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#61 Bicycles


A good place to find white people on a Saturday is at a Bike Shop. Bike shops are almost entirely staffed and patronized by white people!

But not all white people love bicycles in the same way, there is much diversity. First up, we have the younger urban white folks who absolutely love their fixed gear bicycles. These are seen all over college towns, Silverlake in LA, Williamsburg in Brooklyn, Queen West in Toronto, and Victoria, British Columbia. Fixed gear bicycles meet a lot of requirements for white person acceptance. They can be made from older (i.e. vintage) bicycles, thus allowing the rider to have a unique bike that is unlikely to be ridden by anyone else in town. They are also easily customizable with expensive things Aerospoke rims, Phil Wood Hubs, and Nitto Parts. The combination of rare bicycles and expensive parts makes it easy for white people to judge other white people on the quality and originality of their bicycles. This is important in determining if someone is or isn’t cooler than you.

White people also like Mountain Bikes because it lets them be in nature. It’s really not more complicated than that.

And finally, they love expensive Road Bikes and the accompanying spandex uniforms. This enables them to ride long distances and wear really tight clothes without any social stigmas. These types of riders will spend upwards of $5,000 on a bicycle and up to $400 on accessories, but will not ride to work. Perhaps because they cannot wear the spandex. It is important that you never question why someone needs a $5000 bicycle since the answer is always “performance.”

For the most part, these rules have been unisex. But there is a special category of bicycles that appeal far more to white women, the European city bike (pictured). White women have a lot of fantasies about idealized lives, and one of them is living in Europe and riding around an old city on one of these bikes. They dream about waking up and riding to a little cafe, then visiting bakeries and cheese shops and finally riding home to prepare a fancy meal for their friends who will all eat under a canopy with white Christmas lights. This information can be used to help gain the trust/admiration of a white woman, especially if you can pull off a lie about how your mother told you about how she used to do all of these things when she was younger.

And of course, it goes without saying that white people who ride bikes like to talk about how they are saving the earth. If you know a person who rides to work, you should take them aside and say “Hey, thanks. Sincerely, The Earth.” Then give a thumbs up. That white person will ride home on a cloud.


406 Responses to “#61 Bicycles”

Too true about white women and bikes in Europe!


Hahaha, Fried Green Tomatoes


 

do you havethis comment on every article?
Not to be rude, but isnt there something else you can use your time with?


Hey, leave him alone. I shat myself too.


like, you know! on March 29, 2008 at 2:38 pm

yea leave him/her alone. up to 61 and got use to seeing his /her remarks. oo oohh , pooped my pants to.


I think I like the loaded diaper guy better.


 

“too” not “to” Gotcha. I feel so goood.


 
 
 
 
 
poppy mtgomery on April 1, 2008 at 8:31 pm

hey fuck all of you i like that european bike i ride it on the plantation in betwixt the cotton pickers. Ahhhh cotton, #54 on things black people like!


 
 
Foo Man Chu on April 9, 2008 at 7:26 am

this is halirous….i want more listing.


 

I hate this post, mostly because I’m a white woman who definitely has dreamt of riding around on a bike in a small quaint Europe town.. I hate being a forgone conclusion.


Ahhhhhh, did poor little axan watch her dreams get crushed in front of her face. HAHAHAHA


 
 
white girl turning pink on April 13, 2008 at 9:11 pm

Hahah this whole website is so funny and so true! I am white and I fit about 80% of the stereotypes, and my siblings and parents even more so! What a revelation, now I feel so embarrassed!

No wonder my middle-eastern husband finds us annoying, when I thought we were just being cool, LOL thanks for great site I appreciate the “irony” (of course. whites love irony dont we)


Yeah, are we whites so predictable? All I ever do is sit around outside daydreaming about European bakeries and Parisian bicycles! OMG- that’s so me! The post forgets to mention how all white women tie little scarves around their necks too, because that’s so European. And they forgot to mention baguettes too. Because even the little things like baguettes really do a lot to complete the whole look.


 

If this shit is true it ain’t satire. What the hell is going on?


