Lest you all (or at least my Gram) worry that I'm freezing, the weather here is milder than last week. Yesterday was an odd day, more like fall than winter, with misty rains and high 30's F temperatures.
I pulled out Betty Foy for the occasion. She is not getting studded tires for the winter, so will come out and play only on the days when it's not icy. I enjoyed her carefree riding, but during the evening commute the battery-powered front light got weak and I worried about my visibility in the dark. That's wh...
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Winter is kicking my ass already. The extreme freezing temperatures more common to mid-winter arrived early on Thursday: 2 degrees Fahrenheit (-17 Celsius) with 25 mph winds, 40 mph wind gusts, and a windchill of -20 degrees (-29 Celsius). Despite the severe weather, I dragged Oma out to bike to work as usual.
At first everything went smoothly. My studded tires crunched over the ice with ease. Dressed in wool leggings, tweed slacks, wool undershirt, wool sweater, wool overcoat, wool socks, wool scarf aro...
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Dottie and I have both had a lot of questions about our Basil bags. Now that I've had mine for 6 months, it's time for a review. I have the Basil Blossom "Postmenbag" in white, and have been extremely pleased with it since I bought it at Copenhagen Cyclery in June. (The bag is also available on Amazon.)
Based in the Netherlands, Basil has been producing Dutch bike accessories since the 70s, and their whimsical patterns and quality construction have made them a well-known name. They make bags, panniers, seat covers...
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It's that time of year again: legions of bike commuters are gearing up for winter and considering whether to buy studded tires. Well, okay, maybe just five or six of you.
So should you get studded tires?
I asked myself that question for weeks last year. My dithering abruptly ended on the morning my bike slipped from under me and I landed on my butt.
Many winter cyclists in Chicago seem to go without studs, sticking to the major routes that are well-plowed, but I prefer side street and the Lakefront Trail, whic...
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This morning started off just fine. It was nearly 50 degrees outside. The Flik and I posed for a minute under our tree. If there had been leaves on this sucker, they would have been waving like mad!
Of course, two of my neighbors had to leave for work as I was conducting my photoshoot. I'm sure they wondered what the occasion was.
Slightly embarrassed but not daunted, we set off, into the wind. Yikes. Nashville could have put the Lakefront Trail to shame this morning, with a steady, strong wind and occasional g...
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When I visited Copenhagen Cyclery this weekend, I also test rode the Velorbis Mobii Trike. Yay, trike! I've been wanting to test ride a three-wheeled beast for some time now. When I wrote about the WorkCycles Bakfiets a couple of months ago, I mentioned that I could not know for sure how I felt about it without riding a trike for comparison.
The Mobii (love the name!) comes in one size and two powder-coated colors: orange and gray. Designed and handmade in Denmark, this thoroughly modern, steel-framed stunner ...
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Our vintage style series has finally returned! Now that Dottie has outlined the many excellent reasons cyclists are drawn to vintage style, it's my turn to share some tips on secondhand shopping. Since I can't bring you all to my favorite places to shop vintage-- America's Thrift Store in Pell City, my grandmother's closet (like other bloggers, a place I've had great luck with), the local shop Pre- to Post-Modern,--I'll focus on shopping somewhere I know you all can visit: the Internet.
I love browsing through car...
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Today I met a new beauty in town, the Velorbis Studine at Copenhagen Cyclery, a "younger" and more affordable version of the Velorbis Classic bikes (which I reviewed here). The differences are subtle - fewer gears, painted rims and no lights or leather grips.
Designed in Denmark and handmade in Germany, these stylish steel bikes are chic and cheeky at once. The Studine aka Student comes in three colors (red, green, black) and four sizes (51 and 56 cm for step-through, 54 and 59 cm for diamond frame). If cre...
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Week one of our Bike Lover's Gift Guide highlighted fun and beautiful handcrafts available on Etsy. For week two we are shifting our focus to gifts that give back to the bicycling community.
Life-Changing Bikes - Gift a bike in honor of someone you love via World Bicycle Relief. The Bicycles for Educational Empowerment program aims to give 50,000 bicycles to school children in rural Zambia - 70% of whom are girls - to enable the children to travel to and from school more easily. The cost is $134 per bicycle, w...
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Winter! The low 20's biting cold surprised me!
I might be putting on my studded tires soon. 
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