Darth Lefty 

If you put up a hook do you think anyone would notice?

wolfchild

Competing against who ??

joeyduck

The three most challenging challengers. Me, myself and I.

Hypno Toad

Most days I wear baggie shorts over bike shorts. I work with many younger women who 'don't wanna see that'. I get it and I'm not offended since they clearly communicated their preferences.

On a related note, men in bike shorts make women uncomfortable... But women go everywhere in yoga pants and this is cool. Hypocrisy?

TransitBiker

So glad I'm not the only one who thinks this. If I wanted to see the every detail of mass numbers of pelvic areas, I'd become a TSA agent.

Athletic aparrel should clearly be allowed in this case, since the wearer intends to change when they arrive.

- Andy

Walter S

Right on. I race against the rider that I used to be.

Walter S

I think it's somewhat generational. I get occasional approving smiles and thumbs up from young women.

edit: oh I see you're talking about young women. Ok. Cultural maybe?

Hypno Toad

I'm sure some women like my shorts. But none of the women I work with want to see me that way.

Hypno Toad

Oh... And I don't hate yoga pants either. But if you're the women that wears yoga pants to the grocery store... Don't complain about men in bike shorts. Somebody I know Facebook shamed a guy at a coffee shop for wearing bike shorts when he's clearly on a ride and taking a break. The Facebook friend wears yoga pants everywhere she goes, not just to the gym or yoga studio.

BTW forgive any bad typing. I'm waiting for a delayed flight drinking beer and hacking these posts on my phone.

I-Like-To-Bike

Do the women arrive at your worksite wearing yoga pants? If not how is women in yoga pants related to this thread?

What is related is that the OP's problem seems to be of his own making and is a result of his unnecessary routine of parading through his worksite in the "offending" clothes for the sole purpose of getting soap and a towel to take to the nearby gym. Presumably those items could be included in the gym bag or whatever he uses to carry his change of clothes.

Hypno Toad

In my case, its not related to work. As stated, I don't arrive in bike shorts. However I see a double standard in acceptable tight clothing. One woman in our office worn tights as office attire... But no one really complained. So why can't a man arrive in tight shorts prior to changing to office clothing.

Walter S

True. But would you want to lose your job carrying that torch?

Walter S

Cheers

Hypno Toad

My point is there is a hypocrisy/inequality of attire. Clearly, as stated, I arrive in baggie no offending clothing.

Signing off for the night. Plane's here.... Off we go!

wolfchild

A very simple solution would be to wear a pair of cargo shorts over your bike shorts, and some athletic top. Looks normal, is comfortable, you blend in with the crowd, and nobody would complain.

MNTC

For what it's worth, that double standard cuts both ways. Sorry to bring up such a serious topic in a lighthearted thread, and by no means am I suggesting you are insensitive to it, but here goes: A common thread you see in highly publicized rapes of women is the justification of the attacker's actions by assertion that by wearing a "revealing" outfit in public, the women has consented to sex with anyone around her. I'm not sure if anyone in real life holds this opinion or if it is just the internet goblins but it pops up with horrifying frequency in comment sections across the web.

So in a way, you can be glad you only have to deal with catty comments from your coworkers.

alan s 

Yourself, the weather, cars, peds, other cyclists, critters.

the sci guy 

All glory to the hypnotoad

spare_wheel

i'm not knocking the dutch and we both know that there isn't good data on north american trip distance. however, i suspect it's more than 1.2 miles and less than the 7 miles often quoted by VCers (based on a crappy survey).

I-Like-To-Bike

Who knows, eh? Or if the "average" NL bicycle trip of 1.2 miles is a data point including every school child's trip to school, candy store or playground, every adult grocery shopping trip or what?

I also suspect that any statistics or data quoted by VCers is suspect and likely to be unreliable at best.

wolfchild

That sounds more like a war zone then a competitive event. Is this case a camouflage cargo shorts would be a more appropriate then a skin tight spandex costume.

SkippyX

The bike trail along the bayou? I like that ride.

I live up on the north side (inside the beltway but outside of 610) and ride to Greenway Plaza area.

SkippyX

I can help you with that.

Remember "The Wizard of Oz"? At the end when the wicked witch had the water dumped on her? "I'm melting....I'm melting".

Yeah. It's like that.

tjspiel

This is anecdotal for sure but based on another discussion in a totally unrelated forum (that had a lot of women participants), women's opinion of men in spandex is mixed to put it mildly. From what I could tell age didn't matter much. There are a lot of women that are really, really turned off by it. Some think it's "hot" and others had a more nuanced view, - "can look good on the right guy" (though I wonder if that's just an unstated prereq even for those who claim to like spandex on guys).

Though the discussion was more about running tights than bike shorts one woman in particular had a very interesting take on it. She saw a group of guys in a peloton (all wearing kit) while she was on her way to a coffee shop. I can't remember exactly how she put it but the gist of it was that strong legs sweating in the heat had definitely got her attention (in a good way).

While she was sitting in that same coffee shop, this same group of group of guys pulled up to take a break. Once off the bike, the guys weren't nearly so attractive to her. Not at all as a matter of fact. But when they all got on their bikes to leave, some of their earlier appeal had started to return.

What I took away from it is that unless you are in pretty good shape, most women will not find it attractive at all. In fact, just the opposite. Even if you are fit, a substantial, maybe even a majority of women, still won't like it. And the number of women who frown upon it will increase the farther you are away from a bike when they see you.

cobrabyte

OP; have you considered arriving to work in women's business attire? A sharp skirt suit, perhaps? As long as it follows the dress code, right?