Greeks Turn to Bikes During Economic Downturn

The high cost of road tax, fuel and repairs is forcing Greeks to ditch their cars in huge numbers. According to the government's statistics office, the number of cars on Greek roads declined by more than 40 percent 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 [Giorgos] 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. A far cry from the shuttered shopfronts in the capital that have become a painful reminder of the country's worst downturn since World War Two, bike shop owners estimate that at least one store opened every month in 2011. Vogiatzis laughed: "Every neighbourhood has its bike shop just as it's got its kebab shop."