I’ve been riding my bike all over Europe and all over Los Angeles. I love riding dressed up or dressed down, I love riding to auditions and I pride myself that I’m one of the very few actresses who is working in the industry without having to own a car.
When I ride dressed up, drivers slow down, women on the street give me the thumbs up and I motivate others to dress up nice when they get on the saddle. In my opinion, which is also the opinion in countless cities around the US and around the world, one doesn’t have to dress into “biking” gear to go from point A to point B.
Sharon McNary from KPCC is of another opinion. Yesterday, Sharon from KPCC posted a note on our Stop Hit & Run facebook event wall, asking cyclists to fill out a survey about their bike related crashes.
I filled out the survey and hit submit. But I couldn’t submit because I was required to submit a photo. So I submitted a photo of me riding dressed up to the CSA Artios Awards last year where I represented SAG.
Today, I received a letter from Sharon, thanking me for my contribution and that people might be called for an interview. Then she wrote this:
I’m glad you weren’t hurt any worse. Thanks for the photo. I’m looking at your outfit in terms of safety. No helmet, and wearing a dress that could be a distraction to a passing driver. I’m no fashion critic and I’m assuming it’s not your usual biking gear, but seriously, what’s the responsibility of a cyclist to wear protective clothing?
Excuse me??? Since when is dressing up when I go somewhere a safety issue?
If women’s wardrobe is ever a safety issue, then maybe we shouldn’t dress up regardless of how we move about because we might be a distraction to all the single high testosterone men out there! Maybe ladies shouldn’t dress up because a driver might slow down to check them out. Maybe men and women shouldn’t dress up when riding because the streets of Los Angeles are full of un-attentive drivers who can’t handle holding their lattes, while on the phone and being distracted by good looking cyclists. (Btw. I’m distracted by good looking cyclists all the time while I ride and I love the distraction!)
Oh, and the helmet comment is just bizarre as well! Wearing a helmet is not the law! Wearing a helmet is not safer for cyclist. It’s safer when falling to the ground after a driver has hit me, but I’m not safer on my bike with a helmet. What is wrong with people in America, who get so bent out of shape when cyclists don’t wear a helmet?
How about addressing the law for drivers? Why don’t these “bent out of shape people” get upset about drivers breaking them? It’s the law to wear a seat belt! It’s the law to have a hands free cell phone. It’s the law to have your dog restrained in your car.
Do these same people who get upset about a cyclists not wearing a helmet get upset when they see a driver without a seat belt? Or when they see a driver hold the phone in one hand while making a right turn at a red looking only to the left? Do these same people lay on the horn or lecture these drivers by throwing something at them? Do these “cyclists teaching drivers” teach drivers about the law by giving them advice on what is safe for them?
What is wrong with Sharon having the need to lecture me about how I dress when I ride?
Sharon McNary has it all wrong and so do all these “bike lecturers” who think that riding a bike is immature and that cyclists need to be taught a lesson about their safety. Most of the cyclists are safe, but they are not safe from the motorists. Why don’t we teach motorists how to behave, not the victim?
I encourage all my readers to go out and ride dressed up and looking hot. Here are a few websites that promote just that:
- Bike Riding in a Dress 101
- Dress Codes: The Dutch Bicycle
- Riding Pretty in California
- Cycle Chic from Copenhagen
- Bicycling in a Wedding Dress
- Girls I Love to Hate
- Girls and Bicycles
- Los Angeles Cycle Chic
And there are cuontless more on line, proving my point that Sharon has is all wrong and is missing out big time in her metal box!
Evolved countries understand that a bike is a very elegant form of transportation. Evolved cities know that people like to ride in their everyday wardrobe. Evolved people know that riding a bike is good for them and those around them.
RSS
Wait, so what am I supposed to wear when I go on a date? Why does she assume that everyone has to wear some predetermined ‘bike gear’ when they ride? I do wear a helmet, but why does she think you’d have to wear spandex vs normal clothing? I’m with you, Enci!
Sharon’s done a lot to address cyclist and ped issues, I’m sure she meant no offense
We’re all entitled to opinions and in this case you’re both right. While helmets and safety gear do make us safer as cyclists, they’re not the law and we’re free to dress however we feel comfortable.
Let’s give the benefit of the doubt, we’re all fighting for the same cause.
Who’s this idiot who thinks helmuts don’t protect bicyclist’s? It is the law, for children, so she’s an idiot on that, too.
Has this moron ever been to the brain injury section at Rancho Los Amigos? What a completely self absorbed fool, I sure hope this idiot’s really bad advice doesn’t actually kill anyone?
