After mentioning that I have not put my studded tires on Oma yet, I missed them this weekend. Some mild precipitation on Friday night caused patches of black ice to form all around the city.
I had to walk Oma over black ice several times while getting around on Saturday - biking to Logan Square to try on vintage outfits from Holly's Lucite Box for the upcoming Bike Winter Fashion Show (found a gorgeous blue velvet dress), back to Lakeview for Heritage Bicycles' grand opening party (crowded!), and to Wicker Par...
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Hi, Chelsea from Frolic! here! I am so glad to be guest blogging on Let's Go Ride a Bike today! It's one of my daily reads. I recently came across these old photos and I think the girls and their bicycles are super chic!
Photos from Flickr: 1, 2, + here.
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Unless I'm riding my bike or spending time with friends, you can bet that I'd rather be reading a novel. Especially Russian novels, which I studied in college to earn a degree in Russian literature.
My attachment to Russian literature began as quickly and simply as my attachment to bicycling. During my junior year of high school, I randomly grabbed a book off the library shelf - The Death of Ivan Ilych and Other Stories by Leo Tolstoy. This Tolstoy guy was like nothing I'd read before. His dir...
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Did I dress today to match the blooms? Maybe 
Happy to be reunited with Oma, I enjoyed sitting as straight and tall as possible on my Sunday ride, parading down the crowded Chicago streets. Everyone was out this weekend, including lots of people on bikes, though no other dresses that I saw. This spring feels like the most beautiful ever, but I think that's because I've been slowing down to appreciate it more.
Sadly, when I arrived at my favorite shop, Haystack Vintage, this is all that ...
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My favorite online vintage shop is Market Publique, where the sellers are vetted, the pictures are well-styled and the selection is a top-notch mix of designer duds and affordable finds. Imagine my delight when I saw that the intrepid entrepreneur behind the site, Pamela, uses a vintage trike to get around and haul cargo for the shop. She was gracious enough to talk with us for Part III of our Vintage Style Series. Read on to hear about the traumatic event that stopped her from cycling for so long, her return to p...
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While cycling can be sociable, I love to meander around the city alone. Plenty of time to think and simply enjoy. Today I set out for my favorite thrift shop, Haystack Vintage, and also bought new knee-high snow boots at DSW. As always, a shopping trip was so much more than that. The cold and physical activity was invigorating, and after I bought the most flattering vintage black wiggle dress for $17, I meandered over to the lakefront park nearby to capture the last bits of sun. I never got outside like this in ...
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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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In celebration of the mild weather, Sir Raleigh and Betty Foy went for a date ride today - chaperoned by me and Mr. Dottie, of course. I think they are a perfect match. (Tip: you can now see a bigger version of each picture by clicking on it.)
I wore my new $15 vintage dress and deemed it very bike friendly.
I found nail polish yesterday that perfectly matches Betty. Last night someone I met asked, "What's the story with the nail polish?" Um, it matches my bike? I fear that answer only made...
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Yesterday I attended a party at De Fietsfabriek, a Dutch bike shop, to celebrate the fall line of Po Campo stylish bike bags. I wore my lucky red velvet Marc Jacobs shoes and a vintage red bow.
The red shoes are lucky because I wore them when I met Tori Amos and the first thing she said to me was: "I love your shoes!" Then she hugged me. This is the kind of outfit I wear simply because it makes me happy like a little girl. RED BOW!
If I may extol the benefits of fall riding a bit more, the weather w...
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This is the first part of a four-part series on vintage style. In part two, Trisha will discuss her vintage style and share some of the best places to find vintage items online. Part three will provide tips for buying vintage bicycles and the pros and cons of ownership. Finally, part four will profile a founder of a vintage shop who gets around the city on her vintage trike.
Why are we devoting a series to vintage style on a bicycle blog? Vintage style and bicycling have a lot in common! They are both sustainabl...
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