Back to mechanical shifting and rim brakes: My journey

[TobinHatesYou]

A profoundly American POV, but also Lemond had won three TdFs and had his own bike brand before LA won his first pro race. LA's influence is so dramatically overplayed, especially on a global scale.

Here in the USA, the rise and fall in popularity of bike racing rose and fell directly in response to Armstrong's popularity. There were never as many members of USA Cycling or numbers of people participating in USAC races since before and during when Armstrong. The rise in race participation grew year on year until 2012 (when USADA delivered their doping sanctions), and then fell precipitously, dropping by 30% over a 5 year period. This has been refered to by many as the "Lance Affect".

https://www.tobedetermined.cc/journal/s ... ng-in-2019




There is no doubt that Lemond had a big influence within the US cycling community. But Armstrong's backstory (cancer survivor) had an impact on the wider population, bringing in people who otherwise might not have not been in the cycling community.

You should include USCF era numbers as well, and why does TBD’s chart have a Y-axis that starts at 350K. There are quite a few contributors to the downfall of cycling in the US, most significant of which is the dominance of car culture + lack of infrastructure. After that it’s screen time.

My favorite backroads have been widened and expanded. Stoplights have replaced stopsigns. Bicycle-unfriendly traffic calming measures have been added to increasingly dangerous roads. Road surfacing quality has suffered from higher traffic volume of generally heavier cars and not having the funds to use higher quality techniques rather than than simply pouring slurry seal.

[warthog101]

You should include USCF era numbers as well, and why does TBD’s chart have a Y-axis that starts at 350K. There are quite a few contributors to the downfall of cycling in the US, most significant of which is the dominance of car culture + lack of infrastructure. After that it’s screen time.

My favorite backroads have been widened and expanded. Stoplights have replaced stopsigns. Bicycle-unfriendly traffic calming measures have been added to increasingly dangerous roads. Road surfacing quality has suffered from higher traffic volume of generally heavier cars and not having the funds to use higher quality techniques rather than than simply pouring slurry seal.

Similar issue to here. Many are looking at phones or in car devices rather than watching where they are going. It isn't just young people either, all ages.
We also have those who think we have no right to be on the road as we don 't pay registration. Minimum passing distance legislation is in most states in Aust now. Cars need to allow at least 1m when passing at <=60 kmh or 1.5 m >60 kmh. That has helped where I live, many do obey it. However the crowd who believe we have less, or no right to be there, as no registration are infuriated by it and I have had a few deliberate close passes at speed. That does seem to be diminishing over time however.
I am very careful where and when I ride here. I need to know the route and the traffic volume. I have a set number of routes I've scoped out.
Gravel is far safer for new routes. Less cars = less arseholes driving them.

[MarkMcM]

A profoundly American POV, but also Lemond had won three TdFs and had his own bike brand before LA won his first pro race. LA's influence is so dramatically overplayed, especially on a global scale.

Here in the USA, the rise and fall in popularity of bike racing rose and fell directly in response to Armstrong's popularity. There were never as many members of USA Cycling or numbers of people participating in USAC races since before and during when Armstrong. The rise in race participation grew year on year until 2012 (when USADA delivered their doping sanctions), and then fell precipitously, dropping by 30% over a 5 year period. This has been refered to by many as the "Lance Affect".

https://www.tobedetermined.cc/journal/s ... ng-in-2019




There is no doubt that Lemond had a big influence within the US cycling community. But Armstrong's backstory (cancer survivor) had an impact on the wider population, bringing in people who otherwise might not have not been in the cycling community.

You should include USCF era numbers as well, and why does TBD’s chart have a Y-axis that starts at 350K. There are quite a few contributors to the downfall of cycling in the US, most significant of which is the dominance of car culture + lack of infrastructure. After that it’s screen time.

Yes, there are many contributing factors toward the popularity (or unpopularity) of cycling, that have gradually affected cycling population over time. But the interest in bike racing experience a remarkable spike in popularity that started with Armstrong started winning the Tour, and then dropped rapidly after he was banned. The linked article has a link to these previous published article that shows that the USAC membership numbers rose by about 50% from 2000 - 2012 (the rise and fall of Armstrong), then fell off afterwords (https://www.tobedetermined.cc/journal/2 ... ng-in-2018).
What other factors correlate well to the timing (and rapidity) of this spike? Even the linked article, which includes many other statistics regarding USAC bike racing in the US, attributes the spike to Armstrong.

