Please Join Me in Wholeheartedly Embracing Bicyclecore

The only accessorizing I’m interested in these days comes in the form of bike-adjacent gadgetry: a trusty bike lock, a basin-like bike basket, a sturdy handlebar mount for your phone, and a bike helmet that fits like a glove. No product page online speaks to me quite like the one for Hammacher Schlemmer’s Indoor Cycling Conversion Stand.

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At the intersection of necessary cultural adaptation and late summer style lies bicyclecore. This is a kind of suffixed phenomenon that prompts more questions than it answers, which is what intrigues me. What’s the best mask to wear while biking in a densely populated area? How do you dress for work when your traditional commute to work has been supplanted by a bicycle? Is it really any sweatier an enterprise than riding a crowded subway across town? How do you cross pollinate your regular wardrobe with cycling-friendly clothes? At what point in a relationship are you ready to jump to the next level: the tandem bike?

For many, gearing up for a cycle isn’t a revelatory element of getting dressed: they’ve been biking from their points A to B, whether in Copenhagen or Montana or New York, well before the pandemic, though I’m hoping that a new influx of emerging bike-riders does spawn a tidal wave of bicyclecore.

In unabashed embrace of bicyclecore, I’m eyeing Rapha’s collaboration with Outdoor Voices (available here and here), along with COS’s performance sports bras and leggings, the cow-printed Team Dream gear that Blackbird Spyplane tipped me off to, Tracksmith’s Bislett pants for longer rides with leg coverage, this tangy bicycle basket by Baba Tree, and the Pushbutton bike shorts Telsha Anderson sourced for her concept store, t.a. For tips on how this all comes together, I spoke with experts both local and abroad on how to fuse bicyclecore seamlessly into their daily routine.

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Cycling can seem a little serious sometimes but it really doesn’t have to be. Riding your bike is an adventure, a conversation, an escape from reality. It means many things to many different people but we can all agree on one thing: cycling is freedom.⁣ ⁣ To prove it, we took four riders on a Californian road trip last autumn with one simple mission: to make the most of that freedom. With that in mind, we assembled four riders in Los Angeles, loaded up a (not at all) reliable Volkswagen camper and headed east into the desert towards Palm Springs. It was a trip that promised spontaneous stops with dinosaurs, Madonna-inspired hairstyles, beautiful rides and much more besides to celebrate the new Rapha + @outdoorvoices collection.⁣ ⁣ Head to the link in our bio to meet our riders Alexa, Monika, Jen & Verity.

A post shared by Rapha (@rapha) on Jun 25, 2020 at 4:29am PDT

Incognito mode…

I’ve never been of the school that enjoys wearing bike shorts for anything other than a scrimmage or rally, but after months of traveling only by bicycle, the pairs in my drawer have found new purpose as the clandestine undergarment that allows me to wear a skirt or a dress anywhere. Outdoor Voices’s often-lauded Exercise Dress is tailor-made for a scenario where you’re biking but also want to approximate some semblance of dressiness. Here’s how to do it: Pack a sweater in a hands-free bag (this one is like the overnight version of a gym bag), or tie it in a “half-cape” way where one sweater arm loops under your armpit and ties onto the other arm draped over your shoulder. Then throw it on over the Exercise Dress once you’ve dismounted your ride, and presto, you feel more presentable!

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Make time for fresh air and endorphins this weekend How are you #DoingThings in your Exercise Dress this summer? Keep tagging us and we'll do our best to share!