Super-hilarious! :roflmao:

+1000 to both comments. Continue to make commuting seem accessible and talk about the great ride in to work that you had. Fun is contagious.

Having said all of that, the girl may not be interested in commuting at all and may be trying to find a way to break the ice with you socially. See if she wants to go for a short road ride on the weekend (no hammer-fests, just a relaxing ride). Let her talk and ask questions, don't ride around like you're her instructor.

Bloody hell, you do realize what forum you're on, right?

Do I need to use one of those stupid emoticons every, single, time?

Careful there, Mr. Jump-to-conclusions. You sure are projecting some homophobic sounding assumptions onto me there. But yeah... I did appreciate it when she paid me the compliment.

You see... that's the very reason that I get so hacked off about the whole coworkers commenting thing. I go out of my way to avoid creating a scene. I work in a building full of engineers, and my office is in the back part of the building. I come in the back way and go straight to my office... I only have to pass one other office door in the 20 or so feet from the exterior door to my office. After a couple of minutes to cool down from the ride, I walk about 20 feet back towards the way I entered the building to change into my work clothes in our empty computer server room.

So for me to offend anyone, they pretty much have to be looking for me to offend them. The only people who make comments are those folks who are obviously unhappy with themselves and jealous of my having the motivation to ride.

You Army guys! :D

Hydrated, it was a joke.

Sorry... I thought I was becoming the BUTT of the joke.


:rolleyes:

Ride on, bro...

To The OP:

The information you provided was good. It was thoughtful of you to assist. Is she intelligent enough to know she controls her choices/decisions?

Regarding the outside interference --do you communicate with the person? Why didn't you ask her "hey I couldnt help but hear your comments. You know I bike to work right? Where are you getting this information? People have cars in accidents every day."

Or do you work in one of those toxic petty environments where everyone talks about everyone and no one gets along?

BadBoy10 -- I just can't emphasize enough how much better OP's life will be if he doesn't engage. Some folks are in a toxic place, and they will share it with you if you give them half a chance.

Hi Kimmitt:

Hmm, I think the toxic levels increase if you are toxic and feed into the cattiness. The OP an engage and if the person becomes excessively nasty--walk away. The OP chose to be the bicycle guru for the interested commuter--what is the big deal of continuing the discussion with others? Or seeing where they are coming from with their thoughts? I am not easily threatened or turned off by the ignorance of others.

The human mind likes to mimic. People see you do something they either like it and want to try or they want to complain. I try to be pleasant and not act threatened. I keep it casual. So I think it really depends not only on the culture of the work environment but how closely they work. Is this someone the OP sees every other month at the vending machine?

Sounds like she may be like this:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...ela_Martin.jpg

or worse:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...inn_Wilson.jpg

THAT'S AWESOME!!!!! SHE'S A KEEPER!!

I'm not sure I'd do that IF: the positions were reversed, and I was married to Halle Berry!

THAT is a dedicated partner for life. You are truly blessed.

(No, those aren't ACTUAL pucker marks on your wife's posterior, just appreciation from a third party)

+1
I'm struggling to get my girlfriend back on the bike

My standard response to folks who say it's too dangerous, too uncomfortable, too bohemian is to say:

No one disagrees, but most are perplexed as to why I say that.

Um... not every cycle commuter is thin. Some of us remain chubby no matter how much mileage we put in. And some of the Debbie/Donnie Downers are smug know-it-alls who are fit from other activities, such as indoor aerobics or tennis. (And yes, I do sometimes wear cycling shorts for my commute, if I go to the pool before work or plan on doing a long ride after. I don't prance around the office in them, though.)
When coworkers ask me about commuting, I usually emphasize how good I feel when I arrive, wide-awake and fresh and energetic. You're never going to convince everyone, but easing at least one person into it with good advice will pay dividends in the long run as perhaps that person will do the same for someone else years down the road.

I've read all the accounts, and I'm pretty sure He didn't doze off on the cross.

Did you inherit any of that healing ability?

Wow, that's an ironic way to wake a zombie thread, well done! :thumb:

I work nights, so when I get low censused, I end up riding home anywhere from 2-4 am. My coworkers have FINALLY stopped fretting about me riding home that late. Because, you know, thugs just hang out at random spots around town in the bushes, waiting on the off chance that a woman dressed in an androgenyfying windbreaker and baggy pants will pedal by at 17 mph on a 50 lb bicycle.

What's really funny is that women bike commuters outnumber the men at my work by a wide margin. The men are all either roadies (they don't "do" junk miles) or MTBers (their bicycles will self-destruct if the tires ever touch asphalt.)

