Bright red seems like the best color for city cycling, getting drivers' attention while still looking stylish off the bike. Chic, classic, and bold.
For this reason, I've been searching for the perfect red coat for two years, especially since seeing this post on Copenhagen Cycle Chic. Yesterday, the miraculous happened: I finally found "my" red coat. I was walking through Anthropologie during my lunch break, which I often do to torture myself because I usually can't afford their beautiful clothes, when I spott...
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Earlier this week, I posted a video of my commute along quiet side streets. To show how different the ride is along a busy route, on Friday morning I took Lincoln Avenue, a popular street for both bikes and motor vehicles. I considered this taking one for the team, because I hate this route during rush hour.
A few notes before moving on to the video:
Lincoln Avenue is a major bikeway, with either bike lanes or sharrows along the length of it. As I discussed previously, it's a pathetic set-up for such a pop...
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Here is a little video I made of my morning bike commute through relatively quiet side streets. Not the most interesting video ever, but I wanted to show how it's possible to commute into downtown Chicago while avoiding busy streets and scary traffic. This is part of the quiet route that I often take, which I blogged about a few months ago here.
It's hard to hear what I'm saying in the beginning and my memory card became full about 1/4 of my way to work, but you get the idea. The speed is 2.5x faster ...
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Now that the sun sets completely by 4:30, I'm sad that my evening commutes are always in the dark. On the bright side, this gives me the opportunity to enjoy all the beautiful lights that are now decorating downtown for the holidays. Kind of makes my commutes feel magical.
Of course, I have my own lights, too, but those are not pretty.
Maybe this will be the year when I finally take the time to figure out how to string Oma with Christmas lights. 
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When I start to look like the Red Barron -
And I have to remove and carry around a bunch of layers and accessories -
Before I look like myself again.
Is everyone else pulling out their hats, ear muffs, gloves, scarves and coats? (Snow is in today's forecast!) Or are you smarter than me, living in a warm climate?
Here's our advice on dressing for winter biking, if anyone needs it.
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The past two days, I have worn skirt and blouse outfits similar to what I wore in my last post, with a helmet, and drivers were pretty nice, but not as totally nice as before. Again, maybe it's in my head, but it's interesting to ponder.
For anyone who is "meh" about the Mary Poppins Effect talk because they don't experience it - Mr. Dottie is right there with you and he's perfectly content to ride a faster bike in construction-site work clothes, thankyouverymuch.
In an unrelated observation, the sk...
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Now that Labor Day is behind us, the crowds are starting to thin out on the Lakefront Trail. I've avoided the trail most of the summer because dodging hundreds (thousands?) of other trail users is not my idea of fun. I plan to take the trail much more often during the fall, when I can relax and enjoy the crowd-free and car-free goodness.
I have missed the beautiful view of Lake Michigan and the fresh air that comes off it. So far early fall has been perfect in Chicago - hopefully we'll have at least two g...
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One of the most popular and vital bike routes from downtown Chicago to neighborhoods on the north side is Lincoln Avenue. I've read that 25-40% of the rush hour traffic on Lincoln is people on bikes. I certainly see lots of bicyclists along the way.
One day last week I decided to take this route to work, since I was on a tight schedule and Lincoln Avenue is by far the most direct and quickest route. Perhaps I have been spoiled by my super long and winding but super calm route of side-streets, but I was appall...
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Although there are thousands of interesting bicycles in Chicago, I almost never see any bikes like mine - Rivendell, WorkCycles or Velorbis. In the past week, I had the good luck to spot two Rivendells and speak with their owners. As expected, women who ride Rivendells are super cool.
The first was Rachel. I locked my bike next to hers while stopping for an afternoon cupcake. I was admiring her Honjo fenders and Brooks saddle, but I did not realize it was a Rivendell until she came up and we started talking. ...
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This is a post about a fan. F-A-N. Other corny title options: #1 Fan, Office Fan-tasy, Fan-cy Pants. So feel lucky you got the title you got.
As I've mentioned before, Chicago summers can be brutally hot. At least for a few weeks. Long enough to make me miss winter a little bit.
During those hot weeks, I wear gym-type clothes during my commute (not that I ever step foot in a gym, but you know what I mean). I sweat a lot, so wearing proper work clothes is a bad idea.
When I get to the office, ...
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