MINNEAPOLIS — Kim Kardashian may be a global trendsetter, but Minnesotans have been onto her dating trick for decades.
Mega-influencer Kardashian recently posted a selfie peddling beside her boyfriend, Formula One champ Lewis Hamilton. Former music mogul Scooter Braun shared a video of biking through Times Square with his girlfriend, actor Sydney Sweeney. Then Timothée Chalamet and Kylie Jenner were spotted on Citi Bikes.
The celebrity cycle-date trend has reraised a longstanding question: Is the archetypal “Bicycle Boy,” once derided by “Sex and the City” columnist Candace Bushnell, relationship material?
To Bushnell and many single New Yorkers of the 1990s, cycling to a date was a sign of cheapness or selfishness (except in the case of the country’s most eligible bike-riding bachelor, John F. Kennedy Jr.).
While certain subgenres of Bicycle Boy — say, the restless fixie-rider, or the spandex-clad gear junkie — may unnerve, those in cycling country know that bikes can bring couples closer.
Minneapolitan Chrissy Ramakrishnan’s second date with her now-fiancé involved biking to a park for a picnic. His penchant for cycling, she recalled, suggested an interest in sustainability and gave off good vibes. Back then, Ramakrishnan didn’t ride much. Now the couple has nearly a dozen bikes in their basement and a wedding planned for September. “Bikes are a big part of our personalities and relationship,” she said.
Minnesotans have been pedaling two-by-two since well before “The Hipster Handbook” deemed cyclists cool. And many of them say that guys on bikes generally make great dates — anyone on a bike does, actually.
Local bike-date enthusiast Beatrice Altopp said that even if celebs jumping on the not-actually-new, two-wheeled “trend” seems like cosplay, she appreciated their spreading the joy. “Everybody should try going on a bike date,” she said. “Getting active is always a ‘pro’ and it’s fun to do those activities with a person that you’re interested in.”
Altopp and other fans say biking benefits health, mood and the environment. At a time when some daters blow $80,000 on prom, cycling suggests a more down-to-earth attitude.
About a year after Altopp met her partner, their relationship faced a significant test: a rainy bike date on a rented tandem. It didn’t start off great. “We tried having me on the front bike, and almost immediately knocked the bike over,” she recalled. But after switching positions, the duo got in synch. “With tandem biking, you’re working as one unit, there’s a lot of communication.”
Now Altopp and her partner appreciate how biking together allows them to cover more ground than walking and encourages more spontaneous stops than driving. She likes the way dinner-and-a-ride dates pair the ambient togetherness of biking with the more direct connection of sharing a meal.
Alicia Howes is another dinner-and-a-ride proponent. Some of her best early dates with her husband involved biking the Brown’s Creek State Trail to Stillwater, eating meatballs at Brian’s Bar & Grill, walking along the bridge and then grabbing ice cream before riding back. “It was so romantic,” she said.
As owner of the Twin Cities mobile bike shop Seven Spokes, Howes admits to bias, but says cycling is a positive trait in a would-be suitor. “It’s attractive because it shows they’re thinking outside the box a little bit, they’re not doing the humdrum,” she explained.
That said, between the sweat and the helmet hair, Howes acknowledged that cyclists can struggle to make a chic first impression. “It’s hard to look super sexy on a bike,” she said. (Her pro tip: slip a pair of padded shorts under what you’re wearing, even a cute skirt.) But Altopp suggested the vulnerability of arriving on a bike could benefit those getting to know one another. “You’re not going to show up supremely polished, but maybe that takes the edge off a little bit,” she said.
Cycle dates can also be a good compatibility test. If your companion breaks the rules of the road, or races too far ahead, consider that a red flag. Any bumps a duo encounters, such as flat tires and bad weather, forces them to work through problems together.
Even for those who are already hitched, Howes said, riding a tandem amplifies the strength or weakness of a bond: “The standing joke with a tandem is that whichever direction your marriage is headed, it’s heading there faster.”