Cycling along the Broadwater this morning I noticed some (slightly) overweight middle-aged women wearing full lycra and compression Lorna Jane outfits just to go for a stroll. I’m not sure when strolling became an extreme sport requiring the bestest of highest techest clothes but apparently being a bit chubby and in no way sporty does not preclude you from wearing sports clothing.
Now, obviously cycling has been at the forefront of specialist clothing for a while now. Lycra was practically invented for cycling (and if you’re old enough to remember woolen tights and cycling shirts you’ll know how desperate the need for lycra was).
That’s not to say that cycling down the shops or even knocking out 30-40km commute need specialist clothing. If there are two things that define the essence of single speeding they are simplicity and style. And that means no lycra. Feel free to hide some lycra shorts under your jeans but I’d prefer you just toughen the hell up, ride your bike more.
Billions of people world wide spend a great deal of time getting from A to B in their normal attire. In cycling terms, time spent in lycra counts as training. But we’re not training, we’re living, and please do it in normal clothes.
