Breitz! Performance Wear, Hickory, North Carolina, September 12, 2022 — Cyclists by droves have quit and continue to quit road riding because roads have become too dangerous. That has to change. And cyclists, along with fellow road athletes and enthusiasts, have to lead the charge to change with laser-focused persistence.
To put foot on the gas, Breitz! “Be Bright, Be Seen”, maker of bright, bold performance wear, has both just launched a social distancing-inspired “6 Feet, Thanks!” line of cycling and run wear printed with driver-respectful messaging to improve separation between motorized and non-motorized traffic and has begun contacting state governmental and safety advocacy organizations across the country to standardize that same 6-feet separation.
On the business front, the current line of Breitz! “6 Feet, Thanks!” wear, all made in Colombia, South America, consists of cycling and run tops, with shorts and base layers to follow soon, and is available at www.breitzwear.com. Bike and run shops are encouraged to join the effort and can choose either direct or indirect sales, meaning they can either buy inventory for higher profit margin or not take on inventory and instead have samples in the shop for customers to see and try for size – and visibly demonstrate shop commitment to improving road safety – and then place orders through Breitz! for direct shipment to customers within days in return for 20% shop share of sales.
On the policy advocacy front, Breitz! owner, active NBDA member and lifelong avid cyclist, Bruce Tretter, is taking a multifaceted approach to effect change based on 15 years plus as a former elected town official. He just finished a second annual “rubber on road” coast-to-coast drive and bike trip to assess state-by-state driving and road cycling conditions and behavior. Along the way, he also visited bike shops on the bike about shop business health regarding shop/vendor relationships and to promote the Breitz! “6 Feet, Thanks!” line with only enthusiastic thumbs up responses. At the same time, he is contacting state legislative transportation committees along with local and national safety advocacy organizations, like People for Bikes and MassBike, to encourage standardized 6-feet separation on the road. He is also following up on a suggestion by a good friend and longtime cycling industry professional to contact state departments of transportation, and will start in North Carolina, to carry on the work of cycling industry icon and safety advocate, Dave Whittingham, who, before suffering a fatal road bike crash in 2018, spearheaded an effort to have a safe cycling question put on Colorado’s state driver’s license tests.
As Bruce says, always with a smile, “Effecting real change to make roads safer for all is a long, steep climb. But the alternative, doing nothing, is unacceptable. We can make a difference only if we lead by example and push with a growing critical mass for coherent, consistent change community-by-community and state-by-state.”
