104 BIKE TO WORK BOOK
PEDAL PROPAGANDA Say it with Spandex. Lay it on the line with Lycra. Use your back to message motorists.
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igure-hugging bike clothing is far from essential, especially for short bike commutes, but if you’re the kind of person who can’t resist opinionating then there are a wide range of ‘on-message’ cycle jerseys to choose from. Most are low-run internet-only specials but not all. The Nascar-apeing jersey is from mainstream supplier Specialized and the iPayRoadTax jersey can be found in Evans Cycles of the UK, a 36-branch independent bike store. The Quicker By Bike jersey rams home the message that sitting in an SUV in a traffic jam isn’t exactly the fastest way to commute. The 3 Feet Please jerseys are part of a wider campaign to persuade motorists that cyclists need room on the road. Many US States have 3-foot passing laws but they’re widely abused: and the jerseys from ShareTheDamnRoad.com spell out the fact that ‘sharing the road’ doesn’t mean cyclists have to cower by the curbs, they’re entitled to ‘take the lane’, when necessary. QUICKER BY BIKE In 2009, Martin Williamson of London created QuickerByBike.com and produced some jerseys and shorts. He told BikeRadar: “I commute to work by bike and pass a lot of traffic each day; probably often the same drivers stuck on the same stretch of road. The absurdity of their situation seems clear to me. I wanted to communicate to them that they might be better off cycling.” TRAFFIC MASTER The gaudy Traffic Master jersey has no large-font message to impart. It’s an attention seeker, not a PR campaign. “Our goal was to make the brightest cycling jersey that we could conceive of, a retina-searing, listerine-for-the-eyes kind of garment that will keep us comfortable, warm and quite visible to our motorist friends during dawn, dusk, night, and when foggy weather,” says the manufacturer Eleven Gear of the US. “If, while riding, you are approached by a motorist who wishes to ‘discuss’ whether your presence in the roadway is a lawful endeavor in the first place... we have added the text of the United States Universal Vehicle Code, §11-1205 to the sleeve, which explains in reasonable detail that a cyclist is in fact allowed the right hand side of the road, as well listing the circumstances under which the cyclist is legally entitled to the entire lane.” SHARE THE DAMN ROAD Pro racer Phil Gaimon, a member of the Jelly Belly team of the US, doesn’t pull his punches. His jerseys are loud and proud: his slogans include Share the Damn Road, Don’t Run Me Over and Don’t Honk At Me. Sharethedamnroad.com. Why the slogans? “Since I started riding on the road, I’ve always been angry at getting buzzed or honked at by passing cars, and resented that