Kids on bike want to get rad. I’ve ridden bikes all my life, farther had a road bike, I had absolutely zero interest in it. I rode mtb, then BMX as well as team sports like Rugby. Road cycling was just boring - did one XC race on my dirt jump bike, got smoked by the competitive kids, went back to the dirt jumps. So to reiterate the point well made by others, tradition and culture are what would / does get kids interest in the road - it’s hard to change that. But by all means people should try to if they want to.
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The problem with cycling in America is pretty simple: Americans tend to dislike things of European origin, same reason most folks here think soccer sucks but they can watch baseball/football for hours whereas I’d rather watch paint dry. Cycling is also simply too expensive to be accessible to everyone, and at the end of the day some people just don’t aren’t interested in cycling no matter how inclusive or cool or equal we make it. You’ll find many of them doing wheelies and swerving in front of traffic when they “ride out” and would probably call Justin an Uncle Tom for trying to promote such a white sport. They ride different bikes and while I despise their behavior in traffic I suppose it’s better than other things they could be doing if they weren’t out and being active in their own way.
I’ve ridden with people of both genders, all colors and nationalities, but if I go to the city and see people commuting, they’re almost never black. I’m not convinced that’s just a lack of accessibility to bikes but probably has at least something to do with not wanting to be seen riding a bicycle for transport because it’s simply not “cool” in certain demographics, and I’m sure we can relate to how judgemental peers can be. I’m sure peer approval is more important in communities with more single parents where kids can’t get that positive reinforcement at home all the time and rely on their friends for it.
How to fix it? I don’t know, but we are all individuals and all like different things, so while I’m for inclusivity and equality, a lack of female plumbers or electricians for example, doesn’t necessarily mean that there are gender barriers to entry to it but maybe more to do with the fact that some people just are not interested, and I know we think cyclists are super cool but when the average person sees us on the road they probably think the total opposite, so it’s hard to get people into the sport who can’t get past that.
One of my black Muslim friends refuses to ride a road bike only for the fact that he’s too embarrassed to wear tights (and he’s not in bad shape at all). His religion also leads him to be extremely homophobic so I think some of that Lycra aversion is a part of a slightly fragile masculinity, but I’m sure that not wanting to wear the kit and embrace the sport is not exclusive to his religion or color of his skin. He has 2 mountain bikes he’s happy riding however
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Can Americans pls stop coming to Europe on holiday then 
Just read to the bottom of your post, whoa some biiig assertions being made about people not wanting to wear lycra.
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Plenty of pro road cyclists started out on BMX, MTB, cyclocross, fun stuff. Main thing is just getting more people on a bike, any kind of bike. It’s not like road cycling requires a skillset or physiology that needs to be developed from a young age.
Build a cycling culture where more people ride bikes, and you build the foundations to grow the sport. Because a subset of those people riding bikes will find they’re naturally good at it, or enjoy pushing themselves, and will get into racing, or join a club, or do some events like gran fondos/sportives.
I don’t think cycling is ever going to draw many fans who aren’t cyclists themselves. Just can’t see it competing as a spectacle with established sports like football, rugby, basketball, etc. It’s something people watch because they’ve done it. I can’t see a crit racing series drawing a big TV audience of people who weren’t previously interested in cycling. But I could see it attracting more people to give cycling or bike racing a go if the races are fun events with a good atmosphere and opportunities for kids to give it a go.
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Not about people, but about person, who id venture to say I know better than you do. Also when your friend literally tells you “I don’t want dudes (if you ever watched Eddie Murphy: Delirious stand up, he used the opening line from there but it’s not forum friendly so dudes will have to do) staring at my junk when I’m riding” there’s no other way to really interpret it.
This was an example to show why cycling isn’t as popular in some communities. We still have lots of local clubs (MTCC, KRT/QRT, Crimson Pride) that are almost exclusively black, my point was you’re not going to get people to ride bikes if they don’t want to ride bikes no matter how inclusive it is
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This is how a ton of the one day races are formatted every year. It’s not just new because of COVID or anything. Races like Amstel gold. Flèche wellone, and Flanders are all crazy exciting every year and way different than watching stages of the tour. And they’re probably more similar to road races in the US. With repeated punchy climbs vs the 30min alpines.
