seypat

I had a soft shelled crab sandwich like that once. Not being from the coast, I was expecting something in the form of a patty. Instead, the plate shows up with a BA spider looking thing on a bun. Still had the eyes and legs on it. It was staring at me! I asked the waitress if I was supposed to take the legs and eyes off.
She said something like, "Do whatever you like, Hon."
I drowned it in tartar sauce and went to chewing on it. It was extra crunchy. I've never had one since.

qwaalodge

I have experienced it myself quite a few times, especially in blind corners. I've been avoiding blind corners ever since, merging with the road at higher speeds, taking the regular lane, and moving away from the side when merging. It seemed to have eliminated the problem but now I face new new problem - the higher speeds means I have less time to react for cyclists riding in the opposite side of the road.

I really have to look both ways to merge a road to make sure I don't collide with cyclists riding on the wrong side. We have lots of them here because lots of Qwaalodgian cyclists don't have cars, they don't drive, have zero idea how unsafe it is to ride on the wrong side of the road.

Yes, I have seen a motorcycle cut a cyclist with only inches to spare and it's not on a blind corner. The cyclist got really mad. But there's dark colored foliage lining the side of the road and the cyclist had all-black kit and all-black bike. He blended perfectly against the dark colored foliage.

qwaalodge

Why are the reviews so terrible?

Anyway, the Amazon natives prefer steam-cooking the tarantulas with rice. It's probably NOT the most palatable way of cooking it so I will not recommend it.

livedarklions

So you've gone from you've often seen cyclists in black clothes get hit by motorcyclists to you saw it almost happen to one guy once?

qwaalodge

I am trying to see if you're tracking all my posts. Now I'm not sure you actually do.

ZIPP2001

I still roll with my last Zipp2001 now set-up as a carbon belt drive single speed. I raced on Zipp's when they first came out and got the nickname Zipp2001 by a bunch of guys in our local cycling club. So, I set-up my you tube channel as Zipp2001 just to have fun, and why not play with the car tires. Here is a photo of the painted carbon belt drive and the regular belt single speed I gave to my youngest son.

mstateglfr 

Ok, very cool that you still have a couple of them. Thanks for the background.

3alarmer 

.
...this has been an interesting thread. Personally, I wear black for the same reason as Audrey Hepburn--it's visually a slimming choice in fashion. As an important social influencer, I feel I owe it to my fans to come off as less of a fat ass than I actually am. The reason I found all this commentary interesting is that apparently I'm the only one.
.
.

This Is Why Black Clothes Are Slimming

Troul 

Until bright colors of nasty nature triumph over the dark grease stains, I too will wear the slim factor benefit of black clothing.

wolfchild

Good guys wear black.

DangerousDanR

The simple answer is found in this little ditty that one of my kids brought home from summer camp:

"Black socks, they never get dirty
The more that you wear them, the blacker they get
Sometimes I think I should wash them
But something keeps telling me no,
Not yet, not yet, not yet, not yet."

A350driver

Black won’t show blood so….yeah!

Calsun

When I photographed weddings I wore a black shirt and black pants. At the end of 8-12 hours of runing around my clothes still looked OK. Lighter colors would show dirt and sweat and that was not a good look for a pro photographer.

Dark clothing actually is the best at absorbing UV radiation. It is a joke and a lie when companies sell a white shirt and state that it provides SPF 50 protection. Lighter fabric allows more UV light to pass through and refect off the threads and to the wearer's skin.

Dark clothes go longer between washings and that extends their life. A tailor I knew and had bought many suits from advised me to miniize having them dry cleaned but instead to have them pressed when they got wrinkled. The washing of clothes wears them out much faster than most people realize.

Korina

This reminds me of an eyewitness description of the German army marching through Brussels at the beginning of WWI; their light gray uniforms vanished in the distance, making it impossible to count their numbers; they were like a fog. I wish I could find the quote, but you get the idea.

Korina

Rolla

Richard Harding Davis, The Germans Enter Brussels, 1914:

"The gray of the uniforms worn by both officers and men helped this air of mystery. Only the sharpest eye could detect among the thousands that passed the slightest difference. All moved under a cloak of in visibility. Only after the most numerous and severe tests, with all materials and combinations of color that give forth no color, could this gray have been discovered. That it was selected to clothe and disguise the German when he fights is typical of the German Staff in striving for efficiency to leave nothing to chance, to neglect no detail.

After you have seen this service uniform under conditions entirely opposite you are convinced that for the German soldier it is his strongest weapon. Even the most expert marksman cannot hit the target unless he can see. It is a gray-green, not the blue-gray of our Confederates. It is the gray of the hour just before daybreak, the gray of unpolished steel, of mist among green trees.

I saw it first in the Grand Place in front of the Hotel de Ville. It was impossible to tell if in that noble square there was a regiment or a brigade. You saw only a fog that melted into the stones, blended with the ancient house fronts, that shifted and drifted, but left you nothing at which you could point.

Later, as the army passed below my window, under the trees of the Botanical Park, it merged and was lost against the green leaves. It is no exaggeration to say that at a hundred yards you can see the horses on which the Uhlans ride, but cannot see the men who ride them.

If I appear to overemphasize this disguising uniform it is because of all the details of the German out fit it appealed to me as one of the most remarkable. The other day, when I was with the rear guard of the French Dragoons and Cuirassiers and they threw out pickets, we could distinguish them against the yellow wheat or green gorse at half a mile, while these men passing in the street, when they have reached the next crossing, become merged into the gray of the paving stones and the earth swallows them. In comparison the yellow khaki of our own American Army is about as invisible as the flag of Spain."

tornado60

This is absolutely true. I apologize if I implied with my post that there was anything wrong with wearing black. I really just wondered if there was a reason I was missing that it seems most prevelant; suggesting people tend to choose it. There have been some great answers here.

To anyone wondering this was never really meant as a what should I do post. My cycling pants and shorts are black because that is my option locally. It was more just a curiosity as to why that is. Now I know.

rsbob 

Why so much dark clothing? Ask Darwin.

Paul Barnard

My favorite is the guy with asphalt colored hair and neckbeard, who has an asphalt colored bike, and is wearing asphalt colored shoes, socks, shorts, shirt and helmet, burning an 800 lumen headlight on the asphalt path.

Paul Barnard

White also stands out reasonably well. In traffic, your head will often be above the roof lines of vehicles. While white doesn't stand ut as well as high vis, it in combination with natural head movement will enhance visual conspicuity.

NomarsGirl

No driver can ever say they didn't see you. That was in response to Zipp's picture in his very bright kit.

LarrySellerz

your bikes are freaking rad bro. Super jealous

Mojo31

Give in to your dreams!

Road Bike Zipp 2001 Vintage Super Bike | eBay

starkmojo

I like black or brown because It hides coffee stains

Paul Barnard

I've always felt like brown would be the best color for the chamois pad in shorts.