Back to the Bike

Rich Carman has his habits— riding his bicycle is one of them. For years, be it here in the United States or overseas when he was in the military, Carman has made sure to ride his bike and stay healthy. The tracks and trails may change, but the tradition holds true.

For the last year or so, Carman has biked around the paved trail at Nathan Benderson Park two to three times a week. These days, Carman has noticed the familiar track has been busier. Where there was once intermittent crowds, the sidewalks and trail areas are now more populated with joggers, roller blades, gym rats, and, most notably, bicyclists.

“You have to be more careful,” he said. “Some of the hardcore bikers come out and are speeding but you have people pushing strollers, people out for casual walks, and you’re out on a bike trying to get around them.”

The cause is somewhat obvious. As social distancing guidelines and lockdown restrictions have reached Florida, the typical avenues for exercise such as gyms, swimming pools and group classes have fallen by the wayside. What’s left is mostly solo, cardio-based forms of exercise, and bicycles can be an exciting way of doing that.

It’s been an unusually active time, if you hear bike shop owners talk about it. Sarasota Cycle has been in operation for more than 50 years, and owner David Holm says it’s much busier than usual.

“Normally this time of year, people are starting to go back north and we see things starting to taper off. But that's not the case right now," he said. "The gyms are all closed … they're bringing out the old bikes and getting them serviced and getting them back on the road.”

The real surge has been in repairs. Holm said it’s the busiest time for repairs he’s ever had.  Sarasota Cycle staff have most been fixing flat tires, with an average of 25 to 30 fixed a day — a marked increase from a typical six to 10 tires in past Aprils.

“We’re seeing bikes that haven’t seen the light of day in 10 years,” Holm said. 

Those repairs are done on the spot, but any further work has to be made by appointment. As of mid-April, the store is booked a month in advance.

Some locals are taking bikes out that are so old, they’re not worth fixing. The new bikes are available, but Holm says it’s hard for his staff to keep up with demand. There’s only so many hours in the day to assemble the new bicycles.

“There's six of us here and we just can't get it all done,” Holm said. ”We have repairs to get done … that cuts into our time to assemble new ones.”

Michael Weatherby, owner of Freedom 4 Electric Bike company, meanwhile is opting for an appointment system to sell his shop’s electric bikes. He believes his shop’s electric bicycles — which have a pedal-assist function  — allow people to travel across more of the outdoors without getting exhausted.

“It’s actually been pretty successful,” Weatherby.  “Because people are, how should I say this? ‘Bored out of their minds’ .... (with an electric bike) you don’t have to huff and puff, you can bike all you want."