Like the first robin and the first pitch, it's an annual sign of springtime in the city - bicyclists gripping their handlebars - and their first traffic ticket.

But that wasn't the case as much this year, advocacy groups say. Bike riders and their blue-clad foes at the NYPD are apparently sharing fewer summonses in 2008 - and that's nothing to soft-pedal.

According to Transportation Alternatives, tickets issued to cyclists last year were down 19% from 2006. Anecdotal evidence suggested the figures were dropping again this year, advocates say.

The NYPD provided no numbers on its ticketing of bike riders.