By Gary J. Boulanger

It wasn’t long ago when most of us used our bicycles as transportation 100 percent of the time. I remember many summers spent riding to soccer practice, the pool, friends’ houses, and the park, even on my paper route. A lot has changed since then, and much of it is for the worse. Juvenile diabetes and obesity have hit a record high, which doesn’t bode well for Junior and his life-long love affair with the bicycle. But take heart; there’s several ways the bicycle industry can turn the ship around. But it’s going to take some unconventional thinking and non-traditional practices to get there.

Effective bicycle advocacy is a multi-faceted effort, and should not be taken lightly. Just like forecasting for the Christmas season or developing a way to drive foot traffic into your store, you must plan the work and work the plan. It’s what fellow Bike Miami Valley board member Phil Hinrichs calls "creating opportunities." By unconventional thinking and non-traditional practices I mean a step back to the simple approach: working with community influencers and the public outside your daily duties, and I don’t mean races or organized rides.

Work with police stations with bicycle patrols; lend a hand with bike rodeos and helmet safety programs in the schools; volunteer your time at the local or state bicycle advocacy office, or assign an employee to help. Provide technical knowledge during a corporate planning meeting to introduce a comprehensive bike-to-work program to local businesses interested in supporting bicycling. Get involved with the local parks system to maintain the bike paths and/or trails. Acquaint yourself with the local media; use your expertise to write newspaper articles and become the go-to person with all things bicycle-related. Use your local advocacy group as a resource for local maps, facilities, and brain power. Because without your best effort and the financial backing of foundations like Bike Miami Valley, people just might (horrors!) lose interest in bicycles, which obviously isn’t good for business.

The weather cannot be changed (or predicted all that well), and a damp, rainy spring usually spells doom for most IBDs. Look beyond the small window of opportunity and think proactively. Awareness doesn’t begin and end with sponsoring a bike race or fundraising ride, it begins with the programs mentioned above and developed by you. It’s the execution of the complete plan that’s going to determine our success as an industry.

And it doesn’t stop there. Find out when city planning meetings are held, and participate. Know in advance, so you can contribute to the plan and voice your opinion. Remember, there’s strength in numbers, so make sure your fellow bike shop owners and local bicycle advocacy group director attend. Network into the community, and don’t think like a "clubber," someone who only talks about a bicycle’s nuts and bolts. Dig into the needs of the city planners and provide statistics on the positive affects of cycling.

Bike Miami Valley board member and Village Cyclery owner Marcia Sauer chairs a subcommittee of the Yellow Springs Ohio Planning Commission - the Bicycle Enhancement Committee - which has just completed a two year, four part comprehensive study of Yellow Springs. They’ve submitted a set of guidelines and recommendations to their Village Council based on principles promoted by the League of American Bicyclists. Part of their endeavor was to apply for and receive "bicycle friendly community" status. Their study is based on what they call the four E's: engineering, education, enforcement and enhancement. Also, 11 years ago Marcia and her husband John Spariosu formed Friends of the Trail, a non-profit organization that works with area park districts, municipalities and other organizations to advocate, promote and protect bicycle corridors and greenways in southwestern Ohio.

Certainly, there are some IBDs who don’t take a shine to advocacy because they can’t see the light through the trees. How many of us have heard `I can’t find good enough help as it is these days, so why would I want to have them giving their time for free to someone else?’ That’s where unconventional thinking comes into the picture.

First, realize who your customer is compared to who they were just 10 years ago. There was no commercial World Wide Web, e-mail, and affordable digital satellite television to suck away saddle time. Sony Playstation was something only nerdy kids did. Now it’s so popular, doctors, lawyers and kids alike are spending inordinate amounts of time working the controls instead of riding their bikes. And this scares me. It should scare all of us.

It’s normal for today’s dual income families to cocoon on weekends after a rat-race week of meetings, clarinet lessons, basketball practice, Girl Scouts, and Lord knows how many other extra activities. The question is, with all this running around, who has time to ride?

My answer: everyone does. Let’s be an industry full of catalysts for healthy change. Let’s educate the public on the wonderful virtues of bicycling. Let’s take it one step at a time, but let’s not drag our feet. Manufacturers and distributors: develop programs to incentivize dealers. Dealers: develop programs to incentivize your employees. Employees: become a shining example to your community by riding your bike to work, reaching out to your community, and sharing your bicycling passion with everyone you meet.

Let’s get Junior fired up for bicycling again. It’s not too late.

© 2001 Bill Communications. Reprinted with permission.