The demographics of people that use bikes in their everyday lives may be changing, but is that a bad thing?. What I do see is an increase in bikes as transportation by people at the lower end of the economic spectrum or who have lost their driving privileges. This is just my perception. The people I see every day in our community are not pretentious or make any effort to "pose" as anything, much less a touring cyclist. I think this is a positive trend.

I disagree about the perception of less bike tourists on the roads, especially on the Pacific Coast Route. I've ridden the entire Pacific Coast route from BC, Canada to Mexico, and shorter portions of it several times. I've also lived on the Oregon Coast and drive Highway 101 frequently. Where the demographics do change is in the age of the cyclists after Labor day. During the summer months there are a lot of students, younger people, and even families riding the route. Once school starts the the age of the riders go up significantly, but I'm not sure there is a major decrease in numbers until the rains start. My wife and I have done many of our shorter tour on the coast after Labor Day; the weather is usually great, and there is less traffic.


I'm not sure what a "real "tourist is, but I've seen a lot who I knew to be bike tourists that did not fit this description. If you saw me riding my touring bike with a couple of panniers on it to the grocery store when I was wearing my work clothes, you would probably classify me as a "bum". Perhaps you may be right