No not my bike, the word "bike". That's right. The word "bike" is a shortening of the word "bicycle". Both of these words refer to human powered two wheeled vehicles but somewhere along the way the word was stolen by motorcyclists. Sure, why not? It's easier than saying motorcycle, cycle and motorbike. Scoot, chopper, hog, etc... just don't have the mass appeal needed. So, yeah, I understand why they stole it. Plus it's kind of a macho understatement to call your motorcycle a bike.

Now all this is fine with me. I'm not hard to get along with. The problem is they've not only stolen it they've also made it their own. Tell people you rode your bike and they'll ask "what do you ride. Harley? Honda? Kawasaki?"

So what do you think? Is it time to take "bike" back. I want to be able to call myself a biker and not this silly word "cyclist".

And I know why!!!

You want some of those "biker chicks".

This reminds me of a funny encounter we had yesterday on our club ride. It was a beautiful day and the first nice weekend we've had in a while, so bikers of all kinds were all over the roads. We had stopped at a little store for a rest stop before finishing the ride, and as we were standing there finishing up our snacks and drinks a group of bikers rumbled up on their Harleys -- about 10 or 12 I guess. Anyway, one of them looks over at us and our bikes and says "Yall's motors fell off!". I patted my leg and said "These are the motors", after which he looked over at one of the ladies in our group and said something about "Nice motors..." or something like that.

who wouldn't want those biker chicks, just asking

You know the first jock strap was named Bike. It was developed in Boston where riders were forced to ride over the cobblestones. So to protect their Kahonas, someone developed the jock strap, and called the company Bike, after the sport it was developed for.

nice motors hahahaha, those bikers know how to pick 'em up, eh?

I once called my husband a biker and got that raised eyebrow look. Then corrected myself, "LYCRA biker NOT leather biker." Cyclist is just an easier description now.

Well thbirks, I'm on board. Where do we go from here?

Nice motors, that's a good one. Yeah, really I'm all about the biker chicks. Greg, the first thing to do is to appoint a minister of propaganda. Since you're interested, you've got the job. The next thing we do is find a big group of these psuedo-bikers and ruff them up.

I prefer the term "cyclist".

Unfortunately, I have heard the word used in reference to motorcyclists.

See? They're taking over ALL our words! We already can't call ourselves bikers or cyclists without mass confusion and misunderstanding! Fight for your rights before bicyclist is taken away too and we have NO label of our own!

Minister of Propoganda (Greg), you'd better get started... The sooner the better!

Today I start two-fold training and will make a LIST.

I'm accetpting applications for manifesto and catchy jingle writers.

Uniforms. We need uniforms. With utility belts and tights. Wait.....

Can we wear our underpants outside our tights.? Maybe we need a cool "B" in the centre of our chests?

Heh, heh....anyone ever read the Patrick McManus story where he was panicking because his hunting partner told him there was a gang of 'bikers' camping nearby?

Utility belts, tights, and CAPES! Don't for get the CAPES! Just don't have your cape match the color of your bike. That would be just too much accessorizing.

The other thing that bugs me is that the gang of ageing motorcyclists with big bear bellies are considered tough but REAL cyclists are sometimes considered pansies.

In my younger days, I worked with a member of the Warlords (similar to Hells Angles). Once we had to walk about 5 city blocks. He could barely keep up, and was exhausted by the end. He wasn’t even fat, just used to riding everywhere

As usual perceptions are far from reality.

Bicyclists are going to have to save the world one day....

On the subjuect of uniforms, we need masks to...

[QUOTE][
[B]The other thing that bugs me is that the gang of ageing motorcyclists with big bear bellies are considered tough but REAL cyclists are sometimes considered pansies.

Yes its often quite amusing to see what imerges from those Goldfish bowls, bikers (sorry Motorcyclists) wear on their heads.