José Guadalupe Posada love

Ran into Diego at this past weekend's Bicycle Fetish Day festivities -- and got to check out his latest tribute to José Guadalupe Posada + love of bicycles.

Bicycle Fetish Day & Parade - tomorrow!

2010 prize that when to 'worst in show'

The annual fun lovin' bike block party returns - TOMORROW!!!

Saturday May 28th, 2011
12noon - 6pm

Havemeyer St. btwn Hope and Grand in BEAUTIFUL Williamsburg, Brooklyn, USA

Once again, the City Reliquary pulls out all stops for the best block party ever. Be blown away by the participants and events scheduled for this Bike Fetish Day, on track to be the biggest one yet in our 7 years.

Including vendors...
DARGELOS, Nona Varnado, Horse Cycles, Talia Lempert, Vaya Bags, Outlier Clothing, and more

Advocacy groups...
Transportation Alternatives, Recycle-a-Bicycle (w/ bike jewelry making workshop), IOBY (w/ a fun activity), NAG, and Bike New York

Activities...
Pimp your bike photo booth by Swimming Cities, GoldSprints, Bike pinata from Llaves Designs, Alleycat organized by Victor  +++ AFTERPARTY @ 6PM in the City Reliquary’s backyard with Brooklyn Brewery beers for sale

Allow these photos from last year's event to get you pumped!

Maid Marian Muffins' ride

Jessica Vander Salm is an educator and baker extraordinaire, who happens to ride a (not so ordinary) bicycle in NYC. Jessica has managed to combine her love of bicycles, teaching children, baking, and business savviness -- and recently launched her self-published ebook Maid Marian Muffins. Earlier this year I caught up with Jessica on her bike promoting the book in Brooklyn with delicious muffins in tow!

First off, how did you get started selling baked goods by bike?

I spent my junior year abroad in Paris - primarily walking and eating. Years later as an elementary school teacher in Manhattan I started baking for fun and bringing in muffins into school for the kids. The muffins were a hit. One day my assistant and I brainstormed about my baking hobby and thought.. 'now wouldn't be cute to sell muffins from my bike'?! And that's exactly what I started doing.

You do have an adorable set of wheels!

I happened to find this vintage English bike called the 'Robin Hood' and it was perfect. When I was looking to name my baking venture I thought 'Robin Hood' would make a great name but it was already taken by a flour company. I then thought of bridging the literary world and naming it after Robin Hood's female companion... Maid Marian.

 
How did you adapt your bike to store all these muffins?

This is where my brother, Jamie, comes in. He studied furniture making in Rockport, Maine and designed and built the carrier. I had initially pictured a front basket but we ended up with a rear compartment which better suited the bike. 

Where have you set up your bike for business?

Since I'm a teacher I am used to waking up early - even on the weekend. Last summer I would bake trays of muffins, load up Robin Hood and head out to greet the morning dog walkers in Brooklyn's Prospect Park. It was really important to me that the muffins were just out of the oven - they just have to be fresh.

Piping hot baked goods in the morning! You must have had a really good reaction from passer-byers.

Yes, people were very receptive. Children in particular. I think the whole concept of me on my bicycle selling muffins was very fairy tail-ish which is where the idea for the Maid Marian Muffins children's book came about. The book really reflects all the trials and tribulations I went through when getting by baking business rolling.

Where can people find you and your bicycle?

For Bike Month, I've been cycling the streets passing out free mini-muffins... next month, on June 18, I'll be joining Recess New York on Governor's Island for a day of food and games. You can also follow Maid Marian Muffins' whereabouts on Facebook!

You can download the fun + interactive Maid Marian Muffins children's book {here} for your iPad, iPhone and iPod touch.

happy customers enjoying a blueberry muffin

island dreamin'

Spotting this Nantucket plate on the streets of Manhattan still conjured thoughts of warm summer days spent on some of my favorite small islands where bicycle are prominent... Fire Island, Governors Island, Peak's Island, Maine and for the first time Block Island this summer! 

Though I am thankful that a bicycle license law is not a popular agenda item in NY.

win a spot @ the 2011 Tour de France's 21 stages / 2,150 miles

king of the mountain cap / alpe d huez Tee / water bottle

Pretty freakin' cool competition Cannondale has going on right now... read on for the details on how to land (the job of a lifetime) working behind the scenes with the Team Liquigas-Cannondale team for one week at the 2011 Tour de France (!!!) + while your there, buy up all the Tour de France paraphernalia your heart desires...

