10 Best U.S. Bike Cities of 2011

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10 Best U.S. Bike Cities of 2011

By Jason Notte     07/21/11 - 08:00 AM EDT

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- You sometimes need to be a Tour de France cyclist to make it easier to get from here to there on a bicycle instead of in a car, but you don't need to climb the Pyrenees to realize it's cheaper on two wheels.

With the average price for a gallon of gas in the U.S. soaring to nearly $4 in May and still at $3.68, or a 35% hike from what drivers paid at the same time last year, low-mileage alternatives are gaining traction and bolstering the ranks of bicycle owners. The National Bicycle Dealers Association says the U.S. adult cycle industry took in $6 billion in sales last year with 13.5 million adult bikes sold. That's a 15% increase from $5.6 billion in sales and 10.2 million bikes sold in 2009, but still down from the $6.1 billion and 14 million bikes in pre-recession 2005.

Sales last year contributed to 39.3 million Americans riding a bike six times or more in 2010, according to the National Sporting Goods Association. That increased ridership 3% from 2009 and has made bicycle commuters of 10% of all riders. Bicycle-buying patterns have shifted as well, with commuter-favored hybrid/cross bikes rising from 14% of the bicycle market in 2005 to 21% last year and road bikes accelerating from 16% of the market a half-decade ago to 23% last year.

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