HandsomeRyan

Below is an open letter to the people giving me dirty looks in the liquer store on friday night:


Dear Bob's Package Store Customers,

I know that in this 'don't talk to strangers' society we live in that often times we must judge each other by appearances alone becasue as you all know- only serial killers and pedophiles strike up a conversation people they have never met before. On Friday evening about 9PM we were all in the same place doing the same thing but for some reason my choice of transportation seems to have caused some of you to jump to conclusions about why a grown man would ride a bicycle to the liquer store. I'd like to take a moment to clear the air about utility cycling and why I didn't appreciate those dirty looks.

I'd like to start by addressing the misconception that the public has about bicycles. To some of us, a bicycle is not a childs toy. I personally have several thousand dollars worth of bicycles and cycling equipment in my basement and I don't even ride competitvely on any level. I just buy bikes becasue I like them. I'm not arrogant about it, I don't think everyone should sell their car and bike everywhere, I do it for me. You all talk about wanting to lose weight and get fit but you treat the guy who occasionally goes shopping via bike like he's damaged goods. (I've lost about 45lbs this year BTW)

I didn't ride to that liquer store to buy a bottle of wine because I don't have a car. I didn't ride there becasue I don't have a licence. I rode there because it was a nice night. I have a car and a licence. Hell, my company pays for the gas/insurance/maintaince on the car so even gas prices are not what kept me from driving. I just like to ride.

I love to talk bikes and if you were curious, I'd have gladly told you anything you wanted to know about my bike, the route i took, or why I was riding. But no one asked me. It's easier to give me dirty looks and feel that smug sence of superiority you get because you got to the store in your $45,000 luxery automobile while I took the long way to the store cutting through some neighborhoods and arrived sweaty from pumping pedals up hills.

In closing, I hope in the future you will realize that just becasue I ride a bicycle for transport or utility does not mean I got to many DUI's and lost my licence. It doesn't mean I do not have a good enough job to afford a car. It doesn't mean I'm some eco-activist who's going to key up the side of your $55,000 Hummer H2. I'm not the next Lance Armstrong, I ride mid-level bikes and I'm not that fast. I ride because it make me feel good and that's all.
Finally, an open invitation to all of you- I have some extra bikes if you want to go ride some time.

Thank you,
HandsomeRyan

wahoonc

You forgot to mention how much you pity them for spending so much on their fancy wheels they can barely afford anything else...like a decent brand of scotch I really don't see how people make $600+ a month car payments along with everything else. The bulk of the people that I know that drive flashy wheels have a flashy payment to go along with it. One of the richest men I know (worth over $12 million) drives a 5 year old Buick sedan, keeps it clean and maintained. We have one guy at work that is basically married to his Cadillac Escalade...but all he does is whine about how much the gas prices are hurting him. IIRC his monthly payment is about 1/4 of his take home pay and that doesn't include the incidentals like insurance, maintenance and fuel They can look down their noses all they want, because when they are sitting in gas lines and stuck in traffic or even sitting on the side of the road the shoe will be on the other foot so to speak. I saw a bit of that during Katrina when I was in Mobile. I rode my bike back and forth from the jobsite, while my coworkers were begging to leave work early so they could go spend 2-3 hours sitting in gas lines, by doing that I was able to make a tank of gas in my truck last until the "emergency" was over and gas was readily available again.

Aaron

Mr. Jim

AMEN brother

I-Like-To-Bike

How exactly did you determine what Bob's Package Store Customers thought about you or your bicycling routine? Were you judging them by their appearance/alleged "dirty looks" or simply upset because you didn't receive a round of applause upon your entrance to Bob's package store? Maybe you expected flowers and chocolates along with red carpet, eh?

CommuterRun

I think Ryan expected to be ignored. Just as anybody would expect from just about everybody else under the same situation.

When someone does that just stare back at them like looking at a Ripley's oddity.

Philatio

I like Bob's. I'm a sucker for cheap liquor though, and they do a pretty decent job in that respect. Bike parking does suck there though.

I-Like-To-Bike

And that is what he got except for someone apparently giving him "The Look" which set Ryan off in a tizzy. I recommend that Ryan develop a thicker skin and/or stop worrying about what he thinks people are thinking about him.

