Have Skirt, Will Ride!

For as long as I have been interested in bikes, or have read about them on various blogs, there is one topic that keeps popping up, and a question that I now get asked time and time again. "How on earth do you ride in a skirt?" When I first starting riding for commuting purposes, I was a bit curious how others did it, too. Nowadays, though, it just seems like such a silly question to me. I almost want to ask the men who question my skirted riding how they ride in pants? Because really, it's the same thing. I ride in what I'm comfortable in, and sometimes that's a skirt. From long, flowing skirts to knee length pencil skirts I will pretty much ride in them all. 

But back to the question, how do I do it? While the simple answer is that I just do, there are some helpful tools or tips I have come across. The most handy accessory I have on my bike to make riding in a skirt easy-peasy is my trusted skirt guard. If you are unfamiliar with this term, a skirt guard is a simple cover, sometimes made of metal, plastic or fabric, that wraps over the the top of your back wheel situated just below your seat. This handy contraption keeps my longer skirts from getting caught up in my spokes and getting dirty, tearing, or worse, landing my ass off my bike and onto the ground. They're pretty affordable, and even quite easy to make is your so inclined. Here's just a couple links I found on a quick search:

Skirt Guard available to purchase: http://www.etsy.com/market/bicycle_skirt_guard?ref=listing_tag

How To Make Your Own Skirt Guard: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NIpGrgPa7s

Aside from accessories like a skirt guard, or fenders and a chain guard, I have personally found that riding an upright bike has solved many of my skirted riding woes. The upright position means that my skirts don't ride up as much, meaning less pulling and tugging as I'm riding. The slower speed has also made it easier to ride with one hand holding down my hem in gusty winds. And of course, the handy sloped bar means that I no longer have that awkward moment when I have to fling my leg over the centre bar to mount my bike. I simply step through the frame, sit back and ride!

Wearing a skirt never stopped this
little girl from riding her bike

The main point really is that I will ride in almost anything. Riding a bike doesn't require special clothing, and I refuse to remove skirts and dresses from my wardrobe simply because I commute by bike. Nor will I pack clothes to change into. I just don't have time for that, and quite frankly, it's unnecessary if you choose to ride at a slower pace. So if you're hesitant about donning a skirt while on two wheels, look at the options, either in accessories or bikes styles, but don't let it hold you back. Clothing choices should never be a reason not to ride, and riding a bike should never mean you can't wear that dress or skirt you've been dying to wear.

"I think [the bicycle] has done more to emancipate women than anything else in the world. It gives a woman a feeling of freedom and self-reliance. The moment she takes her seat she knows she can't get into harm unless she gets off her bicycle, and away she goes, the picture of free, untrammelled womanhood." - Susan B. Anthony, 1896