Saturday, July 14, 2007

Modesty and bicycling

I cycle in a skirt. One day after church Fr. K. makes a comment about me riding in a skirt (and heels, I add) and he'd like a picture of that. Well that was the 2nd or 3rd comment I got at church about riding in a dress that day. What, you people are just noticing it now?
I have been biking to church regularly, not every Sunday, but regularly and I do have to give some thought to riding in a skirt, as I do when I bike to work, which also involves riding in a skirt or dress.
For one, I wear a long skirt. Standing the dresses or skirts I wear come down to the tops of my ankles or mid-calf. This gives me some decent coverage when I'm moving along. I'm not just sitting, I also balance on the pedals when needed. When going around a corner I may throw a leg out to remain balanced. So added to the long skirt, a skirt that let's me do what I need to do. So either the thing is flared or has a spit. I've tried doing this in long pencil skirts, not happening. My thighs are constrained together and so all movement occurs at the knees, which is no fun. And then add to that the skirt must be of a weight that it stays down and doesn't fly up. Wind, sometimes is not your friend.
Speaking of the wind, it is my enemy when trying to bike and not give anyone a 'show'. A certain move plus a gust of wind and, yeah....
The second thing is biking style. Sometimes I have to bike with the knees together. I'd prefer not to, but the skirt might not be co-operating. And the knee together with bending can shift the skirt back down to where it needs to be, when it has ridden up. When the bottom of the hem hits the bottom part of the knee, the skirt has gone too far up.
Lastly, you cannot do this with a male bike. That bar gets in the way. The bar does not allow a gal to dismount with grace. I love when I come in for a landing and I kick my leg over to one side of the female bike and balance both feet on one pedal.

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