She’s an air headed actress all right, just doesn’t know a thing about safety, and shows her stupidity in public>
That’s utterly ridiculous! What right does she have to tell you how to dress on your bike? NONE at all. Does this Sharon McNary not realize that step-through frames and skirt guards exist for a REASON? Perhaps we should outlaw female motorists from wearing tank tops that reveal any kind of cleavage, lest they be a “distraction” to other drivers? What is her opinion about those women who ride in spandex – is that too distractingly tight? If I was required to wear “protective clothing” every time I got on my bike, I’d never get on my bike. Here in Dallas there IS a helmet law, although I wish there wasn’t, but there’s certainly no female cyclist dress code. Are we supposed to sew elbow pads into long-sleeved t-shirts, so we can be protected and modest all at once? What about men who ride their bikes in tight pants? Is that considered a “distraction” to female motorists? Perhaps us helpless women shouldn’t be riding bikes at all and *gasp* straddling a saddle like that in PUBLIC. Ms. McNary would probably deem it more acceptable that we women only be allowed to sit on the back of some man’s bike, riding side saddle. Shame on you, Sharon McNary.
KPCC is a closet conservative radio station. Between Pat Morrison trying to shut out cyclists in her “ask the chief” softball series and Larry Mantle opining over and over about his bout with an “inconsiderate” cyclist in the road everytime cyclists rights to the road are discussed.. Just keep pounding away at the injustice.
How annoying to get a response like that. Isn’t the whole point of neon colors and other “safety” gear to get drivers’ attention? I’ve always figured that I get even more attention in skirts and dresses. Now I’m supposed to worry about being a distraction to drivers?? In that case, I should just stay off my bike completely – would not want to endanger those poor drivers. Man, that crap pisses me off.
Good for you – stay fun and safe all at once!
I’d like to add to the comments that while in this photo I don’t wear a helmet because I took it off for the photo, I always wear a helmet! Always! Because I like my brain to be intact when someone hits me. Or when I fall on a crack. Or whatever.
However, it is my responsibility to wear one! It might be silly or irresponsible to not wear one, if California, if you are over 18, it’s not the law.
But people oftentimes find it necessary to point at cyclist on the street who don’t wear a helmet. Why? Why don’t they point at motorists? Why don’t they lobby for better streets for those who are endangered? Why is always the victim blamed and not the criminal who hurts the weaker? Why?
I wonder if people who have the nerve to prescribe safety gear (helmets, safety vest, etc. ) for cyclists think twice about what they wear to walk down the street or cross at the crosswalk. More pedestrians are killed by cars than cyclists. I make a conscious and informed decision to not wear a helmet and dress for my destination not my commute. Riding a bike is safe. Period.
…
I was going to fill out the survey yesterday but did not get around to it. After reading this I thought I should fill it out and give them the emergency room photo.
I decided to instead give them a photo of me with 4 kids in my bakfiets.
Let’s all go for a bike ride!!!
One thing I know for sure, hot women dressed up always slow down traffic. Slower car speeds are generally safer for bikes.
Great points, Enci!
Sad that this report doesn’t get it, but the more a driver notices a bicyclist, the less likely that the driver will hit the bicyclist. Biking for visibility is key to biking safely… that includes where one positions oneself in the lane, what kinds of lights/reflectors one has at night, what one wears, and other factors.
Once I biked while dressed as Santa Claus… and I felt very safe because drivers really noticed me.
I think she’s doing thorough research and asking an objective question in order to compile info. Can’t hate someone for not knowing why you do what. Ya’ know?
I do wear a helmet lately though. Riding looking cool is great, but riding without a skull is pretty lame, I’d assume.
There was a safety campaign in Brussels, I think it was, which basically said “Dress up while riding your bike, you’ll be more visible.”
I think all this mania about safety clothing and safety helmets and safety everything is simply an excuse for allowing people to drive dangerously. People are allowed to drive however they want, and if this causes problems, most often some kind of fault is found with the other party, to show that they didn’t protect themselves enough from the innocent driver. This kind of thing makes me want to spew all kinds of profanity, it is so wrong.
That’s a great last paragraph.
Isn’t Sharon familiar with how the Danes calm traffic?
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/03/28/bikini_bandits/
OuchOuchOuchOuch.. I’ve got some road rash now.
I confess. Every one of the nearly 4,500 miles I’ve ridden on my road bike since 2005 were done while wearing Spandex bike shorts and a helmet. And gloves, and eye protection and clippy shoes. But that doesn’t mean I’ve got all the answers for all cyclists out there. Or the fashion answers for all the women riders out there.
