Will Bicycling's Newfound Popularity Flatten?

[XLFD]

You don't regularly use the words "bicycle" and "toilet paper" in the same sentence, unless you're planning for a long tour, but these two nouns have been used together in many articles about what was trending in the months of the Covid-19 pandemic. 

The common theme is that both were sought out (even hoarded) by consumers during the outset of the pandemic, and purchased to the point that the free market could not keep up with the demand-- leading to empty store shelves where the Charmin and Schwinn's used to be, with bicycle shops sold out of their namesake commodity. 

This trend wasn't as pronounced in Michigan since early executive orders allowed bicycle riding but only allowed the opening of bicycle shops only to repair bicycles of critical infrastructure workers.  After the bicycle shops were re-opened with broader conditions in May, the 'toilet paper effect' experienced in most of the country may have already normalized, but bicycles are still a hot commodity due to their scarceness all over.

What caused this effect in the first place?  The coronavirus-led lockdown was experienced throughout the world.  Fitness junkies were locked out of gyms, daily commuters were fearful of public transit, and families were going stir crazy inside their homes due to constantly being homebound together. These reasons amongst others are the reason why there’s been a pandemic bicycling boom not only in America, but worldwide.

Ironically, this boom was happening at the same time that gas was falling to $1 per gallon and after early year projections of lower sales due to recently imposed punitive tariffs against China's bicycle industry suggested even more problems.

By the numbers, sales of adult leisure bikes tripled in April while overall U.S. bike sales, including kids’ and electric-assist bicycles, doubled from the year before, according to market research firm NPD Group, which tracks retail bike sales.

Yet, with most pandemic restrictions gone, will bicycling retain it's draw when everyone sees that gas prices are still low and it's not as dangerous to use public transportation?  Anecdotally, I haven't seen the boom in our area.  I have taken my own bicycle out a few times for excursions to the Ludington State Park and the Scottville area and haven't seen that many in comparison to other years (I should note that the 400 camping sites at the state park remain closed).

I almost ran into one last night on M-116 near the water treatment plant.  An older woman had been riding properly with traffic on the other side of the street, when she apparently saw no other vehicles and cut across to get to a private drive on my side.  I was going at a good pace, and I would have ran into this woman had I not let up and braked as much as I dared.  

Those who do take bicycle riding up as a new hobby have to realize that you need to be aware of all of your surroundings; an error will do a lot more than just body damage to your car, it will in all likelihood wind up with body damage to you.  Ride safe, and let the rest of us know in your comments whether you have seen more or less bicyclists than normal this year.

[Epictetus]

Great observations X. While I agree that biking in and around Ludington has not substantially increased, I have spoken to both of our brick and mortar bike shops who are both stating that they have seen an increase in sales. Whether this is simply a situation of location where they ride versus when I do, not sure. However, I do hope this trend continues to rise so that we could see some more normalization of biking in the streets (Not the Avenue) to improve safety.

[XLFD]

Thanks for the information, Epictetus.  I've since learned that several countries instrumental in bicycles and parts (think China, South Korea, Italy, etc.) shut down their bike manufacturing infrastructure early on  for a couple of weeks or more, unlike in America where the business was deemed essential for the transportation sector.  This led to a break in the supply side worldwide, when the demand side was peaking-- which led to the empty bike shelves at major retailers.

This would most definitely benefit any downtown bike shops who had plenty of bikes and parts in stock to begin with.