Timber_8

I have been bicycle commuting for a couple of years now and have a small fortune into my bicycles so this struck me as very odd from someone who should know better.

We were driving through town my wife behind the wheel & this older gentleman with a scruffy beard was pushing his bicycle up a grade with loaded grocery panniers. I noticed him at the same time she did and I thought to myself (that looks like me in a few years) my wife turns to me and says that is so sad & I looked at her and said (what?) & she said that poor old homeless guy. I just looked at her in disbelief and said that poor old homeless guy has a $2000 bicycle loaded with grocery's, I was like what makes you think he is homeless because he was older riding a bicycle, I was thinking bravo and your thinking homeless.

Now my wife knows better because I ride so if this was her perception what is the perception of people that don't live with someone that commutes by bicycle.

TurbineBlade

i wouldn't go too hard on her, sometimes people just think things without really realizing it. Probably no harm intended.

I see old people that look rough and sometimes thing they're homeless too. In DC they often are, but I'm sure sometimes they aren't...just my bad perception.

My wife would probably tell you that I look homeless a lot of the time riding my bike.

009jim

Hmmm, I suppose I can understand why wifey would think that way. For her, the thought of all the effort of riding up a hill with load on is too much. The woman is more programmed to take it easy. So to her, the only possible explanation is that the guy is on the down-and-out. The man, is however programmed for hunting and so more ready to expend energy in some way. Imagine how different your attitude would be if you were to take a hypothetical drug that made you feel exhausted the whole time. Our bodies are living in the 21st century, but genetically we have evolved over the last 40,000 years and a lot of that genetic history is what we are today. What we know as the world today is only a couple of thousand years old and evolution is slower than that. In another 10,000 years under current lifestyles we might see ourselves being more adapted to this lifestyle more appropriately. Our backs will become stronger and better at walking upright. We will lose all body hair.

ratdog

Beware, she's obviously has plans to throw you out of the house making you homeless with a $2000 bike.

colleen c

She speaks from her heart. I admit sometimes I do the same before looking at all the facts. It's only a natural thing

Mr IGH

Wives have so much wisdom to share, some daze I'm amazed I was able to survive on this planet without her for my first 24 years of life

tcs

A worldwide and universal paradigm.

In the third world, folks don't buy better bicycles when their fortunes improve - they buy motorbikes and then small cars (with the associated cost of imported fuel, polution and congestion). The non-sporting bicycle is symbolic of "poor" and transitional economics.

One might have thought that during the Great Depression in the USA people would have returned to riding bicycles as they did in 1890~1915, but no. There was more social status in owning a car you couldn't afford to buy gas or tires for and walking or taking the bus everywhere than there was in riding an efficient, convenient and economical bicycle.

Clifford Graves related that when gasoline rationing started in 1942, he was the only one at the hospital where he worked who began riding.

Even in Europe where there is some measurable ridership among the affluent, the majority still views cycling as "what our grandparents had to do after the war".

RT

I commute five days a week and encounter many comments that I "must've had a few DUI's" or something along those lines. I completely understand your reaction and at the same time, understand your wife's comment. As cyclists, we are immersed in our 'craft' to the point where, when in a car and see a cyclist, we take a long hard look at the bike and folks (perhaps passengers in the car) think we're checking out the rider. Perspective.

tjspiel

Up until a few years ago I had a beautiful vintage Pearl-White Peugeot. On this particular day I rode it into work because I was getting it ready to sell and wanted to make sure everything was working right. It was shined to inch of its life.

A coworker walks into my office saying he knows I ride a bike to work and is looking for some advice on what kind of bike he should get. He's thinking about starting to commute.

He sees my bike hanging from the ceiling and looks back at me clearly disappointed. "That's all you ride? An old 10 speed?"

People who aren't into bikes have a different perception on their relative value.

closetbiker

Was there anything other than the beard that was scruffy about the older guy?

Is it just bicycles and scruffy beards that indicate homelessness?

Doohickie

A common misperception.

Juha

Did you just poll the majority of Europeans or how did you come to this conclusion?

Looking from where I live, I don't recognise the negative social aspects (homeless, lost your license due to DIU, can you ride a bike to a date) that so often seem to be associated with cycling in the US. Of course, when I say that, I pretty much base it on the posts I read in these Forums.

--J

StanSeven

Beards aren't very common today except for well trimmed ones and goatees.

dynodonn 

My bike and I usually make too loud a fashion statement for me to be considered a homeless person, and I'm probably more on the lines of being considered "eccentric" by many.

AlmostTrick

Well, back in the old days a shave and a haircut was only two bits!

WalksOn2Wheels

Look on the bright side. One day when you're 60, haven't shaved for a few days, and happen to be riding your bicycle somewhere, you may make a few extra bucks without even trying.

But yeah, it's definitely all about perception. The only time I ever get negative comments/reactions is when I ride through school zones before/after school starts. Middle school and high school kids just see some guy who's too poor to own a car and they point and laugh and make comments. Little do they know I own a car, a nice motorcycle and two nicely equipped bicycles. I ride a bicycle by choice.

closetbiker

yeah, but what about the rest of him?

Was he or his clothes dirty, tattered and/or torn?

and really, if he was pushing his bike that was loaded with groceries, how would that lead to the impression that he was homeless?

Off hand, it seems to me, a quick glance from a moving vehicle wouldn't reveal all that much outside of a bike and distinctive facial feature

hairlessbill

My wife wouldn't know the difference between a $20.00 Murray and $2000 Madone so if I am sure she would assume someone was homeless if he was pushing his way up a hill with an armful of groceries (we do see a lot of people doing this around here). Personally, it seems a bit silly to me to have gone grocery shopping without some way of carrying your stuff either on the bike or on your back.

tjspiel

He had panniers.

mustachiod

if i bought a $2K bike, i wouldn't be able to make the next mortgage payment and would then be homeless. maybe your wife was right?

daveF

I think I was mistaken for being homeless once. I was in the French Quarter for a duathlon & rode the tri-bike I had at the time up to Cafe Du Monde. I was wearing some old worn out training clothes. I sat down at a table next to an older couple. They looked at me a little strangely & offered me their leftover beignets.

ItsJustMe

The OP said:
was pushing his bicycle up a grade with loaded grocery panniers.

What's the problem then?

thenomad

I bet they were delicious.

wunderkind

There are old scruffy people riding $$$ bikes.... because they stole it. It is very common to see crackheads with expensive MTBs (drop bar bikes intimidate them) with bags of junk. Sometimes the math just doesn't add up when you see a person with raggity clothes, unkempt hair wearing ragged shoes (no socks) riding a high end DH bike.

mustachiod

you just described me on my morning commute! minus the high end bike though