bicycle culture

[Bike Goddess]

Mimitabby- You all up there in the greater Northwest are seasoned cyclists! Rain...what the heck, ride anyway. Yes, it's wet, but as you say, an adventure awaits each ride!

Of course, most of the time rain in the NW means the "drip". Never terribly hard, just wet! I used to run the entire winter when I lived in Bellevue, and, Vancouver WA.

I wish it were easier for us down here in California(SF Bay Area) to also ride when it rains. However, because it is warmer in the winter, when it rains here it usually POURS!!!!!!! We get these storms called the Hawaiian Express. When these big storms come in, we get 30mph winds and lots of water! No fun being outside!

I live in a small town that is surrounded by hills. The only flat part is the main street (exactly one mile long). Although riding in the rain is doable and I certainly have been caught in many a storm, it's not much fun and can be quite dangerous. Our local bike club has a "rain cancels" note on winter rides because of this.

[Eden]

sigh - I just wish people wouldn't steal bikes. If I have a short trip to make I usually walk, just because by the time I get the bike out, go to the place I want to, lock it up, get what I need, unlock the bike, put the bike back in the basement I could have already walked there and been back. If I felt OK leaving even a beater bike out I might do more short bike trips. Even so I do usually walk. If it won't take me over 1/2 hour to get there generally I walk. If walking would take too long I bike, driving I usually reserve for very long trips or errands that I have a very limited time span for. (or for taking the cat to the vet - I'm not nearly so brave as UK Elephant to try to strap the cat to my back! )

[Python]

I'm not nearly so brave as UK Elephant to try to strap the cat to my back! )

I'm trying to persuade hubby that he really, really needs to get me a Siamese kitten. I thought I could train it to ride on the bike with me too...

He says we've got enough pets at the moment

[Triskeliongirl]

Its not too dark yet here to commute both ways, but when the clocks change and the days get shorter, either I'll bike in and then hitch a ride home with hubby, or if I need to take the car for some reason he'll ride in and hitch a ride home with me. If we both need to go by car we'll carpool. 1/2 a workout is better than none, and we have a gym at work so if we are commuting less by bike we'll spend more time in the gym. Our climate is mild, so club rides go throughout the year. Usually arm and leg warmers and a wind vest are the most we need, occasionally long fingered gloves, ear covers, and a windbreaker if its very cold or windy out.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

For the past 3 months (since I started riding) my DH and I have been doing ALL our errands into town on bikes. Only drive when it's raining. I can't beleive how little I've been using my car the last 3 months. (we work at home)
The ride into town is only one mile to 2 miles roundtrip depending on where we are headed... but with a BIG hill coming back home.
Every time we have to go to the bank, the PO, the grocery for a couple of items, the drugstore....one of us just takes a bike now. DH has a nice basket on his hybrid, and I have a backpack I like for biking when I need to stash things. Wish we could do it all through winter coming up! But will have to quit when the roads get slushy or icey.

[Bikingmomof3]

I would very much like to do all our errands by bike, unfortunately I live in the most bike unfriendly town I have ever seen. I would be quite literally taking my life into my hands going to the grocery store. I am not that confident of a biker to brave those heavily congested roads with no shoulder and no sidewalk. However, I do walk for light grocery trips or trips to the library.

[Kitsune06]

Right on, Mimi.

On principle, unless it's totally unavoidable, I use my bike for errands, etc. Work is a lot more difficult, but when I start on a M-F 7-4 or 8-5 job, I'll definately be taking miz Cakes with me.

If we want to make a real change, we need to start at home. Our kids need to grow up knowing that bikes aren't just for playing- they're a real, valuable form of transportation. I don't want my child to grow up the way I did, looking at someone who bikes more than a mile to get somewhere as 'crazy' until I learned better.

I *so* want that xtracycle, though...

We can only get so far by telling folks around us...

This all goes hand in hand with the 'Meal Portions' gripe thread. The more 'convenience' we can leave behind, I think the better off we are.

Oh- one more thing.

DGF who works for GM wanted me to point out (lest she have to take calls on peoples' cars 'breaking' after months of non-use):
If you're seriously biking around and not using your car, take it out and drive it (or just run it, but driving is better) for close to an hour once/month. This'll help heat the engine and exhaust pipes etc and 'burn' out the condensation, etc, that would otherwise rust and start breaking down seals, etc. Cars suffer more from non-use than over-use.

Public service announcement over.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

If you're seriously biking around and not using your car, take it out and drive it (or just run it, but driving is better) for close to an hour once/month. This'll help heat the engine and exhaust pipes etc and 'burn' out the condensation, etc, that would otherwise rust and start breaking down seals, etc. Cars suffer more from non-use than over-use.

Public service announcement over.

Ok....Next month I think we'll have to drive about 8 hours round trip over to the Boston area to pick up DH's NEW BIKE!!