Grand Prize Winner Receives the Following:

• A trip to the 2011 Tour de France to serve as an intern for Team Liquigas-Cannondale. (Dates TBD)
• A Cannondale SuperSix Hi-MOD with SRAM drivetrain: Ride like the pros!
• A Sugoi Team Kit (includes a jersey and bib shorts).
• 1-Year subscription to Peloton Magazine. 2ND – 10TH PLACE FINISHERS RECEIVE:
• A Sugoi team kit (includes a jersey and bib shorts)
• 1-Year subscription to Peloton Magazine
• Good luck from Team Liquigas-Cannondale! See you in France!

How To Enter:

Submit a short (one to two-minute) video on the RideCannondale Facebook page, explaining why you're the most qualified to join Team Liquigas-Cannondale. Great, what do I say?

• How the sport of cycling has impacted your life.
• Your greatest childhood memory while riding a bicycle.
• Your most memorable moment from the Tour de France.
• A bike MUST be visual somewhere in the video shoot (it doesn't have to be a Cannondale).
• Submit your video today! The contest runs May 1-June 3, 2011.
• The top five entrants will be selected & reposted on the Cannondale and Peloton Magazine facebook pages. The fans decide the winner – all you have to do is "like" one!
• One video entry per person.

All the details can be found [here] * * * Competition ends June 3rd 2011 at 11:59:59 PM ET * * *

ALLEZ ALLEZ!

May showers bring...

me pain. What happened to the May we used to all love and cheer for? While I do enjoy riding in rain - as in during a summer heat wave, this is no National Bike Month weather here in NYC!

Well, it does make for a romantic bike portrait. A Gary Fisher city bike in this case.

 

The aluminum frame and Shimano 3-speed hub keep this model simple and light weight for the ladies.

Bike meets ICFF 2011: 44steel, geekhouse bike + mint

At ICFF last year I spotted MIO's flat pack bike basket... and during my first (quick) visit to ICFF 2011 yesterday I (naturally) gravitated to the geekhouse custom built bike on display...

 

The bike hanger is by Cleveland-based Jason Radcliffe of Forty Four Steel and is one minimal and elegant fixture.  Jason's design keeps a bicycle hung vertically by simply resting the front wheel into the top of the frame -- similar to (but more visually appealing) then the Leonardo rack I'm fond. This is his first prototype and there are plans for some minor revisions -- but the final will be available shortly and  will some in a variety of powder coated colours as well as the raw steel. 

So nice seeing bikes represented at ICFF (International Contemporary Furniture Fair) since, after all, bikes make it into our home life for many of us!

Marty Walsh of Boston-based geekhouse bikes / Jason Radcliffe of Forty Four Steel

Also spotted this clever little 'KEY CHAIN' by MINT, designed by Scott Henderson -- which makes one perfect holder for your bike key. It's brand new to the market but soon available at the MOMA Design Store. You can read about Scott's own love of bikes in this interview from 2009!

via scotthendersoninc.com

Hiplok's US debut @ Mission Bicycles via London

Minimalism is essential for lots of urban cyclists who stick to bikes without baskets and racks -- but really who doesn't want to carry less, travel light, and streamline. The fantastic SanFran bike shop, Mission Bicycle, held a Bike to Work Fashion Show last Thursday at which they debuted their exclusive US product release of Hiplok: the world’s first bike lock designed to be worn on the body by London-based designers John Abrahams and Benjamin Smith.

Hiplok is the first bicycle lock developed specifically to be worn around the waist.  Hiplok's integrated and fully adjustable belt fixing allows the rider to tighten the lock around the waist without actually locking the device, offering a level of portability, comfort and versatility never seen before. Due to it’s unique design, Hiplok is never locked into a loop while it is attached to your body, and it remains fully adjustable and quickly removable at all times when being worn.

and my favorite colour combo (love that white buckle detail) but comes it lots of options...

Available for US purchase [here] on Mission's site + watch the Hiplok video [here]

Thanks, Jefferson!

book love: Tillie The Terrible Swede

photograph via TillieAnderson.com

Oh, how my heart stopped a beat when I came across Tillie The Terrible Swede: How One Woman, a Sewing Needle, and a Bicycle Changed History in the NYTimes Book Review this morning! This beautifully illustrated children's book tells the super inspiring life story of Tillie Anderson - "the female bicycling champion of the world" from 1897 to 1902 during a time when women were not exactly welcomed in athletic circles.

Some historical context about Tillie...

Although Women's Bicycle Racing began in 1879, during the high wheel era, it was considered more a novelty than a sport until the advent of the diamond-framed safety bicycle in 1890.

Perhaps no one made a greater contribution to the acknowledgment of women as serious competitors in bicycle racing than Tillie Anderson.

Tillie, who from the years 1897 to 1902 was known as "female bicycling champion of the world," was born in Skane, Sweden on April 23, 1875. She was the fourth of five siblings. Tillie's reputation for having a strong will and perseverance began early.

