Are you famous too??

[culimerc]

My wife and I went to my company holiday party last night. There were only about 45 people there or so, some upper managers from out of town, spouses, etc. My commuting and commuting attire was the topic of many conversations that I was not directly involved in apparently. I was asked about mileage, time, weather, “spandex” etc. I usually ride about 3 to 4 days a week.

My wife also rides in to her place too, though less frequently. She’s been called by name by people shes never seen before, stopped in the hallway, and had conversations in the elevator about riding to work.

That usual reactions are mix of astonishment, admiration and morbid curiosity.

Do you guys get this too at work?? Why does it seem so fascinating to people? You would think that after seeing someone do this day in and day out, it would lose its strangeness and just be a part of daily SOP.

Topic

[jabberwocky]

I used to work in a large office building in Tysons, and got a lot of comments in the elevator or wheeling my bike in and out. Mostly “wow, you’re crazy” type stuff. These days I work in a small office, and everyone thinks I’m crazy but for totally different reasons.

[rcannon100]

Going down the elevator in spandex is one of the best opportunities to engage in evangelism.

I have heard from agency cyclists that one of the big reasons they started cycling is because they had for so long observed some other employee come in every day in bike garb…. and they finally decided to give it a try.

[Tim Kelley]

“What else am I suppose to do? It’s way too far to walk…”

[dcv]

Not so much me, but my bike:
– On the Custis I’ve had a stranger pull up alongside and ask me why I wasn’t riding my Cinelli (when I was riding a Bianchi)
– I met a CL seller who recognized me as the guy on Cinelli (I wasn’t on a bike at the CL sale)
– I met someone on a group ride who recognized me as the guy on Cinelli (I was riding the Blue that day)
– DaveK spotted me taking picture of the Cinelli, this was before we met in person

[americancyclo]

I don’t have far to walk from our garage to my office, or the shower, but the police here routinely ask me about my mileage or the weather, to the point where they ask if I’ve ridden if they see me in a suit. Also, on days I do wear a suit, I’ve taken to wearing the neon bicycle pins on my lapel, a la Earl Blumenauer. That’s gotten me a lot of recognition, serves as a talking point, and is still relatively unique at my office.

[culimerc]

@dcv 37459 wrote:

Not so much me, but my bike:
– On the Custis I’ve had a stranger pull up alongside and ask me why I wasn’t riding my Cinelli (when I was riding a Bianchi)
– I met a CL seller who recognized me as the guy on Cinelli (I wasn’t on a bike at the CL sale)
– I met someone on a group ride who recognized me as the guy on Cinelli (I was riding the Blue that day)
– DaveK spotted me taking picture of the Cinelli, this was before we met in person

I remember when I first start commuting on a regular basis, at the top of VA ave thinking “holy crap that guy is commuting on a Cinelli track bike!! meh, nice bike”.

[TwoWheelsDC]

I mostly get strange looks from people caught off guard by my hi-viz yellow jacket, as my building is probably 99.5% drivers. Most of the folks I work with directly have finally come to terms with it, so most comments are reserved for cold days, “wow, must’ve been a cold ride!” and such. I’ve had a few people say “I’ve thought about doing that as a way to get in shape” and I go off on a 5 minute spiel about how awesome and easy it is, and offer to ride with them or whatever…but I’ve found that people basically just say that as a means of making small talk and/or being nice, and really have no interest in trying it out.

[KS1G]

Yes, and it is probably fortunate several folks in my management chain are cyclists. And while I’ve met our CEO & COO in professional circumstances, I suspect I remain first in their minds as “that [crazy/] guy on the bike”!

[Rootchopper]

If you really want to hear the comments, ride a recumbent to work.

[DaveK]

@Tim Kelley 37458 wrote:

“What else am I suppose to do? It’s way too far to walk…”

My line is usually “What am I supposed to do, take Metro?”

[creadinger]

I don’t ride as often as most of you, but I do get some weird comments. We work in Suitland where people generally assume that if you leave the campus not in a car you’ll be shot and robbed so they think biking to work is extremely dangerous. Ummm.. not so much since 99% of the people around here are trying to get by and make an honest living just like the rest of us. Anyway, there’s always a lot of jokes about whether I carry a gun, or wear a bullet-proof vest etc…

Then I had a couple of awkward questions from a lady who was clearly a stranger to physical exertion. On two occasions not more than a couple of weeks apart she told me, “I wish I could wear shorts and a t-shirt to work” upon seeing me in my bike gear getting ready to leave. She didn’t understand that I change clothes. Then she asked me whether I take the beltway on my bike. Ummm…. really?

[thecyclingeconomist]

@Rootchopper 37467 wrote:

If you really want to hear the comments, ride a recumbent to work.

Seriously… or just a recumbent at all. I will always ALWAYS be baffled by cyclists who spew negativity about recumbents when they’ve never ridden one (for more than a test-ride). I miss my Bacchetta Corsa, but had to downsize my wife’s and my bike collection before moving out here, and I decided that with the commute route I was going to have that the bent wouldn’t be as safe for me. (I’d been commuting on rural routes with no lights or stop-signs for years). Someday I’ll get another (probably the Bacchetta CA-2.0), but it’ll probably be another 3 or so years.

[dasgeh]

Try riding to work pregnant. Especially past your due date.

I wore fairly normal maternity clothes, so only the security officers really saw me biking. But everyone has to check in to get into the garage, so I saw most of them. I got a lot of respect from them. It also helped last night when our car wouldn’t start in the work garage — they were very helpful, and excited to see the little one.

[Arlingtonrider]

Dasgeh, you got and continue to get a lot of respect from all of us! I hope we’ll get to see little Ryder one of these days too.

[DSalovesh]

Dunno about famous, but notorious maybe.

And the other day my boss popped his head in my office as I was changing shoes (the only bike-specific clothing I wear most days) and told me that rolled up pants legs are not allowed.

Been here four years now and I couldn’t tell if he was kidding or not, but ever since I’ve paused on the stairway up from the garage to roll down my pants legs.

[Author]

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