[pooks]

For the past 3 months (since I started riding) my DH and I have been doing ALL our errands into town on bikes. Only drive when it's raining. I can't beleive how little I've been using my car the last 3 months. (we work at home)
The ride into town is only one mile to 2 miles roundtrip depending on where we are headed... but with a BIG hill coming back home.
Every time we have to go to the bank, the PO, the grocery for a couple of items, the drugstore....one of us just takes a bike now. DH has a nice basket on his hybrid, and I have a backpack I like for biking when I need to stash things.

I know you like to wear knickers sometimes when you're running errands -- what about your husband? Is he always in road shorts, or does he wear other stuff? There's a great little greasy spoon cafe where my husband and I love to eat breakfast on the weekends, and it's only 4 pretty easy miles away. I keep saying we should ride our bikes but he says no, he's not going inside wearing his cycling clothes; he'd feel like a dork. (Hmm, could it be because so many folks on Harleys show up there?)

So I was wondering what the guys do when they're running errands around town on bikes. I'm sure many of them don't mind, and my husband doesn't mind wearing them to cycle -- he prefers it. But not going inside stores and such.

[xeney]

We don't wear cycling clothes for any ride under about 15-20 miles. And if you have a way to carry it, you can always put a skort or capris or something on over your bike shorts before you go into the restaurant.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

I know you like to wear knickers sometimes when you're running errands -- what about your husband? Is he always in road shorts, or does he wear other stuff? There's a great little greasy spoon cafe where my husband and I love to eat breakfast on the weekends, and it's only 4 pretty easy miles away. I keep saying we should ride our bikes but he says no, he's not going inside wearing his cycling clothes; he'd feel like a dork. (Hmm, could it be because so many folks on Harleys show up there?)

So I was wondering what the guys do when they're running errands around town on bikes. I'm sure many of them don't mind, and my husband doesn't mind wearing them to cycle -- he prefers it. But not going inside stores and such.

Pooks, this is a good question.
Here are some thoughts on this subject:

First- I honestly think most people look really nice in their biking shorts. I've seen lots of photos of women on this list in their biking shorts who are very overweight and they all look really NICE to me. Way better than wearing some big silly mumu or white polyester WalMart pants. Black Spandex has a way of smoothing things out and of course black is a slimming color. And our beauty shines out from WITHIN us anyway. It's what we say and do that makes us beautiful.

Second- After wearing my spandex black capris/knickers all summer, whether biking or not, I just sort of got over feeling odd in public wearing that stuff. One of the benefits of passing 50 I guess. Most of this summer I wore some nice Terry Spinnaker capris that had a VERY thin chamois and could be worn when not biking too...so I did.
The truth is, I love my biking knickers and biking tights so much that I have a couple of them with no chamois that I like to just wear any old time now! You must understand that before I biked, I used to like wearing black leggings a lot anyway, with either long tops or short dresses over them. Now I've simply lost the feeling that I "need" to cover everything up around my hip area, big deal. let people sue me! THey all probably wish they were biking too.
....Mind you, I might feel odd if I were clattering around town in cleat shoes and a screaming Lucky Charms jersey! (but I would DO it if I wanted to!) I don't much like wild patterned bike jerseys though, so I wear thin wool base layer tops that just look like nice regular turtlenecks or hoodies, or soft longsleeve crewneck shirts on top, and I wear regular Merrill running shoes to bike in. So I don't look "too" wacky when I walk around in my biking tights or capris. We both work at home so I don't have to dress for office environment, but this would all apply for weekends to other folks, I suppose.

Third- I am lucky to have a husband who is very laid back about appearances and dress. He seems to love most anything I wear. Like me, he likes to wear good PLAIN tops in wicking material or thin wool, and he wears some nice plain black or brown sneakers for biking. He likes understated clothes for himself, and he looks damned good in them. Right now he is biking in longsleeve SmartWool crewneck polos in solid colors. He wears PI black biking shorts in either spandex or Woolistic brand merino wool blend biking shorts.
When it's cold he pulls on a pair of non-baggy fuzzy polarfleece sweatpants over his shorts. When he does that, he looks like he's dressed "normally".

But all summer of course, we were biking in tank tops or t-shirts, sneakers, and our spandex shorts and knickers. That is how we dress when we go for breakfast in town on Sat & Sunday mornings on our bikes. We have breakfast in our favorite little small town cafe before continuing off on our ride, whether short or long. Everyone else is in shorts too, so what's the difference? There are plenty of "normal" people odder looking than us in town. We look good compared to some!
I happen to think my husband looks INCREDIBLEY HANDSOME and ATTRACTIVE in his biking shorts. It's all I can DO to behave myself over breakfast.
But in general, I think both men and women of ALL sizes and shapes look WONDERFUL in their biking clothes! We should ALL wear biking clothes ALL the time!!! I practically do already anyway nowadays.

Probably blabbered on way long enough now...