A few weeks ago my wife, Karen, invited me to join her on a trek to the East Bay to ride the Iron Horse Trail. She was participating in a women’s meet up to ride from Pleasant Hill to Danville and back. From prior meet ups with this group male participants weren’t actively encouraged to join the group, but weren’t disbarred either. I went along to ride the trail on my own.

We rode BART from the 24th and Mission Street station in San Francisco to the Pleasant Hill station on the Pittsburg/Bay Point Line. About a 45 minute ride. We secured our bikes to the BART car, mine against the rail and Karen’s outward next to mine. A little ways after emerging from the Transbay tube a young Japanese woman approached us and coyly asked if she could take a picture of Karen’s bike. Karen rides a blue Public Mixte with a wicker basket on the handlebars sporting a fine bouquet of flowers. The woman clearly appreciated the style of Karen’s bike.

Karen’s Public Mixte with Wicker Basket

I commented to Karen that her bike was quite attractive to women, whereas men preferred functional bikes. While that would have been the end of it, my opinion was confirmed later during our BART ride to Pleasant Hill. One of the bikes I ride is a Cannondale Bad Boy Ultra. All flat black, head to toe, including the aluminum tire rims. It also sports a lefty fork, the front wheel is attached with only a single left fork; rarely seen in the US.

Peter’s Cannondale Bad Boy Ultra

As we approached the Orinda station a man sitting across from us traveling with a military back pack and wearing desert war sand colored boots got up, hoisted his back pack and then asked me about my bike’s lefty fork. He said he had never seen something like that before and wondered how well it worked. I told him this was popular in Europe, that I had had the bike for five years and it worked well for me. He also asked if the fork had a shock absorber. I told him yes with a switchable lock accessed from the top of the fork. He was impressed. He showed no interest in Karen’s bike, although it was closer to him.

The Japanese woman clearly showed interest in Karen’s bike due to form while the man showed interest in my bike primarily due to function. A sexist experience involving cycling interests.