[MikeD]

Cycling participation, in general, is down significantly. Century ride attendance (with some exceptions), is way down around here. Bike club membership too. I think it's not recovered from the pandemic, when bikes were scare and prices shot way up. How many people have $14K to spend on a bike anyways?

[TobinHatesYou]

Cycling participation, in general, is down significantly. Century ride attendance (with some exceptions), is way down around here. Bike club membership too. I think it's not recovered from the pandemic, when bikes were scare and prices shot way up. How many people have $14K to spend on a bike anyways?

USA Cycling racer days went up in 2023, the first time it's gone up since 2012. At least locally the men's fields have improved attendance and higher quality racing than immediately pre-pandemic. Unfortunately the same doesn't apply to the women's fields which are stuck in a deathspiral / negative feedback loop. No one signs up because the fields are too small. The fields are too small because no one signs up. They're all in the same Slack, so all it would take is one person or team to take ownership of the situation and tell everyone to show up for x,y,z races.

[Mr.Gib]

You should include USCF era numbers as well, and why does TBD’s chart have a Y-axis that starts at 350K. There are quite a few contributors to the downfall of cycling in the US, most significant of which is the dominance of car culture + lack of infrastructure. After that it’s screen time.

My favorite backroads have been widened and expanded. Stoplights have replaced stopsigns. Bicycle-unfriendly traffic calming measures have been added to increasingly dangerous roads. Road surfacing quality has suffered from higher traffic volume of generally heavier cars and not having the funds to use higher quality techniques rather than than simply pouring slurry seal.

Similar issue to here. Many are looking at phones or in car devices rather than watching where they are going. It isn't just young people either, all ages.
We also have those who think we have no right to be on the road as we don 't pay registration. Minimum passing distance legislation is in most states in Aust now. Cars need to allow at least 1m when passing at <=60 kmh or 1.5 m >60 kmh. That has helped where I live, many do obey it. However the crowd who believe we have less, or no right to be there, as no registration are infuriated by it and I have had a few deliberate close passes at speed. That does seem to be diminishing over time however.
I am very careful where and when I ride here. I need to know the route and the traffic volume. I have a set number of routes I've scoped out.
Gravel is far safer for new routes. Less cars = less arseholes driving them.

Wow, those are some pretty depressing scenarios. Even my little corner of the world has become busier, but nowhere near as nasty as you describe. A good number of cars here still yield to bikes even when the car has right-of-way (which is its own kind of danger, but we'll take it. )

@TobinHatesYou, I covered most of the best cycling routes between Booneville to the north and Pescadero to the south, over a couple of trips 10 and 13 years ago. Some busy spots in Napa/Sonoma and Marin County, Sausalito was comical with tourists on rental tandems and parking lot traffic density. But I thought the rest was great. I guess the last decade has seen the deterioration accelerate. This change explains a lot about the gravel craze.

[satanas]

Similar issue to here. Many are looking at phones or in car devices rather than watching where they are going. <snip> Minimum passing distance legislation is in most states in Aust now. <snip> (In theory.)
I am very careful where and when I ride here. I need to know the route and the traffic volume. I have a set number of routes I've scoped out.
Gravel is far safer for new routes. Less cars = less arseholes driving them.

Amen, brother. The minimum passing legislation exists theoretically, but there's little chance of any enforcement of anything of benefit to cyclists; against quite possibly, for no.

The density of traffic and impatience of drivers continues to rise here in Sydney. Driver misbehaviour - including outright road rage - is encouraged by the Murdoch gutter press and various talkback radio morons, with nobody arguing otherwise. There's plenty of validation for hostile driver behaviour, unfortunately.

[warthog101]

Similar issue to here. Many are looking at phones or in car devices rather than watching where they are going. <snip> Minimum passing distance legislation is in most states in Aust now. <snip> (In theory.)
I am very careful where and when I ride here. I need to know the route and the traffic volume. I have a set number of routes I've scoped out.
Gravel is far safer for new routes. Less cars = less arseholes driving them.

Amen, brother. The minimum passing legislation exists theoretically, but there's little chance of any enforcement of anything of benefit to cyclists; against quite possibly, for no.

