[Trashcans! Sidenote: apparently I’m double-jointed. ]
Of course, I could go on all day about the reasons having a bicycle (and dumping the car) has changed my life. There are lots of “wees” and zipping and bell dinging—freedom and fresh air and bohemian elitism and all that. But, listen. I’m a realist. I figured, after receiving this email from a friend, I had unfairly idealized the essence of cycling. And I don’t even live in a place with many hills.
i feel such a schmuck driving around here but i feel cooler and more urban listening to your tunes while i cruise the concrete utopia…
Ha, ha! She’s awesome. Which brings me to #1.
1. You can’t listen to music while you ride. I mean, you could, in theory, but this would most likely mean death.
[Still no basket. Woe is me.]
2. Dirty old men. They get a category of their own when it comes to motorists as a whole. There’s even one who extends his arm and points at me, like giving me a shout out, although I can’t remember ever returning the gesture. The rest just slow down and crane their necks to peer at my crotch. I imagine the inner dialogue, while I death stare them, is something like “Can I see something? I think I can see something. Can never be too sure, though, I always say. I think I spy a bloomer!” The expressions on the faces of the wives makes it okay, though.
3. Grumpy old ladies. What’s behind that droopy, devil-eyed mug? “How dare you ride a bicycle!” is my guess.
4. The Price Chopper parking lot, baking aromatically under the summer sun.
5. Distractions that always bring brushes with certain death. I’m talking specifically about that huge cart of Price Chopper eggs I was certain was rolling on its own accord. “Should I tell someone about this? I should tell someone about this,” and I crept perilously in front of a Buick with a #2 just as I noticed a #3 pulling the eggs like a kid with a wagon. DEATH.
6. Dressing around your commute. This could also be a positive, but since I’m dying to wear a pencil skirt… see #2.
[So, here’s this old polyester Paris print scarf I got for $8 from Need/Supply in Richmond, VA in, like, 2000. How any item of clothing survived that era of my life is beyond me. Although I haven’t given her a good sniff yet.]
7. Rain. Sad face.
8. No coffee for the road. No drive-thru windows. No shotgun spittoon! I made that last one up.
9. The drive-thru ATM is a considerably more stressful (and hot) experience.
10. The Gomer Pyle Syndrome: The slightest bit of traffic and/or highway-ish sort of road, completely unnoticed when you’re in an auto, I liken to being shouted at repeatedly. I always veer off these nightmarish roads and whimper in relief, red-faced and sad like Pyle after G.S. Hartman said, “Are you quitting on me? Well, are you? Then quit, you slimy f**king walrus-looking piece of s**t! Get the f**k off of my obstacle! Get the f**k down off of my obstacle! NOW! MOVE IT!”
The downs, in a nutshell.
Now go look at Copenhagen Cycle Chic and get all jealous again.
-Carey
oh, lol, Carey. l.o.l.
I’ll be honest; I love my bike with my whole heart but for all those reasons above, I don’t ride it nearly as often as I should (translation: never). You get mad points for sticking it out and looking chic while doing so.
p.s. errr…and just to clarify….my alternative transportation to work is walking, not my car, so there’s that.
p.p.s. I’m wearing my denim shorts today! Again! You created a monster!
It would take me way tooooo long to get anywhere in my rural town on a bike. Everything is miles apart and over single lane dirt and gravel roads among HUGE tractors and fast SUVs. and I have never been too balanced on two feet, much less on two wheels! I commend you for putting up with the bad to get a little of that good in there (and my you do look chic and stylish on your steed! love the pops of color!)
As a motorist, can I ask you one thing that has been gnawing at me for sometime. Are bicyclists suppose to stop at stop signs? I swear I almost hit one at least once a week, because when I come to a 2-way or 4-way stop, look both ways, see a bicyclist a few yards away, assume they are going to stop at the stop sign so I can proceed, they don’t? They just zoom right in front of me, and I have to slam on my breaks! Drives me nuts!
But I do have to say, bicycles have become more and more appealing to me as I see you looking oh so chic on yours. 🙂
hell yes, we’re supposed to stop! and obey all other “rules of the road.” But I HAVE learned we’re not supposed to trust blinkers. At all.
I hate to be the mommy here, but, please tell me you wear a helmet. I understand the potential for helmet hair disasters, but it certainly is preferable to wearing a hospital gown for an incredible length of time. Please?
oh yes, helmets just aren’t very photogenic.