D0ugB

I.......<grimace> have .............. to ..................<grimace> agree with <grimace><grimace> ILTB. {It was even more painful then I thought.}

Ryan, you are way to concerned about what other people think. WHO CARES **********??
Live your own life, not the one other people expect you to!!!!

HandsomeRyan

I don't care what they think. I was merely remarking upon my observation that the majority of the customers in the store were staring at me, and at least one of the customers muttered something under their breath as I walked in then poked his friend and pointed at me. (i was in reasonably nice plain street clothes so it wasn't the usual 'nice pants' remarks that come with wearing Lycra)

Some of you obviously missed the fact that it was a tongue in cheek response to the fact that I know i was making some of the other customers uncomfortable merely by being there. I'm quite comfortable with how i live my life regardless of what others think, and i always have been. On the other hand- West Knoxville is the 'wealthy' side of town and a lot of the people here are VERY elitist. As a believer in the ideals of humanism I think it sucks that people act that way toward each other but I'm not ignorant enough to think I can do anything to change those peoples minds so instead i post rants on the internet.

I posted this thinking other might be able to relate to my experience but it looks like I'm the only one.

and yes, bob's is good stuff. I like their wine selection but i think the prices are slightly better @ Warehouse Liquors on north shore in the Rocky hill area.

mikepoole

No, I got you on the OP. A few days ago I was on my old Raleigh Tourist, riding to the Goodwill drop-off with a big garbage bag full of clothes stuffed into one rear basket and the other basket full of bottles (yes, mostly wine) headed for the recycling bin in the same parking lot as the Goodwill... in Green Hills area of Nashville... had that same feeling of being regarded as a wart on the scenery.

nasiralpharia

On this one I have to agree with the OP, people do stare and point at times, it doesn't affect my life either, i'm just aware of my surrondings. It won't stop me from riding my bike, or going to a store on my bike. I'm not going to pretend that its not happening though. People are rude, they ridicule anything that they would not do and they do the same thing to fat or disabled people.

When I ride to our Whole Foods store, I get smiles and thumbs up, but when i shop at walmart, i get the looks and the pointing, and the stares as I hop on the bike to leave. Matter of fact, when I'm waiting at the stoplight to turn into the mega shopping complex i get all kinds of stares, as if i'm doing something wrong.

It doesn't bother me, because I know that those are the people that are missing out, not me.

wahoonc

Read the previous post about tongue in cheek. I don't think most people have the disposable income, what they have is a series of payments and no savings. I would be interested to see how many people really have 6 months+ worth of salary in the bank in liquid form. I would bet it is in the range of less than 90% of the population, including the ones that drive Escalades and the like. Personal savings are at an all time low in this country, personal debt is at an all time high. Not a good scenario.

Aaron

-=(8)=-

Were you going in for your second bottle that nite ?
Ive found the second and third trips in one nite start to get the
stares, .....real and imagined. The fifth trip in, WOW

But, this happens to me all the time, why would anyone care ?

oldfool

I guess I'm just lucky. People here are so self centered that they don't even see you until you happen to be in their way, real or imagined. I had a pickup driver who was on the phone nearly rear end a car making a legal left turn. After screeching to a stop he looked at me (I was ten feet off the roadway) and yelled dumbass!!. I'm sorry, I couldn't maintain my cool and started laughing as I could not determine if he was commenting about himself or me. I was well off the road to avoid the broken glass. There is a lot of broken glass as drivers here like the musical sound of their beer bottles hitting the asphalt.
No nasty looks or comments from adults but kids notice and stare at the bike because it is a little unusual for here. I actually had one young man about 10 years old waiting for me when I came out of the store a while back just to tell me I had a cool bike. Adults usually pretend I don't exist which is fine with me and when I arrive home it's with a light heart and a clear head. (:-{)

I-Like-To-Bike

I've noted for years that cattle in the fields stare and their heads swivel to watch when I pass by them. I don't let it affect my equilibrium even though they may be whispering/thinking evil thoughts in moo talk about my appearance. I suggest the OP and his insecure pals stop dreaming up a problem for themselves.

Artkansas 

They think it's composer Phillip (the) Glass.