This is a really old thread! Something similar to this has been on my mind lately though. I regularly see a pretty young woman jogging in the morning while I'm riding my commute route. About seven miles of my commute is on a bike path, and a about a mile and a half of the bike path portion is a bit sketchy, fairly secluded, and there are a number of homeless men that live in the trees along that section. In the mornings there aren't many people other than the homeless. There are a couple dark tunnels that go under roads. One of the tunnels actually has a man sleeping in it almost everyday. I often see the girl jogging by herself through this section and I get genuinely concerned about her safety. I've actually wanted to talk to her and advice her not to run through there by herself, but of course I've never actually done that. About a week ago I rode by her and she was crying somewhat hysterically. I slowed down and asked her if she was ok, if she needed help. When she realized I was talking to her she became even more hysterical and began to sprint away from me. I left her alone as I didn't want to frighten her further nor have anyone think I was chasing her. Turns out at that point she was near her car because she ran to a car and got in as I was riding away. The thing bothered me terribly for a few days, I thought for sure she had been assaulted. Then the strangest thing happened I saw her jogging along the same path again. That was a relief for me, I figured she must not have been hurt if she was back again. Turns out she must be kinda crazy or something anyway, because I saw her again yesterday and again she was crying. Anyway, as rewarding as bike commuting is, I do believe we all need to use discretion when it comes to safety, both men and women. There are places and situations that are much more dangerous for a pretty young woman than they are for a man. Honestly, I would never recommend to my wife that she bike through some of the areas that I do by herself. That said, it sounds like Debbie Downer in this story was a bit rash.

Nah, this one was only three years old. They're not real zombies until 5 years.

Oh golly gosh, I'm sure that such a thing has NEVER crossed her mind, despite the constant cultural clamor that says preventing sexual assault is the woman's job and therefore she should never dare just go out for a morning jog in the woods without a male escort. What does she think she is, a MAN? She definitely needs some dude to remind her that she's a woman and vulnerable while she's out trying to enjoy herself. I mean, who knows better what the her personal risk/benefit analysis is than some random man who doesn't even know her name? :rolleyes:

"Oh Golly Gosh", I thought I might get some type of reply like this. Obviously there is some problem when the girl is crying hysterically and a kind word from somebody causes her to sprint away screaming. Seriously, at what point did being concerned for someones safety become a bad thing? Like I said before, I would never actually stop somebody whom I don't know and advice her on where to go running. Also, like I said, the only reason I did say something to her was because she was crying (maybe I was being a chauvinist for asking a distraught citizen if she was ok, if she needed help?). BTW, if I saw a man whom I see jogging regularly sobbing hysterically I would ask him if he needed help as well. I'm sorry if the thought of a woman being sexually assaulted is utterly awful to me, but it is a very real threat in many circumstances. The "cultural clamor that says preventing sexual assault is the woman's job"?. It is a bit more than culture clamor. There is a lot a woman can, and should do to prevent sexual assault. Honestly, I don't know how one could rationally disagree. Yes of course in a perfect world this would not be necessary, clearly we do not live in a perfect world.

On a more positive note how do you like your Schwinn Tempo? I ride an '87 Schwinn Le tour, I love it.

Being concerned for someone who is in obvious distress is one thing, being worried about the state and safety of a stranger's genitals for no reason other than they're a woman doing something you don't approve of is completely different and the problem is that you apparently think it is somehow your business.

The Schwinn is OK. The reach is too long but the frame isn't tall enough. But I got it for free so I can't complain. At some point I'll probably redo the entire drivetrain and see if I can't get it to fit better with a new stem and handlebars, and put some modern components on it. The turkey wings hurt my hands. At least the aqua color is coming back into style, so I can get matching kit. Matching makes you go faster, trufax.

Cars get flats too. You can get attacked walking down the street. At least where I live, driving in your car is probably more dangerous than riding a bike. People here are EXTREMELY aggressive drivers and will drive you off the road if they feel it's necessary. If another car doesn't kill you, you probably will reduce your lifespan due to the high stresses of rush hour driving.

For many, proper route planning can mitigate most of the risk when bicycle commuting.

http://i2.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/...rsgonnacat.jpg

Dude, you have just made my day. :D

kookaburra1701, I am sorry that I offended you, really. Your right we all have to make our own decisions and weigh the options/risks. I don't want to see anybody get hurt; man, woman, or child. I care about people in general. I happen to think some situations are more dangerous for some people than others; but I don't want to get into that again. I am not the type to go around telling people their business. I'm pretty sure we all have thoughts in our head that would not be appropriate to speak out. I'm also not some sort of safety freak, I know that there are people who think I shouldn't be commuting by bike either, especially when the weather gets questionable.

I was hoping you would be a little more into your Schwinn! I really do like mine, I was thought we could end our discussion on an up swing with some zeal for our '87's. I looked at your bike in the Schwinn catalog this morning, I think it is a nice looking bike, I really like the aqua color. Hard to tell from the pics., but the frame looks very similar to my Le tour frame, though I think yours has a slightly higher end component package. Maybe if yours fit you better you would like it more. Or, maybe if I rode a newer bike for awhile I would like mine less, hard to say! I didn't get mine for free, I paid $20.00 for it. I spent time time working on it. I did a complete overhaul; new grease, new tires, bar tape, new seat, chain, touch up paint etc.. For a total of about $130.00 I feel like it has been a pretty good deal.
Have A Nice Day!

I was expecting to see an update by OP after 3 years that he and the girl were married and commuting together.