MTC bicycle planner Susan
Heinrich normally goes for comfort and practicality when choosing
her attire, wearing flats to the office most days. But on Bike to
Work Day on May 14, 2009, she donned stylish navy-blue, mock patent-leather
pumps with two-inch heels before hopping aboard her bike for
the ride from her home in San Francisco’s
SOMA to the Caltrain station on her way to catching the morning’s
bicycle action on the Peninsula and the South Bay. We caught up with
Heinrich when she arrived back at the office in Oakland midday, bicycle
helmet on her head and high-heels on her feet, with the hemline of
her right pant leg daintily rolled up to prevent the material from
catching in the gears – all the better to reveal the glint
of her pumps.
The message?
“I want to show that anyone can bike to work or for everyday
errands, wearing pretty much anything,” she said. “You
don’t have to wear spandex or shorts, and tennis shoes. You
don’t have to allow time to change clothes, or lug along an
extra outfit or pair of shoes. A woman can bike quite easily in heels
or a skirt.”
Heinrich completed her Bike-to-Work Day look with a pair of
handmade wire earrings artfully shaped into bicycles, and a matching
pin. — Brenda Kahn
SF Bay Area 
