| Squeezed by debt crisis, thousands in Greece dump cars for bicycles |
ATHENS Greece’s dire economic plight has forced thousands of businesses to close, thrown one in five out of work and eroded the living standards of millions. But for bicycle-maker Giorgos Vogiatzis, it’s not all bad news.
The crisis has put cash-strapped Greeks on their bikes - once snubbed as a sign of poverty or just plain risky - and Greek manufacturers are shifting into fast gear.
The high cost of road tax, fuel and repairs is forcing Greeks to ditch their cars in huge numbers. According to government statistics office, the number of cars on Greek roads declined by more than 40 per cent in each of the last two years. Meanwhile, more than 200,000 bikes were sold in 2011, up about a quarter from the previous year.
Shops selling bicycles, and equipment ranging from helmets to knee pads, are spreading fast across the capital, popping up even between souvenir shops on the cobbled pedestrian streets of the touristy Plaka district.
“They’re sprouting up like mushrooms,” said Vogiatzis, who designs and builds tailor-made bicycles in his workshop on the Aegean island of Rhodes.
A former cyclist on Greece’s national team, Vogiatzis opened his business in the mid-80s, combining his love for drawing and mathematics, but only recently watched sales boom from a modest 40 bikes a year to over 350.
“There’s no more money for luxuries and that helps,” said Vogiatzis, who works away furiously with two other staff to meet demand for all sorts of bikes - some lavishly hand-painted in glitter, others flaunting the Greek flag.
“People who were never interested in cycling are buying bikes,” he added. Vogiatzis now exports to seven countries, including Germany and the US, and opened shops across Greece, including in Athens where competition is fierce.
In austerity Greece, the once lowly bike is winning new fans every day, from middle-aged commuters who relied on their cars to those who poked fun at former prime minister George Papanadreou’s penchant for cycling as not being macho enough.
“This is not Berlin. Here it’s risky but you need to start thinking what you’ll cut back on - taxis, the metro,” said Elena Koniaraki, 39, a music saleswoman who joked about sticking a learner’s sign on her back for the first few bumpy rides.
A pay cut two years ago forced Koniaraki to give up her car under a “cash for clunkers” scheme as she could no longer afford to pay the road tax or fill up her tank. She also moved from her house in a leafy northern Athens suburb to the centre.
And to get through a cash squeeze in March, she picked up a second-hand bike for the first time since childhood.
“At first my friends would laugh at me and say: Oh, poverty!” said Koniaraki, who now cycles to work from the foothills of the ancient Acropolis, past shop-gazing tourists in Plaka and through the bustling Syntagma square.
“We’ve never had a bike culture in Greece. Sometimes I’ll leave my local street market on my bike, loaded with bags of tomatoes, and people will stop and wave at me,” she said.
With fuel prices catapulted by tax rises to about 1.72 euros per litre in July - one of the highest rates in Europe - a bike culture may just develop.
Reuters
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