Bekologist

A lot of the talk in Advocacy and Safety involves bicyclists that consider themselves experienced cyclists. I think I am not innacurate in my belief a lot of us that post to this forum are comfortable doing the traffic dance and interacting with motorists. Many of the regular posters would probably would be considered 'enthusiast' cyclists in the cycling industry.

I do not think we represent the majority of cyclists, however, and began thinking about what archtypical bicyclists would be; type of bicyclist, average speed, degree of comfortability in traffic, etc.


I imagine there are reader surveys from bicycling magazine or the like, but those would be weighted towards the 'enthusiast' already; they have chosen to respond to a survey. I've seen a statistic that 65 million americans rode their bikes last year. I wonder where all those people are? And they surely are not all steely eyed, alpha dawg, POWERWEAVE riders like most of the A&S bike forums posters.


I have a vision of the archtypical rider in America.

A person that rode as a kid, but has lately been getting back into cycling. Unsure about traffic negotiation. Considers drivers wild and crazy and traffic being dangerous. Wants to ride more, mabye commute to work, or at least do it more often. Wonders about the virtues of chamois. Conflicted- spandex or no spandex? Average speed: 12 miles an hour.



What is your vision of an archtype of the average cyclist? How would you describe the 'average rider?'

-=(8)=-

I agree with you sentiments 100%
The people who read / post/ debate here are not typical in that they
are probably way more skilled but I also think the minority by a long shot.
The 'average' biker outnumbers the serious type conservatively by ten to one
using my own unscientific, useless, non-quantifiable, personal guessing data.

I think bicycle commuters are the strongest and smartest bicyclists.
Doing time on the front lines daily hones your skills, sensiblities and
survival instincts like nothing else....no books, classes, internet forums etc.....
One year of commuting is worth 5 years of rec. cycling if you use the 'Dog
Years' type scale of measurement.

I couldnt add a thing to your excellent observations except to say that the
'avarage' rider falls for the 'latest-lightest-greatest' stuff a little too much but
this would digress into an off-topic rant so Ill end it here................

Cycliste

I think the average rider (of the 65M) is not as engaged as your archtypical one that fits more the profile of a great number of rather motivated riders we see taking skills/safety classes and/or participate in beginners group rides.
I'd say the average rider could be positioned around the adult who occasionally hits the trail, travel a path on a sunny week-end day or cruises the beach on a rental during a vacation.

PaulH

Average cyclist -- got a bike as a birthday or Christmas present. Bike sits in basement, gets ridden about 50 miles per year, usually on a MUP after driving to it.

Paul

closetbiker

The National Bicycle Dealers Association says,

"Bicycles and related products appeal primarily to a recreation market in the United States. Recent figures cited in an industry trade publication show that 94.5% of those who ride bicycles do so for recreation or fitness, 0.3% for racing, and approximately 5.2% for transportation, a growing market that is important for the industry because it establishes cycling as a legitimate part of the nation’s transportation mix. "

merlin70

The ture enthusiast is a tiny, tiny fraction of the "cycling" population. As stated above most people have a bike in the garage, they take it out maybe 4 times a year when they have time and it's a nice day. Probably ride on the sidewalk or MUP, or within 2 miles of home if not driving to a path.

It continually amazes me that friends, nieghbors and family are dumbfounded by the clipless pedals on my bike. That basic lack of any understanding of bicycling hardware is a basic indicator for me, showing that probably 1% of the population or less has any real knowledge of cycling. Contrast this with golf for example, where probably more like 50%-75% from my experience has at least passable knowledge of the sport and the brands involved.

Rather distressing from an advocacy standpoint but there it is. At the end of the day, cycling is really an ultra-niche sport. I wish it was bigger, but it isn't.

I-Like-To-Bike

I won't comment on your vision, though I believe you are on the right track. There are too many variables and types to consider one archetype as representing the typical cyclist. For example the suggested examples so far ignore probably the largest percentage of cyclists - youth without driver's licenses and adults without the economic means to have access to motorized personal transportation on call.

I do disagree with your assumption that more than a tiny handful of even A & S posters actually practice and rely on "steely eyed, alpha dawg, POWERWEAVE techniques" in real traffic; at least outside the safety of their cyberspace cocoon. I also doubt that more than a handful actually believe that reliance on such techniques are a long term risk reduction measure.

Heck, some people might claim that having a few drinks or totes on weed gives them the right attitude to handle traffic stress; might even seem to work for such people convinced in the magic of self delusion and spacey thoughts. I assume that most posters here (but obviously not all) have more intelligence than to fall for such "techniques.

