highlyselassie

They made the assumption he owns a tandem?

SpiderMike

My love for cycling was once compared to "Hard core vegitarians, and hard core evangilst". He continued on with how they are always forcing their thoughts upon people. I replied with "When is the last time I road over to your house early on a Saturday morning, only to start telling you the good news of eating only Gu packs and riding bike?" All I got was "ummmmmmmmm".

JohnBrooking

On a current A&S thread (about a dooring scene from the new Pink Panther movie), someone quotes someone else defining as humor as a situation or story where the ending is completely counter to expectations. Your story does kind of fit this definition. These girls had met a male friend of a friend at the bar, and he seemed all nice and normal, but then when they all left, he got on a bike. Maybe not funny by itself, but combined with society's stereotypes about cyclists (not helped at all by a certain recent movie, no doubt), it just struck them as funny. Unfortunate, yes. Hurt your feelings, maybe. But I wouldn't take it personally. It could have happened to any of us. (Hey, if they thought you were cool up until that point, you're probably doing better than I would have! )

Last night, an SUV of young women passed me and cat-called. Then I passed them while they were waiting in a left-turn lane to get on the interstate, and one of them called out "You're so sexy!" I just yelled back "So are you!" (Best I could think of at the time.)

Artkansas 

So let me see, you are complaining about three women offering you a ride**********

Excuse me, but perhaps there are worse problems in the world.

If they are cute, take them up on it. You never know what might come of it.

If you are not interested. Thank them for the offer and climb on your bike.

Yes, most car drivers can't imagine that it might be nicer to bike home. It's not in their world. So accept it for what it is, a kind gesture and deal with it.

TRaffic Jammer

Sounds like you might have missed out on a little sumpin sumpin'....

highlyselassie

Stumpjumpers

TRaffic Jammer

lol indeedy

lxpatterson

well if they all had "fat asses that they complain about" as you put it, what do you care? cycling just saved you from a potential mistake with some swamp donkeys!

pinkrobe

I have to agree. After a few drinks, it might have been prudent to ask who was going to be making breakfast for you.

That said, on a hot summer night I can't think of anything better than jumping on my trusty steed and weaving home at 2 a.m. It helps to burn some of the booze out of you. I get flack from my wife for riding home in the middle of the night, but that's it. There isn't much stigma around here for riding bikes. Calgary is the most physically active city in Canada, according to a variety of polls, and bike racks outside of bars are testament to that. There is a massive stigma surrounding drunk driving. You just can't do that ****. Drunk drivers are villified, outcast and generally not worth the time of day.

TRaffic Jammer

Having been nailed by one in Mtl, I concur. Hey do you still have that luge track in Calgary....I wanna try that ****.

What's the line?

"I hope you have a big trunk, cuz I'm puttin' my bike in there"

genec

Since they are not your girlfriend, they have no idea of the benefits she enjoys due to your regular workouts on the bike.

Plus they probably just saw "40 Year Old Virgin" and had a quick snicker wondering...

budster

So maybe a good answer the next time an attractive woman laughs when she sees you're cycling: "I know what you're thinking, and no -- and I'm not anywhere close to 40 yet, either...."

super-douper

My answer to "Do you want a ride?" is always "Why yes, I do want TO ride. Thanks for asking"

PinkDirt

Whenever I see someone riding a bike for something other than "fitness or recreation", but as an actual mode of transport to get to/from any usual car jaunt, I am totally humbled.
I think that you guys are the coolest. If more people would use their bicycles for things like this, the world would be a much better place.


Not all girls will snicker at you, there are some of us who just might come up to you and tell you that they envy your determination and secretly think you are totally cool, not to mention pretty darn brave. Besides, it is mainly only in the US, that people can't appreciate how incredible & functional the bicycle really is.

The girls who are so snobbish about cars are the ones whose idea of the outdoors is driving with the convertible top down.

Forget trying to come up with a witty retort for these people who can't understand, they don't get it, & they never will.

TRaffic Jammer

She must be a plant..........
*waiting for the pother shoe to drop*.....lol

why thank-ya

pinkrobe

Come on down and check it out. It's up and running at least half the year, and just about anybody can take a ride. They even crammed Ralph Klein's corpulence into a skin suit and sent him a-jiggling down the track.

SteveFox

well, from personall experience, ive noticed that when im under the influence, i bike a lot faster, as in 19-20 up a hill, on which i do maybe 10-15 on,. Also, if the ladies laugh, i tel them to hop on my rack ( my rack is nicer than thiers) and i take them home, which usually impresses them with my stamina and endurance and how strong my legs are..leading to my getting lucky that night haha. and for the record, ive been drinking guiness all night, so im also slightly drunk. heres to us drunken bikers and our drunken biking geting us lucky

Steve

pinkrobe

We mock their muscle tone as often as they mock our choice of locomotion.

squeakywheel

"Show me your handlebars"

mcavana

I think you are totally wrong in taking offence to them laughing and asking if you want a ride.

Like you, I ride every chance I get too. In my opinion, in a situation like you described, if they had not offered me a ride, it would have been borderline rude!!!!

You might as well say, "HOW DARE THEY LAUGH AND OFFER ME A RIDE HOME AFTER I HAVE BEEN DRINKING, AND IT IS LATE AT NIGHT, AND THERE ARE PLENTY OF DRUNKS OUT ON THE ROAD."

It is not like they were fighting you, and trying to force you not to ride your bike home! As friends, they were offering you another (perhaps safer) option.


At my old job, I had one guy that lived near me and he drove a pickup truck. I used to commute 24 miles round trip every day. Florida can have some crazy weather... bad thunderstorms are very common in the late afternoon durring the summer. When it was close to quitting time, if it was storming, he would always ask me if I wanted a lift. most of the time I would say no, but there were a few times when the weather was particulary bad, and I accepted his offer. He would always call me over to his desk, look out the window at the rain, then look at me and laugh... and ask if I wanted a ride home. HOW CAN YOU POSSIBLY TAKE OFFENCE TO SOMETHING LIKE THAT********** Your situation was identical to that, only my story involved rain, and yours involved drinking, and dealing with drunk drivers!

GET OVER IT!!!!!


Mike

zowie

Orbea? Awesome! Trek? Ok. Windsor? At least you're trying, maybe someday you'll have that Cannondale.

huhenio

eheheh! /\/\/\

Seriously ... it is a class thing. Living in a college town lets me get away with a lot being a grown up riding a bike wherever I want. Most people just want me out of their way, and I indeed ride as close to the white line as possible.

But "stick to your manias and soon you will be considered a genious" comes to mind.

Wulfheir

If people called me on all the stupid ***** i've said or done drunk, I'd have a lot of 'splainin to do. They were drunk girls saying drunk stuff. They probably meant no harm and some education about cycling might have helped, but a bar is probably not the best venue for it.