Cycling chic & meeting local enthusiast

[shootingstar]

http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showthread.php?t=46431

To continue in a different vein of the topic:
Today I met a gal purely by accident at the bike rack in front of a grocery store. As it turns out later in our friendly chat, she was the GF of the owner for a local bike store that markets more for the lifestyle, non-cycling wear bicyclists.

She had her step-through bike,etc. and wonderful shopping bag panniers which is where the conversation started. So I included a photo of her to top off my blog post on not choosing to be cycling chic.

It's all good, I just want people to be comfortable when they bike.

[BodhiTree]

It doesn't matter what we wear as we ride. It doesn't matter what kind of bike we ride. As long as we ride.

There's no need to justify one's choices. Just ride.
http://www.bikecommutenews.com/2011/...icycle-to.html

[shootingstar]

Sure I totally agree. I've never bothered to explain my reasons ..um for last 19 yrs. until now. 'Cause I never really paid attention much to the trends.

Your link bodhi to the proverb...it was also highlighted in one of my blogs a month ago. A great proverb.

[lph]

I have to admit that I thought you were being facetious when you first wrote about not being "able" to be cycle chic. Sure, it looks civilized and elegant to ride in snazzy clothes, but I'd never heard of anyone feeling inappropriately dressed when wearing specific cycling gear, just the other way round.

But reading your post it sounds like you do feel judged for not wearing chic clothing when cycling. Is that really the case where you live?

I guess I can see someone being judged for wearing hotshot gear like full matching team kit all the time, grocery shopping and running errands, but not just everyday commuter wear like a yellow jacket and standard black shorts. I dunno, I just never viewed the cycling chic movement as judgmental, just a celebration of it being possible to look elegant while riding a bike. I feel I can co-exist with that ideal quite comfortably, grubby commuter clothing and all.

[shootingstar]

We'll see. No, actually in my area (Calgary) people tend to be more helmet oriented and wear some cycling garment at times. We have lousier cycling infrastructure, compared to Vancouver.

I agree, I've always believed there was peaceful co-existence between cycling gear and cycling chic and everything else in between. But there are some vocal cycling chic folks in some other areas of the world, who keep saying or think that wearing cycling clothing is a bit elitist because it costs money.

That's why I wrote the blog post...to say that how cycling clothing actually saves me money for my whole overall streetwear and business wear wardrobe.

[lph]

But there are some vocal cycling chic folks in some other areas of the world, who keep saying or think that wearing cycling clothing is a bit elitist because it costs money.

I see, I just never heard that take on it. I have heard at times that cycling can be elitist, but it usually revolves around the price of the bike itself. I'm happy to join you in debunking the idea that cycling for transport is in any way elitist, I just didn't know the cycle chic movement had anything to do with being thrifty.

[Susan]

Isn't "cycle chic" as you describe it in your blog post supposed to be the opposite, I mean don't they just say that you can basically bike in ANY clothes you want to? Just to encourage people to not think about clothing when they want to ride a bike?

I think sport equipment in general can be very expensive, so in a way elitist, but there are always ways to work around this problem. I think a lot of people hestitate to start with exercise in general because they think they need all this expensive gear, but clothes shouldn't stop you from doing anything you want to do. If you do what you love you won't think about how you look anyway