Roody

Around here there seems to be a bimodal distribution of cyclists.

One large group is utility cyclists. Many of these people ride cheaper mountqin bikes or old 10 speeds. they tend o ride on the sidewalks and, on weekdays, on our crosstown MUP.

Another large group is the weekend warriors. They usually ride inexpensive comfort bikes, but some ride entry level road bikes. They stick almost exclusively to the MUP.

JRA

There is no such thing as an average bicyclist. All bicylists are above average. Bicyclists are almost as varied as the general population.

Club cyclists may think they represent the majority. I seriously doubt that they even come close. They do represent a large portion of the bicycle market because they buy expensive bikes and expensive accessories.

The vast majority of bicyclists that I see ride on the sidewalk at least some of the time, some do almost exclusively.

Many bicyclists ride semi-regularly in good weather, far less in bad weather; ride mostly on residential streets and sidewalks (sometimes on sidewalks on residential streets); ride to get places more than for exercise (may ride to work or to school); neither ride nor own an expensive bike; can negotiate traffic fairly safely but not efficiently; are not highly skilled but not totally incompetent; don't wear spandex and have little in common with anyone who does (may even resent those who do); may have heard of Lance Armstrong but haven't heard of any other cyclists; have an average speed of less than 12 mph; have an average trip distance of a few miles or less; have never heard of bike forums; do not belong to a cycling club; do not subscribe to a bicycling magazine; do not know and may not give a rat's behind what 'paradigm' means; have never heard of LAB or any other cycling organization and are not bicycling advocates.

There are a lot of bicyclists like that. They aren't vocal, organized or highly visible. No one advocates for them. No one knows they exist unless they get mugged (and maybe not even then) or are involved in an accident (and maybe not even then). Some of them have a lot of experience although perhaps not the kind of experience that an experienced high-mileage cyclist™ would appreciate.

There are 2-1/2 million stories in the Gateway City; this has been one of them.

sbhikes

I have no idea what the average cyclist is. I can tell you that it seems to depend where I am.

If I'm in downtown Santa Barbara the average cyclist spans a range from college student to 45-60+ year old guy in T-shirt and Jeans who probably lives on a boat, to spandex warrior, to 22 year old Latino immigrant to little kid on a BMX bike riding with another kid on a skate board. If I go to Ventura I see way more middle-class families with small kids. If I go riding with my recumbent friends the average is the typical recumbent rider stereotype (approx 60, pot belly, gray beard, sandals), but I don't fit that stereotype.

I can tell you for sure that the average cyclist is NOT a bike commuter going to a 9-5 job, nor is the average cyclist an alpha-dogging, center-lane-biasing, powerweaving stickler for the law. Nor, unfortunately is he a woman like me.

Hey, I saw another trike rider (on a Logo) today riding on a street a couple blocks from my house. I hope I see him again. Maybe I'm starting a trend.

joejack951

Interesting question which the answer to no doubt will vary from region to region. In the suburbs, chances are club cyclists might be the dominate cycling group. Based on what I've seen, that is true of my area. In the downtown of a major city, I highly doubt club cyclists are anywhere near the top. Most likely it's just college students or people who can't/don't want to have to drive a car a mile to get somewhere. Keep in mind though, you can't stick a label on someone just based on how they look on one ride. I rode 35 miles this week with my girlfriend recreationally, and might well have been mistaken for a club cyclist. I also commuted 150 miles this week looking like anything from your standard utility cyclist (shorts and t-shirt) to a borderline club cyclist (tighter clothes but with panniers on my bike) depending on how far I was going. My round trips ranged from 1.5 miles to 65 miles.

John E

Coastal San Diego is similar to Santa Barbara in many ways. We have:
1) bicycle commuters who cannot afford cars, including Latino workers;
2) club riders and triathletes-in=training with expensive bikes and clothing;
3) casual beach cruisers, both locals and tourists;
4) a smaller group of folks like me, who do solo recreational cycling and transportation cycling by choice.

genec

Wow, I have and or do fit each one of those catagories...

While in the service and later in college, for about 10 years I was car free... somewhat economically, and somewhat by choice. (I could have afforded a car, but chose not to... it just was too much of a hassle.)

I ride with clubs from time to time... I beach cruise from time to time, and yes, I ride solo and chose to commute by bike. I also have been a long distance cyclo-tourist.

Am I a meta archtype?

