October 15, 2009

On commuting

Fall has finally hit us here in the Northwest. After last weeks cold snap and the rains for the past few days it's no escaping it: it is here. The leafs are starting to fall and the roads are getting wet and slick. To my surprise, this has not thinned out the throngs of commuters that I pass every day on my own commute. I commute mostly on marked bike routes so I always have a healthy amount of commuters joining me every morning and despite the weather they were out in force today. Perhaps they're just being stubborn or they're simply getting ready to fight old man winter, but there was a lot of them this morning. Certainly there is no reason for Victorians not to commute year round, and a I was happy to see the masses out, even though it was drizzling rain. The prevailing type you see on those wet days is the "Super commuter." this character can be recognized by the trademark brightly coloured rain jacked, the abundance of reflective material on clothing and bike, pant clips or reflective Velcro straps, and a bike with fenders, a rack and panniers (mirror optional). This is the stereotype, but individualism does exist among those types. One of those individualistic types crossed my path this morning. He had all the hallmarks of the Super commuter proudly displayed. However there was one anomaly to his getup. This particular commuter did not have any use for pants, or even shorts for that matter. No, when he woke up this morning and looked out the window he somehow figured that this weather would call for his shortest of short shorts. Akin to these: This choice in clothing struck me as a bit strange, and I contemplated what the reason for this could be, as wished I had an Iphone to capture this fantastic moment. These are the possible options I came up with: 1 The cyclist is always super warm and if he wears pants he will overheat, pass out, crash and drown in a pool of sweat. 2 The cyclist is proud of his sculpted cycling legs (they were pretty muscular, and shaved) and wants the world to know. 3 The cyclist lost a bet. 4 The cyclist has a good sense of humor. In any case, this odd commuter, a drooling Boxer in a car at a red light, and the homeless man that was screaming obscenities at cars but said "good morning sir" to me as a I rolled by made for a fun commute this morning. And top of the morning to you sir!

1 comment:

Sólveig said...

Hahaha.. Ég er svo að elska þessa frétt! :) Sé alveg fyrir mér sveittan blautan bossan í þraungum hjólabuxum í hausveðri í Victoria. :D Næst nærðu mynd af þessu snillingur! :)