Do we look poor?

[shootingstar]

Alot of people think of commuter cyclists as a lot less..in terms of money/lifestyle.  Less status/prestige.  Seriously. I mean who is impressed by a local cyclist with panniers, no matter how full/heavy?  Poll your non-cyclists.  Ok, so we have to plan our trips using bus, etc.  I realize here in this forum, this gang is not the gang to convince.

Last wk., here we are in Whistler, British Columbia.

 

[2Far ★]

Great pics.

Panniers are one thing, everything you own is another

[Randomguy]

1 minute ago, 2Far said:

Great pics.

Panniers are one thing, everything you own is another

Exactly!  

I like public transport, when it works.  It is pretty much all I take.

[Longjohn ★]

About fifteen years ago we had a Grayhound bus terminal in town. They shared a space with Goodies Bakery. They only had one bus a day and it only went to Pittsburgh. If you wanted to go anywhere else you transferred in Pittsburgh. It would literally take all day to go 100 miles east or west. It was used mostly by inmates being released from prison and the Amish young men looking for a wife that wasn’t a cousin.

[Kzoo]

7 hours ago, Longjohn said:

About fifteen years ago we had a Grayhound bus terminal in town. They shared a space with Goodies Bakery. They only had one bus a day and it only went to Pittsburgh. If you wanted to go anywhere else you transferred in Pittsburgh. It would literally take all day to go 100 miles east or west. It was used mostly by inmates being released from prison and the Amish young men looking for a wife that wasn’t a cousin.

Was that an Erie to Pittsburgh line?  I remember as a kid my mom would take us into Erie for the day occasionally.  Being a one car family my dad would drop us off in Edinboro and we would take the bus to Erie.  I remember as a kid catching the Pittsburgh bus later in the day back to Edinboro and thinking how far away Pittsburgh was.  I seem to remember there were a few different buses that ran every day back then ('60s).  I pretty sure the line ran through Mercer.

[Further]

You do not look poor. You look like you chose to ride bicycles, and spent some money on good bicycles and the clothing to go with them.

[Dottleshead ★]

There are a lot of rich folk that like their status unknown. I am not one of those. 

[Longjohn ★]

50 minutes ago, Kzoo said:

Was that an Erie to Pittsburgh line?

Could have been. When I stopped there after working third shift for coffee and donuts they were waiting on the 8am bus to Pittsburgh. One of the ones waiting had to go to 100 miles east and complained when they told him it would take ten hours with a layover in Pittsburgh. It’s easy to see why they dropped Mercer.

[shootingstar]

13 hours ago, Longjohn said:

About fifteen years ago we had a Grayhound bus terminal in town. They shared a space with Goodies Bakery. They only had one bus a day and it only went to Pittsburgh. If you wanted to go anywhere else you transferred in Pittsburgh. It would literally take all day to go 100 miles east or west. It was used mostly by inmates being released from prison and the Amish young men looking for a wife that wasn’t a cousin.

In Canada, Greyhound is cutting all bus routes in British Columbia (with 1 exception), Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and for rest of Canada.  THis is actually quite serious.  This assumes all those who are truly poor, can't drive or need to go to appointments for health or they don't have enough personal contacts to give them a car ride:  

In Quebec, we are able to continue the routes and services we currently offer today.

We are permanently cancelling all Greyhound Canada services in the provinces of Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan.

In British Columbia, we are cancelling all services as well. However, Greyhound US and BoltBus will continue to offer 4 daily trips each between Vancouver, BC and Seattle. 

In Ontario, the majority of the routes will continue to operate. Here is a list of cities where Ontario services have been canceled.  
 
We will maintain a full schedule through October with the last trips departing from affected stations on October 31, 2018

North America is deficient in passenger train routes...given the massive size.

[Razors Edge ★]

Yep - wrong place to sell cyclists as poor or of lower status or prestige.  I smile quite a bit when seeing folks on all sorts of bikes. Even those steel anchors folks like @No One make me happy

I especially like kids on bikes, but also get joy in seeing heavy folks more than once, loaded touring cyclists, and repeat roadies, commuters, or MTBers.

Tom

[Page Turner]

6 hours ago, Further said:

You do not look poor. You look like you chose to ride bicycles, and spent some money on good bicycles and the clothing to go with them.

...for reference, here is an actual poor person using a bicycle for transportation in Santa Cruz :

 

[shootingstar]

18 minutes ago, No One said:

...for reference, here is an actual poor person using a bicycle for transportation in Santa Cruz :

 

Sure. I bet he's happier than other homeless who don't have a bike. That's my immediate reaction when I see local homeless on a bike.  ..while I'm biking myself.  

[Page Turner]

...it's almost impossible to survive as a homeless resident here without a bike.  Often they need to move their camps when pressed to do so by the police, and you can't camp all that close to a lot of the services, like free meals and showers at Loaves and Fishes here.  I assume it's like that all over California.

[late]

Hon, you look great.

