For most American kids, learning to ride a two-wheeler is a rite of passage. When they’re 9, 10 or 11 years old, a bicycle is their ride into the world beyond their back yard. But most people pass through the rite and roll right on by it.
According to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, only 12 percent of the adult population, or one in eight American adults, rides a bicycle more than five days per month during sport’s most active time of year -€ summer. Willie Bailey, who has been cycling since Jimmy Carter was president, is one of those 12 percent.“It’s sometimes nostalgic on those summer days,” he says. “I feel young again.”