Bicycle

The picture above is my local bike shop, Pro Pedals in Hammonton, New Jersey.

The New York Times recently ran an article about bicycle stores and how they have been affected by coronavirus. As Christina Goldbaum says in the article:

As the coronavirus pandemic shrinks life in major American cities — limiting pastimes and discouraging use of buses and subways — hundreds of thousands of Americans are flocking to one of the most basic forms of mobility: the bicycle.

In March, nationwide sales of bicycles, equipment and repair services nearly doubled compared with the same period last year, according to the N.P.D. Group, a market research company. Sales of commuter and fitness bikes in the same month increased 66 percent, leisure bikes jumped 121 percent, children’s bikes went up 59 percent and electric bikes rose 85 percent.

By the end of April, many stores and distributors had sold out of low-end consumer bikes. Now, the United States is facing a severe bicycle shortage as global supply chains, disrupted by the coronavirus outbreak, scramble to meet the surge in demand.

Here, in New Jersey, bike shops are considered essential businesses, with limits. When listing essential businesses, the state of New Jersey included bike shops:

Bicycle shops, but only to provide service and repair - bicycle shops will open for in-person sales on May 19 at 6 am.

Above is a picture of my bike. Or at least the same model and color -- a Canondale Quck 8. However, I did not take a picture of my actual bike, I just grabbed a picture I found on the web rather than my actual bike.

I am under the impression that, around here, there has not been a surge of customers going to the bike shops. Perhaps the reason for this lack of run on bicycles is because we are in a rural part of New Jersey -- at least rural compared to those living near New York City or Philadelphia.

I have done plenty of walking since the lockdown began. The Pedometer ++ app has helped me keep track of my steps and motivated me to get at least 8ooo steps every day for the last month. Business Insider called it a life changing app. I like it and use it every day, but I am not sure I would go that far in my praise.

Below is a screen shop of the app. The section on the right shows the graphic with confetti flying after you reach your goal. It is amazing to me how, sometimes, the smallest of incentives can motivate me.

Back to the topic of bikes.

I have not ridden my bicycle very much since coronavirus has locked us down. 

I used to ride my bike almost five times a week, but a number of things have changed. For one thing, now, no one goes to work or school during the day, so I do not need to leave the house to talk to people. But the bigger change is that my favorite local coffee shop is now open for takeout only. I used to ride my bike, grab a coffee and bagel and read my book for an hour inside the store. Now that I can not stay in the store with my coffee I do not have much motivation to ride there any more. My son, Michal, by contrast, does like to take two hour long bike rides about once a week to check out nature.