremely viable form of transportation that it really is. Now that regular unleaded is more than four bucks a gallon, I don’t take the car for granted. From sheer necessity, the bike has become my primary form of transportation.
Rick goes off on a different tangent from me at this point here about harnessing the power generated by cyclists on exercise bikes and trainers as a new source of renewable energy (sort of like Lance Armstrong in that old ESPN Sports Center ad), but his initial comment on how a bike racer views the purpose of his bike is spot on. So, too, his description of the epiphany that has happened with so many casual or sport cyclists recently. I have to say that many of the new commuters that I notice on the roads are cyclists on road bikes wearing racing outfits. I guess that’s somewhat logical as a cyclist would be more naturally inclined to switch to his bike as a mode of transportation before a non-biker. He also already owns a bike – an important detail if you plan on riding one to work.
I’m not sure of the latest membership numbers for USACycling (the governing boady of racing in the US), but I’m sure that it’s in the multiple tens of thousands. Wouldn’t it be great to get them all involved?
Jun
19
Is More Bike Culture the Answer?
Filed Under Deep Thoughts, Interbike | 11 Comments
I was pleasantly surprised by the fact that the last couple of posts here that dealt with the rise of bike commuting have generated so much interest and feedback. I guess this isn’t surprising considering the attention to commuting by bike that I’m increasingly seeing in all areas of the media (and the huge increase in bike commuters I see on the roads).
One particular comment from Justyna on this recent post made some great points about where she sees the problem with getting more people to commute by bike – and it’s “not about the stuff”, as she puts it. She linked to a post she wrote following her trip to Interbike last year where she caught an interview we did on our “Good Morning Interbike” show from the Media Center with Tim Parr and Sky Yeager of Swobo. (Here’s a link to the video – you’ll have to sit through Ned Overend and John Tomac, Lennard Zinn and Jonathan Vaughters…lots of enthusiast candy in there).
This discussion of what it is that is keeping more Americans from cycling is complicated and very interesting at the same time. Same goes for the issue of why people do cycle already. I don’t want to go through the whole Coasting thing again, but Shimano has spent a lot of time and effort trying figure this out (yes, so they can sell these people more stuff, I know…) and, among many insightful observations from their research, determined that the culture and environment of bike shops is off-putting and intimidating to many non-cyclists.
Justyna wrote that what is needed is more of a “bike culture” here in the States. While more awareness and acceptance of cycling and cyclists by society is always welcome (and what I guess she really means), I would hazard to guess that the nature of the existing bike culture (that most shops are great at nurturing) is one of the reasons that many don’t currently ride. As a commenter on blogger BikeSnobNYC’s great post today, “Get Over It: Surmounting Obstacles to Cycling”, mentions:
No “culture” is as inclusive as it thinks it is. It’s only a few individuals that make it inclusive.
It could be the fear of looking silly in lycra, of complicated bikes, of fixie hipster attitudes, of riding in traffic, of small hard bike seats, of confrontational critical mass’ers, of the arrogant racer shop clerk, of expensive bikes, of not being accepted by experienced cyclists – all these are bike culture components whether real or perceived. What needs to happen is a lessening of some of these cultural components from the general image of cycling held by society at large. As the Snob himself writes:
If I’m hard on the fashionistas and the gear whores, it’s because I think one of the greatest obstacles to new cyclists is the uniform and equipment it seems necessary to own in order to join in the fun. From the outside you’d think you can’t own a fixed-gear bike without having full sleeves and a HED tri-spoke, and that you can’t own a road bike without having an SRM and a pair of wheels that costs over $1,000.
As the Coasting project determined, we (as an industry) have done such a great job of framing cycling as a sport or fitness endevour, that people who just want to ride feel intimidated, or worse, don’t even give cycling a moments consideration. My point (and Bicycle Retailer’s in the article I discussed in my post) on the question of whether bike shops are selling the right bikes, is that (most) bike shops are set up to service the enthusiasts (think the “Lance Effect”, etc.) very well and cater to that culture and as a side effect, turn off many of the non-cyclists who aren’t part of the clique. To these people, a skate shop, fashion boutique a friendly website or even (gasp!) a Wal-Mart or Target could provide a more welcoming environment to take the plunge into cycling. They just want to buy a bike and ride, right?
A final note: I know there are many great shops out there doing a wonderful job at encouraging new cyclists. In my work in the industry, I calculated once that I’ve visited about 350 of the best shops around the country, and have seen many awesome shops and met many passionate cyclists. By no means is this an indictment on all bike shops, but a critical look at ways in which we as an industry can take feedback from a group of outsiders newly interested in being “one of us” and ways we can encourage them.
