State-Journal.com - Cheaper, happier, healthier

Photo By State Journal/Hilly SchifferShannon Gale, 33, owner of the Frankfort School of Ballet, rides her Electra Townie bike on Broadway to her studio. Gale said she started riding her bike to work a year and a half ago because she thought it was an environmentally friendly way to get around. “At first I was terrified to ride it, but now I do it for enjoyment,” she said.

Larry Cleveland and David Garnett still wear suits and ties to work. But they've changed their method of getting there.

Both live in South Frankfort and have started bicycle commuting to work. Cleveland is commonwealth's attorney and Garnett is assistant county attorney.

Cleveland, 56, says his wife, Lisa, 42, was the catalyst for him to start cycling or walking to work rather than driving.

The Clevelands live on Shelby Street in the block by the floodwall, and Lisa, director of communications for The Kentucky Historical Society, works in the Thomas D. Clark Center for Kentucky History on Broadway.

The first time a gas fill-up in her BMW went over $50 - when the gauge wasn't on empty at the start - was the tipping point for Lisa deciding to bicycle commute.

"It was painful," she says about the high price of gas.

But biking or walking the short distance to work - less than a mile - is more about wanting to be physically active than saving gas, she says.

She was already into fitness, running three miles four times a week.

"I'm just trying to change my way of thinking " automatically getting in a car and going places vs. walking or bicycling," she says. "We could have been doing this for a long time. Any exercise you can do, even if it's just a short distance, is better than not at all."

They went to Capital City Cycles Bicycle Shop on Versailles Road, and found identical-looking silver Schwinn hybrid bicycles.

"It's so much quicker to ride a bike to work than to drive," Larry Cleveland says.

They've been bicycle commuting about six weeks, and enjoy riding bikes in the downtown and South Frankfort area after work for recreation and to restaurants.

"It's good exercise," Larry Cleveland says. "I feel I've already lost weight. It gets my blood pumping in the mornings and I'm ready to go to work. I feel less wasteful and there are no carbon emissions."

Since Lisa started cycling, she says she's noticed more bicycles and scooters on the streets.

"I think more people are exploring it as an option," Lisa Cleveland says. "We stop and talk to people, and there's a nice community feeling about it. I think bicycling makes you feel a little more connected to the community in a strange sort of way."

Larry Cleveland says he would like to see bike lanes in the city. A not so enjoyable part of cycling is riding across the narrow Singing Bridge and having cars pass you, he says.

A smaller carbon footprint

Garnett, a South Frankfort resident and former chairman of the Frankfort/Franklin County Planning Commission, started riding his 24-speed hybrid bicycle to work two or three days a week in April after he totaled his car in a wreck near Switzer.

Since then, the bicycle has reduced his trips to the gas pump from three to two times a month, he says, "and I'm reducing my carbon footprint out the wazoo."

An extra benefit besides the savings on gas is "losing weight," Garnett says. "I'm fitting into clothes I haven't been able to wear in several years."

He says he bought his bicycle with a gift certificate he received when he retired as executive director of the Kentucky Motor Vehicle Commission in 2006. It's been a much better gift than a set of golf clubs, he says.

Staying safe

Woodson Smith, a longtime cyclist and occasional bicycle commuter, walks to work most of the time from his 4th Street home to PlanGraphics on East Main where he is a manager.

"I am noticing a lot more people riding around town on bicycles, probably because of the price of gasoline," he says. "That's good, except some of them haven't been on a bike in a long time and probably aren't quite sure what their rights and responsibilities are."

Smith says he's seen cyclists "riding against traffic or swerving erratically on and off sidewalks. I think this increases the likelihood of conflicts between cars and bikes. One of the key things to being safe is to be predictable and if you're in a car you're not expecting a bike to be coming against traffic.

"It's a great thing that more people are getting out on bicycles but I would just hate to see somebody get hurt or have a bad conflict with a driver."

He also believes all cyclists should wear helmets.

Following through

Jane Purcell, 43, a chemist in the toxicology section at the Kentucky State Police Crime Lab, made a 2008 New Year's resolution to start bicycle commuting to work at least twice a week.

A resident of East Main across from Kentucky State University, she bought a Specialized mountain bike and followed through with her resolution in April.

She says she rides on sidewalks some and stays off Martin Luther King Boulevard as much as possible because it's dangerous for cyclists around the state Cabinet for Families and Children complex and the Glenns Creek intersection at the East-West Connector.

