Nature Breaks
 

My sense is there is a big divide between cyclists (and other outdoors people) and those who are not.

My friends and I are avid road cyclists and we ride on mainly back roads which are rural BUT residential (not many farms left). We obviously sometimes need to stop for a nature break. We are usually quite discreet and do this away from any homes or people, but sometimes a surprise passing car or person sees us. I don’t believe they actually see our privates, but it’s obvious from afar what we are doing. Rarely, but occasionally, a passerby sees us and gets, ahem, pissed off and yells at us. We typically shrug this off and/or apologize, and so far there have been no criminal charges, but I am mindful that technically this COULD be considered indecent exposure and make us subject to criminal charges and in some jurisdictions, even get us on the “sex offender” list, so that gives me pause.

Any comments and/or suggestions are welcomed. Please keep it civil.

This post is partly inspired by an interaction today with a passing motorist. As above, we were discreet and NFW he saw any anatomy, but from our stance the activity was obvious. He chewed us out, I tried to be kind and said sorry, but we are out in the country and the wildlife does it. He insisted this was wrong and inappropriate. I countered that I understood his point, but we would have to agree to disagree. He would NOT concede and yelled he wanted my address so he could piss on my lawn.

I am 99% he was NOT the land owner, just a random angry motorist.

Comments?

It sounds like you're not very sneaky.

People are weird around your way. No one bats an eyelid here if you’re in the trees or something.

Having said that, “obviously” is doing a bit of lifting there. I did 4 hours of riding earlier. Large coffee mid-ride, about 700ml of water. 2 pints of alcohol free beer at the end. Needed it when I got home but no free-to-air. And I’m defo not 25 years old.

I expect there is another big divide between Europeans and Americans on this topic. A few of our riders are from Europe (represented by UK, Sweden, Holland, Switzerland, and Norway), and from discussions with them this seems to be mainly an American “issue.”

We try, but with windy country roads we sometimes have a surprise motorist ride by.

datlas: Next time a motorist harasses you or your friends, simply ask him what he would do if he had a double flat or mechanical issue at the very same spot and needed to pee?

Perhaps the offended one needed to see the moon.

The issue is real. Especially wearing bright colors. Especially if you are in someone else's neighborhood. Especially if it has happened multiple times.

My only suggestion is better discretion. Try having one rider stay by the bikes as if changing a tire or checking a map or something while the other does his business.

Never had anyone say anything to me. Though it's rare I have to stop for a pee. And if I do, there is more often than not a restroom nearby. But for some of the few times I do, I have sometimes been passed by others that obviously would know what I was doing. And no heckling or angry shouts. Not even a shout poking fun, which is somewhat disappointing!

Since you it seems you are getting a lot of people calling you out on this. I think I suggest you go to and talk to the sheriff or law enforcement agencies for those jurisdictions and find out how they view such. And what they'd have to do if someone complained to them about you.

You mentioned the wrong person.

French Canadians, too.

When I did an organized tour in QC, guys would go to the tree line and pee with their backs turned, not even walking into the woods. If women rode by they would cheer them on.

A convenience perk of touring in rural areas is that I can often go without having to left my leg over the bike.

Yep. Thanks. Fixed. Maybe I need a new keyboard.

On my usual Sunday route, there's not a public restroom or portapotty that I know of between mile 25 and mile 40, so that's where I'm most likely to feel the need. Luckily, there's a tree on Old Page Mill in Palo Alto that is perfect. Set back from the road just a bit, and with 3 trunks splitting off really low so that it forms a nice screen. No houses or buildings nearby, and minutes can go by without anyone passing by. If only somebody would cut down the poison oak. I've tried aiming at it, but it seems to like the fixed nitrogen. I'm pretty sure that it's a popular spot.

On my commute home from work, there is a random purple port-a-potty. No idea why. It is right by the curb. It's on a lot that the government tore a house down on due to flood plain issues and converted into a tiny riverfront park. Maybe that's why. It also appears to have road wheels that can somehow cantilever down to tow it behind a vehicle.

Yes, I've used it.

I usually can find a pretty well hidden spot and if not then look out for police since yes it could result in a citation and court hassle, found out the hard way in the 80s. Common among cyclists who do long multi hour rides.

A comment I heard from a randonneur recently was the venn diagram of discreet places to pee and places to sleep has a disturbingly large overlap. Peeing in not obvious places is OK.

It's socially acceptable hereabouts and legal if you are not deliberately exposing yourself.

It's the women who have real challenges in this dept.

That's good if you wake up and have to pee. It'd be a PITA to have to walk or ride any distance at a time like that.

I used to do training rides with several Pro women riders. They could take care of their business every bit as fast as the men, even while wearing bibs.

Some triathlon training is in order.

If law enforcement ever gets involved, I would insist that I got off my bike and wandered away from the road to check out an interesting bird that had apparently subsequently flown away. Everybody would know what was really going on, but they can't prove it. Just don't say bald eagle - they are illegal to approach.

I now carry an empty plastic beverage bottle (marked PEE) with wide screw cap, small enough to totally fit inside my biking tights or shorts, I uncap, slip the bottle inside my pants and undies, do my business, cap, put in pannier. Lately, when I feel a need to go, I need to go in seconds (age), and my local goodwill store no long has bathrooms available for customers (too much abuse by the homeless drug users), so I'll go to a dead-end clothing aisle where the racks are close together, and do same. (I also have my bike in the store with me, they are bike-friendly due to the high theft rate here.)

I think this is very reasonable for more crowded/populated areas. I wonder if an aggressive law enforcement officer could still cite you for "public urination" even if you did not expose yourself.

Cops typically have better things to do, bigger things (no pun intended) to worry about. But I suppose they could...

I think much of the concern is area dependent/driven by the residents of said area. My SIL lives out near you - people are always yelling at her about this or that - and I won't get into the reasoning here...

Down my way, deep in Cecil County - nobody cares. The land of farmers, hunters, outdoorsmen and women - we don't even go into our own houses to pee when knocking around doing yardwork or having a bonfire.