But that's not what you asked about. So what do you really want... Might be style advice, might be the idea that cycling is something poor people do.

Here's the thing, cyclists are a tiny minority, and you are thinking about regular people.

Here's how I dealt with that problem. I got the wife clothing she would look great in. It wasn't cheap, but it helped keep her riding.  I didn't spend a ton on me, but I did things like got polos made from the same material they make bike jerseys from. I often wore gym shorts over lycra.

My panniers were German, I got them because I thought they looked the part. I often rode with an English 'Barley' saddlebag, which looks eccentric, but a bohemian sort of stylish.

https://www.duluthtrading.com/mens-breezeshooter-polo-56248.html?cgid=mens-shirts-polos&dwvar_56248_color=FOH#start=5&cgid=mens-shirts-polos

https://www.duluthtrading.com/mens-armachillo-cooling-short-sleeve-polo-shirt-56228.html?cgid=mens-shirts-polos&dwvar_56228_color=AEH#start=6&cgid=mens-shirts-polos

[shootingstar]

For sure, dearie and I tend to wear cycling jerseys.  During the lst 10 years of cycling I wore T-shirts...I really didn't want to look like a lycra cyclist.  However quite often my clothing doesn't look colour coordinated.  Cycling comfort is number 1.   Besides, still want to wear my 20 yr. old jerseys.  

[Ralphie ★]

You look marvelous!

(A good SNL reference should last 20 years.  ) (Or maybe even 30!)

[MickinMD ★]

In my area, there are us mostly-for-exercise-and-enjoyment cyclists who drive to bike trails who are generally thought of as more-affluent than average, surely because the bicycles we ride tend to be $300 - $1000 bikes, augmented with bike GPS units, expensive bike clothing/shoes/helmets, rear view mirrors, cool ergonomic grips, insulated water bottles, cool seats, clever lights, etc.

We do have designated bike lanes on a lot of streets, but they are intermittent and you take your life in your hands on many roads - even when walking, making it foolish to cycle on them unless you're too poor to drive, so the cyclists on the public roads are generally thought of as poor, surely also because their bikes often look like $86 Walmart specials and they often don't wear helmets even though it's the state law and often wear headphones over both ears even though it violates state law except on designated bike trails (where it's still a stupid thing to do).

My brother's house, to which I have a key and the alarm code, is just 1 mile off the BWI Airport Bike trail and a convenient stop for a call-of-nature midway along the 10.6 mile loop. There's a bike lane for only about 2 blocks of the way, but fortunately there's a sidewalk and mostly little-used side-streets involved.

But in most places there are big problems. There are several supermarkets that are 1-3 miles from my home and I considered getting a nice set of panniers to straddle each side of my back wheel to carry the $30 or less of groceries I usually buy.  But, in most-congested-driving-in-America suburban Baltimore/Washington, it means riding on 45 mph highways with no bike lanes, less than 1' of curb, intermittent sidewalks, wide stretches of very-busy highway where expressway ramps branch off, numerous red lights, and several  times you'd have to switch from the right to left to right, etc. sides of a highway to find a sidewalk or wide-enough lane along the curb.  I'm resigned to driving.

[KrAzY]

The last thing I think when I see a cyclist is they are poor. I see what bike they are riding and what all gear they have e and know they can't be poor. 

[shootingstar]

3 hours ago, KrAzY said:

The last thing I think when I see a cyclist is they are poor. I see what bike they are riding and what all gear they have e and know they can't be poor. 

Maybe. If you saw me...I look average, mysterious. No carbon bike, no fancy shocks. Does a $80.00 saddle count? I sit slightly upright on bike that isn't properly cleaned in months...

What kills me is the cost of a brand new wheel and its tire together can be equivalent to a car tire.  Oh well, it's worth it for cycle commuting and going everywhere by bike. I don't pay any gym fees/memberships. Annually I spend under $70.00 on bike. Not bad. I actually use transit train in free zone in city. We are probably one of the few cities in North America that has a free train travel zone..it's only about 4 km. for the free zone....about 5 train stops long in downtown.

[shootingstar]

7 hours ago, MickinMD said:

My brother's house, to which I have a key and the alarm code, is just 1 mile off the BWI Airport Bike trail and a convenient stop for a call-of-nature midway along the 10.6 mile loop. There's a bike lane for only about 2 blocks of the way, but fortunately there's a sidewalk and mostly little-used side-streets involved.

But in most places there are big problems. There are several supermarkets that are 1-3 miles from my home and I considered getting a nice set of panniers to straddle each side of my back wheel to carry the $30 or less of groceries I usually buy.  But, in most-congested-driving-in-America suburban Baltimore/Washington, it means riding on 45 mph highways with no bike lanes, less than 1' of curb, intermittent sidewalks, wide stretches of very-busy highway where expressway ramps branch off, numerous red lights, and several  times you'd have to switch from the right to left to right, etc. sides of a highway to find a sidewalk or wide-enough lane along the curb.  I'm resigned to driving.

