Some Take Gas Prices In Stride Cyclists Keep Pace With Inflation

Ian Ledlin has the oil companies beat.

Let others curse near-record gasoline prices. Ledlin’s transportation costs have not budged.

What’s more, the Spokane attorney gets from his South Hill home to his downtown law office faster than commuters stuck in traffic.

For every 90 Spokane residents who take a car to work, someone like Ledlin arrives on a bicycle, sweaty but invigorated.

“I feel great when I get to work, especially when I can take a longer ride” than the five-mile direct route, said Ledlin, 53, who started commuting by bicycle in 1981.

He and other cyclists should be a little less lonely next week. As part of a statewide effort to clean the air, ease congestion and curb gas consumption, Spokane County has designated May 13-17 as Bike to Work Week.

The county is providing major employers with patch kits, water bottles and other prizes for those who use two wheels instead of four. Those trinkets may work as incentives; the increasing cost of driving apparently has not.

The average price for a gallon of unleaded gasoline in Spokane was $1.45 on Wednesday, a penny less than the all-time high, according to the American Automobile Association’s weekly survey. The price has risen 6 cents in two weeks, nearly 40 cents in two months.

Still, “I haven’t seen anybody come in yet looking for a bike because of gas prices,” said Bill Bland, a salesman at Spokane’s Two Wheel Transit.

Nor do state planners foresee a big switch from petro power to pedal power in the next two decades. The Transportation Commission suggests spending $17.1 billion on state highways during the next 20 years; less than 1 percent would go toward making them safer for bicyclists.

That may sound meager, but anything specifically earmarked for bikes is an improvement over past decades, said Margaret Watson, a member of the city of Spokane’s Bicycle Advisory Board.

All states have recognized bikes as road-worthy vehicles for at least 30 years, Watson noted. But it’s only been five years since Congress first required states to plan for bikes to share the road with cars.

These days, Watson sees more road projects that include space for bikes and more engineers who are sensitive to the concerns of cyclists.

But Spokane still is short of bike lanes, Watson said. And many lanes are too littered with gravel, broken glass, parked cars and other hazards to be safe.

“Who wants to stop on the way to work to fix a flat tire?” she asked.

Advocates say getting to work on a bike isn’t as tough as it sounds. But it does take creativity.

People who must wear suits can carry them in special bags or take them to work on one of the days they drive.

Commuters who don’t have access to showers can leave home early enough to make the ride leisurely instead of strenuously.

Or they can rely on Spokane Transit Authority to carry them and their bikes to work - each bus has a bike rack. Then they can pedal home when it doesn’t matter if they get sweaty.

Reverse the order of that bike-bus combo, and a South Hill resident can pedal downhill in the morning and ride the bus uphill at night.

Learning to get along with cars is a little tougher.

“If a cyclist obeys the rules of the road and is confident, normally you can mix with traffic without any problems,” said Ledlin.

But he and other cyclists said their commutes would be less harried if all drivers were bike-friendly.

In a typical year, more than 1,400 Washington bicyclists are hit by cars, according to state statistics. Seventy-one of them die. Those figures include children and cyclists who aren’t wearing helmets or obeying traffic rules, as well as commuters doing everything right.

“I probably don’t have a week go by that I don’t have somebody at least yell at me,” said Steve Sauser, who rides to work every day, no matter what the weather.

Sauser, president of the Spokane Bike Club, said he’s had drivers pass within a few inches of his bike when there’s plenty of room to go around. Some come up behind him and lean on the horn.

Eileen Hyatt, chairwoman of the Bicycle Advisory Board, said some of the hostility may stem from the misconception that bikers are getting something for nothing.

While it’s true that a person riding a bike is not paying the state gasoline tax, Hyatt notes that most cyclists are also motorists. She typically pedals to work about twice a week, driving - and paying the gas tax - the other three days.

Besides, she noted, the gas tax falls far short of the cost of maintaining and building roads. The difference comes primarily from property taxes, “so people who don’t drive are subsidizing those who do,” she said.

Hyatt said she enjoys knowing there’s one less car on the road on the days she rides a bike. And she likes saving money (her insurance agent sliced $100 off Hyatt’s bill last year because her car was driven so few miles).

But she would probably pedal to work and on errands even without those benefits.

“We all do things primarily because we find them pleasurable,” she said.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color photo Graphic: Getting to work

MEMO: BICYCLE COMMUNTERS Various local agencies, bicycle shops and clubs are hosting a bicycle commuting fair 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at Spokane Transit Authority’s downtown bus station. The fair includes clinics on bike repairs, equipment and safety. For information, call 456-4727, extension 115.