They said the jogging boom wouldn't last. Then along came the London Marathon and everyone, it seemed, was donning trainers and pounding the pavements. A phenomenon turned into a way of life.
This Sunday's London Marathon will be the 28th, a sobering thought for those of us old enough to have run the first, as I did, back in 1981. It's the usual sell-out, with 34,000 lining up at the start, but I won't put putting in an appearance, I'm afraid. Instead, like increasing numbers of people, I'll be out on my bike, getting my endorphin rush that way.
The boom in this kind of cycling – club runs, audaxes, sportives – as well as in commuting by bike is well established. But will it prove to have legs like the jogging boom? In the wake of the success of the Etape (the amateurs' stage of the Tour de France, now in its 16th year), a host of sportives has sprung up in the UK and on the Continent, but it's the rise of the domestic event that is most revealing of the strength of the trend.
The Etape Caledonia, for example, sponsored by The Independent, will draw some 3,000 cyclists to Scotland in mid-May, myself among them. The prospect of roads closed to motorised traffic and full organisational back-up count heavily in its favour, but much smaller rides are flourishing too.
I've also signed up for a 100-mile sportive in the Chilterns in June; the 300 places all went within a fortnight of the event being publicised in February. I did it last year, and it's a wonderful ride, but it's not alone; similar challenges are on offer right across the UK.
Running a marathon, riding an Etape: both are tests of strength, endurance, and willpower. That my own preference is for cycling has something to do with scale. In the four-and-a-half hours it took me to run 26 miles, I can cycle almost three times as far, and the bike opens up a world of sensation that's beyond me at the speed I am capable of running. Plus, being load-bearing exercise, cycling is easier on the knees, an important consideration at my age.
That brings us to economics. For jogging, the only expense involved is a decent pair of trainers. Cycling requires money, at least in terms of start-up costs. I'd say a minimum of £1,000 for the bike, clothes and accessories that you would need to ride a sportive. So it's surely no coincidence that cycling has taken off at a time of economic prosperity, and that it has proved a hit with those in their forties and fifties (the average age of Etape entrants is 44). At this stage in life, it's a sport we can afford. But while an economic downturn won't stop people jogging, it might stop people cycling.
I thought my marathon running days were over. But maybe not...
And the moral is? Buy the bike while you can still afford to (and get one you can use to get to work on when you can no longer afford to run the car - next year, probably). Oh yes, and if you can, come to live in The Netherlands where you're less likely to be mown down by one of the remaining motorists.
Posted by: Nick Carding | Friday, 11 April 2008 at 01:41 PM
Opposite is likely to be the case, Simon. Cycle use will rise when oil prices increase. That is if history repeats itself.
In 1967 the UK bike trade sold 590,000 bikes. In 1975, just after the 73/4 OPEC oil crisis which led to oil embargo to the US, and fuel scares here, bike sales had doubled to 1.1m.
However, I don't like the association: bikes as 'poor man's transport'. Hopefully bike use will rise across all price sectors, including £800+ sportive bikes.
Posted by: Carlton Reid | Tuesday, 15 April 2008 at 11:56 PM
Of course you can spend a packet if you want, but £1000 to be able to ride a sportive? No. There are plenty of decent second-hand bikes out there if you look in the back pages of Cycling Plus; you can pick up a great deal from bike shops who want to get shot of last year's model; or look at the 'For Sale' pages on cycling clubs' own websites. Wiggle do a great line in cheap own-brand clothes and shoes, with a discount if you spend more than £50, and internet surfing will turn up other sites invariably selling something you want (like a nice helmet or saddle bag) cheaper than the rest. I reckon there is no need to spend more than £500 tops.
Posted by: Stuart Hathaway | Thursday, 01 May 2008 at 10:09 PM
Bike, £120 second hand. Replacement wheel, 2 tyres, cassette & chain £100. Shoes, £20 in a sale. Shorts, £10 ditto. Top, £7 ebay. Pump, tools & spares probably came to about £40 max.
So I reckon I did the Etape Cally for under £300, not including the pretty stiff entry fee. If you include extra clothes for training through the winter (keep your eyes open and you get get cycling gear at shops like Lidl and Aldi), and all the bananas, flapjack and fudge I've eaten, it's still well under £400. And I've saved well over £100 in fuel alone so far this year by cycling to work.
You don't often get that much satisfaction per pound.
Posted by: Andy | Thursday, 05 June 2008 at 11:02 PM