The density of traffic and impatience of drivers continues to rise here in Sydney. Driver misbehaviour - including outright road rage - is encouraged by the Murdoch gutter press and various talkback radio morons, with nobody arguing otherwise. There's plenty of validation for hostile driver behaviour, unfortunately.

Well said. Yes our commercial media legitimises anti-cyclist sentiment.
I can understand in a high traffic density environment like Sydney, MPD legislation is less effective.
I am in country Vic in Bendigo and spend most of my time on quiet rural roads. It has helped here, but not a fix all.
I grew up in Melb but haven't lived there in over 30 years. I doubt it would work well there either.

[robertbb]

Similar issue to here. Many are looking at phones or in car devices rather than watching where they are going. It isn't just young people either, all ages.
We also have those who think we have no right to be on the road as we don 't pay registration. Minimum passing distance legislation is in most states in Aust now. Cars need to allow at least 1m when passing at <=60 kmh or 1.5 m >60 kmh. That has helped where I live, many do obey it. However the crowd who believe we have less, or no right to be there, as no registration are infuriated by it and I have had a few deliberate close passes at speed. That does seem to be diminishing over time however.
I am very careful where and when I ride here. I need to know the route and the traffic volume. I have a set number of routes I've scoped out.
Gravel is far safer for new routes. Less cars = less arseholes driving them.

I'm also in Vic (Melb). My partner won't let me ride on the road, and I totally understand her trepidation. It's insane here. Totally insane. We're going to start a family soon and my obligations as partner and future father obviously require more consideration than 5-6 years ago when I was a bachelor and life revolved around road cycling and any risks were my own to bear.

I haven't quite reached the point where I am ready to part with my road bike, but it's a mental thing, as road is what was my original passion and it's hard to let go. That said there are a lot of tarmac/gucci-gravel rail trails and connecting linear parks throughout the Eastern and North-Eastern suburbs here (quite surprising I've lived here my whole life and only discovered them when looking for other places to ride) and one can ride practically endlessly and not come into contact with any cars. I've been exploring them on a flat-bar v-brake bike I got off gumtree and converted to 1x XT on the cheap. I'm close to ready to pick up a gravel bike and that may be the thing that pushes me over the edge to flip the roadie for good.

[warthog101]

I'm also in Vic (Melb).

Sent a pm with someone to follow on Strava who may give you some ideas for routes but reading your post again, you may already be onto where he rides.
Good luck sarting a family. Awesome fun having kids, gives life more meaning too imo.

[satanas]

So, I haven't ridden in Melbourne for ~10 years, but always thought the drivers were much less aggro down there. The tram lines definitely don't help though.

[robertbb]

So, I haven't ridden in Melbourne for ~10 years, but always thought the drivers were much less aggro down there. The tram lines definitely don't help though.

That was before lockdowns Everyone woke up angry and out for vengeance. Still so.

[basilic]

Just for contrast, where I ride most (Switz., France) there are 2 big positives for cyclists:
- a good network of small rural roads that don't see much traffic. Maybe they were dirt 50 yrs ago, but they're paved now, even if not maintained very well. This is less so in the mountains where there is no space.
- most people have ridden a bike as kids, and can remember learning to ride a balance bike at age 6 or whatever. Then the bike gave access to friends, exploraion, independence (no car until age 18). So there is a positive connotation and some goodwill even among people who haven't touched a bike in a long time.

Of course this is the rosy picture, some roads are horrible, some drivers are ****** as everywhere. But as someone said above, structure structures.

PS bike racing is uncommon, it's something you watch on tv in July

[spokenwords]

Dont have any idea how this thread turned into a discussion on USCF but I want to chime in on one BIG reason why the number of members peak and valley and that is the organization itself. When cycling gets wider coverage in the media (Lemond, Armstrong) people join for a season or two. It takes that long for people to realize two things: USA Cycling is a waste of money and bike racing is hard. At least when it was called USCF you got a cool sticker but that was about it. None of us ever saw any value in joining. Some of the best races I ever did were sactioned by a USCF competitor (I think it was called ABR) and they provided all that was needed while keeping the costs down. Miss those days.
Many factors are involved, most of which have been mentioned, but I put a lot of blame on USA Cycling themselves.