Los Angeles – Across the country, high gasoline prices are fueling bicycle sales. On certain days, those fuel prices are fueling Michael Hall’s blood pressure.

At least three times a week, Hall pedals to his job in Hollywood from his home in northern Glendale, a 25-mile round-trip commute that is faster on two wheels than four.

“It’s definitely saving me money, but may be taking years off my life due to the fact that it’s a terrifying experience,” said Hall, a 46-year-old television editor.

The problems, he said, include the cell phone-using, “coffee-drinking, shaving, makeup-putting-on person who’s not paying attention” and the drivers who swear at him if he slows them down “for a nanosecond.”

For his trouble, Hall saves about $150 a month, which makes it worthwhile.

Industry sales numbers for the year aren’t available yet, but anecdotal evidence is widespread that bicycle companies are benefiting from what’s hurting other businesses, said Tim Blumenthal, executive director of Bikes Belong Coalition, an advocacy group.

For Tory Grant, manager of Tacoma’s Old Town Bicycle, the increase in gas prices is having a direct and healthy impact on business.

“Everything that we’ve always been told, the magic number is $4 a gallon,” Grant said Monday afternoon.

That magic could well be here to stay.

Doing well for Grant are “city bikes,” the type most likely to be used by people who are beating the high cost of fuel by commuting using pedal power.

Before, he said, the store might get an inquiry about the bikes every two weeks or so.

“Now it’s every day,” he said. “It’s obviously gas prices. Some of it is the weather, but it’s definitely a change.”

He said that when the store made projections for 2008, they expected business would go down because of the slowing economy. Instead, so far, Old Town Bicycle is at least breaking even, he said.

At Grant’s store, city bikes can retail anywhere between $300 and $1,300. Sales of the bikes have doubled over the past year, he said.

There’s another benefit beyond immediate profit, he said. “The beauty of it is – it’s getting non-cyclists into cycling.”

Women particularly are coming into the store, he said, looking for alternatives to the automobile.

For one Tacoma commuter, a Schwinn is the second stage of freedom. Old Town Bicycle customer Dave Seltzer lives near the Old Town store and often commutes by bicycle to work on the Tideflats.

He said Monday that he has realized, “I don’t really need to drive to work. Being able to ride a bike, you’re not held hostage by Big Oil.”

As well as a commuting tool, Seltzer sees the bicycle as a symbol.

“Bikes were the first taste of freedom a kid has,” he said. “The return to cycling is a return to that.”

“Bicycles for transportation has not been a big thing until very recently,” said Blumenthal, of the Bikes Belong Coalition. “April and particularly May, and now June, have been phenomenal months. This is across the board and across the country.”

As the weather has improved – and pump prices have continued to rise – other merchants nationwide have noticed an increase.

“This is the first time we’ve seen this much growth from the gas problem,” said Jim Whitsett, owner of Cynergy Cycles in Santa Monica, Calif., where sales are up “a noticeable 20 percent just in the past 30 days.”

Increasingly, people who used to view bicycles as playthings or exercise tools now see them as workhorses. So they’re outfitting them with fenders, racks, bags – anything that will make them more functional.

Burley Design, which makes trailers for bikes, has run out of some models used to haul children and groceries. “We’re definitely ahead of where we thought we would be,” said Amanda Schulze, marketing manager for the Eugene, Ore., company, which expects sales to rise 10 percent this year.

It’s too soon, though, to call 2008 a boom year for bikes, said Fred Clements, executive director of the National Bicycle Dealers Association in Costa Mesa, Calif. People who buy bicycles for fun or fitness still represent the largest chunk of the market, he said, and they might be less willing to spend this year, given the economy.

“We’re certainly having an uptick in utility use, but we may have a corresponding decline in recreational purchasing,” he said. “You can’t underestimate the power of a weak economy to make people rein in some of their spending.”

Cousins of the traditional bike have also seen growing popularity.

Cannondale Sports Group introduced its line of Schwinn electric bikes last year and was caught off guard in recent months as demand pulled past supply. The bikes sell for $1,500 to $2,500.

“Over the last four months, we’ve seen significant increase in demand,” spokesman Bruno Maier said.

“We didn’t anticipate the spike that we’ve seen. Right now we are working to get additional product in to supply our dealers.”

News Tribune staff writer C.R. Roberts contributed to this report.