 
 
 

I live in Seattle, which used to be more or less a blue collar town, until all the hipsters and metro-sexuals invaded.
Anyway the big thing around here are the guys and (women), who wear their logo-laden spandex “breaking-away” costumes…
Everywhere I go I hear the clip clop of their little cleated bike shoes behind me in the Whole Foods line or Starbucks… Of course they all have to leave on their streamlined bike helmets at all times, and aerodynamic, wrap around sunglasses!!!
It’s a real pain to have three or four of these idiots holding up traffic on some of the narrow roads, and of course they can run all the stop signs they want, because “they are being ecologically responsible” - and they’ll either give you the finger or give you a dirty look if you jam on your brakes and honk at them, when they cut in front of you, as they run another stop sign.
To see these guys strutting around in those stupid outfits just kills me… “Hey look at me I’m Lance Armstrong”…
Of course they also make sure to buy the most expensive bikes with huge graphics showing the world they are riding a Klein or some other hipster brand.


lolsotru!!!1! on March 28, 2008 at 1:06 am

You forgot to mention how the stupid bikelanes make less room on the road for your HumVee!


 

get a bike then you can do all that fun stuff you’re missing out!


 

since when did klein become a hipster brand? klein sucks.


Anonymous Also on April 17, 2008 at 9:13 am

I’ve never heard of Kleins being hipster either.

I’m rather fond of their MTBs (Adept and Attitude). I’ll admit I’ve never ridden a Klein road bike though.

Klein’s in general are not that common in places I’ve been.


 
 
run that sign on April 3, 2008 at 7:09 am

you’re the same guy complaining about bikes holding up traffic, but don’t want them running signs (Signs that were designed to slow down CARS, which go so fast the people driving them need to be controlled). In other words, if a bike slows down to take a stop sign, he’s “Holding up traffic” but if he blows through it, making car traffic move FASTER, he’s “breaking the law”.

The only thing that will make pigs like you go away is the eventual extinction of the motor vehicle.


My favorite game occurs when I see one of you bi-cyclers coming up behind me, about to pass on my left. I’ll casually open my door and, lo and behold, the biker will invariably crash into the door and go skidding down the street. If there’s oncoming traffic, even better!! Thank the lord the doors of my HUMMER are tough enough to take the pounding.


Yo Jello, don’t open your car door. For the record, I know that was a joke, but seriously, get a life.


 

Yo Jello, don’t open your car door. For the record, I know that was a joke, but seriously, get a life.


Yo Anthony, you’re a twit and I don’t think he was joking! As for your comment of “get a life”, I think the operable message here is “take a life” and who better than a lowly bicyclist?


 
 
 
 

Bruce - you’re just jealous you can’t get your body into a lycra suit and still look good!


 

Klein bikes and spandex are as hipster as a hydraulic 8×8 v14 SUV.


 
Jonathan L. Sweeney on April 14, 2008 at 9:08 am

Let me guess you’re about 85 lbs. overweight and couldn’t even fit into spandex without looking like a beached whale to begin with and secondly, the last time time you raised your heart rate even remotely high was when you were pleasuring yourself in the parking lot of some gas station when a bunch of cyclists rode by! Another thing - CARS KILL BIKERS _ BIKERS DONT KILL ANYONE ! REMEBER THAT TOO ASSHOLE NEXT TIME SOMEONE GIVES YOU THE FINGER BECAUSE MAYBE THEIR BEST FRIEND WAS HIT BY A CAR _ LIKE YOU!


 

While you’re driving your lard ass around just imagine what it would be like if all the cars in front of you suddenly changed to bicycles and you could just go around them. I guess you’re from the “if they’re not just like me, they’re wrong” school. I bet you’d like to kick all them spandex wearin yuppies out of the state. You were there first right? Well I guess the native Americans were there before you - so get the fuck out dumb ass!


 

Yeah. You’ve never run a stop light in your car. Or driven above the speed limit. But those 140 lb dudes on 15 lb bike are a real scourge on society what with all the damage their doing.

Moron.


 
 
 

Sometimes in those hard-to-bike-to places, bikes will toted around on an automobile. Generally, this means one’s Prius. It shows, I’m doing double my duty to the environment.


 

A guy at a bike shop in vancouver once refused to patch up the tire on my bike, because he said it was unsafe, the look of shock on his face was priceless (my bike doesn’t have a back break and my bike seat is held together with ducktape) He finally patched it up but not until I signed an unsafe bike waiver

It also does its job, takes me from point A to point B and it hasn’t been stolen in 3 years, which is huge in Vancouver

Anyways I can’t believe how much ppl spend on bikes, my bike cost $25 and I ride a bike cuz I’m poor, if I had the money to spend on a $2000 bike, I would uhhhh just buy a car


Ha, good one!

