People ages 45 to 64 account for 20% of all those over age 7 who rode a bike at least six times last year, according to the National Sporting Goods Association. That's up from 13% a decade ago. Yes, this age bracket is expanding as a percentage of the overall population, but demographics can't tell the whole story. After all, golf--the quintessential 50-plus sport--is moving in reverse, at least in some respects. Last year, for the first time in 60 years, more golf courses shut down than started up, and the number of frequent golfers declined.
The appeal of cycling is most pronounced among the youngest baby boomers (ages 45 to 54), who are also tackling other vigorous leisure activities including hiking and running marathons. Such pursuits embody the active later lifestyle that much of the boomer generation has come to adopt, and which has been embraced as the ad media's new image of older Americans at leisure. Certainly, semi-seniors wake up the morning after a vigorous outing with more aches and pains than they had in their 20s, but the physical benefits exceed the cost.
<idle musing>
Does that mean that all of a sudden I'm doing something trendy? Wow, 45 years after taking up bicycling, I'm involved in a trendy sport!
Actually, my next door neighbors, who haven't had a bicycle in over 40 years, are in the process of buying two. I think this is a very good trend, and hope it lowers the nasty trend towards weight gain and sedentarism amongst boomers.
</idle musing>
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