Last modified: Tuesday, July 22, 2008 2:49 AM EDT Ron Carlson, an Attleboro resident and service manager at Union Cycle on Pleasant Street in Attleboro, makes adjustments on his bike that he rides to work every day. (Staff photo by Mike George) Putting the pedals to work BY REBECCA KELLEHER FOR THE SUN CHRONICLE ATTLEBORO - Not everyone is hurting from the high price of gas. With gas prices hovering around $4 a gallon - a little less expensive some days, and little more expensive on others - plenty of motorists are switching from gas guzzlers to two-wheel transportation and old-fashioned pedal power. "We're actually running out of bikes because we've been selling so many of them," said Rick Desmarais, founder and owner of Union Cycle in Attleboro. In the past six months, Desmarais says he has seen a huge increase in sales - and not from his usual clientele. "There's been a change when people come in. Instead of asking for fitness bicycles, they ask for what we call 'commuting bikes' - something they can go back and forth to work with, so they don't have to get their car out on the road," he said. Men and women of all ages have been coming into Union Cycle, looking for a variety of accessories for their bikes to prepare themselves for a commute between home and work. "It's definitely different than your average fitness person coming in. Now we have commuters, and they want fenders, bags, security locks and lights for their bikes," Desmarais said. "They want to get ready for all types of riding ranges - at night and in the morning. "People are using racks on the back of their bikes, which is a little unusual because they normally would get them stripped down for fitness." Union Cycle also does repairs and, and is seeing a parade of relics from the last big bike boom in the 1970s when gas prices spiked dramatically. "We're starting to see these old bikes coming back and getting repaired," Desmarais said. "People are trying to revamp them." And it's not just an older crowd coming in to browse bikes. Teens and college students are looking into cycling whenever possible to save money. "It's really everyone that's getting affected - even 16- and 17-year-olds. Rather than getting their first car, they're thinking about getting a bike," Desmarais said. With so many newcomers to cycling or even oldsters who haven't been on a bike in 30 years, education programs on bike safety and rules of the road are becoming accessible through the Internet and at local bike shops. Union Cycle has run seminars to educate beginning or returning cyclists on commuting and to make riders feel more comfortable. The lessons include bike essentials they may need for the long haul, including padded bags for laptops. Nonetheless, the East has some catching up to do with the West Coast, where already 5 percent to 10 percent of students and workers commute by bike. "It's going to be an educational process," Desmarais said.