Utility vs. Sport
Because I bike everywhere and that is odd to many people, I get a lot of odd questions.
Explaining the difference between utility cyclist and sport cyclist has gotten old. So I’ve just started playing dumb and asking them if they do this when they drive:
Just for the fun of making them explain the difference between a utility motorist and a race car driver.
Hooray! Love it; thank you.
I’m both. Sometimes I put on bike gear and ride fast and get sweaty. Other times I hop on my 3-speed with the basket and go to the coffee shop. That’s the beauty of the bike; it’s so versatile.
I have ridden 10 miles in a suit before, however. I just go slower.
I like to tell people that if you use a bike to go places, you are just essentially a “fast pedestrian.” That’s pretty much the European philosophy; it just allows you to go to places you can walk to faster–or to places that are a little too far to walk in the same time.
I LOVE it! As a girly girl who wears a lot of dresses and skirts and rides her bike to work in Seattle 3.4 miles each way every day – and all around town to get around, I am asked each and every one of those questions pretty much on a weekly basis. And answer the same way (except the pastry and chocolate shop) I have to explain over and over to people that the reason I CAN wear heels is because I’m on a bicycle (I could never WALK in those high heeled shoes – for god sakes!) You are brilliant -couldn’t have been demonstrated better.
I’m 48 and have riding a bike since I learned it as a child. Kids bike in normal clothes. Why should adult dress in special clothes?
If you sweat you riding to fast. Take it easy and enjoy the ride! The first 5 km nothing happens at all. Then you start feel warm, thats all. I can bike 40 km for 2 hours without start to sweat. Just bike easy. It’s like walking. Do you sweat when you walk?
Bike like me – without helmet and a big smile!
Richard / Sweden
Whilst I agree strongly with the overall point of the post, I don’t agree with the implied criticism in your comment. To avoid sweating, I would have to ride pretty much at walking pace, which is 4mph. At that speed, even without traffic lights, it would take me 3 hours to get to work and the same to get home again. That would be very silly.
If you think that is bad, try explaining why you use an ebike. Oh, I just went to p-ville and back on mine in 37 degrees, for dinner with my gf’s family. Mainstream is boring.
Part of the trouble is that English isn’t very subtle when it comes to the nuances of the activity. With us it’s just “cycling”, whereas other tongues differentiate sport and utility cycling by having distinct verbs for them: wielrennen/fietsen in Dutch and faire du vélo/faire de la bicyclette in French. Both activities are performed on sort of pedal-driven tubular metal frame thing with two wheels; but that’s as far as the resemblance goes.
As one poster above points out, a lot of the confusion stems from the fact that pseudo-sport bikes have become the norm in the States and in Britain over the past thirty years, and good old-fashioned utility – a.k.a. “Dutch” – bikes with mudguards, carriers, propstands, chainguards etc. are hard to find. Try riding a faux-mountain bike to work everyday and you’ll simply have to dress up in all the kit: waterproofs top to bottom ‘cos it doesn’t have mudguards, and a rucksack on your back ‘cos it doesn’t have a carrier. So in summer you’ll arrive at work smelling like a dead badger, and will need to shower or get funny looks all day from your colleagues.
I’m not a cyclist, for chrissake; I’m an elderly gentleman who gets around by bicycle. Does having a vacuum cleaner make me a vacuum-cleanerist? Cycling is nothing but mechanically assisted walking.