Identity Crisis

Do you remember the day you started calling yourself a cyclist? For the bike commuters and utility cyclists, do you remember when you said to yourself "I can do that"?

Each decision to ride or not to ride is influenced by our self-image. Riding to work is a no-brainer for me. I *am* the guy who rides his bike to work.

A trip to the grocery store is a little different. A bike trailer would tip me off the fence, but why don't I have one? Don't I see myself as the guy with a bike trailer who always runs his errands by bike? I'm not there yet.

Let's consider the motorist who drives 30 miles from the suburbs. They come down the expressway and take a side street through Midtown to get to their office. They meet me in the elevator and I'm just shy of a grin because I just rode my bike to the office. I'm carrying a helmet and pannier and either I'm wearing shorts or my long pants are rolled up, so it's pretty clear I rode my bike. Does the motorist identify with me? Do they say to themselves, "I can do that"? I hope so.

I think about being the cyclist that non-cyclists can identify with. I want people to look at what I'm doing and say to themselves, "I can do that."

When I ride on the streets in traffic, I try to emulate the safe and courteous cyclist that motorists can admire. I hope they can even aspire to being that cyclist too.

When I'm passing pedestrians, I want them to think, "That looks like a nice change of pace".

When I'm riding with my Sunday morning group, I want them to think they could get some mid-week miles by riding into the office, or to the soccer fields, or to the grocery store.

Certainly the images that advertising creates are powerful ones. I am advertising an image when I ride my bike.