Utility Cycling - Any one else get mistaken for a Hobo?

I live in a strange little city where the only people that typicly ride bikes (olther than $3000 carbon fiber jobbies) are hobos and DWIs, especialy a twenty year old schwinn MTB with a milk-crate trunk-basket. I'm starting to feel persecuted. Even the cops give me a long look over. On the flip-side I was driving through Boston and Cambridge yesterday. WOW! Peddlebike Meca! All KINDS of bikes, every where with all kinds of riders. I was all like...wow.......

You need some decals or stickers, indicating that you intentionally ride a bike. Some pro-environmental stickers should do the trick.

I'm pretty sure I'm not mistaken for a hobo. But people tend to assume that I'm a long distance rider.

You need some decals or stickers, indicating that you intentionally ride a bike. Some pro-environmental stickers should do the trick.

Wearing a bike helmet will also show you mean it.

showering, shaving, and clean clothes in good repair seem to help

When I was a kid, I wanted to grow up to be a hobo. I haven't given up on that dream yet. My trailer brings smiles to many, but the homeless dig it the most. I'll be the king of the tramps if I ever reach my goal.

When I was a kid, I wanted to grow up to be a hobo. I haven't given up on that dream yet. My trailer brings smiles to many, but the homeless dig it the most. I'll be the king of the tramps if I ever reach my goal.

...inside every home there's a homeless family not wanting to get out. :D

When I was a kid, I wanted to grow up to be a hobo. I haven't given up on that dream yet. My trailer brings smiles to many, but the homeless dig it the most. I'll be the king of the tramps if I ever reach my goal.They would stab you in your sleep your first night and steal your trailer.

If you're on your bike and get mistaken for a hobo do people give you energy bars? :)

No one ever gives me energy bars but they have given me clothes, money, vegetables and job offers. people also frequently leave refundable bottles on or in my bike. This includes my friend's bakfiets and my CETMA cargo bike. People often offer me and my kids a ride and even people that I know sometimes assume that I can't afford a car.
I really like it when people are being nice, so although I never accept the ride offers (where would I put my bike - and kids need car seats), I often accept other donations and pass them on to the truly needy.

I've actually spent the night on the street in the company of homeless men with my bike and trailer locked to a sign a few feet from where we slept. No one stabbed me.

A homeless guy gave me a pair of pants once. No money, vegetables or job offers. If I had kids, I'd probably receive more charity.

If you're on your bike and get mistaken for a hobo do people give you energy bars? :)

I have a friend you offers a malt-nut Powerbar to anyone who asks for money. If they are truly hungry, they will take it. He gives anyone who accepts the Powerbar a five dollar bill also. Very few take the bait.

not really, but I did feel like one when i first put a basket on the back of my sirrus. I soon got over it when i realized how much more useful and convenient this made my bike.

i have a great big (70L?) plastic box on the back of my scooter too. my wife hates it, but i couldnt live without it.

I have a friend you offers a malt-nut Powerbar to anyone who asks for money. If they are truly hungry, they will take it. He gives anyone who accepts the Powerbar a five dollar bill also. Very few take the bait.

In town, bum standign in front of McDonnalds. "Got a buck for something to eat?" SUre, let's go in and I'll buy you a meal". Now, I'm not sure if he was anti-MaDonnalds or what but he didn't take me up on my offer and Big Macs are WAY yummier than malt-nut powerbars (yech).

Any one else get mistaken for a Hobo?

Evidently, Bob Dylan:
http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/Music/08/14/bob.dylan/index.html?iref=newssearch

I get looked down upon and asked if my husband and I have a car... we have two and a motorhome, none of which I drive a whole lot. This happens in the same city I get harassed by vehicles and almost run over daily by.

They also ask us why would we want to bike? :twitchy: I always tell them for my sanity.