John E

Been there ... done that myself, Gene. My wife and I bought our first car when we were 26 years old, a month after closing escrow on our first house.

sbhikes

I once lived in Carlsbad. Nice place. I really liked funky Encinitas. I suppose it's not as funky anymore.

John E

Leucadia, named after a mythological Greek isle of refuge by the English spiritualists who founded it in the 1880s, is by far the funkiest district of Encinitas. Fortunately, it has kept much of its rustic Bohemia-by-the-sea character (including the 1800 square foot 30-year-old plywood-and-drywall beach shack I call home ). Some of the locals sport "Keep Leucadia Funky" bumper stickers. As you probably suspect, the new residential and commercial development is high-end, with tract homes (on smaller lots than mine) in the $1-2M range.

sbhikes

Yes, Leucadia was even more funky. But there wasn't anything there. I almost bought a $3000 trailer in a trailer park in Encinitas. Figured I could put it on my credit card. Good thing I didn't because I soon I had no job and came back home to Santa Barbara.

Bekologist

I-L-T-B, I certainely agree with your assesments about mine and others ignoring the kids and the economically disenfranchised. I forgot to include either. Maybe my archtype is a stereotypical A&S reader?


I think the desire in my original post was to try and determine who an 'average' cyclist is, and who bike advocates should advocate for.

I think advocating from the position of 'POWERWEAVE' techniques serves an extreme minority of cyclists. The needs of the cycling public encompass far greater variety, and a MUCH LOWER common denominator, than what is bandied about in Advocacy and Safety Forums.

Cycing Advocates need to advocate for the needs of the kids, the 7MPH crowd, the senior crowd, the transportation cyclists, not just the steely eyed alpha dawgs of cycling cyberspace.

closetbiker

Although there are far more recreational cyclists, and racer might put in triple my mileage, I'd bet commuters put in the most miles of all of us.

I-Like-To-Bike

Maybe so, maybe not, but playing the total mileage card may or may not merit extra consideration by decision makers when it comes to allocating resources or making law for the benefit of the vast majority of cyclists. Relying on raw mileage data may be counterproductive to a public policy of finding the best means to encourage more cycling and more cyclists. A handful of self proclaimed "Experienced, High Mileage Road Cyclists™" (AKA VC dogma spouting "competent lawful" road/club cyclists) consistently promote their alleged mileage logs as giving them extra influence on all cycling decisions, regardless of how and where those alleged miles are run up. They attempt to essentially stuff the ballot box on issues of transportation, youth and family recreational cycling with their miles run up on group training ride, racing events and club centuries; the type of cycling that probably has little public support for encouraging vis-à-vis transportation, youth and/or family recreational cycling.

closetbiker

Yeah, I dunno.

Racers may have a lot of mileage and experience, but I don't think they rate a blip on a legislatures decision making process. I think recreational cycling needs have but i also think the trend is changing towards transportational cyclists needs. Less trails and more on streets facilities.

I'm dismayed by the push for more things like bike lanes at the expense of bike education, but even more dismayed by the lack of support for traffic law enforcement for all users (what voter is going to endorse a candidate that promises more traffic tickets?)

Still I think council types are recognizing the importatance of transportational cycling because it's an easy way to increase the capacity of city streets and parking spaces without spending a lot of money.

closetbiker

I don't know what an average rider is but here's a good page discussing different cycling types and their behavior.

https://www.kenkifer.com/bikepages/lifestyle/codes.htm

I-Like-To-Bike

I would have to disagree, but only from a cursory knowledge gleaned from the Internet, and I recognize that does not make me an expert on the legislative mind. Almost all the proposed negative legislation I have read about banning cyclists from certain sections of roads or requiring permits to cycle in groups seems to originate from a revulsion to incidents involving the antics/behavior of group rides of "racer" enthusiasts on public highways. I have never heard of any proposal to limit cycling because of too many commuters, youth or individua/small goups of recreational riders. Nor have I read of any real public concern about "lawless" cyclists, except when the motorist/politician is complaining about hoardes of cyclists hogging lanes while "playing" at racing techniques. When informed that such behavior is not against the law, the ranter then proposes various suggestions to make it against the law to behave like the offensive cycling noted.


I believe in some areas such proposals can earn the government extra credits for making efforts at reducing air polution.

randya

Not to mention the avoided costs of road widening to increase capacity.

closetbiker

I'm lucky I live in an area that recognizes cycling and it's positive benefits for society.

From the provincial Governments' website,

and from Vancouver Citys' website,

and in the provincial drivers manual,