Americans Buy More Bikes Than Cars

As May draws to a close, there are only a few lingering days left of Bike Month, and some good news on the bike front. It turns out that in the first quarter of 2009, Americans bought more bikes than cars, about 2.6 million vs. 2.5 million, according to Dennis Markatos, founder of Sustainable Energy Transition, in a blog on the Huffington Post.

Markatos says that even though the economic downturn has also impacted bike sales (they’re down 30 percent from last year) they’re still doing better than car sales (which are currently down 35 percent). What does that mean for Americans? More exercise, less CO2 emissions, and more money in your pocket since you’re not paying for gas. So if you haven’t taken advantage of bike month to tune up your ride, why not try to do so before the month’s end?

Events are still happening this weekend in Sacramento, New York City, Colorado, Austin, and Greenville, among other cities. Visit  the calendar available at the League of American Bicyclists to find events in your area.

To get you inspired, we gathered the bicycle photos from our Intelligent Travel Flickr group. Get riding!