Strange Accessories 3: The Humpback of the Bike Lane.

Cycling makes you fitter and better looking, right? Well maybe it’s not a magic potion providing beauty and grace, but for many people it is a way of keeping fit and healthy and can help you to the kind of body you might not want the lights off before you share with someone else.

Why, then, do some people insist on turning themselves into a gothic novel anti-hero as soon as they swing a leg over the bike? The look they attempt has a hi-viz tabard pulled on over the top of all they’re wearing, including their rucksack. The effect is of a brightly coloured, reflective, and very visible hunchback scuttling along the edge of the road.

I am not a big fan of the hi-viz tabard look anyway. They never seem to fit properly, and only come in large or extra-large if the people you see are anything to go by. While they do make you easier to see, they also make you look like you’re taking a break from your job working on the side of a motorway (not that there’s anything wrong with a job like that, it’s just the look works with boots and a rugged attitude, not with the smart clothes and anorak often seen under the cycling tabard). There are so many better looking items of cycling kit that you can get hold of, all of which will include reflective bits and pieces that will help you to be seen just as much and will look a lot better on you (as well as probably doing you some good in terms of warmth or wicking sweat or whatever else you need).

In addition there are many decent rucksacks that include reflective strips and fittings and will help you to be seen even more. You bought one to carry your lunch to work in so why not make sure it had the kind of features you were going to need? If you only realised too late that you might need something like that then there are products that can brighten up your bag and make it more visible, if you need them.

It’s time for another bit of FMFT style advice. If you’re on a bike and you insist on a hi-viz tabard wear it under your rucksack and avoid looking like you’ve escaped form Notre Dame. Even better, just wear something that combines visibility with some semblance of taste.

A