That’s basically the whole story. I was biking back from class and to work up a semibusy street that is relatively quiet during my commute, and a guy in a car behind me passed me on the left and yelled out that comment as he passed. Now, I admit, I do have a perpetual problem with showing back skin when I sit down. I don’t really wear low-riding jeans or anything, and my shirts are fairly long. I think it has to do with my rather large rear-end and the fact that most of my fat tends to accumulate in the love-handle area. I’m sure this is a lovely picture for all of you.
Anyways, so I have a road bike that I bend over at about a 65-80 degree angle. At the time of the comment I was wearing jeans, long-sleeve shirt and jacket, and to be fair, a black thong. A bit of which I’m sure was showing, although probably not much. I would say less than an inch. I’m sure the guy had a point, and I realize that seeing other people’s backs and muffin tops is unpleasant.
But I was biking at 15-20 mph! I’m hardly in a position to adjust things, which I make it a point to do when I’m just sitting or walking. And it’s not like he had kids in his car or anything (I checked), so it’s not super offensive. I’m sure he’s seen lower back before. And I wasn’t doing it to be provocative or sexy, I was just in a bent-over position for a long time, for the very practical and reasonable reason of getting to class and work on time in a metro area.
It was annoying. I just needed to vent. Also, it was really cold out, I was tired, and didn’t need that.
Maybe it’s not that he himself was offended, but given the speed you and he were going it was the quickest way to tell you “excuse me, I don’t mean to embarrass you but I thought I’d let you know that your pants are riding fairly low, and, well, your underwear and lower back are exposed to God and everyone on the street. I just wanted to mention it in case you didn’t realize it and wanted to adjust things back there before you continue to your destination. Have a nice day!”
Get some ass spackle or the competitiors product, plumbers crack spackle. Problem solved.
I had the reverse happen one time.
I had some crazy woman on a bike yell at me, basically telling me I should be riding a bike, not driving a car. And it wasnt like I was driving some fancy car or SUV. It was a real WTF moment.
The fact that I was at that moment driving to the hardware store to buy about 1600 pounds of cement made the “ride a bike” comment all the more ironic
I wish everyone who is showing bums, thongs, underwear, and muffin tops would pull up their pants (or buy larger pants). I don’t yell it out my car window (yet), but I think it.
The gentleman’s sartorial advice was incorrect. The trick to avoiding ass cleavage isn’t to pull your pants up, it’s to pull your shirt down. It has to tuck in– that’s the key.
To avoid the issue of whether the man was rude/polite/perverted/an upstanding citizen doing a civic duty, I will just say that I know the problem, and I found the only way to resolve it was to wear a long tank top under my shirt, and tuck it into my jeans. My jeans still slip down, but it’s at least impossible to tell how low.
Okay, I’m a female, and really ladies, do you all wear clothes such that when you are bent over 65-80 degrees absolutely no back skin shows? Maybe it’s just my body shape . . . again, no one would think that I dressed sluttily or anything . . . but even mom jeans show back on me. I’m pretty vigilant about keeping covered normally, but bike riding is a different situation. I think he was being a bit of a jerk, considering the circumstances.
Oh, also, and again, maybe it’s just my body type (total pear, very hippy, flat stomach, large butt, small waist) but my underwear always shows in pants and once again I have to be vigilant for it to stay hidden. It’s nearly impossible for me to find pants/shirts that flatter and don’t show underwear/back/both.
So maybe you need to work on the problem, but the guy was a total idiot. He might not like it, but to comment on it is just rude. And yelling from a car at a bicycle rider is possibly dangerous.
