Saturday, November 12, 2011

If My Bike Were a Horse…

If My Bike Were A Horse

A Good Riding Outfit

…I’d wear an outfit like this one!  But I’d swap out the little shoes for some sturdy riding boots.  Pardon the somewhat dark photos here; November is a difficult month for evening photography.  And I always forget that my camera has this thing called a “flash,” which I am told can help with lighting issues.

I feel very equestrian in this outfit, but it is a great choice for cooler weather bike commutes.  All the layers are sleek and warm.  I find that biking in skirts can be tricky business.  This particular skirt from the Gap, which is a little outside my normal style with its higher waist, longer length, and fullness, is a great skirt for biking because its fullness allows movement, but it’s short enough that I don’t have yards of fabric to get caught in the tires and/or bike chain.  But I think my favorite bike-friendly part of this outfit is the dark grey tights.  They have a wonderful cabled texture, and they are thick and sturdy.  The dark color means that any dirt and grit picked up from the road remains invisible on the tights, and the fact that they are tights means that there is no fabric flapping around, just waiting for its chance to get stuck in my bike.  As you may have guessed, I live in fear of my clothing get caught in the bike and pulling me into a horrific fall.  I fear a clothing-related accident as much as a car-related accident, so I choose my bike-commuting clothes very carefully.

Finally, a piece of bike-related good news: this week I took my bike to the bike doctor for its check-up and to get the brakes fixed.  Today I’ll pick up my bike, hopefully with its health restored.  I can’t wait to have fully functional brakes again!

2 comments:

  1. I wear pettipants under my skirts when I bike that way I can hike up my skirts if need be without fear of totally flashing my colleagues and students. I like the equestrian feel of the outfit. I also really like seeing a bit more of your living space. It looks so homey and nice!

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  2. Ah, I like the sound of these pettipants! I should look into them. Do you have a store or brand you like? Even though the skirt I'm wearing here is longer and fuller, it still gets hiked up sometimes by my bag while I'm riding. And I do bike in shorter skirts too, so I could use a little more coverage for modesty's sake.

    Thanks for the kind words about my home! I'm not much of an interior decorator, but I've been very slowly trying to make it feel more like home. Do you see the branch bouquet behind me? I made that out of a fallen tree branch I found as I was walking home one day :-) Autumn beauty for the win!

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