Is Your City Cycling?

The growth of cycling in America has challenged retailers, manufacturers and transportation planners over the past 30 years. Urban bike commuting is at an all-time high, and the ranks of amateur racers continue to grow.

In big cities like New York and Chicago, urban cycling often involves fixed gear bikes of custom design with fluorescent chains and spokes. The fat tire cruisers of yesteryear have reappeared as hip, alternative modes of transportation. On the beaches of both coasts and up and down the Rockies, new fat bikes with super-wide tires are all the rage.  

In almost every major city in the U.S., there are bike-share programs that place public rental kiosks at key locations. And in bike racing circles, cyclocross has emerged as the up-and-coming off-road, off-season sport for roadies looking for an edge. The ranks of the master's categories in road racing continue to swell, as newbies and old-timers often outnumber the youngsters of the sport.

More: How Do the USA Cycling Race Categories Work?

So who are these careeners of cross, mashers of mountains, and fashionistas on fixies? Why are people starting to take a bike to work instead of their cars? By tapping a few readily available sources, we can begin to understand this growing culture.

Government Data

One of the most cited resources for bicycle commuting data is the American Community Survey (ACS) from the U.S. Census Bureau. Once part of the 10-year census effort, the ACS is now an annual survey that tracks everything from education, occupation, income and commuting patterns.

Commuting by automobile accounted for more than 75 percent of all modes of transport nationwide last year, according to the ACS, which releases data every December. Users of public transit came in a distant second. Fortunately for us, buried in the data is information on commutes made to work by bicycle.

In 2012, bicyclists made up only 0.56 percent of all commuters nationwide. Although it's a tiny piece of the overall transportation pie, this equates to more than 785,000 bicyclists commuting to work across the U.S. everyday. And that number has grown by more than 98,000 riders in the last four years alone.

In response to this increase, cities like Portland, Oregon, and Boulder, Colorado, have devoted time and money to design and build more efficient bikeways and on-street bike lanes. The League of American Bicyclists annually ranks these and other cities across the country as being "bike friendly" based largely on the extent of this infrastructure.  

More: 8 Cycling Hand Signals for Your Next Group Ride

While it's useful to look at national statistics on cycling, the ACS data can be used to spot neighborhood trends in cycling as well. While exact numbers can't be obtained with certainty due to survey design, one can uncover interesting patterns. The map view below compiles data from more than 74,000 neighborhood areas called "census tracts."  This heat map of the United States shows urban areas where there are high concentrations of bike commuters. The darker red color represents a higher concentration of bike commuters.

 

In popular biking cities, pockets of urban cyclists commute to work in ways that confound bicycle and transportation planners. What motivates a person to battle the traffic and hazards of city commuting?

Regression analysis of ACS commuter data reveals that in cities like Portland and Boulder, more people ride their bicycles to work when their total commute time is under 15 minutes each way. This isn't surprising, as longer commute times would require a greater commitment from a cyclist.

More: Bike to Work: Tips for Your First Commute

Areas where people hold advanced college degrees also tend to have the highest rates of bicycle commuters. Why? Spatial analysis suggests these are communities with universities and hospitals, and tend to have large, well-educated workforces who live in nearby neighborhoods. The example map below depicts census tracts with a high percentage of bicycle commuters (large purple dots) in downtown Denver.  

 

This pattern correlates with the hospital district just east of central downtown and the Auraria campus of the Metropolitan State College at Denver.  A similar pattern emerges in almost every large college town with a resident student population.

More: 6 Safety Tips for Bike Commuters

Bicycle Racing

USA Cycling (USAC) is the governing body for competitive cycling in the United States. Mirroring the growth in bike commuting, the USAC has seen a steady increase in its licensed members over the past decade. This chart shows total USAC licenses issued per year since 2005.  

 

In 2011, USAC licensed a total of 66,721 racers. By 2013, that number declined to 62,680.

The geographic distribution of bicycle racers is more intriguing.  The map below shows the total number of licensed racers by state in 2013 based on membership numbers provided by USAC. States with large populations like California (37 million people) and Texas (26 million people) immediately stand out. Both states are home to several thousand licensed racers.  

 

More: Do I Need a USA Cycling Racing License?

However, if we look at the data in the form of racers per 100,000 population, a different pattern emerges. Colorado, host of the USA Pro Challenge, has far more licensed racers per capita than any other state. Others like Utah, Idaho, Vermont and New Hampshire stand out as cycling hotspots despite smaller populations.

 

Like other fitness trends (http://castagneri.blogspot.com/2013/11/maps-on-health.html), southern and Appalachian states are behind the rest of the country in numbers of both bicycle commuters and licensed racers.

Bicycle Sales and Manufacturing

In the past 30 years, American bicycle companies like Schwinn, Cannondale and Trek have relocated their mass production operations overseas. Historic companies like Worksman still manufacture utility bikes in Queens New York, craft builders like Moots Cycles in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, and Black Sheep Bikes in Fort Collins, Colorado, churn out titanium frames made by hand.

More: Bike Buying Guide: What to Consider When Buying a New Road Bike

If you're in the market for a brand-name carbon-fiber bike, there's a high probability that it'll be made in China. Due to lax copyright laws, Chinese factories churn out thousands of legitimate and illegitimate bike frames for every brand you can imagine. Even the prestigious Pinarello bikes of Italian racing fame are manufactured in Taiwan before they're shipped to Italy and finished by workers there.

If the growing number of bike commuters and licensed racers is any indication, cycling in all forms is undergoing an increase in popularity. But how significant is this growth?  

Consumer Spending

The following table lists the top 17 states for sales in bicycles and related merchandise from the latest economic Census. Mirroring the data on licensed racers, Colorado has the highest retail sales rate of any state in the country. In terms of total volume, stores in California sold more than $1 billion worth of bicycles and accessories in 2007. A future report in 2015 will update this state-level information from the latest Economic Census.

 

More: 10 Best Cities for Cyclists

The monthly retail trade report (also from the Census Bureau) details the sale of sporting goods, which includes bicycles. This sector has grown steadily over the past 10 years despite the recession. Overall, sporting goods grew by more than $1 billion since 2004. That is nearly a 40 percent growth in 10 years.
The annual spikes you see in the chart below are the total sales in December, the biggest retail month of the year.

 

The Future

Data suggests that the future for cyclists is bright. Local governments are investing more money in infrastructure projects such as bike lanes and dedicated paths. Meanwhile, businesses are realizing the benefits of a cycling culture. The national advocacy group People for Bikes released a report in 2013 entitled, "Protected Bike Lanes Mean Business" detailing how the urban cycling culture is supporting businesses in new and unexpected ways.

As Americans begin to realize the environmental and health benefits of cycling, we will see continued growth in both the commuter and racing aspects of the sport. Employers and retailers are already embracing cycling culture as a viable market for business, a means of transportation and for the promotion of public health.

American manufacturers such as SRAM with its 'True 22' shifting technology, and Gates with its 'Carbon Drive', are demonstrating new ingenuity with the re-invention of many bicycle components. Hopefully in the future we will see the makers of high-end racing bikes follow their lead and return to U.S. soil, bringing with them a new heyday in cycling culture.

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