Taipei Bikes Work
Oct 22, 2007 · 01:09 PM · permalink
Last Friday in Taipei, I went for a second ride with Dahon to test ride some prototypes and hang out. On the way, Josh Hon and I riffed about how we ride in the U.S. all decked out in Spandex, cleats, and helmets, whereas in lots of other places in the world, bikes are just normal part of life, no fuss required.
Apropos that conversation, in Taipei I saw people moving themselves on bikes, but I also saw a ton of people using bikes for work—such as this ancient woman grunting a load of who-knows-what to who-knows-where. These three wheelers were everywhere—some heavily modified with gas-powered motors and low gearing. But only this one was moving slowly enough for me to get a photo—whatever she was hauling must have weighed a ton.
Photo: Grunt, originally uploaded by mobil’homme.
One thing that bugs me about bicyclists in general in the US is that there is this obsession with dressing for bicycling. I think one reason it isn’t look upon as seriously as transportation is because there is this image in everyone’s head of a spandex-clad racer instead of an average person just riding to work. I always bike to work in my work clothes (business casual), except when it is really warm out. Then I wear something casual and change at the office. I always try to project the “average person” image so that others will think of bicycling as something they could do too.
That’s part of the dutchness of urban cycling and the most liberating thing about Bettie is not kitting up. I also found that with the Fly By, where I’m just in shorts and a t-shirt riding around. Now, I still get kitted up and either train or race, but for the casual, urban ride, it’s regular clothes.
But if I don’t wear a team kit my inappropriate-for-commuting, racing-inspired bike will know I’m a poser.
Seriously though, I don’t think anyone’s appearance should “bug you”. I generally wear baggy mt. bike shorts and a tech top plus my high-vis yellow jacket for my commute and change at work. That way my work clothes stay dry and grease free, and my stinky bike clothes can get sequestered in a drawer. I think fear of traffic is a much greater de-motivator than fear of people in ridiculously-tight clothes.
And note that we’ve got one sweet jersey for all occasions! Agreed with Nate … in Vegas when I was riding around on the Fly By, it was so damn hot I wore a jersey. It doesn’t matter much to me what you wear, as long as you’re out riding (well, those Tri panty shorts make me giggle).
The biggest difference I’ve seen in my travels is that elsewhere bicycles are just transportation v. an outdoor lifestyle or commitment to commuting or alternative transportation or a sport. While we didn’t see much of it in Taipei there is def a roadie and Mtn scene and of course Europe. Old dudes on retro bikes and kits riding a Grand Fondo are every bit as clicky as US roadies in white booties and Assos racing a Tuesday night parking lot kit.
Same thing with Tyvek-jacket STP riders.
These days I normally ride a bike in just whatever clothes I’m wearing. When I lived in Colorado, I was the lone freak who wore slacks for my bike commute.
Something to note, however, is that U.S. distances are much greater than Taipei. Ol’ Granny toodling along on the trike isn’t traveling more than a mile or two with her huge load.
Traveling distance is also why cyclists in many European nations are seen as “fast pedestrians” while in the USA we’re traditionally more akin to “slow vehicles.” This important difference informs the (for example) Dutch emphasis on separated facilities vs the American emphasis (to date) on bike facilities and practices that are integrated with other vehicular traffic.
True, the Dutch have very few hills to ride up and down, and the weather there stays pretty cool year-round.
Actually, the biggest hills in Amsterdam are the little bridges cross when going over the canals. However, they can get going pretty fast.
That being said, I wouldn’t want to do 100 km or more on an old Dutch bike, and I would dress accordingly if I were gonna do so, maybe not in lycra, but at least in something that stayed dry.
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