Don’t label me!
I have noticed something ever since I sold my car. I am suddenly a “commuter”. At the Local Bike Shop, I hear “well, now that you are a commuter, you need those tires” or, “Yeah, as a commuter, you have to be careful, no days off for you”. Someone at Bici was telling his friend “Dude, she knows what she is doing, she is a commuter”
It is true that I am a bike commuter. However, I also race, ride for exercise and ride for enjoyment. Wouldn’t that make me simply a cyclist? This got me thinking about all the labels in the bike world.
Fixie Kids-ride fixed gears, brakeless or braked. Often lumped into the hipster category.
Commuter-have lights, fenders, racks (neither of which I have, but both of which I want). Rides as transportation, and often arrives sweaty and is also known to bum rides from friends on rainy days!
Roadie-rides in full on lycra. Very serious about the weight of bikes, the right gear and his or her “speedo”
Tri’s-triathaletes with those crazy bars that scare the hell out of me
Cyclechic-those who always ride looking great and do it for the fun. I would love to be one of these all the time!
Casual cyclist- rides on trails on some weekends. Doesn’t really love riding in traffic, but enjoys his or her time on the bike. Don’t necessarily have lights or even locks. No reason for them.
I know that there are more. I haven’t addressed cargo bikes, tandems, trailers with kids…where do you put them?
I wish that we were all just called cyclists, but I know that labeling is what we all do, and will continue to do. What are your thoughts? Or, which category do you belong to or wish you belonged to?
I am a commuter who sometimes races and loves to be Cyclechic! Label that.
“I am a commuter who sometimes races and loves to be Cyclechic! Label that.”
BikeSkirter. Take that.
Here’s a category list that I really like:
http://arcticglass.blogspot.com/2006/03/hey-this-is-my-blog.html
I agree with what Rich posted, but would lump cargo bikes, trailers, and bike movers into “utility bikers.” Just biking to get the job done (and have some fun, save the environment, etc.)
im cyclechic ? i guess. even tho i race and compete for a living, i ride because i love to ride.
Totally casual. But I dig it (until I hit a crazy hill, at least!).
I’m a lazy commuter who left his bike at school today and took the train home because his legs are still tired from Faster Mustache.
How would you label William the Conquerer?
I like Rich’s link. I’d be a Lab hoping to be a St. Bernard someday. Which means I’m a bike commuter (by choice; I still have my truck) who has ambitions to go on some long tours. A couple weeks in Tassie, maybe. Hopefully. I also have general utility biking ambitions. And if I ever learn how to mountain bike (and somehow have a month of free time) I’d love to do the Tour Divide.
I have no racing ambitions, and I don’t often go on rides just to ride. For some reason it just isn’t as enjoyable to me as having a destination and getting there without a car. I don’t know why that is. Other than we’re all unique little snowflakes (just like everyone else).
I don’t mind the labels; I just don’t think that they’re ever permanent. They’re more like roles. Most of the time, I *am* a bike commuter, and honestly even on a long tour, or even when I drive my truck somewhere, I still am a bike commuter. But I hope to add other roles to my list, and I’ll take on those roles temporarily now and again.
i’m a ‘transportation cyclist’ a lot of the time
i ride to get things done
sometimes it;s going to work
sometimes it;s the library, the grocery store
and i won;t take the shortest way either, usually, because it;s fun and exercise- so it;s all munged together
anyway, ‘commuter’ sounds like i\someone who *only* rides to work
or like someone who has to ride only on some kind of a regular schedule
wle
maybe these are all sub-categories of ‘cyclist’?
What about the recumbent riders? Or the tall bike riders?
I know what you mean, though. Sometimes I commute, sometimes I am a roadie, sometimes cycle chic. Depends on where I’m going and what bike I’m riding.
dont give them the time of day – to hell with labels, you are who you are. you are just on a different superior level of a good looking lady with a bike, &everyone else can continue to waste their time with ‘labeling’
now let’s go ride, girlfriend <3
I’m an Everyday Cyclist. I bike to get where I’m going, solo or with one or two boys in tow, wearing whatever I’m wearing that day.
http://gracieswrench.com/blog/?p=15
(In the interest of full-disclosure, I do have a car though I try to use it only on an infrequent basis)
at least when people say ’she’s a commuter’, it;s with a proper sense of awe and wonder
maybe there is a new label
“carless”
wle.
I’m mostly a roadie with a little commuter, a little racer, a little casual, a little “du” (duathlon?) and I’d like to be a little more chic. I also do a little mountain biking.
Maybe there’s an off-road group – mountain, downhill, BMX, cyclocross, cross country, etc.
But I really just think of myself as a cyclist, too. A mutt of the human-powered, two-wheeled sport world.
Here is another equally crass list of cyclist categories I thought you would enjoy: http://bikehacks.com/the-dictionary-of-bike-commuter-slang/
Cheers,
Logan.
I don’t like labels, either. We are all cyclists; we all get enjoyment out of riding bikes; we all encounter the same problems. Best to stick together, since we are still the minority.
I’m a ‘commuter’ with a side of Cycle Chic. I want to be Chic-er than I am, though — I usually bike around in jeans and sneakers, and my bike is an old 10-speed from the 80’s. But I’m not afraid to enjoy where I’m going, take it slow, and be considerate.
I sure understand the aversion to labels. Who likes ‘em?
I’ve been trying to view these “types” as “tribes,” and when I do that, I feel more happy about belong to a tribe in the Bicycle Nation.
I touched on it here.
http://pirateontwowheels.blogspot.com/2009/09/tribes.html
This subject got a lot of feedback. We were tossing this subject about recently as well. Here is a link to the post…
http://changoville.blogspot.com/2009/08/group-sub-groups-and-sub-sub.html
Wow! this subject certainly sparks conversation. Thanks everyone for your input. I agree that cyclist is the way we all want to be labeled. I also know that as people we will continue to label each other and put ourselves and others into little (or big) boxes. I think as long as we the cyclists stick together, let them call us what they will!
heck, even saying us and them is labeling! it is everywhere…
Thanks to all the great blog posts. I guess this really is a subject near to everyone’s heart.
I am a veloprincess
You can just call me Cyclelicious
Here’s another cute attempt to categorize cyclists — this one all the way from Japan.
ooh
you left out ‘DUI cyclist’
riding a girl’s kid bike wrong way, seat completely down, tires half flat, sidewalk salmoning, chain smoking, tanned [or at least leathery]
native habitat: between wrong side of tracks and liquor store
wle.
Eh. When the folks at my office found out that I sometimes ride to work, I was suddenly a “bike commuter”. It felt weird.
I would think that if a person on a bicycle became as common-place as someone in a car, the labels would just disappear.
wle – heh. In a similar vein, here in Brooklyn we have what I like to call the “neighborhood hoodlum” cyclist. Teenage guy riding the k-mart mountain bike he got for his 7th birthday, friend on pegs in tow, knees perilously close to chin, baseball cap always balanced at the perfect angle. Often seen on the sidewalk. Never leaves about a 10 block radius of home base, but takes great pride in scorching you while you’re on his turf.
I love those kids.