Men in suits. Men in suits riding around London on bicycles...??!
Quite possibly one of the most paradoxical images to come across during my lunch hour today. Awaiting the halt of traffic at the Green Park interchange and what do I see but a tailored, suited and booted gentleman astride, a bicycle!
With the advent of increasingly expensive public travel, environmental awareness, the importance of healthy living and 'Ride to Work' schemes, I guess it was inevitable that this day would come. Although, of course, 2010 does not mark the debut of such antics as can be seen in the below photograph of the Hawthorn Cycling Club, dated 1900 - 1909:
Caption: Photograph of eleven men with bicycles posed against a background of trees;the men are dismounted and are holding their bicycles; all are dressed in suits and are wearing bicycle clips or have the legs of their trousers tucked into their socks; one man is holding a dog; the men have been identified as members of the Hawthorn Cycling Club [ppparchive.durham.gov.uk/images/hawt0018_tcm4...]
So, is riding a bicycle retro? Like everything it is cyclical (pun intended), ascending the trend barometer together with similarly 'what's hot' activities, theories, issues, fashions, individuals and so on. I appreciate that this 'suited men on bicycles' has been going for longer than just today, but I just happened to really notice the physical comedy in such a spectacle! However, I do applaud them for taking on the extended commute, tackling their exercise regimes and potentially risking their clean apparel.
What's next, ladies riding scooters in heels?!
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