Chicagoan

I feel the same way sometimes. I'm 15, I live in Chicago, and I live in a neighborhood where the only people who ride bikes are homeless men and kids on the sidewalk. I commute to school 5 miles each way (60 miles a week). On my ride (6 miles north on MLK Drive) I mainly see people riding short distances on walmart bikes and about halfway I see roadies in spandex headed south. I usually am a safe rider. I ride on the right side, (90% of the time I don't run stoplights but I do run stopsigns) I always eem to attract attention.

I don't wear cycling clothing. I do get stares. When I get honked at I usually get them back, making them jump, by turning the Airzound up to full capacity and riding next to them at high speed slamming on the brake. So I honk loudly at them and make my tires squeal and they usually jump. But what really Grinds my gears is when people who don't understand the rules of the road yell out the window to ride on the sidewalk.

The other day it was like 40 degrees farenheit and I was in a tshirt. So I was freezing my ass off. At 55th street (22 blocks into the commute) A lady in a raggedy Dodge Intrepid pulls up behind me. She started honking from about 50 feet away. Once she got close she began to yell out the window at me. I was nice at first trying to explain to her that I had the right tio ride were I was but she continued using profanity. I got tired of this and I said,

"Okay mam, I am right, you are wrong. I weigh 140 pounds and you are about 400 pounds. I am getting excersice and you aren't. I am not poluting and you are. So you need to shut your fat-ass up and wait till the light turns green to turn right."

THe lady in the car next to her had to jump in and tell me to respect my elders. So I said F u c k THis and rode off when the light turned geen.

zoltani

I gotta give you props, cause that is a hell of a hill on the way to bob's, and from what i remember, people drive way to fast through that particular stretch.

scottieie

Maybe you should stop shopping at malwart.... That place sucks anyways, besides being a blight to the community, a drain on the local economy and purveyors of cheap plastic crap. Your dollar is your vote! This is my opinion of course.

Peufeu

Yo,

I live in France, in a big city (no, it's not Paris...). Here gas prices are a lot higher than in the US so some people start to use bikes more. There are still way too many cars, though. Personnally I use my car only when I need to haul around heavy stuff, or go outside the city. I'd never use the car for transportation inside the city, because if you count the time to find a parking spot, the bike is at least 3x faster, and a lot more fun. Travel time is also much more predictable, usually with less than a minute standard deviation from mean.

Driver beahviour suck, though. Very often I have to kick car doors, or use the Airzound.
And I park my bike INSIDE the grocery store. I get no funny looks. It seems, the more insolent you are, the more respect you get. It's sad, but it works.

Quote from my friend who works in a bank : "you know those guys with the big 4x4 ? That's the only thing they own, besides debt."

Dr. Hellyes

We all get "those looks" when we show up in a public place unkempt or sweaty from a ride. I'm better-educated and just as rich as most of the folks who poke their stuffy noses into the air as they look at the "undesirable biker." You have to just not care, to a certain extent, what other people think of you to ride a bike as transportaion on a regular basis.

bac

Dear Ryan:

Thank you for your words of wisdom. Unfortunately, the "don't talk to strangers" society stopped us from otherwise engaging in a lovely conversation about life on 2-wheels. However, to be fair, we weren't staring at you becasue you came on a bike. We were staring at you because your pants were ripped, and your left testicle was hanging out.

Sorry for the confusion, Ryan. Happy riding!


Sincerely,
Bob's Package Store Customer #7














..... sorry, I just couldn't help myself.


... Brad

Bionicycle

Just a thought… why don’t you compose a civil letter to the editor in your local newspaper? You seem well educated, and able to formulate your thoughts in writing; you may be surprised at the amount of attention you can draw to utility cycling in your area.

Become an activist for the utility cycling cause…

JunkyardWarrior

im still pretty new to utility cycling but so far the only thing i noticed was if i drive to the store and pass the salvation army donations person i get the same 'would you like to donate' greeting everyone else gets

but if i ride up on my bike they nod or say hi and thats it....lol....like i cant afford a donation

the one store has nothing to lock up to so i parked right behind the donations tripod and the lady said she would watch my bike while i went in the store......i made sure i donated a dollar that time

look all ya want......just dont run me over

Elkhound

Whether you're wrong,
Or Whether you're right,
Its always better to be polite.
--Dorothy L. Sayers