After her father died when she was eight years old, she began working for a neighboring farmer during haying and harvesting to help support her mother, brother and three sisters.
In 1891, Tillie and her brother August emigrated to America, joining their older sister Hanna in Chicago. The rest of the family came to America the following year.

Tillie found work as a seamstress in a tailor's shop. In two years, she had saved enough money for a bicycle. Newspapers of that era like to say that she was thin and weak when she first came to America, but she was quoted as saying "I did not take to the wheel for my health, particularly. I suppose it was more for the reason that bicycles were being used by women and I wanted to try the fad."...

By Heather Drieth
Published in "The Wheelmen"

Excerpt from the book's Author's Note:

Today, we celebrate women athletes, but in the 1890s, many people thought a women's body couldn't handle the strain of athletic competition and that muscles made a woman look manly and therefore not attractive to men. Tillie was an early and pioneering example of a woman who chose to work out and develop her body for a sport.

This book may very well become my most favorite gift idea for children (of all ages) -- a gift of the love of bicycles + sweet dreams + strong women!!!!

image via NYTimes

it was love at first sight

Available on Amazon.

POSTPONED: Meet Your (bike) Match & Garden Party

This Event is happening Saturday, June 4th, 2-7pm due to spring time thunderstorms. Stay dry & come out on the 4th!

image by: Spin Spin

 

 

A Garden & Bicycle party is no fun in the middle of a thunderstorm, so with a 90% chance of that we're calling a rain date!

- NEW Time, SAME Place -

Meet Your (bike) Match & Garden Party 
now on Saturday, June 4, 2011


@ Hudson Urban Bicycles (The HUB)
163 Charles Street @ Washington in the West Village

This gives you more time to spread the word  ♥ ♥ ♥

for the LOVE of bikes' FLOWER POWER @ MODEL CITIZENS NYC

 

Oh, New York Design Week - one of my most favorite times of the year! I'm pleased to be launching for the LOVE of bike's

FLOWER POWER: REFLECTIVE AND MAGNETIC accessories @ one hot NY Design Week event >>> MODEL CITIZENS NYC taking place as I type. More about both...

FLOWER POWER: REFLECTIVE AND MAGNETIC are accessories for riding your bike night or day / place on your bag or bike basket / wear as a brooch. These reflectors attach to anything made of steel due to a mighty strong magnet embedded inside. They even attach to a simple metal hair pin!

 

The third annual MODEL CITIZENS NYC is a 3 day exhibition, open to the public, showcasing the work by 90+ designers international and American independent designers and design studios including the Dutch collective Duran/Vanderpoort. Work displayed includes furniture, products, ceramics, jewelry, glass, textiles, home décor and art objects. FLOWER POWER accessories are being sold in the event's Pop-Up Shop!

Chelsea Art Museum 556 West 22nd Street / at 11th Avenue, Manhattan {map}

Friday, May 13 - Sunday, May 15, 2011

Event Cocktail Party: Saturday, May 14th  / 4 - 8PM

{Free Shuttle to and from ICFF (Jacob Javits Center) and the Chelsea Art Museum will be provided every half-hour from on Saturday, May 14th 2:30 - 6:30PM}

Meet Your (Bike) Match & Garden Party

 Looking for a bike that’s adorable, easy to get along with and lots of fun?

Bring all your girlfriends out to a unique speed dating event THIS SUNDAY -- and check out The HUB's (Hudson Urban Bicycles) enormous range of new & used bikes. Test ride them around the lovely West Village and if it seems like (gasp!) you might have found ‘the one’ take it next door to the garden party in The HUB's *gorgeous* outdoor space.

The event will also feature a lemonade stand & full photography set up for you to perfect your best bicycle chic look. If you’ve ever dreamed of Dutch bikes and gracing The Sartorialist this is for you.

  
Meet Your {bike} Match & Garden Party
Sunday, May 15th 2011
2 - 7 PM
The HUB (Hudson Urban Bicycles)
139 Charles Street, corner of Washington Street
New York, NY 10014

{MAP}

flower print by Wayne Pate

This fantastic event is brought to you by The Bird Wheel (a new collaborative womens cycling site) and fashion designer Nona Varnado - as part of BIKE MONTH NYC's The Ladies Program ♥

lunch break - Hudson River Park style

There's nothing better these past few weeks then jumping on my bike at lunch time, riding from SoHo directly west to the the Hudson River in as little as 5 minutes -- trading in the streets and heat for waterfront breezes and sunbathing in a green grass haven ♥ I consider it one of the best reasons to commute by bike in this immaculate weather.  Given you can take an actual lunch hour, it takes minutes from most places on the island of Manhattan to access one of the city's best resources: the AMAZING (recently enhanced) WATERFRONT GREENWAY. 