Enjoy the ride!
Jun
13
Are Bike Shops Selling the Bikes New Bikers Want?
Filed Under Deep Thoughts, Gear, Green Efforts, Interbike | 14 Comments
Great new article (actually, a “Special Report”) in the latest BRAIN that came in a couple of days ago. Matt Wiebe’s story is titled “Alternative Retail Channels Cater to New Cyclists.” It’s a very well written article that brings up some great points for retailers – and manufacturers – some things to chew on. Make sure you read it when it arrives in the mail – it doesn’t seem to exist on BRAIN’s website.
Matt begins with an observation that is probably a very widely held assumption across the industry and biking community currently:
A perfect storm is building of people who cannot afford gas, who realize they have to change their lifestyle to save the planet and believe bikes are the answer.
We’ve all witnessed it: the train in the morning is overflowing with bikes, buses are turning bikers away because the Sportworks on the front is full, and retailers are seeing more people dusting off old bikes and bringing them in for service to start riding to work. More and more politicians and celebrities are being photographed on their bikes and Barack Obama just granted a private meeting with bike industry leaders last night. These are new riders from the proverbial 161 million non-riders we’ve all been trying to reach, right?
As Matt goes on to write, though, the “storm wind should be blowing these new consumers into the nation’s bike shops … but it’s not happening.”
Tim Parr of Swobo supports that statement early in the article by saying, “these new customers cannot find the product they want because it’s not an enthusiast’s bike.” Bicycle dealers are great at serving the needs of enthusiasts but not so much the needs of these new bikers.
I think we can all agree with Matt’s line that “the enthusiast market is not where the growth and excitement is now.”
In addition, alternative retailers and retail channels have sprung up to serve this new, market. These include surf and skate shops, apparel boutiques and – brace yourself – internet direct sales. That last one is a taste of a topic for a whole other post: how retailers are still not fully embracing the internet to grow their businesses and how certain manufacturers are “holding back” retailers from taking advantage of the internet. Talk about a hot button issue…
So what are these bikes that these “neo-bikers” are looking for? How about the urban fixie trend? We’ve all read enough BikeSnobNYC posts and have seen fixies turn up under suburban teens farther and farther away from the city centers where the category was born to know that these are huge. While a few manufacturers have stepped up with models to serve this market (and their dealers with product), for the most part, consumers are forced to look to alternative channels to get what they want. The fixie trend is also bringing with it an opportunity that the bike industry has longed for for eons: a lifestyle market, the likes of which the surf and skate industries have enjoyed since the dawn of their sports. Non-enthusiasts are not going to – or even thinking about – bike shops for this.
Another type of bike that the neo-biker is not finding is a $300-$500 “just-a-bike” bike. Many bike shops have been profiting from $8,000 custom road bike sales over the last 10 years or so and can’t serve the needs of the neo-biker. I can remember my dad balking at paying the $800 for a mountain bike that the shop salesperson proposed years ago when I convinced him to try cycling. He told me that $300 was about what he wanted to pay for a bike to ride around town. We enthusiasts and industry members would consider $800 about right for an entry-level bike. How many people are turned away by the higher than expected prices for bikes.
I don’t want to give away the whole article before you have a chance to read it, but I tend to agree with Matt on so many of these aspects that contribute to the challenge that bike shops apparently are facing in addressing this surge of new riders. From manufacturers increasingly encouraging dealers to make larger commitments to their brands that in turn causes the dealers to lose the ability to change quickly with the market place to non-cycling brands like RVCA (and here from a non-bike blog) and Paul Frank making inroads into the bike market through their networks of non-traditional bike retailers, there are some great points to think about.
What I have seen in my limited exposure to this market is that on the train every day that I commute, I see alot of inappropriate bikes being used. Obviously, they’re all bikes and it’s great that they are being ridden, but I think we can do better for these neo-bikers.
I don’t know, am I wrong?
May
16
It’s Bike to Work Day in SoCal
Filed Under Advocacy, Deep Thoughts, Rides | 4 Comments
As if you didn’t know, bike community members, today is Bike to Work Day in Southern California. I guess other regions have it on different days. Judging by the number of bikes on the train platform this morning, I going to guess that its will be a pretty successful BTWD. The ongoing challenge, of course, is to keep everyone going beginning Monday. MasiGuy’s blog had a comment this morning that describes this well here.
A side effect of BTWD is the crowded trains. I guess it’s a positive sign for cycling, but the 2 racks per car on Metrolink here don’t cut it. There were 5 bikers on my train home last night. Can’t wait for tonight’s crowds.
