Share Your #BikePeeing Adventures, Win Some Underpants!
As most of us have long discovered, everything is better when it involves cycling. Touring? At its best when it's bike touring. Camping? Far more fun when it's bike camping. Fishing? Make it bike fishing (as these folks have!), and now we're talking. In keeping with that fine tradition, I draw your attention to a neglected, yet essential part of the life/cycle experience: bike peeing.
You know how it goes. You are out for a long cycle ride, when inevitably Nature Calls. With no facilities in sight, you evaluate your surroundings, eye up a secluded spot, prop your bike against a tree, hide perhaps behind some hedges, or a shed, or the remains of a ruined castle, and surrender to the sense of Sweet Peeing Relief. In the process, you enjoy not only the fresh air, but often, some rather interesting scenery the likes of which you would have never come across outside the bike peeing experience.
In discussing this with a friend of an evening, we discovered that we both had rather fine phone-pic collections of our bike peeing views. I mean, it takes a little while to pee. And some of us like to multi-task. So we snap shots of what's in front of us, often with rather interesting results. For you see, the very essence of the bike peeing experience, is the discovery of places too secluded to see from the road, of vistas from secret angles that cannot be glimpsed otherwise, of obscure, well-preserved objects and rare plantlife than the outside world knows nothing about. One never can tell what fascinating things they will stumble upon whilst bike peeing, and therein lies its beauty.
It is in this spirit that I invite you to take part in a little #bikepeeing photo contest. The premise is simple:
1. Take snaps of your bike peeing views.
2. Put them up on instagram or twitter, and tag them #bikepeeing
3. I will choose my favourite 5. Then readers will vote for the top two.
4. Winners will each choose a pair of lovely cycling-specific underpants, from these fine manufacturers:
Vulpine Merino Boxers (UK): "merino cycling underwear for disguised padding under shorts or trousers." Choose between the men's and the women's versions, in black or navy blue.
Bike Nicks: (UK) "luxurious padded cycle lingerie." Choose between the full coverage and the thong(!) versions, in all black or pink with black trim.
Ivalieu Petipants: (US) unpadded cycling shorts for comfort under skirts, made to order. Choose between the Sport and the Savvy versions, with white on gray bicycle print.
If this sounds like fun and you'd like to take part, here are the rules:
. Contest is open internationally
. Entries are accepted starting now, through Monday the 27th of June
. Entries should be made via instagram or twitter. However, if you absolutely do not use either, email your picture to filigreevelo[at]yahoo, with #bikepeeing in the subject header
. You can take new pictures, or post/tag ones you've taken in the past.
. Multiple entries per person are allowed.
. Pictures do not need to show a bicycle; we'll have to go on the honour system and accept your word that a bicycle was involved and that peeing took place. That said, pictures taken from convincing vantage points or with that certain je ne sais quois hinting at their backstory will doubtlessly be more compelling.
. But remember: Don't Be Dirty! Pictures must be of your view while #bikepeeing. That is: of scenery, flora, found objects, et cetera. Please do not post or email me photos of yourself peeing, and especially of your peeing equipment. Such entries will be disqualified.
And with that, I wish you the very best in your #bikepeeing adventures, and look forward to seeing your pictures. Remember that you can find me on instagram as @lovelybicycle, and likewise as @lovelybicycle on twitter. Good luck and thank you, as always, for reading!