Did you know that the Hudson River Park is the largest park to be built in Manhattan since the completion of Central Park? It's pretty dramatic how recent developments have transformed the waterfront into a 550-acre park stretches from Battery Park to 59th Street into a waterfront haven which includes 13 public piers, a marine estuary, upland parks, a waterfront esplanade, a carousel, skate parks, newly planted trees, cafes/vendors, nice shady spots, and a bikeway that now stretches past the GW Bridge all the way to The Cloisters!

Hudson River Park has an interactive map found {here} -- time get off the computer and soak it all in...

Orange you Live(ing) Colorfully

This sweet video - titled "Orange" - is brought to you by the design firm Language Dept. and commissioned by ♥ Kate Spade ♥. Wouldn't you know, it includes two of my favorite things to do -- riding with my hair down (though, under my helmet) + under a summer rain shower!

Thanks, Urcella!

crowdsourcing NYC bike tickets

Dear NYC cyclists who have been issues a ticket/summons,

REPORT YOUR TICKET HERE and participate in Transportation Nation's survey as the number of cyclists increase and the big NYPD crackdown goes on. They're accumulating the data to track and map out trends as to how many more violations are being issues -- and the (just or un-just) circumstances they are issues.

While I personally do not condone running lights nor disrespecting pedestrians or vehicles (and agree with most laws associated with cycling), I also have friends who have been issues unjust tickets in the past few months. Please share your pain.

happy mother's day

Finnula in her iBert seat ♥ which her mother likes since they can talk to each other while riding ♥

I love that you are inspiring a whole new generation of cyclists... RIDE ON!

Took this photo on a beautiful day last summer while picnicking with friends on Governors Island - the car free NYC mecca. Speaking of... it's soon time to grab your bike and head to the ferry since the island re-opens for the season Friday, May 27, 2011!!!

BIKE MONTH NYC's Ladies Program

Julie of Adeline Adeline & Nona Varnado

Last night NYC's bicycle boutique Adeline Adeline hosted a wonderful Bike Blogger Meet & Greet which kicked off  Bike Month NYC's Ladies Program. It was a really nice opportunity to match a name to a face of fellow NYC cyclists who blog -- including Julie of The Julie Blog, Alexia of Well + Good NYC, Susi of Velo Joy, Rod and Noel!

So here's the scoop... the Ladies Program is a month long series of fabulous women-centric events presented by NonaVarnado.com featuring bike rides, talks about them, fixing them, watching movies and shows about them and generally falling in love with bicycles and New York City. 

The list of events is diverse and super exciting - so get your calendars out. Coming up...

Maintenance & Manicures: “Brakes & Gears”
9 May 2011 - 6:30 PM - 10:30 PM

99 South 6th Street, Brooklyn

Best Movie Night Ever
10 May 2011 - 8:00 PM - 10:30 PM
SODA BAR, 629 Vanderbilt Avenue, Brooklyn

Meet Your (bike) Match & Garden Party
15 May 2011 - 2:00 PM - 7:00 PM
The HUB, 139 Charles Street, Manhattan

Another exciting project up Nona Varnado's sleeve is The Bird Wheel blog which I plan to be a contributor on...

www.thebirdwheel.com is a group of passionate women cyclists who all have their own focus: from building world class custom frames, fashionable cycling apparel, local bikes shops, to public policy advocates that make cycling safer for everyone. This is a story of simplicity and passion between two beautiful creatures.

Designer Bikes: Azusa in Tokyo (post earthquake)

Azusa and her Miyata

My friend and former studio mate Azusa Hirota recently got herself a new set of wheels to get around Tokyo! Since the recent earthquake and aftershocks in Japan - in a metropolis that moves 9 million people through their public transit system daily - Tokyo has seen a huge spike in ridership...

So many people couldn't go home that day because all trains stopped and buses were stuck in traffic jams. Even after the big earthquake, we are having smaller earthquakes everyday and some of those quakes are still big enough to stop trains... many people are fed up with being stuck in train stations or offices every time big ones occur. 


When Azusa recently bought her bike, the shop owner said that sales quadrupled since the incident! In this recent New York Times article about Tokyo's bicycle boom, they reported that some bikes stores completely liquified their inventory on March 11th since so many people were desperate to get home.

 
On another note - if you're thinking this key chain resembles a potato chip, you guessed right.

straight up

 

How I loved spotting this rigged up headlight (i.e. flashlight) - so old school. The fact that it takes at least a couple D batteries is just awesome. Also sweet to see Trek's Belleville has those (front + rear) racks making it one ready to roll utilitarian set of wheels...