Love this post!!
For a basket: http://www.pashley.co.uk/lists/accessories.html
omg i’m leaning over at the ol’ desk-a-roonie peeing in my pants!! bahahaha. the numbers, the dialogue, the silent dialogue, the DIALOGUE. *gasp* where do you come up with this stuff?? your mahnd is jenyus.
btw – white denim (in which you look like a twig) + bike = BRAVE
hells, bike = brave. or is that white denim = brave?
lovesit.
xoxo,
c
Hey Carey! You are so cycle chic! Tip on the bike basket . . . looks like you have a contraption in the front of your bike, I have something similar on the back. I bought a cute wicker basket from the home section at Target and zip ties to fasten it on. Since Rob sounds pretty handy, maybe a wine crate attached to the front would suit you as well 🙂
Happy cruising!
Ooh, thanks, Ann! That is the best idea…
now i know what to do with belts that don’t fit in my jean belt loops! where did you get the turquoise bracelets? and is it hard to pedal with the high heels? i think it’s great you bike to work, i’m too far from my place of employment, plus i’ve got two kids i need to lug around, laptop, breastpump, etc..
check out my blog, i put up my first post, with a maxi dress i just finished sewing, hope you like!
hi there! I can’t wait to see the dress!
These are actually flip flops, but I’ll tell you—they were harder to bike in than heels! I kept slipping. As long as I have good rubber treads, I could be wearing 6-inch heels and the cycling is a cinch! The bracelets are AMAZING, and I posted about them here: https://corksandcaftans.wordpress.com/2010/05/07/made-and-purchased-with-love/
You should definitely get some; they go to a great cause.
Gotta love the breastpump, my friend. My old office had an entire spare room for breast pumping in. Good stuff.
here’s a link to the dress!
http://needleandstring.wordpress.com/
Ha Ha Ha, as usual you made my morning in giving me the first laugh of the day. And as my days have been going lately, it may be my last. But you look gorgeous and are very brave.
By the way..I ended up getting those bracelets too and haven’t taken them off since I’ve had them. They seem to go with everything. 🙂
Heh… pencil skirts and bikes, it’s very doable, you just have to learn how to! For me the worst was the first time I realised that I had been living in Finland too long because I never thought twice about wearing a short skirt on my bike there and then I came to Marseille… ah, the remarks I get sometimes!
And once again, yay! for bikes!
Ok. I LOVE this post…love you…love your writing style…love your style period. What I love about your writing is, not only are you very witty and have a way of drawing people in so that they feel that they know you…but you really “get it”…your comments about everyday life in general are always dead on, and this post is no exception. And I actually saw you riding your bike through town the other day and you had a BIG smile on your face while riding about by yourself, which made me happy. BUT…and there is a but…your elbow is freaking me out…I can’t stop looking at it.
well thank you for the amazing compliments! and the elbow pictured there is not even in full force. si, it gets much worse. apologies!
And I’m cracking up that you had a sighting! I can only imagine what nonsense must have been going through my head that I was smiling to myself, but somehow I’m not surprised. I would say, “Next time, honk!” but I’d probably crash… and chances are I was stubbornly going sans-helmet that day so I’m feeling a little ashamed and grateful at the same time. (Ssh, don’t tell.)
Cheers! 🙂 -C
OMG, Carey! Just before this last post I noticed the elbow comment and then I really looked at the picture. My elbows do the same thing! My husband calls me a double jointed freak when he sees it, Ha Ha Ha. I knew I loved you. (My knees bend extra far back, I can touch my tongue to my nose and can totally put one arm over my shoulder and grasp fingers with my other hand behind my back too.) Ha Ha Ha, I know..TMI
haha. shut up! I hate my elbows because when I’m working out, if my arms get fatigued, I can’t control the flipping backwards thing. If I try and do tricep dips, it feels like my arm is going to rip in half. maybe that’s a perfect excuse for having sausage arms. haha.
Girl, you look GOOD on a bike. ❤
you never fail to kill me… that mind, its sooo sharp eh?
Kinda wanted to give you the largest hug when I saw the first pic… then I was too busy laughing once I started reading SO… the hug itch ceased a bit.
peace and love sistah.
Amy
I love cycle chic! Just back from Copenhagen! My bf Bill (we met you at the AOA party) has a get up on his bike for music.