Bikes, bikes. Everywhere bikes.

The higher gas prices climb, the more pedaling commuters you'll see on the streets of Portland.

The Hawthorne Bridge this spring already saw more bike trips than it did during last year's summer peak.

The city is about to begin an official bike count.

It's also adding more bike racks around town. Yes, people are being more health and green conscious. But the credit for the spike in bike use goes to soaring gas prices.

“I'm kind of new to it so I'm one of the people who is crowding it up these days,” said new bike commuter Katie King.

Her employer is offering workers a financial incentive to commute on bikes. She's willing to try it.

“I think with gas prices at four dollars a gallon, yeah, definitely.”

At last count, there were 6,500 bike trips on the Hawthorne Bridge each day.

Roger Geller is the city's bike coordinator, preparing for an updated count. He'll begin training bike-counting volunteers this week. The tallying will last all summer.

“The more cyclists that are riding, the safer it is for all cyclists,” he explained.

The city is having to install new bike racks daily. This year new bike-parking demand is about triple last year's.

Geller says it makes good economic sense to accommodate the demand.

“Certainly, if you're biking more than driving -especially now with gas well over four dollars a gallon- you’ve got more money to spend on local businesses rather than sending it to countries that can pump oil.”