Sorry Enci, that you took my questions as criticism. And I’m relieved to hear you wear a helmet when you’re not being photographed because to me, although it’s not required of adults, I do think helmets save brains and lives. I also appreciate your raising this topic with your audience.
Now for my possibly lame (to you) explanation. In the journalism vernacular, we call it back-pedaling.
My office is moving close enough to my home that I can ride to work every day rather than the once-weekly 28-mile round trip I try to do these days.
And I’ve been thinking of converting my touring bike into a true commuter bike to carry my laptop, extra shoes, gorilla lock, clothing change, etc. Yesterday, I went online looking for clipless pedal converters that would let me ride in normal street shoes.
Would I take it one step further? I have, at times, imagined myself riding to work in a skirt on a step-thru bike — like the real-world women models I see in the Title9 athletic clothing catalogues and like European women do in World War II movies — but I don’t wear a skirt that often in my daily life. But now, perhaps, I owe it to Enci to try it and get a new perspective.
On the issue of women’s rights to wear what they want — I absolutely agree with you. Being subjected to harassment or being accused of being distracting simply for wearing what a woman wears is dehumanizing.
If I rode wearing your skirt, I’d worry that it would flare up around my butt. If it were more of an a-line skirt, I’d have less of a worry. If you and I were riding side-by-side, you in your skirt and me in my Spandex shorts, and we both crashed, I guess we’d get similar injuries becasue we would have about the same about of skin showing.
Anyway, let me close with an invitation. If you’d like to hang out in person, I’ll be meeting some of my fellow women bike riders at the Ballona Creek bridge at 8 a.m. tomorrow (That’s Saturday, Jan. 23). I’ll be there for a half-hour to 45 minutes before joining up with a larger group that is riding the PV loop and back.
I’ll be the one in the helmet and Spandex bike shorts.
Cheers, and ride safe out there,
Sharon McNary
Love the post. Keep rockin’ Enci. You’re an inspiration!
How soon we forget.
Flashback over a hundred years ago and the same debate took place. It was a significant moment in the women’s liberation movement. http://bit.ly/bBZAn4
“Let me tell you what I think of bicycling. I think that it has done more to emancipate women than anything else in the world. It gives women a feeling of freedom and self-reliance. I stand and rejoice every time I see a woman ride by on a wheel… the picture of free, untrammeled womanhood.” – Susan B. Anthony
For all the talk of safety, it’s important to put things in perspective. If safety were really an issue, our intersections would be grade-separated.
If safety were an issue, motorists and their passengers would wear helmets, after all, it’s the head injuries that kill so many people in car crashes.
If safety were an issue, pedestrians would wear complete safety suits and helmets, after all, they die in disproportionate numbers to other modes.
I find that safety advice to cyclists is often offered as if we are the only mode that requires unsolicited advice. Imagine what would happen if I stood at Starbucks and reminded the patrons as they got into their cars, “Don’t drink that coffee while driving, you should focus on the road!”
I also find that “safety first” is often a tool for segregation. “You’ll be much safer on this Bike Path along the River!” The fact that I don’t want to go to the river but from urban city center to another not withstanding, how about making ALL our streets safer for all modes. Imagine telling pedestrians “We’ve built you a lovely wide sidewalk for your exclusive use. It’s in Sylmar, where you’ll be safe!”
All streets need to accommodate all modes. Slow the traffic down to speeds that allow motorists to control their vehicles, cyclists to integrate, pedestrians to cross the street, mass transit passengers make transfers.
Streets are for People!
Lots of great comments and a great post by Enci. But I don’t think Sharon gets it. in her back pedaling response she says:
“I do think helmets save brains and lives.”
which is the reason she feels compelled to promote the use of helmets by cyclists I assume. But, Sharon you are wrong. There is no scientific study that shows helmets save lives more than they endanger lives.
In fact there are studies that show promoting helmets decreases ridership which takes away the biggest safety feature a cyclist can count on . . . “Numbers.” As in safety in numbers. Numbers help motorists to feel comfortable around cyclists and to know how to drive while sharing the road. It also helps cyclists know how to act on the road by following the example of the many other cyclists that commute safely by bicycle.
Then there is the study that shows motorists give you cyclists with a helmet less room as they pass.
Then there are the statistics that show a correlation between helmets and INCREASED injuries including brain injuries. Although there is no way to say why this happens the theory is that in addition to the “numbers” game, there is a false sense of security that encourages the rider to take risks that she would not normally take.
