bicycle culture

[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!!

[Geonz]

I've gotten to that p;oint with my car. I used to be a sloth. It was a slow process. It's only gone 300 miles or so since July, since that was when I last filled it up.

One strategy is to find a map and draw a circle with a 1- or 2-mile radius, and find the trips in that circle and pick at least one to start turning over to the bicycle. Another is to have a "car free day" first Sunday of the month. http://www.car-lite.org/
http://www.friendsjournal.org/conten.../feature2.html

I stumbled onto this site about the time I got the Xtracycle and it quietly inspired me, though it's got a religion and politics in it:http://www.sojo.net/index.cfm?action..._enabled=false

We had a meeting last Thursday of some people who want to make things better for cycling, and we met with a lady who'd been part of a successful grass-roots movement to pass a smoke-free ordinance here. She talked about strategies and efforts to, essentially, change the culture by modifying people's defiition of "normal." Most people aren't going to *challenge* "normal" - but those people may just be susceptible to being convinced by what they see and heare that it's something different than they thought, and they won't challenge that either.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Sue,
I really liked that FriendsJournal biking/walking article! We have a large Quaker center near us here, where I used to go on occasion when I was a teen. They helped my family through a crisis way back then, even though they didn't even know us. Though I'm not a Quaker myself, I just finished voluntarily helping them design a billboard promoting peace. Good people, with good sense.

[Kitsune06]

Geonz,
I really liked that article, too. I tend to be leery of organized religion in general, but Quakers are among those I can sincerely respect (generally anyone who can count as a conscientious objectioner in terms of war) and that article was very thoughtful and made a lot of sense.

I only wish I lived closer to town. Everyone talks about 1-2 mile rides to get groceries etc... is that round trip? It's 3 miles to my nearest store (one way) so that makes it hard for me to really *want* to get up and go, but I do... (better than driving) maybe... someday... I'll find somewhere to live on a real road...

[KnottedYet]

Kit - add Unitarians to your list of non-leery organized religeons.

We're pretty cool. Check us out. www.uua.org

Our church has a women's triathlon team, and the team has been working on getting more awareness of the biking option for churchgoers.

Like pointing out that we DO have a bike rack next to the building. We have no dress code, so I could even wear my bike skort to service if I wanted.

One of our ministers posted info about the Cascade bike club's $10 helmets sale. Now I'm starting to think of other ways I could push the biking lifestyle next spring (good weather brings out the bikers).

[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.

[Geonz]

Four miles - no need for special clothes. If I'm feeling disciplined enough to ride without working up a sweat I'll even just wrap a reflector strap around that right ankle and do my commute. If it's going to be over 40 miles without padding I just make a point to ease off the seat a lot.

[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...

[KnottedYet]

Don't let him be intimidated by the Harley riders.

Remember: "Leather or lycra, we both wear black."

[hellosunshine]

several years ago we had a GOLD BIKE SCHEME in town,council sprayed bikes gold,left them in special bike parks,the idea the general public could borrow one,and return it to any of these bike parks.


well,lo n behold they were are nicked!aint rocket science is it!!!!plonkers.

[Bad JuJu]

Occasionally, my neighbor and I ride our bikes to a little local place for breakfast--it's only a few miles, but then we always want to ride home the long way. We both have Terry skorts, so we usually wear those, mostly for the fun of it. But if I didn't have the skort, I'd have no trouble going into the restaurant--well, it's just a little cafe, really--in bike shorts. I'm pretty short, so my tops usually cover my-ahem-rear assets, but even if they didn't, I kinda feel like Lisa--black lycra smooths out a lot of lumps and bumps and the black is slimming. Besides, I'm old enough to feel like if people don't like what they see, they don't have to look.

But I'm thrilled that it's getting cool enough to wear knickers here for cycling--I just love my knickers, and in fact just got a new pair by Shebeest. Might try a pair of the spinnakers from Terry--they look so cute, with the slit in the hem. And I'm thinking they'd be nice for spinning class, when I also want to do a little strength workout before class.