Try singing this as you ride....

http://www.bluegrasslyrics.com/all_song.cfm-recordID=s29253.htm

I have a friend you offers a malt-nut Powerbar to anyone who asks for money. If they are truly hungry, they will take it. He gives anyone who accepts the Powerbar a five dollar bill also. Very few take the bait.

A buddy offered one of the perpetually homeless here in town an apple and got turned down. It makes me wonder if they really do make more than me (on a grad students' stipend).

A buddy offered one of the perpetually homeless here in town an apple and got turned down. It makes me wonder if they really do make more than me (on a grad students' stipend).
The vast majority of Hobos, the ones that are really homeless, have some sort of check comming in weather it is disabillity or social security or welfare or whatever. Of course, most of these guys and gals have mental disorders (generally uncontroled) and/or poly-substance abuse issues. It's a horrible life but it's a bed most of them made for themselves. There are exsceptoons of course! I feel bad for the children and the guys who got addicted to their narcotic pain relievers after they suffered some form of injury. these are mostly formerly hard-working blue collar family guys who got hurt on the job and had some Doc push the pain pills on them.

The pan-hanlers on the other hand are pros. They are the go-getters and the movers and shakers of the Hobo world. They will comtest for and claim certain corners and off-ramps and work them ALL DAY. They can make BIG bucks doing this, as much as $600 a day based on a news report I saw a couple years ago. All cash. All undeclared. Ask the local cop or buisness owner about those guys and the will point out their cars to you, parked somehere close by. They ahve a ****ty health insurance and retierment plan but they have a prety good cash business going!

I live in a strange little city where the only people that typicly ride bikes (olther than $3000 carbon fiber jobbies) are hobos and DWIs, especialy a twenty year old schwinn MTB with a milk-crate trunk-basket. I'm starting to feel persecuted. Even the cops give me a long look over. On the flip-side I was driving through Boston and Cambridge yesterday. WOW! Peddlebike Meca! All KINDS of bikes, every where with all kinds of riders. I was all like...wow.......

It's the same down here, particularly when you carry panniers ("bags" to the lay people). Actually I'm so pro about it that I don't know if I look like a VIP hobo or eccentric millionaire. I like to consider myself an ECCENTRIC PENNYLESS, but some people fail to get the distinction between that an hobo, or between that and a millionaire. :rolleyes:

I have even made a t-shirt that announces that in bold letters, so there's no confusion. :thumb:

"I'm an ECCENTRIC PENNYLESS"

Indeed anyone on an old bike in my town is probably a DWI
Just going down the block to the store,
i change into short legged pants so that i won't be mistaken for one.
Not that it matters but i would rather be seen as taking the bike by CHOICE

Indeed anyone on an old bike in my town is probably a DWI
Just going down the block to the store,
i change into short legged pants so that i won't be mistaken for one.
Not that it matters but i would rather be seen as taking the bike by CHOICE

I rather walk than be caught riding one of those rusty clunkers. :o

I ride stylish bikes to make the point that their SUVs pale by comparison. If they are the King of the Road, I'm the King of the Beach, Cafes and places where I can ride my bikes in style.

On Aug 19, 12:35 pm, SMS <scharf.ste...@geemail.com> wrote:

> In my city, there are several different types of riders. We have the
> commuters on their commute bikes with fenders, chainguards, and good
> lighting systems, we have the restaurant and supermarket workers riding
> department store bikes, we have a lot of racers passing through, and we
> have the parents of many adult residents that came from China and that
> don't drive but are used to cycling, and they ride to the local stores,
> particularly the Asian markets. They also sometimes carry their
> grandchildren on the bikes in ways that would make the "let's pass more
> laws to make everything safe for everyone" people cringe.
>
> I remember going on a ride with my son and wife one day, and along the
> way we stopped at Costco for frozen yogurt, and were sitting near the
> bike racks eating and my son said that we looked like hobos.

