Three cycling firsts

[darkemeralds]

Two brand-new cycling experiences today, and one yesterday.

First, in my push toward a bit of cycle chic, I wore a skirt. It's a straight but stretchy number, quite long, so the getting on and off the bike was awkward (Clyde is not a skirt bike), but the riding itself was fine. Wore tights and wool leggings and a fur-collar wool jacket in the very chilly east wind we've got going, and was comfy and warm.

Second, there was some construction on the Eastbank Esplanade, and they had a flagger/traffic control guy there just for bikes! The flagger waved me through (when a space about 2 feet wide opened up behind the truck) with a kind of embarrassed "Yes, we really need to do this" little half-wave. So I threaded through and said hi to the crew, and a little farther on I saw what they were doing: they were planting new trees!

So it was an awesome ride to work.

Oh, and yesterday I gave my monthly bus pass to my nephew. My December one went entirely unused, and it seemed lame to waste the January one. I'm paid up through May, so he might as well use it to get to school. After May, it looks like I might be saving $300 a year.

Comments

[serenity-valley.livejournal.com]

Wow, cycling in a skirt. Impressive.

And a flagger just for bikes? I love this town.

[emeraldsedai.livejournal.com]

I know, right???

And re the skirt: it took three or four tries to perfect a dismount, and let's just say that dark tights AND wool leggings were all that lay between me and unseemliness. Hee! This is where being over 50 and invisible comes in real handy!

[ibikelondon.blogspot.com (from livejournal.com)]

Sounds like a perfect ride to me - nice construction workers, out feeling stylish, and tree planting - all a bonus and one of the reasons I love going by bike, you just see so much more.

Bit worried those little sapplings might feel the cold over the next few months though, funny time to be planting. Brrr!

Regarding the move towards cycle chic all kudos to you, though for me it's less about looking good (which I rarely do) and more about being comfortable and conveniance - you just don't need to get dressed up in the whole lycra outfit for short hops on bike but believe it or not it took me an age to figure this out - I think we are so preconditioned to the idea that you need special kit or clothes to cycle when of course you can just do the whole Dutch thing and peddle along slowly looking fabulous!

[emeraldsedai.livejournal.com]

I would never go so far as to describe myself as "looking fabulous", but yeah, it's fun to be a little more dressed up--mostly because it is, so far, an anomaly in American cycling, and I do enjoy being a bit different. I see from your "I Bike London" Friday interviews and photos (which I ADORE, by the way) that there's a mix of street clothes and bike-specific gear in London.

As to the tree-planting, we don't have super-cold winters here, and those saplings were totally dormant. They looked like sticks. I've seen the white-out Great Britain satellite photo and brr! Looks like an ice age!

[creedcascade.livejournal.com]

I'm simply saying that if you got a spandex body suit...

[emeraldsedai.livejournal.com]

LOL! That nightmare image is one that I'll go to my grave having spared the world. And the world will be grateful.

[llaras.livejournal.com]

Yay new trees! And yay saving money!

[emeraldsedai.livejournal.com]

The saving money part is really starting to make itself apparent, too: those little "what the hell, I'll drive days" of $11 parking downtown were adding up! I feel perfectly justified now in ordering the occasional four-shot mocha, you know?

[llaras.livejournal.com]

Yes! I do know! And man, those treats are so much more of a treat when you don't have them all the time.

[emeraldsedai.livejournal.com]

Very true! And if I had a four-shot mocha all the time you'd have to peel me off the ceiling!