Wearing lycra is not a come on

[Wheeledweenie]

This morning a creepy guy who also frequents a bike shop near work was perving on me yet again in a manner that made me feel incredibly uncomfortable. He's tried before but I've always managed to pedal away before he came close. This time I was trying to put stuff in my pannier and put dust caps on my valves so he obviously decided it was a good chance to have a go. Lots of mentions of my figure, continual requests for my name, refusal to take my silence and strained expression as 'leave me alone' etc. He then asked where I was going and said he was going to follow me 'for the view'.

I was wearing black lycra shorts that stop not far above the knee and a short-sleeved, high-necked jersey.

It's happened a few times before with various men, always when I wear my lycra gear, and it's really annoying and always leaves me feeling a bit gross.

I rarely, if ever, get chatted up in normal clothes and if I do a discreet mention of the boyfriend sends them off with a polite 'nice to meet you'. The men who try it on when I'm sweaty, dishevelled and in my cycle gear are generally more persistent. When a guy goes past in bibshorts I don't think he's up for it so why do so many men think it's ok to crack onto a woman just because she's in practical cycle gear?

Leave us alone!

Sorry to rant but it really made me incredibly uncomfortable and I'm actually inclined to avoid that bike shop because I just don't want to see him again.

 

[rich p]

I sympathise. Some blokes think that if a woman smiles at them it's an invitation to the bedroom.

 

[Arch]

Sorry to rant but it really made me incredibly uncomfortable and I'm actually inclined to avoid that bike shop because I just don't want to see him again.

Quite right too - if you really felt strongly you could write and tell them so - if he's a regular they might have a word...

I never get chatted up, lycra or not, but I can quite understand how you feel.

oh, just spotted a typo, you need an 'un' in the first sentence before the comfortable...

 

[Wheeledweenie]

oh, just spotted a typo, you need an 'un' in the first sentence before the comfortable...

Oops! Talk about mixed messages!

I think he may well be their odd jobs person so I may well say something. I'm not terribly good at handling things like this, which makes it so much worse. I genuinely don't get chatted up (it's never really bothered me) so I'm crap at dealing with persistence in the face of rejection.

At least I was able to race away at speed. I hit 20mph cycling away.

 

[Arch]

Oops! Talk about mixed messages!

I think he may well be their odd jobs person so I may well say something. I'm not terribly good at handling things like this, which makes it so much worse. I genuinely don't get chatted up (it's never really bothered me) so I'm crap at dealing with persistence in the face of rejection.

At least I was able to race away at speed. I hit 20mph cycling away.

Ah well, every cloud....

If he works for them, then I think a polite letter is warranted, especially i this has been a regular thing. If the shop cares about getting custom, they need thier customers to feel comfortable. If they don't care about you (Perhaps they prefer to make their money out of blokes) then you have no qualms about never going back to them. It may be that he's simply socially not adequate enough to deal with customers, but a great mechanic, in which case, keep him out the back tinkering.

My BF was once in a bike shop in York and heard the two lads in the workshop loudly discussing a previous customer's 'enormous breasts', and it made him feel uncomfortable, so god knows how it would have made any sensitive woman in earshot feel. A bit of friendly chit-chat is one thing, but I don't think bike shops should be allowed to get away with being dens of laddism.

 

[Rhythm Thief]

I agree with Arch. You shouldn't have to put up with this sort of thing however you choose to dress, especially if he works there.

 

[Wheeledweenie]

I already feel better. It's so easy to feel like you're 'being silly' about these things but I think it's rude.

 

[addictfreak]

I get so sick of women throwing themselves at me when I've got my Lycra on (I wish)

 

[Yellow Fang]

I don't even think lycra looks particularly appealing on a woman.

 

[CopperBrompton]

Much as I generally favour polite responses to annoying people, when someone is this persistent and impermeable to hints, then perhaps there is an argument to be made for the 'Fsck off and leave me alone you annoying little creep' approach ... Accompanied, if required, by the strategic insertion of a bicycle pump.

I'd agree with mentioning it to the bike shop too if he works for them.

 

[addictfreak]

I don't even think lycra looks particularly appealing on a woman.

You must be looking at the wrong women

 

[Wheeledweenie]

I don't even think lycra looks particularly appealing on a woman.

That's what I find so mystifying and why I'm caught so off-guard when it happens. When dolled up and effort has been made I expect a bit of attention perhaps but when I'm halfway through a 10-mile commute, sweating and have a oily chain mark on my bare and slightly hairy legs?

 

[Yellow Fang]

Hairy legs, now you're talking.

 

[phil_hg_uk]

You must be looking at the wrong women

....... maybe they weren't women

 

[addictfreak]

Hairy legs, now you're talking.

Bugger, you beat me to it