Bicycle races are cancelled or postponed this year due to the coronavirus. If the Tour de France takes place at all, it will start in September.
Ironically, the coronavirus lockdowns that have halted racing could also help spur a future Tour de France star to take up the sport.
Amid the lockdowns, bike shops (considered essential businesses) are selling out of entry-level and mid-range bikes and are backlogged with repair jobs on bikes that haven’t been ridden in a decade or more.
What is driving this stampede to bike shops?
Locked out of closed gyms and pulled out into the warmer weather, people have rediscovered the precursor to spin classes—riding a bike outside for exercise. Streets have been less trafficked and inviting for cyclists, while sidewalks have transformed into clogged Pac-Man mazes of walkers and runners dodging each other to keep at least six feet away.
The bicycle has also solved the new dilemma of simply getting from one place to another without the threat of catching the coronavirus. Some commuters who have taken public transit in the past have made the decision that riding a bike to the store or work is safer than getting in a moving box filled with people.
Yes, It’s all about the bike for several reasons at the moment, but none to do with racing.
