Biker Chic WSJ-style!

(Bryan Derballa, for The Wall Street Journal)

The journalist, Christina Binkley, wrote an article called "The Season of Biker Chic," and she doesn't pretend to be a serious bike commuter. She tries it once, one way, for the sake of the article. Even so, I enjoy the fact that she wrote it, and that the WSJ printed it. While I am a fair-weather bike commuter — meaning only on warm days without thunderstorms, and my ride is under 5 miles one way, in Boston (and not Los Angeles) — I do think she had a few things wrong.

1) Give up trying to bike in your work clothes. Sure, you will look stylish — for maybe 15 minutes. And then the sweating starts. And well, good luck when you get to the office and sweat is running down your back into the waistband of your pants/skirt and you're in the company kitchen, lining up for coffee, trying to act cool!

2) Ignore the weight of your bike at your peril. The Dutch do not care about the weight of their bikes because Holland is flat. I've ridden there. It is wonderful. And most of my commute back and forth to work is relatively flat. But once I get there, I carry my bike up a few steps to get to the elevator. And even a light bike is made heavier when you add in the weight of your bike lock(s).

3) Ditto on the peril of ignoring padded bike shorts. This is a caution that applies to any regular commuter, biking more than two weeks in a row. A padded bike seat can't prevent chafing. And chafing is not a pretty picture. I could go on, because I learned this the hard way, but I will save us both from the details.

4) Raised handlebars on city bikes are not new. My beloved Maruishi has them. I believe hybrid bikes, by definition, combine the raised handlebars of mountain bikes with the skinnier tires of racing bikes.

(from theoldbicycleshowroom.co.uk)

The one thing that Christina Binkley did get right, the most exciting aspect of the "resurgence" of biking (for me, anyway), is the promise of stylish and practical accessories. I for one have not seen anything worth replacing my sturdy yet ugly nylon panniers, and I include the outrageously expensive Gilles Berthoud French panniers (about $335) in one of the WSJ article photos. The GB 799 Special Small Pannier may be made of the finest heavy cotton blend and leather trim, and it may be lovingly hand-crafted, but its size alone is inadequate for toting my groceries.

New York magazine's fashion blog, the Cut, posted a great slideshow of nine cute bike accessories. Again, none of which I will run out and buy, except for maybe that reflective pin, but that red snake bike lock is definitely cute.

(from pocampo.com)

(from pylones-usa.com)

Daily Candy included a great-looking bike basket for the front handle bars, which can carry nothing heavier than "a six-pack," and so wouldn't be useful to me. The Bent Basket: a tray made of molded plywood with adjustable nylon straps. If the designer decides to make something for the rear of the bike, I'll be interested.

(from bentbasket.com)