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Gas prices push $4 a gallon. Pasta’s about a buck a pound.

Bikes are cheaper and easier to maintain – and in most cases, buy – than cars. Plus, a trip to and from work doubles as a work out.

Bike commuters list these reasons, sometimes with near-evangelical fervor, when explaining why they choose cycling over driving. Biking for transportation might fall short of a hot trend in Victoria, but those who ride the roads notice more cyclists all the time.

When Dallas McClintock sees cyclists chaining their bikes to the shopping cart corals at H-E-B Plus, she points out the store’s new bike rack, somewhat obscured between carts and a barbecue at the front of the store. She suggested the racks to a manager after she saw more customers and employees riding bikes.

“When I started riding my bike, I noticed customers on their bikes,” said McClintock, 27, who works in customer service at North Navarro Street supermarket. “I noticed there’s a growing trend of people riding their bikes to the store or work.”

The road less traveled

It’s raining as Ethan Ham pedals out the rocky back parking lot of Bill’s Bikes. But Ham isn’t in a hurry to get home, so he won’t take the most direct, 13-mile route. He plans to roll through downtown, take his fixed-gear ride for a spin around a parking garage, meander through neighborhoods and grab a cup of coffee.

Ham answers his cell phone at a deserted neighborhood intersection. A friend can’t believe he’d go for a ride in such awful weather.

“It’s not bad weather,” he said. Earlier in the afternoon, it was bad. But now, the sprinkle dulls the June heat.

“I like it when it’s sunny out,” Ham said. “But when it rains, people drive more cautiously.”

The 17-year-old has worked at Victoria’s only bike shop since his family moved back to Nursery at the start of the summer. He has a car, which he points out cost less to buy and is less reliable than his road bike. So when he took the job at Bill’s, he knew he’d ride his bike roughly 26-miles, round trip, every day.

“I knew riding my bike would be the only way,” Ham says. “It was do or die.”

Ham has advantages over many bike commuters. Though his commute is marathon length, he was confident he could make the daily trip. An older cousin who competes in track and road races hooked Ham on bikes about five years ago. Ham toyed with road racing, but thought it was a great way to suck the fun from an enjoyable pastime.

James Foote committed to bike commuting out of necessity, but flirted with the idea for a while. When he moved to Victoria a year and a half ago, he didn’t have a car.

“The first couple of weeks are the hardest,” Foote said. “You’re kind of freaked out by traffic.”

Foote eased himself into riding his roughly five-mile route from the north side of Mockingbird Drive to the country club by trying to take neighborhood roads when they weren’t busy, he said. Eventually, Foote just got used to the traffic.

Ham smiles and waves when hostile drivers yell out their windows.

“There’s some crazy people,” Ham said. “Since you’re on a bike, you can’t really do anything.”

Most cyclists become comfortable riding in traffic, but that doesn’t mean riding bikes is risk free.

Patrick Hubble started bike commuting about 10 years ago and has split his time between driving and cycling since. Hubble, who teaches Spanish at Memorial High School, has been in two bike wrecks.

A couple of years ago, his front wheel came off. Hubble flew over his handlebars and broke his collar bone.

He was back on his bike again in January 2007.

“It had been cold and rainy for a week,” Hubble said. “Finally, Thursday broke clear and blue and I thought, ‘I’ve got to ride my bike to school.’”

He noticed a car behind him and thought he’d let it pass before he crossed the street. Hubble was blinded by the bright winter sun, so he figured the driver would be, too.

“She hit me from behind,” he said. “I bounced around on the concrete a few times.”

At first he felt mixed anger and disbelief. Then, he felt bad for the driver.

“She was hysterically crying,” Hubble said.

Hubble started riding his bike again only a few months ago.

“I didn’t want to get on the bike because I was scared to death of getting hit by a car,” he said. “I get white knuckles when I get on that part of North Street. I tense up just a bit.”

What made him get back up?

He loves riding his bike.

“I guess it’s just the notoriety,” he said. “And I’m not enclosed in the car. It’s exercise.”

Taking the bike is more convenient than people realize, McClintock said. It’s always ready to go – she never worries if their’s gas in the tank or if the oil’s been changed.

Eventually, some parts break, said Foote, who’s worked on his single-speed yellow and pink bike for about a year and a half. But the beauty is, bikes are almost always easy to fix.

“It’s simple,” Foote said. “Usually you can figure out how things go together by looking at them.”

Riding a bike stirs up a simple joy in many people. It’s a feeling that comes from weaving through back roads to find a short cut. Or finding tools, a pair of shoes or a baseball on the side of the road. Or listening to the whisper of whirring chains while pedaling down a dark street.

“If you’re riding a bike from point A to point B fast as you can, just to get there, just drive,” Ham says.