Month: December 2011 (Page 2 of 2)

Today brought a bike ride and leaf raking. Wow, it just doesn’t get much better than that.

Another beautiful day in the low 60’s (is it really December 1st?) although with a little wind. It’s December though so no complaining.

Riding along I saw quite a few people putting up Christmas decorations or raking leaves (why should we have all the fun) in shirt sleeves. What a treat!

I’ve never been to this particular store on my bike so I didn’t know if there was parking or not. Parking as in something to lock my bike to.

This is what I found.

It was a tight fit getting my cable around the post but it worked. As long as the postal worker didn’t come by I thought I was in good shape – and they didn’t. One thing I like about shopping on the bike is it restricts the amount of stuff I can buy which makes me prioritize my shopping. Save $$ by using my legs instead of gas and by buying less. Win-win.

Once again my belief that drivers are more respectful to you as a cyclist because of what you’re wearing (or riding) was reconfirmed. Wearing street clothes you look like a person riding a bike. You look like a person riding your bike somewhere – i.e., engaging in the same behavior they are – transportation – albeit different modes. This makes you seem like them and they treat you accordingly.

On the other hand wearing bike shorts and a jersey you look like an athlete riding where you don’t belong. It amazes me how different drivers are when I’m riding my bike to run errands. It is a different bike than I ride when I’m training and that’s probably part of it too. Whatever the reason or reasons I love the civility!

Personally, I think one of the best things we can do to get more people riding is to blur the line between people riding bikes and cyclists.