EDITOR’S NOTE: Aviva Stephens is a Seattle native and financial professional who discovered the benefits and joys of cycling on her challenging work commute between Ballard and the Eastside. Find more of her writing on Medium and follow her on Instagram at @avivarachelle.

I have traversed several obstacles in pursuit of the urban bike commute: Canadian geese on the Burke, road-raged texting drivers, lack of bikeways and Afro friendly headgear. While the first three obstacles are maneuverable thanks to readily available information to help find my way, the Afro challenge was much more difficult because there was no website, FB group, Meetup, or the like that I could find for help.

Hair management

After deciding that the bike commute was happening in the summer of 2013, the first thing I did was get a sick little pixie cut that would fit neatly under the helmet. It was a great summer style, but was tough to manage once I got to work and the helmet came off. My hair is pretty kinky, super fine and really thirsty, so it requires a plethora of products, or so I thought.

My low point came with the first fall rains. While I was well equipped with my hoodless Showers Pass rain jacket, I passed on the bike cap because even with my short hair a bike cap still did not fit. As I woke up to the sound of the rain on my roof, I thought to myself, “I got this!” and confidently headed out for my five-mile ride to the shuttle stop.

The first leg of the ride was joyful and empowering with typical Seattle sprinkles brushing my face, but the rain intensified as the ride progressed, and I did not anticipate the effect a torrential downpour would have on my hair and visibility. Midway through, the sprinkles turned into sheets, and my trusty hair product proceeded to wash from my hair onto my glasses and face. When I arrived at the shuttle stop dripping wet, my hair product had fully migrated from hair to face. Great.

I showed up to work that day with a seriously dehydrated, shapeless Afro reminiscent of a tumbleweed. For the entire day, my colleagues would stare in confusion at the top of my head during meetings and hallway chats. Some even had gumption to say something. “Did you do something different to your hair?” “Trying out a new style?” Or, my favorite, “Poofy!” Not sure if that’s a compliment.

Productless hair may not seem like a tragedy, but it’s certainly a distraction in the office, as the corporate culture is not accepting of unkept curls. An unnoticed hair day is a good hair day. (more…)