Purcell's route includes passing Hillcrest, the KSU president's home, turning on Athletic Drive and cutting through the First City Complex, and taking a narrow path over to the Connector. Then she has to ride only a quarter-mile on the Connector to get to Sower Boulevard. The distance is about two miles.

"It doesn't take much longer than in a car," she says. "I like it because it gets the blood flowing before I get to work. It does give you energy. It's good exercise and it's just fun."

Better health was more of an incentive for her to start cycling than high gas prices, and Purcell says she's in it for the long haul. She plans to get involved in Walk/Bike Frankfort to help make roads and sidewalks safer and more enjoyable for cyclists and pedestrians.

An easy ride

Shannon Gale, director of the Frankfort School of Ballet, has been commuting to work from Fannin Court in South Frankfort for about two years on her pink Electra Townie bike.

It has silver fenders, a matching basket large enough to carry a watermelon from the Farmers Market, seven easy-to-shift gears and a non-slip chain.

Gale, 33, says she never learned how to shift gears on a bicycle as a child, so the Townie was a good choice for her and requires less maintenance.

She's seen an increase in bicycle riding and hopes it's not just a fad.

"I was really an anomaly when I started riding," Gale says. "Now most people I know who live in South Frankfort or downtown ride a bike. It makes getting to work so much more enjoyable than sitting in a car in traffic. It's fun to feel the wind in your face. It's good for your health and being a dance teacher, it helps keep me in shape."

She says Frankfort is a friendly town, "and there is a sense of community built around people who ride bikes. We have wonderful parks too," and Walk/Bike Frankfort working with local governments to connect parks by bicycle-pedestrian paths is exciting, she says.

Caught in the rain

At least once a week since May, Lawrenceburg resident Steve Royalty, 48, has been riding his Specialized road bike on U.S. 127 to work in Frankfort. He's an accountant with the state Cabinet for Families and Children.

He says he decided to try the 16-mile commute because he enjoys riding, it saves gas and is great exercise. He saves about $6 a day in gas, plus wear and tear on his car, every time he cycles to work, he says.

Although he faithfully checks the weather forecast, he has been caught in a surprise but light rain shower. He's also had a flat tire, but a call to his office brought a co-worker to pick him up.

He gets to work about 7 a.m. and changes from his bicycling attire to business clothes. He's been a cyclist for almost 10 years and believes it helped him recover from a heart attack in 2001.

Royalty, also a basketball coach at Anderson County Middle School, says he will continue his weekly bicycle commute until basketball practice begins.

Going the scooter route

Alicia New, owner of A New Day Spa and Salon in the 300 block of St. Clair Street, doesn't have to drive or ride a bicycle to work since she lives in an apartment above her business.

But to reduce her gasoline consumption when she does have to get "out of the (downtown) bowl" quickly, she recently purchased a new red Roketa scooter for $795 at the Peddlers Mall in Frankfort.

She says it will go 45 mph and "I spend $2 a week on gas. It's been a very good conversation piece and I've met so many new friends since I bought it."

She was riding a bicycle before getting her scooter and has just started a bicycle rental service at her shop. She has two mountain bikes - each for $20 a day - "for those who want to play and see the town."

"For the serious bikers, I send them to Capital City Cycles," which has eight hybrids and eight road bikes to rent at $20 and $25 a day, respectively.

Sales are up

Troy Hearn, owner of Capital City Cycles that opened 10 months ago, says sales are about 40 percent higher than he expected, but the high cost of gas is "just a piece of the puzzle, a small part of it."

People who have had bicycles sitting idle in their garages or basements for years are starting to bring them in for maintenance and tune-ups, he says.

He was general manager of Pedal the Planet, Lexington's largest bicycle shop, before opening his own store. He's seen a jump in sales of hybrid/commuter bicycles.

"This is the first year I've seen people actually (buying bikes to commute) as opposed to talking about doing it," Hearn says.

He says he's no economist but a mild recession is good for the bike industry.

A Frankfort native, Hearn, 40, now lives in Lexington and bicycle commutes 29 miles to his shop two or three times a week. It takes him about an hour and 40 minutes to get there.

While high gas prices help his business some, Hearn says stores that sell scooters and mopeds "are doing a booming business." And when gas goes to $5 a gallon next summer, it will help bike and scooter sales even more, he says.