I almost jumped at my girlfriend (who also rides with me somewhat reluctantly) when she said looking at a young man riding on the main road, "That guy must be a hobo!" :o

She works with those stupid sheep for whom a cyclist is just to be dismissed, and she repeats the same old song. I said to her, "Hobos don't ride fast on main streets. He's rather a hero and you wouldn't dare ride there."

I didn't keep going because I know she means no harm. Not until we dismiss that myth we will get some respect. Talking about respectable bikes for gentlemen and ladies...

Who says bikes can't be for the "lions" of the jungle? (it even has a lion emblem)

(not hobos!)

http://velorbis.com/velorbis-classic-bicycles/classic-bicycles/victoria-classic/slideshow

The bike helmet makes all the differance for me.. If I wear my baseball cap most people ignore me on the bike path asuming I am homeless.. If I wear my bike helmut the whole world changes and I get good mornings etc from most people...
As above the homeless here are well rpovided for.. They eat for free, have shelters for overnight, all seem to be getting checks of one sort or another.. Problem is alcohol, drugs and mental problems...

The bike helmet makes all the differance for me.. If I wear my baseball cap most people ignore me on the bike path asuming I am homeless.. If I wear my bike helmut the whole world changes and I get good mornings etc from most people...
As above the homeless here are well rpovided for.. They eat for free, have shelters for overnight, all seem to be getting checks of one sort or another.. Problem is alcohol, drugs and mental problems...

So if you want to ride across America for free... do NOT wear a helmet! :rolleyes:

Just kidding. The vest is perhaps even more important as they see you before the accident happens. :thumb:

Actually that's the way I'm riding on the road now (no helmet, Indiana Banana hat) for short distances since the heat will kill me if not a car.

NOTE: Indiana Banana is a tropical version of Indiana Jones, who's more appropriate to the heat and the Banana Republica where I live --or should I say, SURVIVE. :D

I sometimes ride a black beach cruiser on a 3 mile stretch of road that rarely if ever gets travelled by commuters or utility cyclist. It is in the country side slightly. It feels like some people think I've gotten a DWI, or maybe that I'm trying to get back on my feet after getting in trouble. I carried a tea bottle in a bag one day, and I couldn't help but wonder what ideas were going through people's minds. I want to live car free, but I don't... yet. If they only knew that!

No, I alway carry Grey-Poupon:lol:

I have never been mistaken for being a Hobo in my area because I am clean, don't smell of booze, ride clean and well fitted bikes, have an ipod strapped around my arm and travel at a reasonable pace for the few miles that I travel. There are plenty of Hobos around here who reside near freeways and along the ravine who have mean trailers and older bikes that are a bit well maintained but the furthest they travel is a few miles to the recycle center.

To the lay people out there, ANYONE WITH BAGS may be taken as HOBO. Others use it as a way to put down cycling as only proper of low class people. Of course, "normal people" drive a car or SUV if they can afford it. :rolleyes:

yeah. my dad gets mistaken for a hobo pretty often. people offer him food some times. that's probably because no one but the lower classes in Honolulu cycles to work -- especially no one who works in the industrial areas.
it causes problems.

yeah. my dad gets mistaken for a hobo pretty often. people offer him food some times. that's probably because no one but the lower classes in Honolulu cycles to work -- especially no one who works in the industrial areas.
it causes problems.

Funny, some couple who just came back from Hawaii (pretty stupid sheep themselves) gave us a picture of paradise for cyclists, good driving manners, and cleanliness unheard of in the States.

Some people also give a picture of paradise where I live (Miami Beach), but that's seriously over-rated. Depends WHERE you live, and WHAT you do.

Certainly, do NOT try riding a bike. :eek:

Funny, some couple who just came back from Hawaii (pretty stupid sheep themselves) gave us a picture of paradise for cyclists, good driving manners, and cleanliness unheard of in the States.


Ok, let's not jump to conclusions about Hawaii...

