Mary in Tulsa, Oklahoma, says that growing up, she and the kids in her neighborhood used the the verb pump to refer to giving someone a lift on a bicycle. This caused a bit of confusion when she went away to college and puzzled fellow students with...
Our conversation about gram weenies, those ultralight backpackers who go to extremes to shave off every last bit of excess weight in their gear, prompts a bicyclist in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to share some cycling slang about ways to find a...
Kevin in Lakewood, California, was riding his unicycle on a bike path when a girl yelled, “I want your bike,” and he let bike stand. Even though bike is shortened from bicycle, dictionary definitions can be broad enough for any foot-powered wheeled...
single n.— «Bike trails are commonly known as “singles,” because they constitute narrow trails just wide enough for a single bicycle bearing one rider. Bikers ride in a single file and blend in with nature and the topography surrounding them...
ghost bike n.— «Bicycle-safety advocates yesterday solemnly rode to each of the 14 spots around the city where cyclists were killed by cars in 2006, leaving behind white “ghost bikes” to memorialize the victims.» —“Ride For Fallen ’06...
whoop-de-doo
n.— «It has a whoop-dee-doo…much to the delight of the city’s young bicycle riders.» —“City’s Bike Motocross Course a Hit” by Robert J. Allan Los Angeles Times Jan. 13, 1974. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
