Buglady

I was chatting with a colleague in the lunch room today about bike commuting. He lives right next to one of the river paths, a flat 4 km stretch with no road crossings or anything else. It would be a dead easy 15 minute ride, tops! But, despite claiming that he "would love to ride to work," he is tragically prevented from doing so... by the fear of messing up his hair.

I did NOT laugh at him. I swear. At least not where he could see me.

What are the funniest/lamest excuses you've heard?

Flimflam

I had a coworker buddy make an excuse for not checking out Critical Mass with me (which is an EASY paced ride), let alone the commuting part.

I've offered to ride to his place and ride in with him, but he's just not biting yet - maybe soon, he's on a quit-smoking jibe right now so I'm hoping he'll want to shift to a bike from the transit soon.

Itsjustb

Buglady, points to you for not laughing. I'd have spewed my drink.

thdave

I heard the same thing, but from a woman.

I met her at our little company free breakfast thingy for Ride Bike to Work Day. She had ridden that day and rides 25 miles on weekends with her husband and a club they're in. I was impressed until she talked some more. I noticed that her hair was all done up, much moreso than my helmet hair. The only reason she rode in that morning was because she was on a committee arranging this. She said she couldn't do this again since it would mess up her hair.

The truth of the matter is that it would mess up her hair--which was kind of big and poofy--if she put on a helmet! She'd need a new style.

newbojeff

My hair sometimes gets messed up when I ride. I have this incredible device in my office. It consists of a series of hundreds of vertical bristles sticking up from a wooden backing, which is attached to a handle. I find that if I draw this device through my hair, the hair becomes straighter and more presentable. Fortunately, I have been using this device since I was about 10. Because of it, I have been able to bike to work.

DataJunkie

People laugh at me when I use that excuse. Could be that I am bald. Maybe just maybe.

skanking biker

RAOTFL

RomSpaceKnight

It's dangerous/too hot/too cold/messes my hair/I hate the rooster tail stripe/can't carry my laptop/lunch/change of clothes/it's too far/I'm not in good enough shape/.......................

Ther all lame answers. There is a solution to everything.

dalmore

You know, I'm depressed now. This just reminded me that once I really did get turned down for a date because Tina told me "I have to wash my hair." ...

capejohn

There is a manager in my office who would never think of riding a bike. She wants to be safe in her big ole SUV. I do swear though that she styles her hair with a firecracker every morning.

Buglady

I'm slowly learning tact. Slowly

I think I am going to start collecting excuses... this one was particularly funny because this guy's hair is thinning badly, which he himself admits. He was worried about being able to get "coverage" with the remainder, if it dried funny under a helmet.

Maybe I should be more sympathetic - but my hairstyle usually is more along the lines of "containment" (I've been growing it out for a year and a half).

Brian Sorrell

One of my coworkers is trying to get her son to ride to high school. Apparently he's quite afraid that it's not cool enough to ride a bike to high school anymore. I don't get it -- I was his age a mere 18 years ago and I would have killed for 1) a bike and 2) a mom who would encourage me to use it to get around. We thought that maybe it's just him, but she said that there isn't even a bike rack at the school. So apparently, no one rides! And we're in Southern California where riding year round is hardly a problem -- I'm a year round commuter.

On the flip side, my lovely wife rode to work today. She realized that she was trying to find excuses and so bit the bullet and went. I might ride over and accompany her home tonight. That's always fun.

Buglady

What an incredible invention! You should patent it!

jmeier

LOL
lame excuses stink...but not always as bad as I do after a long ride...

InTheRain

Please tell me that this guy doesn't shave his head!... or have the "cul-de-sac" hair cut that I sport. So maybe you could leave a 10 cent come on his desk with a message attached, "for your first bicycle commute." It really wouldn't matter... this guy would have another excuse waiting once this problem was solved, right? I'll bet the first day that he actually commutes, he'll show up wearing all out race clothing and riding a Litespeed Ghisallo. 4km each way?... could this guy ask for a better situation?

I dunno what it is with people. I love my commute - especially the morning commute. It's nice and cool, quiet, and gets me jacked up for the day.

SDRider

The alternative is hair so short that all you need is a little hair gel at your desk to make it do what you want and you're good.

Of course, we have showers here at work so there really is no excuse.

littlewaywelt

In all seriousness, to prevent the hairdrier in spots rollercoaster look from the wind blowing through the portals take some suranwrap or glad press'n seal and cover the front vents. I've been doing this for years. In the winter it makes things mucho warmer.

I-Like-To-Bike

I presume that those reasons for not riding are considered quite reasonable to those who state those reasons. And they have found a reasonable solution - they don't ride a bike.

What I find lame is the apparant requirement that others must justify their reasons for not riding to some smug cyclist smirking at them at the lunch table.

nick burns

2 hrs?!

You're slipping.

jbarros

my lamest excuses always come from myself. At 0500hrs when you know you can get another 2 hours of sleep if you drive... it's amazing what sounds like a good reason not to ride. I think at one point I used the thought that I didn't want to break the bicycle by hitting a dog on it. I'm not sure why I thought I'd hit a dog on the major arteries I commute on, or how this would break the bicycle, but I had 3 hours of sleep so far, and it seemed like a good enough reason to go back to sleep at the time.

FWIW, when I woke up and came to my senses, I rode in anyway, and just took a later train.

-- James

Buglady

Yeah, I'm smirking, 'cause I'm all high school like that And I totally jump on everyone demanding that they justify themselves. Yeah.

It's when someone *claims* that they'd love to ride but (fill in the blank) that it becomes hard to take them seriously - one or the other, but not both! And when it's coupled with a "oh you're so slim, I'm so jealous, I have to diet, I wish I could eat all I want like you"... there's a really easy answer and it's strange how people tie themselves in knots avoiding it. Human nature, though, I suppose - the unknown or unfamiliar is always scary...

Jolt

Or (at least for the women) long hair that can be pulled back in a ponytail, which can then be threaded through the back of the helmet (some helmets are better than others for this). Then it doesn't get messed up that much from the helmet, and nothing that a quick brushing and re-doing of the ponytail won't quickly fix. I used to have a short spiky hairstyle and have since grown it out, and I've actually found the long style to be much lower maintenance (not to mention no more embarrassing incidents of being mistaken for a teenage boy!!).

Treespeed

+1

Ganesha

What? You never knew a guy who carried a mirror in his pocket and a comb up his sleeve-just in case?

InTheRain

OK, yes, I've excused myself from riding a few times when I know I just wasn't going to have a good day on a couple of hours of sleep. But on those days, the extra 30 minutes wasn't going to help either... so I had to call in sick and say I'd be in later. I didn't want to come into work and say that I was cured by some miracle and that's why I'm on my bike.. so I just drove the car in, moped around at work saying that I didn't feel all that good, and then when I got home.. I jumped on my bike and rode twice as far as I would have if I'd chosen to commute by bicycle that day!

Sleep.. it's essential for a cyclist (or anybody!)