Hawaii's applicable laws to the interaction b/ car and bike seem to be far ahead of the mainland States (as far as I know)... :rolleyes:

(3) The driver of a motor vehicle overtaking a person
operating a bicycle moving in the same direction shall
pass at a distance sufficient to prevent contact with
the person operating the bicycle if the person were to
fall into the driver's lane of traffic; and
(4) When a violation of this section results in a
collision between a motor vehicle and the operator of
a bicycle riding on the right in compliance with
section 291C-145, it shall not be a defense that the
operator of the bicycle was riding to the right of the
overtaking motor vehicle. II

http://hbl.org/documents/advocacy/2009/HB1632_.pdf

While not mandating vehicles to leave the lane occupied by you (which I advocate for), at least it would keep most predators far and away from you. :thumb:

Mistaken for a junky once.

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=570805

Mistaken for a junky once.

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=570805

Someone hands me $5!!! He goes into the god/jesus speech what a few "I'm not from a monkey"'s thrown in for good measure. As he gets into his SUV to drive off, he points to his arm and says "I used to be a junky you know" I'm pretty sure he was implying that he thought I was.

Heart-wrenching. But the driver should have said, "I used to be a junkie, thus now I drive a piece a junk!" :rolleyes:

Thanks for the story!!! :thumb:

HNL is changing; there's an increasing transportation cycling culture coming online.

I don't get mistaken as homeless as much as either too poor to buy a car or I got a DUI. People at work offer me rides home or money for gas for my car. I just politely decline, but it does get annoying at times. I don't think I have driven my car to work for 5 or 6 months. I think a lot of them figure I wrecked it, or just don't have gas money. Most people, including my wife, just don't get that I enjoy riding everyday. Part of the fun to me is seeing how much stuff I can bring home on my bicycle.

I'm starting to feel persecuted. .......

Someone did tell me once that I looked like the unibomber.

Kind of like how my neighbors look at me when I mow the lawn with a push reel mower... one came over to offer his gas mower!

I don't get mistaken as homeless as much as either too poor to buy a car or I got a DUI. People at work offer me rides home or money for gas for my car. I just politely decline, but it does get annoying at times. I don't think I have driven my car to work for 5 or 6 months. I think a lot of them figure I wrecked it, or just don't have gas money. Most people, including my wife, just don't get that I enjoy riding everyday. Part of the fun to me is seeing how much stuff I can bring home on my bicycle.

Why won't you rather say that you are like Jesus, and that you came to suffer to this Earth? :rolleyes:

Being mistaken as a hobo, not only can hurt your soul, but can also hurt your body...

We all know how much violence there's out there against the homeless, and from there to attacking a cyclist is the next logical step.

This incident that happened last night MAY be related to this fact...

Now (10 pm) coming home on side street with lights and all the gear, car sitting on opposite side of road and I'm waiting for him to give me a signal... No signal, I go and he almost runs me over! :rolleyes:

Hey, not a moneyed neighborhood, sports VW GTI with tinted windows, probably some youngsters out to have "fun."


BEWARE OF THE JUNGLE!

Sometimes I feel like waiting for the revolution to come out! :thumb:

A buddy offered one of the perpetually homeless here in town an apple and got turned down. It makes me wonder if they really do make more than me (on a grad students' stipend).

A panhandler told me he make $100/day but he knocks off at noon. The problem with apples and Powerbars, now that I think about it, is they require good teeth, which a lot of homeless don't have. I suppose if a toothless guy was truly hungry, he would mash the apple or the powerbar with a rock. It would be like applesauce or peanut butter. :)

Kind of like how my neighbors look at me when I mow the lawn with a push reel mower... one came over to offer his gas mower!

You get that too?!?? On the street I live on, I have the only double-lot. All my neighbors use riding mowers. I cut my double-sized yard with a reel mower, or a regular self-propelled push mower, and they shake their heads at me like I'm crazy. Just wait till I sell my car and commute by bike! :eek:

I haven't been mistaken as a hobo before, but I had a guy in a big truck ask me how the MPG was, and if I needed a ride. I said "I get 15 miles to one water bottle, and I don't need a ride, my house is only 5 miles from here, it's not far." He shook his head and said "That's not far??"

