My family had a huge family reunion (@80 people) in Mission Bay Park in San Diego several years ago and I decided to ride down from Claremont (@140 miles). I gave my brother my street clothes the night before and left home at 5:00AM (to arrive around 2:00PM). I had a great ride, but when I arrived I found that my street clothes never made it into my brothers car, so I wore my lycra and SPDs for the entire day. I must have had 40 people ask me if I rode my bike down from Claremont (
), and at least a dozen wanted to bring their bikes up to have them serviced or upgraded. At least a dozen also stopped by throughout the day and into the night to make sure I wasn't going to ride home, or offer me a ride. (The party went on until after 11:00PM and many of them fully expected me to have planned to...)
Most everyone in my extended family knows that I have been mostly carfree for the past 30 years, and I think they have just come to accept that this is who I am. They kind of forget from time to time, but they mostly seem to light up when they realize that I am still riding. In fact, after moving to Indy, most of the e-mails and Christmas cards that I get inquire about how I am dealing with the snow.
I think for most people that it takes them a while to get it to soak in, but they eventually accept that you are not going to change, and for some you actually serve as an inspiration, and you know that you have been fully accepted when you show up in street clothes and people ask if you bike is broken....