AVOIDING PAIN AT THE PUMP

Residents deal with high gas prices by riding bikes, scooters

With a suffering economy and soaring gasoline prices, many Green Valley residents are ditching their gas-guzzling cars for golf carts, bicycles and even scooters.

And it makes sense.

Most of Green Valley’s major roadways feature golf cart lanes. Clean sidewalks run alongside La Canada Drive and Esperanza Boulevard, as well as in most residential developments.

The weather is beautiful year-round, and traffic, while increasing with the city’s growth, is still relatively light compared to cities like Tucson.

So why be cooped up in a car when you can soak up the sun and feel the breeze in your hair?

Even without this summer’s gas crunch, Green Valley would still be a community that values alternative means of transportation.

One such person is Al Saterbak, president of the Green Valley/Sahuarita Scooter Club.

“The only time I take my car is when I’m going to be hauling something, or when my wife is going along — she still won’t ride with me,” he said.

“There are a lot more scooter riders than there were a year ago.”

The club was founded in June and hosts several ride-alongs per month for its 10 or so members. They’re just getting on their feet, Saterbak says, but are confident they will be recruiting many scooter-converts in the future.

“Scooters are so efficient. How can you beat 85 miles to the gallon?”

Ralph Wardynski, owner of Golf Cars of Arizona in Green Valley, says that most carts get 65-75 miles to the gallon. He hasn’t noticed a jump in sales this summer, but says there has been a steady increase over the past 5 or 6 years.

“I sell a lot of carts to people who don’t play golf, never have and never will,” he said. “They just want them for errands around town, to go shopping or visit their friends nearby.”

Damian Leuck, owner of Green Valley Bike and Hike, says the number of people choosing bicycles over cars is spiking throughout the country, and that includes the Green Valley area.

One customer recently asked Leuck to soup-up her bicycle with a basket for groceries and several upgraded parts, because the 65-year-old plans to start using it in place of her car, he said.

Many others have switched to bicycles mainly as a means improve their health.

Leuck feels that Green Valley and Sahuarita have the potential to become major bicycling communities. He has created several guides that map out routes around town, one of them a “scenic route” near the West Desert Preserve, that range from 4 to 56 miles long. The maps can be found on his Web site, www.gvbikehike.com.

The only negative aspect to the increase in bicylists is an industry having to struggle to keep up.

“People are starting to pull out bicycles they haven’t used for 15 or 20 years” that need repair work, and it’s led to a major shortage of bicycle parts, he said.

“I have one tire ordered that won’t be available until spring of 2009.”

jrichardson@gvnews.com | 547-9726