:thumb:

Kind of like how my neighbors look at me when I mow the lawn with a push reel mower... one came over to offer his gas mower!


You get that too?!?? On the street I live on, I have the only double-lot. All my neighbors use riding mowers. I cut my double-sized yard with a reel mower, or a regular self-propelled push mower, and they shake their heads at me like I'm crazy.

They are very afraid that their wives will find out about you and question why their hubby needed to waste all that money on a riding mower. :lol:

Eugene, OR has a lot of poor and homeless, and a lot of them ride bikes. I visited there for my first time in summer of 2008. I saw one guy with a bike that was towing a trailer, and that trailer was towing another trailer.

Funny thing is, I bought that reel mower because my neighbor did yardwork for extra cash. He would break his mower (hitting a water box or something) and borrow mine. Then he started breaking mine. So I bought the reel mower, and told him he could keep the gas one. He never asked to borrow that one, odd...

Eugene, OR has a lot of poor and homeless, and a lot of them ride bikes. I visited there for my first time in summer of 2008. I saw one guy with a bike that was towing a trailer, and that trailer was towing another trailer.

Enough bikers here that I'm not mistaken for a hobo...although last weekend in filthy clothes from tree trimming I could have been. The helmet must have been the give away.

I just saw guy (probably homeless) in Venice beach pulling 4 red wagons (big ones with the wood side slats) on his bike. Each was packed to the top with skateboards. Not sure whath story is there....he didn't seem to be trying to sell the skateboards, but was having fun giving them a ride.

I On the flip-side I was driving through Boston and Cambridge yesterday. WOW! Peddlebike Meca! All KINDS of bikes, every where with all kinds of riders. I was all like...wow.......

Here in Cambridge they're not "hobos," they're "graduate students."

Do professors still cycle in Cambridge? I used to be the head mechanic at the shop on Mass Ave there, back in a previous life.

Just last week.

I was riding home from work in a flannel shirt because it was cold and the jeans I wear so that all the grease from my recumbent's chain goes on one pair of pants. I was in a neighborhood with a reputation for trouble at night when I got a flat. I walked the bike to the nearby combination McD's and gas station and plunked down in a corner of the parking lot under a light.

I decided that I would try and keep my hands clean by getting a towel from the windshield washing kiosk. There were none left, and I looked at the garbage section to see if there was a used one. I found one and walked back.

A car honked and a person yelled. But I just walked back to the bike.

After a couple of minutes a car pulled up to where I was seated on the ground pulling the wheel off the bike. A fellow stepped out and asked if I needed help. I replied that I had things pretty well under control. Then he tried to push some cash into my hand. I thanked him, refused his offer and responded that I had plenty of money. I had to repeat it before he would believe it.

So bless him.

Just last week.

I was riding home from work in a flannel shirt because it was cold and the jeans I wear so that all the grease from my recumbent's chain goes on one pair of pants. I was in a neighborhood with a reputation for trouble at night when I got a flat. I walked the bike to the nearby combination McD's and gas station and plunked down in a corner of the parking lot under a light.

I decided that I would try and keep my hands clean by getting a towel from the windshield washing kiosk. There were none left, and I looked at the garbage section to see if there was a used one. I found one and walked back.

A car honked and a person yelled. But I just walked back to the bike.

After a couple of minutes a car pulled up to where I was seated on the ground pulling the wheel off the bike. A fellow stepped out and asked if I needed help. I replied that I had things pretty well under control. Then he tried to push some cash into my hand. I thanked him, refused his offer and responded that I had plenty of money. I had to repeat it before he would believe it.

So bless him.


I just read your story to my wife. We just had a huge laugh, at your expense, I suppose.

Sorry, fella, but you may have a job, you may have a home, you may have a wife and kids and plenty of cash, but you WERE a hobo on that occasion.