If you feel the need to wear a helmet, fine. If that is what it takes for you to ride a bike, then wear a helmet. Just don’t go prescribing them to others like we are reckless and thoughtless children.
Imagine a world where you were chastised for not wearing a helmet to walk your dogs down the street. Imagine what it would be like if you had to wear a safety vest to cross the street. Imagine if you had to where orthopedic shoes if you were going to be on your feet for more than 30 minutes. Who would ever walk in this imaginary world?
So please stop telling cyclists to do these ridiculous things and start making motorists accountable for their actions. Motorists are the ones using a multi-ton weapon to get where they are going. Please put responsibility where it belongs.
Donovan, here is a very interesting study that Alex posted on his writeup about this issue on Westsidazz: http://www.cyclehelmets.org/1079.html
A couple months ago I had my helmet stolen and I rode for three days without a helmet. I rode less risky and much more aware, than I ride when I wear a helmet.
But I like to wear my helmet because it makes me feel safe and because Stephen has been hit twice and if it wasn’t for his helmet, I think his head would have split open because he hit his head both times.
I think Sharon’s question was legitimate and innocent.
In presenting yourself as a dedicated cyclist you submitted a photo in which you are 1) helmetless, 2)wearing a skirt that looks like it’s just short enough to not get caught in your skirt-guardless rear wheel 3) you’re wearing high heels. Even if your leg warmers had air bags, I doubt they would be much help in an accident. These factors are definitely enough to raise someone’s curiosity.
Good thing you’re not into motorcycles because if you rode dressed like people wouldn’t think, they’d know you were an idiot.
Donavan, I never tell anyone else they should or shouldn’t wear a helmet; I assume grown-ups can make their own decisions.
But I can tell you that I am alive today because I had my helmet on when I took a bad spill on the bike path in Santa Monica a few years back.
@Sharon McNary – An apology is NOT an apology if it states, “I’m sorry that you took my questions as criticism.” You are placing blame on Enci rather than looking at your part. I believe you are jealous of Enci and can’t see past your envy. Ouch. Yeah, the truth is sometimes painful. Grow up. Go for it Enci…you deserve all the possible rewards life has to offer.
@laura t — my take is that sharon wasn’t necessarily apologizing for asking the questions. and that’s fine. she’s a journalist, and not everyone has to like her. we – her audience – are allowed to have responses to those questions too. many of us were taken aback, since the questions seemed old-fashioned and harkened back to a time when it seemed like blame was placed on women for things like men whistling at women and worse. but fair enough – the woman asked the questions, and she opened herself up to criticism.
like enci, i wear dresses and suits and high heels when i ride my bike and kick my scooter. i’m what i call a utility cyclist; i’m not always riding to get to my destination quickly, just so that i get to my destination without having to find vehicle parking. and i wear a helmet proudly brands me as a cyclist.
Just put a politician on a bike for a week and we would get some better cycling protections. Drivers do not get it because they have no desire to understand anyting except how their gas pedal works. Put them all on a bike for a week and it would change.
Strangely enough for me, I was injured because of the poor cement condition of the Ballona Bike Path. I reported it after my recover and even took photos; nothing was ever done. Again, put politicians on bikes.
PS, when engaging in any discussion it reflects poorly on the writer when they call people names without even knowing them. Stick to the facts and don’t contribute.
I am amazed at the actual discussion in this comments section! Aside from one comment I think everyone is putting thought and consideration into their comments.
Enci,
I am familiar with that site, as well as others. Thanks for putting it up for others to find. I need to start bookmarking these studies so I can link to them appropriately. I have no problem with people wearing a helmet. I have no problem with anyone for wearing a helmet that helps them feel safe or if it is necessary for them to ride.
BikinginLA,
Thank you for not telling others whether to wear a helmet or not. I agree with that 100%. Adults do need to make their own decisions. My problem is promoting helmet use/telling others to wear helmets. I even limit how much I fight the promotion of helmets because I do not want someone to think I am saying “Don’t wear a helmet.”
Bobby,
I think that people can wear what they want to ride. Check out LACycleChic.blogspot.com to see just some of the things people wear to ride a bike. Wearing a skirt is no more dangerous than spandex, so it should not be an issue of safety. I do agree that to someone who only knows about the sport of cycling vs. the utilitarian cycling it might seem odd. However, a reporter should think before asking a typed question to get the most important and relevant information.
Everyone,
Let’s go for a bike ride, anytime.