People are rude!!

[lph]

...the spooky silence of fifteen 4-year olds as they watched my star-strewn rear walking out of the room...

Priceless!

[Crankin]

I've never felt uncomfortable in cycling shorts in public, but I have been in places where I thought it might be more appropriate to be a little more covered up, mostly in Europe.
I have noticed a phenomena where it's mostly women who stare. I chalk it up to wishing they could do what I do, jealousy, etc. I notice this more as I get older, where other women my age stare a lot. It happened at the B and B we were at this past weekend, in the Berkshires. On the second morning, we went to breakfast in our bike clothes, because we were on a time schedule. We got stares like crazy. I chalk this up to the fact that most of these people were from that large city about 200 miles south of here, and they aren't used to seeing hordes of lycra clad riders of all ages, shapes, and sizes, all of the time, like we do.

[lph]

I have to admit, I stare because I'm curious. That is, I try not to stare, but when I see someone wearing something a little out of the ordinary I get very curious, and start wondering what they're wearing, why, where they're from, what activity they're doing. But honest, I try to be discreet, especially if I get the feeling that they don't want to attract attention. It's mostly a "wow, someone different. Cool!" kind of reaction.

I get stared at a lot, since I commute by bike and run a lot of errands on my way home wearing bike gear, or hop on the metro if I'm loaded down. I'm happy with the way I look in bike gear and don't really mind attention, but sometimes I'll feel that someone, usually a middle-aged guy, is giving me disapproving looks, or obviously checking me up and down in a rude way. If I'm up to it I respond by staring blatantly back.

Best done with a mild and pleasant look on your face, but that's hard if you're annoyed.

[antkate]

I remember once I must have been looking at someone for too long because she sharply asked me "What are YOU looking at?" I apologized and said " I didn't realize I was staring, I was just noticing how pretty you are..." I was so embarrassed. (We really never know what people are thinking. After she understood I meant no harm, she apologized to me. No harm meant...

On the flip side, as a 55 year old who isn't so buff these days, I couldn't care less when people are looking at me in biking gear. Great freedom in that alone.