ORGANIC LIVING
»y
Robert Rodale
BICYCLISTS NEED A TWO-WHEELED MODEL T
What this country needs is a good |25 bicycle.
Bicycles are everywhere. You can’t drive down a city
street or through a park on a nice afternoon these days
without seeing hundreds of cyclists enjoying themselves
by taking advantage of the warm weather after a long
winter hiatus.
Statistics on bicycle sales show that the pastime has
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become so popular that for the first tune since World War
I, two-wheeled transportation has outsold the four-wheel
category. On top of that, adults account for more than half
the new riders. Children are no longer the main users of
bicycles.
As a long-time bicycle rider, I welcome the company.
Bicycle riding has untold advantages for the individual
and pays big dividends in health. When you ride a bicycle
you get around easily and cheaply, without hurting the
environment.
There are, however, problems connected with riding
bicycles that have been highlighted since the new
popularity, such as the fact that bicycles can be
dangerous; riders must share the roadway with faster
moving cars.
The National Safety Council, an organization that keeps
tabs on automobile deaths, reported that for 1973 (the last
year for which statistics are available), bicycle fatalities
totalled 1,150. That’s about five per cent higher than in
1972. The Council believes the total will continue to rise,
even though the number of fatalities per mile ridden will
fall.
Bicycles don’t have to be dangerous. Simple safety
devices like rear-view mirrors can be a big help in
avoiding trouble. Also, a brightly colored pennant
mounted on an antenna can help automobile drivers spot
bike riders more easily.
Benjamin W. Hartley, a high school driving instructor
in Wmchester, N.H., says that the flags now used on many
bicycles are “the only way my car-driving students have
of identifying a bicyclist at sufficient sight range to avoid
road-using conflicts.”
Bicycles can also be equipped with better reflectors and
lights to make them even easier to see, especially at night.
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Lancaster Farming, Saturday. May 3,1975
Night cycling la especially dangerous, and should never
be done for recreation.
But if bicycling is to continue to gain in popularity and
become something more than just evening or weekend
recreation, bikes will have to come down in price. Less-
complicated bicycles will have to be built, sturdier and
• cheaper than the models we now see. If you’ve shopped for
a bicycle recently, you’ll know what I’m talking about.
Walk Into any bike store and you’re faced with a
bewildering array of sophisticated 10-speed machines that
can cost anywhere from $BO to $2OO and more. Even a
bicycle for a child just learning can cost over $5O.
The bicycle has become too specialized. Like a sports
car, bikes break down because they’re not as rugged as
they should be. A breakdown is not a simple matter of
turning a bike on handlebars and seat and doing a quick
repair job yourself. No, a breakdown means a trip back to
the shop and, of course, a bill.
What I would like to see is a sturdy, cheap ($25-$4O)
bicycle offered to the public, capable of being ridden miles
and miles without worrying that the next bump you hit
will cause something to fall off or come loose.
Like Henry Ford’s product, the basic bike could be the
Model T of the future travel world, providing sound
transportation without frills. If a cheap but well-built bike
were put into production, cycling would become a more
widely used alternative to driving.
People in many parts of the world rely on bicycles for
rapid transportation for themselves and goods. And the
sophisticated, expensive bike is not what they use. No,
these basic bikes are simple, rugged and inexpensive. I
think that form of unglamorous transportation could soon
become important here in the United States.
The problem of making the bicycle convenient for
people in hilly places can be solved in another way.
A company has started marketing a small gasoline
engine that fits on the front wheel of bicycles. Instead of
huffing and puffing up steep hills, the motor is started and
helps pull the rider up. At the top, off goes the motor and
the cyclist continues on.
Americans are ingenious in many ways. Some of this
ingenuity could be used to put more bicycles on the road
not for recreation, but for work.
(Editor’s Note: The opinions appearing in “Organic
Living” are those of its author, Robert Rodale, an in
dependent columnist. Rodale’s comments do not
necessarily reflect the thinking of the Lancaster Farming
editor or anyone else on the Lancaster Farming staff.)
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