It’s common for those of us who commute regularly by bicycle to hear expressions of amazement from co-workers about how difficult and inconvenient it must be. Take a look at this picture. Does this woman look like she’s enduring an inconvenient hardship?
(Published by permission of Copenhagen Cycle Chic)
This picture was taken recently in Copenhagen, Denmark where large numbers of people use bicycles as basic transportation. Take a good, long, hard look at her — the bicycle she is riding, the clothes she’s wearing. Check out those heels! She looks entirely comfortable to me. You just know she’s going to look and feel fabulous when she arrives at her destination. Click the picture and visit Copenhagen Cycle Chic so you can see what has sparked her intense gaze.
Setting aside for a moment that she enjoys a more sophisticated cycling infrastructure than we have in American cities, how is it she feels comfortable enough on a bicycle to wear that outfit and those boots? What does she know that so many Americans do not?
There are many answers to that question, but I can tell you at least one of them: Riding a bicycle for basic transportation — especially close to home — just is not that difficult to do for the average adult. And one other thing: It’s not all or nothing.
Comments 11
Haha! I just got asked this yesterday after riding my bicycle to work (which I always do anyway). “You rode in *this* weather? Wasn’t it hard? Why didn’t you ask someone for a ride?”
All I could say was, “I have a rain jacket?” I’m always caught off guard with what to say. It’s hard to explain exactly how easy it is without coming off as snobby or critical and I feel like a lot of people wouldn’t get it unless they tried it themselves. Riding my bike to and from work (only about 1-2 miles each way) are my favorite parts of the day though.
Posted 25 Jan 2009 at 2:33 pm ¶Laux… You’re lucky to live so close to work. I do, too. I planned it that way so commuting would be easier.
Posted 25 Jan 2009 at 5:03 pm ¶I live three miles from work, but I’d likely be murdered by huge pick-up trucks racing each other (literally)… but is amazing what great shape people are on that site…
Posted 25 Jan 2009 at 7:45 pm ¶Alex… Yes, some situations in the U.S. are just impossible.
Posted 25 Jan 2009 at 8:01 pm ¶Hello,
I’d like to speak with you about this blog. I’d like to share a blog idea that I think you’ll find particularly interesting. Get back to me at your earliest convenience.
Thanks!
-Josh
Posted 26 Jan 2009 at 10:28 am ¶I love that site, btw, and I used to check it whenever I got bored (I never get bored anymore — too busy). And one of the things that struck me is how NORMAL the people look and how NON-AGGRESSIVE the bikes are.
Fenders. Upright seating. Few helmets. Relaxed, regular clothing. Hell, FASHIONABLE clothing (as the name implies).
Compare that to the stereotype of the American bike commuter: An aggressive stance (typically an urban hybrid, a cyclocross, or a fixie), a helmet that looks like something from the movie “Alien,” and “performance” clothing.
I’ve thought about getting an upright bike to replace my SU-100, but ultimately I think there are times when staying with traffic, even in slow-moving Charleston, requires a bit more speed and response.
Posted 26 Jan 2009 at 10:57 am ¶Josh… Just send me e-mail. See my address on the sidebar.
Dan… Part of what accounts for all of that is the superior cycling infrastructure. Although there are places in the U.S. where we can ride and look like that. Most of Springfield, Mo. for example.
Posted 26 Jan 2009 at 12:51 pm ¶Biking to work can offer some unique challenges, but most have a solution. One such example is what to do once you’ve reached work, ie how do you “clean-up.” The answer is quite simple, change in the office restroom and fresh deodorant go a long way.
As far as cities needing to expand cycling paths that will only come with demand. If the public demands it (see hybrid cars / electric cars) the supply will come.
Posted 26 Jan 2009 at 9:46 pm ¶Andrew… I wonder if the unique challenge of cleaning up might not be an American cultural fixation caused by the hegemony of sport cycling.
Posted 27 Jan 2009 at 10:41 am ¶People have an irrational fear of “smelling and sweating.
If you have bathed or showered that morning and are wearing deodorant you are not going to smell after sweating on your 30 minute bicycle ride to work.
Our inactive lifestyles had made people freak out if they actually sweat during any aspect of their lives.
Posted 27 Jan 2009 at 2:00 pm ¶Robert… Right on, man!
Posted 27 Jan 2009 at 2:51 pm ¶