A $25 dollar bike that you take to a bike shop?
Just buy another friggin’ bike.


 

change the tire yourself, it shows you really care about biking and allows you to save more money, thereby becoming more white.


 

I once broke my bike chain. The guy at the bike shop refused to sell me one of their chains as my bike was not “good enough”. I had to push my bike all the way across town to a less discriminating shop.


 
 

What’s the deal with bike helmets? Is it acceptable to wear one? I see a lot of white people who ride fixed gear bikes with skateboard helmets, but just as many people who ride those bikes without. Are there guidelines that outline the acceptable combinations of helmet style to bike style?

Also, what is the most acceptable way to avoid getting my pant leg caught in the chain?


roll up your pant leg. only the right one, though. and have a big enough fold that you only fold it over twice, three times max.

as for helmets, not wearing one is punk rock. fixies are punk rock. therefore, lots of people on fixies don’t wear helmets, because the riders are punk rock. if they do wear a helmet, it’s a skateboard helmet, because they still have it from the days when they thought they were skaters (because they thought that skating was punk rock - which it still is) but their moms made them wear helmets.

but helmets are definitely acceptable. brains before beauty.

=)

(for the record, i made that shit up. except for the pant leg thing.)


 

you can also use a bandana or something to tie around your pant leg, a la “rad”. this is my fav solution in the cold weather when rolling up pant legs is not an option


 
 

The pant leg solutions:

1. Wear shorts. You don’t have to get spandex. Many catalogs (Bike Nashbar is best) offer regular, loose, pocketed shorts that prevent you from looking like a stuffed sausage in spandex. (Please…this is man-with-a-gut experience talking here). They also come with crotch liners, so your boys are protected and comfy. Since they’re “regular” looking shorts, the liner doesn’t have that I’m-on-Viagra bulge that spandex shorts do.

2. Since you can’t weat shorts in the cold, most bike shops have reflective velcro bands you can wrap around the cuffs. Cheap and effective. Get one for each leg; when you ride in the dark, they look funny bobbing up and down when some guys headlights shine one them.

Some elites will laugh at the leg bands. F*ck them. Your pants will be clean and rip-free.


 

1. Bike helmets are good. If you don’t want to wear one, I think you should be required to site a form that says you won’t accept tax dollars to have someone change your diaper and feed you after you have an accident and suffer head trauma.

2. Any modern helmet, not the leather strips like in Breaking Away.

3. I use a rubber band to secure my pant cuff to my leg so it doesn’t get caught in the chain.

This whole thread has me thinking. I’m not sure if I’m white any more. I have a bunch of bikes and they are all over 20 years old (does that make it vintage?). My favorite is from odd parts in my garage (I guess that’s a white thing). The frame cost $25 and is at least 20 years old, it has one speed and a front break. I *do* have clipless pedals, but my bike shoes are 13 years old.

So many rules! What’s an old (over 50), bald, suburban white guy to do?


 
 

my “black” uncle has a couple $3000 bikes… i dont get it…


Its simple….. He’s white.


 
 

For the women doing the whole European fantasy-thing (I’ve seen this in Park Slope, Brooklyn)…you forgot to mention the wicker basket on the front of the bike to transporting said breads and cheeses.


 

i’m black…and i rode a white persons 600 dollar mountain bike…..

like….since i was borrowing the bike because i’m black and broke, i was like THIS MUCH FOR A BIKE,…but after having to ride that mug around town i kind of see why…but again…if i had 600 dollars then that’s close to a cash car, lol.

but hey if they have that spare cash for it, ho wells.


 

I ride a lot and I’m Asian, but yes, spot on!


 

Does anyone ride a Schwin anymore?


 
 
 

Can we make fun of white people driving in cars next…. Since everyone here wants to buy one, seems pretty evident that white people love cars.


 

Outside of the hipster enclaves in LA, all the bike riders are Hispanic and none of the bikes cost over $100.


 

Imagine if we had a website called “Things Black People Like”….

