All of these -
Originally Posted by
mtb_addict
It could just be that more people are buying used bikes on Craigslist and Facebook, instead of new bikes at Walmart and Amazon.
Used bike sales don't show up in the market research.
Why pay $100 at Walmart when you can easily use Facebook to find someone in your neighborhood with the same gently used bike for $40.
Originally Posted by
TimothyH
Parents won't let their children ride bikes on public roads because of motorists looking at and talking on their phones.
Half of them know first hand because they do it themselves, but that's the reason anyway.
-Tim-
And especially this one -
Originally Posted by
JW Fas
Fewer kids are playing outside or exercising in general, which worries healthcare professionals everywhere.
Air-conditioning has spoiled a lot of kids. They just don't want to get out side and get hot and dirty during the summer, or cold and wet in the winter.
Originally Posted by
Last ride 76
My daughter (11) was into riding when she learned a few years ago... But now to get to a "safe" (up and back the cul- de -sac isn't enough now that she's older) place to ride we have to throw the bikes into my truck. To ride beyond 300 yds. she has to pass a supermarket, Dunkin' D, Starbucks, McD, Wendy's, 2 gas stations & regular shops, banks and parking lots. Even I'm taking a chance with all the disengaged drivers in a hurry*... And it's not like riding to a friend's is easy anymore, like when I was young.
Can't really fault the kids, in this aspect.
* I've already had 3 VERY close calls of drivers trying to turn and squeak in front of me to get whatever... since the end of March, and I ain't going fast 12-15 mph. (I'm not counting the silly, annoying ones.)
I'm with you on this. The neighborhood where I live is large for the area (deep south, not many large neighborhoods but lots of open country). There is another such nearby neighborhood that is not as large, but that boast some hellish hills that I can easily get to after crossing a 4-lane. If I cover my flat neighborhood and then venture over to that one I can get a decent workout within 8 to 10 miles.
So for me to rack up true "road miles" (as opposed to leisurely hybrid miles in the hood) I have to get out on the rural highways and roads, which raises the risk factors exponentially. To wit: on the rural 4-lane that basically "cradles" my neighborhood at the north and west quadrant, a good friend was hit on his bike by a pickup truck in broad daylight. High viz jersey, flashing tail light, everything. He spent weeks in ICU and has never fully recovery physically - all because one doofus cager had to check his text messages.
That particular road does not have a wide shoulder, however, an adjoining road does. Even so, no thoughtful bicyclist will ride it more than once out of respect for his or her tires. Seriously, the nails, tacks, bits of glass, and other trash would guarantee a flat a mile.
America's love affair with the automobile and the advent of paved roads has some corollary down-sides that we all see, but very few local and state governments truly acts to accommodate the needs of cyclists. My answer to that is to limit my close to home riding to the neighborhood, and transport my bike to less risky settings in the nearby town where there are several decent paths.
Finally, I agree with livedarklions: as a kid I spent all day on my bike during the summers, but it was with my neighborhood gaggle of guy friends and not my parents.
And we lived in a different world in the late 1960's and early 1970's. The same in-town neighborhoods we worked our way through as older kids and early teens are now risky places to walk or cycle because of demographic changes, and the decline of morality and general decency. I wouldn't let my grandkids ride there for fear of an amber alert being issued and my family being the people trapped in the horror.
It may well be the answer to the challenge is not found in less expensive bikes, more effective marketing, or parents taking up cycling with their kids, but in a return to the traditional moral and community values that once made it safe for a kid to leave sight of the house and his parent's watchful eye.