I agree. But just saying that adding those short climbs makes the events a lot more interesting and also provides another layer for other type of people than stereotypical crit racer.
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That’s true. I think there’s a place for both. But I do agree that the flatter races require a bit more inside knowledge to enjoy (kinda like nascar). So while exciting to someone who is deep deep into the crit game it’s probably pretty boring to any newcomer
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These are all good points.
One that I think you missed is the lack of cycling infrastructure from a transportation and safety perspective. As many of us are keenly aware, the US is an automobile-focused society. This shunts people on bikes (or basically anything not motorized) onto shoulders, sidewalks, or off the bike entirely.
There is also a paucity of education surrounding cycling – it was maybe one page in my driver’s ed handbook on which we spent all of 5 minutes during the multi-hour course (and not needing to re-take the driver’s ed test is something for another discussion). So that leaves us with youth riding bikes to get around but not knowing or obeying and rules, as @Cleanneon98 touched on. The people driving both have difficulty predicting the behavior of these folks on bikes, have limited education on how to drive around them, and likely have limited experience riding a bike in traffic themselves.
The spandex and/or homophobia/fragile masculinity issue has some merit, and could also be explained by the culture of body image. Some of it is likely established anti-cycling bias or just not being part of the in-group of cyclists.
In any case, I’m excited for what L39ION is doing and hope that they continue to grow cycling here and elsewhere.
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And it’s his religion which makes him that way, right, nothing else?
Considering the topic came up when we had a conversation about religion (I’m Jewish he’s Muslim) and I mentioned some of his comments I saw on social media about gays, he said “We don’t tolerate that s**t it’s a sin”, so yea, I’d venture to say it’s exclusively or mostly that.
Back to topic, I do see more black riders out now than before so a good sign but as someone mentioned above the US also lacks infrastructure for urban cycling to be a decent hobby. Most people who live inside of the city that I know cycle, do not recreationally cycle in the city
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I have to disagree with anyone who says Euro cycling isn’t diverse. There’s people from at least 30 countries in the peloton. Hell, the most popular cyclist in the world right now is from a former eastern bloc country, and the winner of Le Tour is from the small nation of Slovenia.
What you mean is that the skin color makeup of Euro cycling is similar. Which, duh, they’re mostly European teams recruiting Europeans.
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My neighbors host tournaments for cornhole 1 or 2 days per week, every week, winter and summer and get 20+ teams every single time. These folks spends hundreds of dollars on bags. Bags of beads… Every single one of them is sure they are going to be live on the ocho some day throwing bags. They are making money putting on these events. Try to get 80 people to show up to a local bike race in rural michigan, let alone make a single cent 
I raced road motorcycles for years when I was younger and even the guys who ended up going AMA pro and eventually motoGP in 1 case didnt make shit until the very very top tier. They say the fastest way to become a millionaire in motorsports is to start out a billionaire.
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People have no problem wearing spandex for wrestling or football, and love to slap each other on the ass. Lycra isn’t the problem, road cycling is looked upon as a sissy sport. Inner city racing could help change that image.
A friend of mine rides with these guys (I am pretty anti social, so I don’t know many people). I wouldn’t see too many people walking up to a large former Marine in Lycra and calling him a sissy. But they certainly would with me. Yet, no body sees me on an MTB and thinks I am anything less than insane, and nobody makes fun of mountain bikers (outside the sport) because MTB has a tough image, even though most MTB riders are no different than roadies (even if they think they are). Crit racing is more terrifying to me then any downhill MTB race.
I am still loosely connected to the sport. Friend of mine went from AMA Rookie of the Year to having a MotoGP ride (which evaporated pre season) and basically quit racing right after that. I never asked him about the details, but I am certain that he just couldn’t afford it any more. A “kid” I know announced his move from AMA SS to Superbike, then soon after announced he wasn’t racing for 2021. Very few make money in that sport.
(I only raced minis)
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England not Britain
Yep. Sadly