On a positive note, there happened to be a “market research” person from Metrolink on my car. I commented to her about the need for more racks. She smiled and handed me a survey to fill out and suggested that I use the comment area to mention the problem. Also was able to put down that the bike is my mode of transport pre- and post-train ride. Bonus.
Along with the four other bikes there were four other bikers on the train. Had a nice conversation with one who was on a really nice carbon road bike. He’s definitely one of the industry’s “VIP Customers.” So much so, that after he found out that I worked for Interbike (did the jersey and socks plastered with the logo give it away?), he mentioned that he loves Interbike and goes every year. When I asked him how he gets in, he said that he’s a very good customer of his shop and they get him into the show. Now this volatile topic is worthy of a whole other post, but suffice it to say that if any type consumer should be let into the show, this is it. He doesn’t ask for price lists or deals or sponsorship, knows that the show is for the dealers and manufacturers to conduct their business and he buys everything he sees there from his local shop.
I’m not advocating at all that it’s ok for retailers to do this. They still need to respect the exhibitors and those other retailers who are uncomfortable with this and have expressed a desire to keep the show for the trade only. I do have to admit that this guy’s passion and love of bikes and cycling is strong enough to get him to drive 5 hours each way to Vegas and pay for his own hotel and expenses just to ogle cool new bike gear.
Continuing the trend of interesting conversations that happen when you bike and train to work instead of driving, I met the publisher of Skateboarder magazine this morning (they’re also based in San Juan Capistrano and are the sister mag to Bike magazine). He bikes to work most days of the week. Great talk about the future of traditional media and the web and also nuances of the various core “tribes” within the skate world. Good stuff. Would never happen in a car by yourself.
Finally, here’s one more pic for Carlton Reid (congrats on your award, btw!) who enjoys seeing where people live, work and ride. I was bit early this morning to the train and rode a couple of blocks over from the station to the beach. Another beautiful day to ride.
May
14
The Post-Doping World of Pro Baseball
Filed Under Deep Thoughts, Racing | Comments Off
Doping has been somewhat less of a hot topic lately in the cycling world, but I always find it incredibly interesting to look at the extent of the doping problem in other sports and how the media and public view it as compared to cycling. Mainly it’s because I believe that cycling gets an unfair share of the negative media attention and that there’s a perception by the general public that pro cyclists have been more doped up than other sports’ athletes. Pro baseball, here in the US, has been helping take some of the negative headline burden off of cycling’s shoulders, lately, as a result of some government inquiries, confessions and just plain old “I know steroid use when I see it” skepticism by observers as players bulked up and power hitting numbers skyrocketed since the early 90’s.
I was listening to a sports talk radio show this morning before work and heard some amazing analysis of how pro baseball has changed as a result of (finally) stronger drug testing and the government’s recent Mitchell Report that resulted from investigating the use of drugs in baseball and incriminated many high profile current and former players. While immunity has been granted for the many players named in the report, the statistics for this first season following the release of the report indicate that there has apparently been a strong reaction amongst the players that has led to a dramatic reduction in steroid and HGH usage. As the host of the program said, “when the lights were turned on in the kitchen, all the rats and cockroaches went scurrying for cover.”
The big statistic that struck home for me, was the expected total number of home runs for this season – the home run being the play most likely to be positively affected by an increase in strength. A former Major League Baseball executive, who is now an analyst, said on the program that, at the current pace and about 40 games into a 162-game season, the league will hit 1,000 fewer home runs this year than in 2006. Considering that in ‘06 there was a total of 5,386 home runs, the difference is staggering – nearly a 20% drop.
Additional evidence of a change in drug use is a drop in average pitch speeds and anecdotal evidence of smaller physical stature and more frequent injuries so far this season.
So pro cycling is the only sport that was rampant with dopers? I think not.
Apr
23
Guess the Gas Price…
Filed Under Deep Thoughts, Interbike | 3 Comments
If you guessed “obscene”, you win! (I know, Carlton, it’s still a pittance compared to UK and Euro prices…) And we’re all riding our bikes to work and store so it should be irrelevant, right?
The station around the corner from our office in San Juan Capistrano, California, had these prices posted this week as I walked to lunch. We’re well on our way to $5/gallon and there still seems to be no major shift in driving habits. Minor adjustments and more hybrid car sales, yes. But no major impacts that I can see on true alternatives to car use at this point.
Speaking of shifts in driving habits, at Sea Otter I overheard someone commenting on how places with poor weather seem to have more utilitarian bike use than those places with more agreeable weather. Think Portland, Seattle, New York, Boston… Now think L.A., Miami, Phoenix. Which ones come to mind when you think “city with lots of bike commuters”?