It’s been a while since I’ve done a gratuitously evocative bike post. It’s time…

Famous people on bikes

Some hot looks courtesy of  Fashionising, and Cyclelicious. Starting with Olivia…

Olivia Palermo

Lara Stone

Just some pretty looks

Have you seen this? A call to action by The Holstee Manifesto, originally a side project selling shirts, that’s since turned into a “message” (can you become a message? I reckon you can) that’s been viewed over 60 million times online. I like this:

When they quit their jobs to form Holstee, the three founders – Mike, Fabian and Dave – wrote down exactly what was on their minds and the tips of their tongues. It wasn’t about shirts. It was about what they wanted from life, and how to create a company that breathes that passion into the world everyday. It was a reminder of what we live for, and the result became known as the Holstee Manifesto.

I like this clip, even if the obviousness of the little mantras make me feel a little awkward. But I guess it’s the obviousness that works – what we need to remind ourselves of is so stupidly, cringe-ely simple and when we have it delivered to us in an everyday way it grips the heart. No?

Do what you love. Do what you love. Do what you love.

I have this thing at the moment…

Every time I feel the “uggghhhs”  – you know that feeling that takes over from the inside out, a bit like a shiver, a bit like a gut clench, when you’re doing something that grates against your being -  I stop and question whether I really need to do it. Do I love it? Does it nourish me? Can I learn to view it as something I love, and not resent?

The latter, by the way, is a good challenge. A switch in view can often see something “uggghhhy” reposition as something really quite lovely. And sometimes we just have to do this, to get something that has to be done, done.

If the answer, however, is still no, I abort. My life, my well being is worth more. Since I started doing this I’ve become aware of just how much doesn’t have to done, followed up, completed. I trap myself into thinking that because I’ve been asked for something, or offered something, or because it’s on my to do list, or because “it’s the way I’ve always done it”…I have to do it.

But if I feel the uggghhhs, I pull back now. Do I really have to see that person, go out tonight, respond to that email? Do YOU really have to?

Another generous Friday giveaway…and what a cracker it is this week. Yes, we’re giving away a

Papillionaire old-school treadlie. Just in time for summer!

Not only is she very pretty, this Papillionaire bike is:

• a fully customised Sommer bicycle valued at almost $700
•  powered with a 3- speed internal hub (yes, gears!)
• an upgraded model with CRMO frame, Shimano grip shifter & more
• resplendent with chrome-capped, smooth leather washer grips
• decked out with a crafted leather saddle, copper rivets and chrome spring mount rails
• fitted with laces and frame for adjustable width and tension
• sporting a wicker basket up front

To be in the running, you will need to do two things:

• Sign up for my weekly newsletter (the highlights from the week’s blog…no spam EVER!) before Monday 12th December 5pm AEST (of course, if you’ve already done so, sign up a friend!)
• AND ‘like’ the Papillionaire facebook page. We’ll announce the winner on the Papillionaire FB page. We’ll send the bike off to you before Christmas!

To be honest, being safe on a bike is mostly about being visible. I ride to be seen. Which is to say, I ride obviously. I ride so cars know I’m there. I take off at traffic lights from up front, I ride on the road (not on footpaths where reversing cars can’t see me) and I ride brightly. And so it is that I just love this little creation from Melbourne label Culture Cycle:

Crocheted. Glow-in-the-dark. Bike fashion.

Culture Cycle is a seriously kooky range of handmade crocheted bits and pieces, intertwined with reflective yarns that light up at night.

Cool, light and safe.

Angelina is the chick behind the brand and is a keen rider who runs cycle tours in Sydney and Melbourne where, at the end, you sit down and…very cute…crochet. Crochet and cycling and coffee. Seriously.

She tells me she uses yarns that she sews into her products, for high visibility day and night.  One is as thin as the cotton that you use in a sewing machine and its made from glass beads. It’s highly reflective and when it’s crocheted into products it’s difficult to see in daylight.  The other is a double sided flat ribbon which is equally as reflective and is quite visible in daylight so it offers great opportunities to make textured products.

I have a set of lime green cuffs and this wrap vest (below), which is fine enough to scrunch up in my bag, pretty enough to wear over my t-back singlet or a dress and versatile enough to wear as a scarf, a vest or a wrap.

But check out these wrist cuffs

This week in Sunday Life I use my hands (which, admittedly, when coupled with this picture below, reads a little wrong!)

As kids, my brothers and I had a ritual. In the school holidays we’d sit on the back step with an ice cream bucket full of kero, a few rags and an old toothbrush and clean our bikes. We’d pull apart the hub and crank set and clean out our BMXs and mountain bikes right down to the ball bearings. Crud. There is little more satisfying than sitting in the sun picking crud from a rear cluster, I tell you.

When done we’d go for a test ride. Oh, the smoothness! It was joy on two wheels. We’d revel in our handiwork for days. Poor Mum. She must’ve turned inside out with the tedium of our post-mortem gloating.

Nowadays I get a similar kick from making my own mung bean sprouts. The soaking and sprouting takes three days. I become a helicopter parent, fussing over the sweet little things, perfecting technique, trying new approaches. Sometimes I just stare at them as they sleep. When done I’m so damn proud and, can I tell you, they taste unfathomably better than the packaged versions. I tell everyone. I post the results on Twitter. Look what I made! (Don’t get me started on my recent fire lighting efforts.)

Since no experience these days is left unphenomenon-ised I wasn’t surprised to learn this week my crud-scraping and bean-sprouting passion has a name. Harvard Business Review has dubbed the phenomena The IKEA Effect.

Bikes are rad. Here are some more rad bike things…

via pinterest.com

I recently found this Brooklyn wedding on ‘A Cup of Jo’. The happy couple didn’t have a huge budget – so they got married in a park and then rode bikes to a bar for their reception (Pam wore cute denim shorts under her wedding dress so that she could hitch up her dress and ride).