I left the lycra at home today

This morning I was able to kick off a little personal project I do every year. It’s called “Girls in Skirts for Better Biking.”

OK, I admit, I’m mostly joking (though I did bike to work in a skirt). After all, it doesn’t matter what you wear as long as you’re on your bike. Still, I can’t help but think about how for most people who never bike, they think “we cyclists” are some alien breed that’s nothing like them.

I’ve had co-workers (at a past job, of course) assume that I was a health nut because I bike (“What? You’re eating pizza?!”). I can’t count the number of times someone has said, “I can’t bike with you, I’m too slow” (even though I’m a proud slow biker myself). I think my mother may truly believe that I’m taking my life in my hands every time I get on my bike. Hairdressers, dentists, supermarket checkers, people I meet on the bus: they all assume that biking is crazy and impossible, and that you must be crazy and hard-core to try it.

I’d love to think that every non-cyclist I meet is just a potential cyclist who doesn’t know it yet. I challenge myself to figure out how to reach out to those people to help them see that cyclists are just like them (only healthier and happier). Anything we do to help them identify with us is a small step towards a more bike-friendly community.

I can’t help but think that the average driver doesn’t look at a lycra-clad, yellow-jacket-wearing cyclist as someone who’s “just like me.” Does that mean you shouldn’t wear your favorite STP jersey? Absolutely not! Your comfort and self-expression on your bike is your prerogative. I wear my share of the stretchy stuff all year long. But when the weather changes and I no longer have to wear a full-body rain suit just to leave the house, I like to wear street clothes and observe how pedestrians and drivers seem to smile at me just a little bit quicker.

And who knows, maybe one of them will see me and think, “Wow, you don’t need special clothes to bike? Maybe I’ll give that a try!”

(Photo courtesy Jonathan Maus of Bikeportland.org)