Sorry hear. 

[KrAzY]

1 hour ago, shootingstar said:

Maybe. If you saw me...I look average, mysterious. No carbon bike, no fancy shocks. Does a $80.00 saddle count? I sit slightly upright on bike that isn't properly cleaned in months...

What kills me is the cost of a brand new wheel and its tire together can be equivalent to a car tire.  Oh well, it's worth it for cycle commuting and going everywhere by bike. I don't pay any gym fees/memberships. Annually I spend under $70.00 on bike. Not bad. I actually use transit train in free zone in city. We are probably one of the few cities in North America that has a free train travel zone..it's only about 4 km. for the free zone....about 5 train stops long in downtown.

I spend a lot less cash then that a year on my bike.

Granted it hangs in my garage more now that I have a motorcycle.. there is nothing wrong with looking ordinary/or like you don't have money.. that's in nowadays as some silly fad. I would love a free train to haul my ass around.

[shootingstar]

52 minutes ago, KrAzY said:

I spend a lot less cash then that a year on my bike.

Granted it hangs in my garage more now that I have a motorcycle.. there is nothing wrong with looking ordinary/or like you don't have money.. that's in nowadays as some silly fad. I would love a free train to haul my ass around.

 We rode Seattle's short piece almost 2 decades ago which doesn't exist anymore.  I think Portland had something ages ago for short piece only. Usually it is an attempt to revitalize downtown with business and people. People 'round here bitch about too high property taxes..and they willfully forget that their taxes funds this free zone.  Yea, we have a nearly dead downtown zone during non-business hrs. and weekends.  People throng at suburban malls, even though during the non-business days there are lower parking fees to entice people.  So cycling downtown during off hrs. is pretty simple, quiet and easy. And one does see families with children cycling around downtown, now that we have some protected cycle tracks. Before cycle tracks, children on bikes were non-existent.

I rarely shop in suburban malls since it's mostly chain stores there.  I do bike 45 km. round trip to a large Asian supermarket during non snowy seasons.  It does keep one healthy...to have um..these shopping destinations.  

 

[Further]

A buddy of mine was working 2 construction jobs, making very good money, putting the pieces in place to start his own company.

It was his wife's birthday and he was going to buy her emeralds. Ran into the mall on his way home from work.

The girl in the jewelry store was steering him to the fake stones, when he asked about real stones she blew him off with a line about being too expensive. 

He thanked her and walked across the mall to another jewelry store, where he paid cash for a couple grand worth of earings.

Back across the mall to the first store. Showed the first girl the earings. Asked her if she worked on commision.

 

Don't judge people by appearance.

 

 

 

 

[Square Wheels]

11 hours ago, Further said:

Don't judge people by appearance

I agree.  If you were to see me, you'd assume I was of average to poor wealth at best.  I am not wealthy by the standards around me, I work with Harvard physicians, and like next to a few expensive towns, but I do OK.  I dress like a poor person.  It's what I like and how I am comfortable.

[Wilbur ★]

12 hours ago, Further said:

Don't judge people by appearance.

Unfortunately, people do.  

When I was building homes, I took a final payment for a Reno project to the bank.  It was just a hand written check from the customer.  At the time, I had 5 times the check value in the account.  I was wearing dirty jeans and a t-shirt, having just left the site.   Went to the bank and the teller wanted to put a 10 day hold on the funds.  I took the cheque back and said "Nope, I will take it elsewhere". 

I went home, showered up, put on some high end business casual clothing, went back to the bank, same teller took the check and deposited in my account with no restrictions.  People are appearance biased. 

[ChrisL]

49 minutes ago, Wilbur said:

Unfortunately, people do.  

When I was building homes, I took a final payment for a Reno project to the bank.  It was just a hand written check from the customer.  At the time, I had 5 times the check value in the account.  I was wearing dirty jeans and a t-shirt, having just left the site.   Went to the bank and the teller wanted to put a 10 day hold on the funds.  I took the cheque back and said "Nope, I will take it elsewhere". 

I went home, showered up, put on some high end business casual clothing, went back to the bank, same teller took the check and deposited in my account with no restrictions.  People are appearance biased. 

I've experienced this more times than I can recall.  There is a strong Hispanic community and many don't earn a whole lot.   I look like I could be Hispanic.  When I'm in my gym shorts and t shirt I get treated differently than when I'm in my work clothes.  

We had a real estate agent who wouldn't give me the time of day when we walked in with grubby clothes on.  Dude was calling me sir a few weeks later when we went to a showing after work...

[donkpow]

Interesting topic.

What is poor, what is rich? If you see LeBron on a bike, is he poor?

[Dottleshead ★]

I'm in the camp it's better to look poor.  I spoke to a guy in McCall, Idaho that put it this way:  "People that live in Sun Valley want to let you know they have money, while rich folks that live in McCall just want to blend in." 

 

Be the person, rich or poor, that just wants to blend in.