There are several hundred different ways to spot a cyclist that could keep us busy all day long and I just don’t have time for that… If Specialized decides they want to pay me to write, well then we’ll talk at that point. Same for you Trek, I spend enough on you guys to fund my own writing! Anyway, not to get too off the beaten path, there are several ways you can spot a cycling enthusiast from across the room.

• You’re at a cookout party with a person who loads their plate with a burger, a hot dog, salad, and some noodle salad (gotta have the noodle salad!), and some fruit… and they look… skinny. Yes, sparky, that’s a sure sign of a cyclist right there. Sadly, eating like that is limited to those days with north of 60 miles in the saddle.
• Tan lines. Look for the helmet straps around the ears and under the chin. Then you’ve got the ridiculous leg tan lines and the razor cut arm tan lines from the jersey. Oh, and let’s not forget the raccoon eyes! Heavens to Murgatroid, we can’t forget those!
• The cycling enthusiast will exude a calm demeanor that will be unsettling to most “normal” people. Fear not, they’re just happy. Really, it’s okay.
• The cycling enthusiast will have a smile that lights up the room and a verve for life that makes normal folk wonder what they’re doing wrong that they can’t love life like that. There’s a trick to it, of course… It’s the whole “feeling like a kid” aspect of cycling. You simply can’t beat it.

• Sadly, and I almost hate to admit this, for the first five to ten years of cycling, most conversations that shouldn’t have anything to do with cycling will devolve into conversations about cycling in the presence of a cycling enthusiast. Or bikes. Or cycling trips. Eventually we get a handle on this and can carry on a normal conversation, but it’ll take some time. The one thing that fixed me was the joke about vegans; how can you tell there’s a vegan in the room? Oh, don’t worry, they’ll tell you. I didn’t want to be that guy. Um… anymore. Chuckle.