If you are outraged by the recent incident involving a Dutch cyclist in a short skirt and the cop who allegedly threatened to ticket her for "distracting" drivers, tonight's your night to hike up that hem line and let the NYPD know they can't impose Sharia law in NYC (at least, not anywhere near the footprint of Ground Zero). Tonight there will be a protest "celebration" of cycling in short skirts, which is something worth celebrating every day if you ask us. The ride starts at Columbus Circle at 7 p.m., and is organized, in part, by Cycle Chic, a blog about cycling fashion.
As for the incident that sparked all this skirting, there was some speculation that the woman, Jasmijn Rijcken, fabricated the story because she is a "guerrilla marketing" wiz for VANMOOF—the bicycle she's posing with in the photo released to the media. While it is reasonable to be skeptical that might be a viral marketing hoax, we've spoken with multiple people in the cycling community who met with Rijcken in NYC, as well as Rijcken herself, and have concluded that she's almost certainly telling the truth. Streetsblog also did a thorough investigation, and came to the same conclusion. Here's the takeaway:
The biking-while-sexy storyline has certainly garnered a lot of attention, getting picked up on Gothamist, the Daily News, Gawker and lots of blogs, most of which don’t seem to mention Rijcken’s bike company, Vanmoof. So Streetsblog reviewed the available information, double- and triple-checked with our sources, and spoke to a few more people. Our conclusion: It’s much more likely that Rijcken is the victim of harassment than the diabolical mastermind of an intricate viral marketing campaign.
Because Rijcken didn't get the officer's badge number and there were no witnesses to the exchange, we'll never know for sure, but having spoken with her at length to go over her story in great detail, we're inclined to believe her. And let's not lose sight of the bigger picture here: this story, true or not, has emboldened some more lady cyclists to show off their lovely stems! On the other hand, it's also a reminder of the kind of shit women have to put up with on a daily basis just for not wearing a Burka.
