curious encounter

[lph]

I was thinking of posting this under the "insulting compliments" thread, but since it was neither a compliment nor insulting, just a little curious, here it gets its own.

We went out to a nice restaurant to celebrate my dh's 40th birthday yesterday. I had biked there on my showy red road bike and waited for the others feeling quite conspicuous, wearing full kit, road shoes, matching red jersey and gloves (bear in mind this is Norway, where mtbs are the norm and road bikes are still fairly uncommon), and changed once my dh turned up with my decent clothes. After the meal we were going to take the metro home. So I was teetering towards the station wearing strappy heels, a flowy pale lilac dress and long white jacket, wheeling my bike. My 12-yr. old son suddenly asks to "have a go". So I warn him about the slippery pedals and off he goes, for a single round of the square.

He can barely pedal it and comes back saying "Nah, it's way too big and I don't like those skinny tires". And suddenly a woman practically THROWS herself at me saying "You know you CAN lower the saddle, so it fits him, you know!" and almost tries to do it for me. I just laugh a bit and say "Uh, nope, I'm not letting him do that" or something of the sort, and she looked quite shocked. And my in-laws just bust out laughing.

It was just a bit bizarre. She meant well of course, and I certainly wasn't offended. I can't quite figure out whose bike she thought it was. But it was quite obvious that she thought I had no idea that a saddle could be adjusted. It was just sort of funny to go from being perceived (I believed ) as a hardcore cyclist to a clueless mom in the course of one change of clothing...

[kmehrzad]

I guess that's why it's been said, "clothes make the person."

[OakLeaf]

But what I need to know is how you transported dressy clothes without getting them wrinkled and/or dirty. I never really mastered the art of bringing work clothes on the motorcycle - and it was usually dark suits that could hide a lot more dirt than pale lilac and white!

[Zen]

Curious Encounter is also the name of my autobiography

[kmehrzad]

Zen, that's a 'must read' on my list.

[malkin]

Cute story; curious indeed.

For me, strappy shoes short circuit my brain, so even simple things like lowering a saddle (and walking) become incomprehensible and impossible.

[Cataboo]

Curious Encounter is also the name of my autobiography

Curious Encounters in the adventure mobile.

[Crankin]

I think she said her DH brought her the dress clothes.

[smilingcat]

LOL.

yes perception change with how we are dressed.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Seems pretty logical to me that she would have assumed the bike belonged to your son who was riding it, with his mother standing on the sidelines in dress clothes. She was just trying to be helpful, since he was obviously struggling with the seat height.

[lph]

I think she said her DH brought her the dress clothes.

Yup, but 100% polyester is an key word here

I guess she did think the bike was my son's, but he's a small 12 yr. old, and was wearing a suit and neat shoes, trying to ride an adult size road bike way too big for him, with drop bars and clipless pedals... so that's why I found that a bit curious too. Road bikes really are quite uncommon here, and almost only ridden by bike enthusiasts who already have a mtb or 2 at home.