Behind him lightning sparked like a camera flash and Frank, 34, flinched as he pulled his bicycle inside, smiling at Jay Varner as he said: “Guess we’ll be pretty quiet tonight.”

At the Sopo Bicycle Cooperative, dedication proves stronger than most any weather condition, and Frank always makes it to the small shop each Thursday, like tonight, where he and Varner, 26, will mend worn bicycles into something more rideable. People can walk in off the street and get cheap repairs or pick alternative parts from the many scattered throughout the shop. Sopo Bicycle Co-op has been around for about a year, organized after nine months of planning before finally opening shop behind a strip of stores on Flat Shoals Road in East Atlanta.

“We want to remove any barriers to riding a bike that most riders may have,” Varner said. “One of those is repairs, and if you don’t have the right tools, like these, then you have to pay someone else, which isn’t cheap.”

On the wall hangs a battery of expensive tools that most casual riders would never own. For people who use a bicycle as their main form of transportation -- utility riders - repairs can quickly become costly.

“We know how to fix bikes, and we don’t want a broken bike to be the reason someone doesn’t ride,” Varner said. Both Frank and Varner have extensive experience with bicycles, and both are utility riders. They are part of a core dozen that volunteer their time to both repair bikes, and teach others how to do simpler fixes, like mending a flat tire. The group caters to the more “do it yourself” crowd, the ones who can’t necessarily afford a brand new bike, its repairs, or, for many, a car.

“Biking is a form of transportation, a sustainable form of transportation,” Varner said.

Sopo is part of a larger bike culture in Atlanta that continues to grow each year, as gas prices rise and the general public becomes increasingly aware of the environmental damage of most cars and trucks.

“We’ve definitely seen an increase in business over the past few years,” said Pete Wicker, who owns the popular Outback Bikes in Atlanta’s Little Five Points. Inside their large shop are long rows of bikes, and along the walls various accessories. Here foot traffic drives much of the sales, and casual riders are more likely to choose from a gleaming set of wheels than piece together their own bike.

At Outback, bikes range from $300 to $7,000, and Wicker said their crowd varies from the occasional riders to the utility riders to the career riders, like bike messengers.

“It’s the passion of the sport,” Wicker said. “People are also looking at cycling not only as a toy but as a means of transportation. …There is an alternative to driving in your car and getting into traffic.”

With the war has come increased social consciousness, as well as heightened awareness of the true cost of oil and gasoline, which is now markedly measurable in human life. And bike riding by nature is introspective. You are forced to take notice of most everything around you simply because it affects you: a heavy rain, a negligent driver, or children playing near the street.

“Car-centric growth and development makes it difficult for most people to get around without an automobile, even for short trip,” said Mark Dodson, who lives in Athens and is both a BikeAthens board member, and the editor of Southern Bicycle League's FreeWheelin' magazine. “Most roads are built to accommodate as many cars as possible with little regard to cyclists and pedestrians.”

Georgia now has a state bicycle and pedestrian coordinator whose primary function is to oversee safety and access for those choosing an alternative to driving. After the Federal Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act -- or ISTEA -- was passed in 1991, the state legislature was forced to place focus on bike and pedestrian safety and access through the Transportation Enhancement Program, which is the main way state bike facilities, safety lectures and paths are funded. The Department of Transportation oversees the program.

But despite this, progress is sometimes slow, though more bike lanes and safety signage is popping up in more urban areas such as downtown Atlanta. Even so, the lanes are often too narrow for safe use, and many Atlantans -- largely suburban transplants -- mistake bike lanes for turning lanes, or feel the car always has the right of way.

“We definitely have more on-street facilities here in Athens than we did several years ago, and UGA [the University of Georgia] has helped by subsidizing transit service, providing an alternative parking plan for those who walk, cycle or use transit, and increased bike parking,” Dodson said. “Having a more progressive mayor and several like-minded commissioners in place who are more willing to consider these options helps also.

“Both Atlanta and Athens, at least the intown areas, are getting better for cycling, especially transportational cycling,” Dodson said. “There are more bike lanes and roads with wider shoulders.”

In Atlanta, both utility and recreational riders seeking refuge from the busy streets often utilize routes like Silver Comet Trails and the PATH trail system.

“It's a good, cost-effective way to get around and get some exercise at the same time,” Dodson said. “If there's an upside to the rapidly rising cost of fuel, it's that more people will seriously consider cycling and transit, both of which tend to help a community's overall quality of life.”

This bike culture is largely altruistic in nature, often performing charity rides for a variety of causes that range from cancer to AIDS to BikeRight, a program that gives bikes to inner city kids. Groups like the Atlanta Bicycle Campaign sponsors many of these events.

Sopo, though, takes a slightly different approach. Poor themselves, Sopo is forced to often conduct benefit shows and scavenger hunts to raise money for the shop. Without means to purchase bikes for underprivileged, or inner city kids, they instead teach Reynoldstown children to repair bikes, letting them keep whatever they can fix.

“If you can find enough parts to make a bike, we can help you do it,” Varner said.