Across the United States and right here in Southeast Missouri, bicycle sales are off the chain.

"We've been here 43 years, and this is the highest sales demand and repair volume we've seen -- ever," said Eric Gooden, owner of Cape Bicycle and Fitness. "The news is using the term 'unprecedented' a lot, and this is truly unprecedented."

During the first two Saturdays in May, Gooden said the shop saw the highest traffic count in its history. At his store at 2410 William St. in Cape Girardeau on Thursday, Gooden said sales this year had more than doubled 2019 figures.

The shop has been doing so well, in fact, Gooden said he doubled salaries for all employees for the month of May. Cape Bicycle and Fitness employs about three full-time and three part-time workers, he said.

"I can't do that year-round, but I'm glad that while we have the opportunity and the business, we can do that," he said. "We've seen a huge increase in sales, and my guys have put in tremendous amounts of work and hours."

A sign with social-distancing instructions is seen Thursday at CYCLEWERX in Cape Girardeau.Jacob Wiegand

Don Hinkebein, manager at Cape Bicycle and Fitness, said he's been working 10 to 12 hours each day and often six days a week. Asked whether he's getting tired of the grind, Hinkebein smiled.

"You don't do this if you don't love bikes and biking," he said. "And everybody's in a great mood. It's been a wonderful experience."

Another bicycle shop in Cape Girardeau reported similar increases as a result of the "overwhelming, instant demand" for bicycles, as John Dodd described it.

Dodd, owner of CYCLEWERX at 1407 N. Kingshighway, said recent sales had "not quite doubled" over last year's figures. Where he might sell between 20 and 30 bikes a week during seasons with pleasant weather, Dodd said current weekly sales have been closer to 50 bicycles.

Asked whether he believed the increase in demand was directly related to the coronavirus, Gooden said, "I have no idea."

"I'm just going to call it 'the perfect storm,'" he said. "I think people are wanting to get outside, and obviously, bicycling is a great exercise with the COVID situation; I think people feel safe with spacing and there's probably been some pent-up demand to get going."

CYCLEWERX owner John Dodd of Cape Girardeau works on a bike Thursday at the shop, 1407 N. Kingshighway in Cape Girardeau.Jacob Wiegand

Recycling trends

The local demand for bicycles looks remarkably similar to national trends.

In mid-May, the New York Times reported nationwide sales of bicycles and equipment, as well as repair services, had nearly doubled over the same period in 2019. By category, the Times stated sales of commuter and fitness bikes had geared up by 66%, leisure bikes had soared by 121%, children's bikes climbed by 59% and electric bikes had risen by 85%.

On Thursday, Gooden said he remembered a similar demand for cycles in the United States.

"The United States experienced a huge bike boom," he said of a period in the early 1970s.

"That was very similar to this time period," he said, "but this feels worse, busier."

Gooden said he was 15 years old during the "boom" and working in a bike shop. Thinking back to that time, he said the bikes were back-ordered.

"We'd get a phone call and they'd see which shop had it coming in the soonest and then come give you a deposit and say, 'Call me when it comes in,'" he said.

He recalled a few companies joined the bike-selling "bandwagon" during the height of the '70s cycling trend such as John Deere, Browning and Panasonic. "And then in two more years, they were out," he said.

In 1973, there were roughly 15.2 million bicycle sales in the United States, according to the National Bicycle Dealers Association, a not-for-profit organization that offers education, research, communication and advocacy to dealers. Ten years later, that figure had dropped to about 9 million.

Some patience required

With record-breaking business come some delays, Gooden said, and customers may need to wait a bit longer than they typically would.

In its four decades of business, Gooden said Cape Bicycle and Fitness has never scheduled repairs for more than seven days -- and that's still true now, the shop owner said, noting they are "just doing whatever we have to do to get them done."

Dodd also services bicycles, and as he discussed recent industry trends Thursday morning, dozens of repaired bikes lined the store's interior waiting to be picked up by their owners.

In one recent weekend alone, Dodd said CYCLEWERX took in 35 to 40 bikes for repairs.

"I'm probably working 65 or 70 hours a week just to not get further behind," Dodd said. "We generally try to do a two-day maximum turnaround, and [now] we're probably at a week to a week and a half."

To keep up, Dodd has had extra hands on deck to help with services and repairs but noted that help was on a volunteer basis by friends of the shop.

Cape Bicycle and Fitness has also seen extraordinary support to meet its customer demand. Gooden said three former employees who worked for the shop more than 25 years ago have returned to help build bikes.

"These guys, they've moved on, they've got careers and full-time salaries elsewhere, and they've been kind enough to come in and put a significant amount of time in," Gooden said, "which I just can't tell you how much I appreciate."

Those buying new bikes at Cape Bicycle and Fitness should have "a little more patience" regarding availability and set up, Gooden said.

"We're going to spend approximately an hour doing a good job of building a bike, some maybe a little less, some maybe a little bit more," he said. "We are selling bikes faster than, frankly, we can put them together."

Higher demand for lower-priced cycles

The bicycles most affected by the demand, the shop owners agreed, are bikes in the lower price range or those priced at $1,000 or under.

As an example of that demand, Gooden referenced Giant Bicycles, the world's largest bicycle manufacturer, which he said has warehouses in California, Illinois and New Jersey.

"Each warehouse serves a third of the United States," Gooden said, noting they hold "thousands and thousands" of bicycles. "Three weeks ago, all those warehouses were cleaned out of all bikes below $1,000. No sizes, no colors, no models at all."

During a walk-through Thursday morning of three Cape Girardeau department stores that carry bicycles -- Target, Academy Sports and Outdoors and Walmart -- the Southeast Missourian found bicycle aisles were almost completely bare. Target had one remaining bicycle, Academy had none and Walmart still had three adult bicycles and two dozen children's bikes.

"It's just regular people wanting to go out and exercise on a bicycle," Dodd said of the empty department store shelves. "I think that's also led to a lot of these used bikes needing to get fixed," he said, gesturing to the serviced bicycles at CYCLEWERX.

Describing it as a "poor analogy," Gooden said of the demand for bicycles, "I don't want to compare it to toilet paper, but that's what it is."

Despite the demand, Cape Bicycle and Fitness hasn't been in short supply. When the pandemic hit locally, Gooden said he had about 600 or 700 bikes in stock, a number he said is "way more" than what most bike shops keep on hand.

As a result, he said, "we've weathered this much better, I think, than most."

"With very few exceptions, we've had bikes for everybody," Gooden said. "But our inventory is getting lower."

And the demand isn't just from consumers in the region. Customers have driven "100 miles" to get a bike from Gooden's shop, he said, from areas such as St. Louis and Kentucky. He's even fielded inquiries from folks in Texas and New York City.

Dodd said CYCLEWERX is still getting bikes in because they had some on backorder. But right now, as a rule, bikes under $700 "are tough to get," he said.

Two-wheeled independence

Pandemic times or otherwise, a bicycle can offer its rider some semblance of freedom, a sense Gooden tapped into Thursday.

"For a lot of people, their first bike was kind of their first means of independence," Gooden said. "I still associate the enjoyment and fun of cycling with that independence factor."

Dodd said he simply hopes people are enjoying bicycling.

"I'd like to think that it's just opened people's eyes up to, No. 1, having fun on a bicycle, No. 2, what you can do on a bicycle," Dodd said. "My personal opinion is we'll really see what happens after things get back to 'normal.' But I think people are rediscovering cycling."

For those who may be in the market for some two-wheeled independence, Gooden advised against waiting too long.

"The earlier you shop, the better your chances are of finding something."