A new book about bicycling?s boom (and bust) has lessons for today?s riders and planners While the U.S. isn?t the cycle-mad Netherlands?yet?recent news may suggest we?re entering a bike-riding renaissance. Biking has become a quickly growing (albeit still relatively tiny) part of the daily commute for more Americans. Bike-share systems continue to expand, and the addition of new bike infrastructure and e-bikes promises to turn more drivers into riders.
But today?s burst in cycling enthusiasm isn?t the first time that the U.S. has seen the two-wheel commute suddenly take off. In fact, it?s an echo of a short burst of bicycling excitement that took hold of the country in the early ?70s. As journalist Carlton Reid points out in a chapter of his new book, Bike Boom: The Unexpected Resurgence of Cycling, in many ways, we?ve been here before. The U.S., a country often scoffed at for its car-first mindset, found itself in the midst of a two-wheeled frenzy in the early ?70s. According to Reid?s extensive research, which also covers a similar cycling resurgence in the U.K., the media hyped the frenzy with the kind of language akin to reporting iPhone sales. In 1971, Time noted that the U.S. was riding ?the bicycle?s biggest wave of popularity in its 154-year history,? and that 64 million Americans were regularly using bikes.

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Peter Cohen of the University of Colorado leads 260 cyclists in the 1970 Bike Hi...