It could celebrate the of the inane “fashion sense” of wearing clothing that’s way too big for you (and of course the ever-popular pants around your knees look), hats with straight visors sideways, untied sneakers and stuff.

Or, maybe, we could explore the popularity of people with no talent talking in rhyme and getting paid for it.

Just a couple of ideas….


If you are going to make a joke make sure it’s funny & hasn’t been done to death.


seriously. that comment had all the trite wit of a middle-aged white man.


 
 

Anyone who’s been in suburbs knows that the “ever-popular pants around your knees look” and “hats with straight visors sideways” are all over white people there. White people who live and surf or pretend to surf in Santa Cruz/Seaside/Westport kind of look like that too. Do they count? Are they not white?


 
 

man i hate bikes and i am white as the pure driven snow


You may be white, but are you “white”?


 
Johannainexile on April 24, 2008 at 4:17 pm

person, you are not “white” enough! FAIL!


 
 

Excuse me whilst I laugh at the notion that bikes are a white only thing, or that it makes you cool. Bikes are not cool, unless you’re a cyclist (and probably not even then). Cyclists aren’t sexy, and neither is cycling kit.

On the other hand it is good for exercise, and enjoying yourself. Mountain bikes let you get into the countryside - no shit, sherlock - did you know people eat chocolate because it tastes nice, too?

Bikes are expensive, because they’re better. There may be a certain segment of people who have all the gear and no idea, but most people pick up something cheap..


Buddy, you just referred to the spandex outfit worn by many cyclists as “kit.” Hence, you instantly reveal yourself to be a cyclist as well.


They did not reveal themselves as a cyclist, just British.


 
 
 

whats the deal? theres no difference between ‘black’ PEOPLE and ‘white’ PEOPLE, some black people are just as stupid as some white people!!! i appreciate the comedy value of this page but if you are serious, you got alot to learn!


if you think this blog is serious, you have a lot to learn.


 
 

I’m Hispanic and I live in Germany in a little town that is crossed by a river. I guess I am living the white woman fantasy, but guess what? It was also mine and I am loving it!
Totally right about the cheese (did that today); I even placed that and other groceries on my front basket. I did also get my Stadtrad (city bike) bc it is way faster than the freakin’ tram in this town and I can cut through the parks { :)


 

But it’s fun making fun of white people. Since the Preppy Handbook, they haven’t had their turn being kicked around. After it gets old, we can go back to making fun of other ethnic groups.

Plus, mocking people in a position of power is more subversive and satisfying than kicking people when they’re down.


 

Oh yeah, white people never ride mountain bikes to have fun, only for the image of being in nature. Stupid shit.

Yeah, go the hood and you will not see any black people with bikes. Yeah right fucking moron.

Obviously the author has never even seen a picture of a Chinese city.

This site is so fucking retarded.


you fool. it is not excluding any races, just mentioning what white people like and why. also, blog is satire and not to be taken seriously. dumbass.


 
 

this blog is wonderfully myopic and cynical.

if only what you were observing wasn’t filtered through such a laughingly (really) racist prism.

Have you hit on vegetarianism? That’s a pretty white, 1st world phenom. (Yeah yeah, damned Hindu’s and Buddhists watering down the demo).

At least I have a gas-guzzling old Land Cruiser to offset my fixed gear bike and the the fact that I recycle and put biodiesel in the heating oil tank…. (more fodder for stuff to rag on… ;)


 

I like the article’s dry-observation quality, like it’s an observation on the habits of manatees or something.
And I like the fact that there’s a site called stuff-white-people-like :) Make’s me feel whiter! :)
I race bikes, I climb mountains, I’m vegetarian, I used to burn biodiesel in my ‘84 Jetta, I like Jay Leno. I’m SO blindingly white!


 

Leroy,
I know black people like bikes very much as well, at least to steal. We all know this one:

Q: What did the black kid down the street get?


 

Hey - I have a great idea. Let’s take all the tools we have as a nation to face our challenges and tie them to exclusive ethnic identities.

We could reserve being smart for Jews and Asians. (Everyone else would be like “You’re not one of us” when someone said something too complicated or like paid too much attention at school or something.)

Riding bikes would be for White folks. (”Driving (a bike) while Black” would have have a whole new meaning added to it.)

Who wants to get *building export industries*?

This is gonna work great! (My ethnicity gets satire!)