San Smith

New Bicycle adventures!

This Friday I took a half day at work, and rushed over to the Atlanta Cycling and picked up my bicycle!!(I've mentioned it a lot - but the bicycle I got was a Gary Fisher Simple City w3) I was soooooo excited - and they are excellent to their customers! I completely recommend them. They were very helpful and patient - and my bike turned out perfect!

As soon as I got home, we put the bell on my bike, I grabbed my lock and biked over to Nicki's house to visit with her and Laila. Being able to coast again caught me off guard! (I've been riding a fixed gear for a year) Its really nice to not have to pedal constantly, but I'm glad I have that mind set now because I feel like I pedal a lot better than I did before my fixed gear.

Talked about politics with the girls for a bit, and how scary things are at the moment in the US... then rode home to catch a quick tasty tofu burrito dinner with Chris and watch the presidential debates. The weather was so beautiful and slightly misty - and we even saw a rainbow!

Today, I woke up itching to ride that bike again!! (I imagine I'll be like this for a while!) I went on some errands with it this morning to get dog food and other small things - and then later on in the afternoon I strapped Pika in for her first ride to the park with the new bicycle. She loved it, but was a little antsy on the way home. She kept trying to stand up like she was surfing in the basket. With time, I think she will be come a bicycle riding pro!

Some of my favourite things about this new bike (aside from its lovely appearance!):

1. Chain guard and fenders - yesss! No more rolling up pants legs or worrying about things splashing up on me!
2. Being able to wear regular clothes and shoes again while riding
3. Huuuge beautiful basket that I was able to put several pounds of dog food, a large purse and shopping bag in and still ride home easily - AMAZING! No more back bags

I'm off now to go knit a little bit and watch a movie. Its been a long eventful Saturday! Hooray for weekends :)

Bicycle websites of all kinds

photo from FisherBikes.com

The weather is fabulous here...I've been feeling much much better - and best of all - my new bicycle should be ready any day now! I probably mentioned it a while back, but I ordered a Gary Fisher Simple City 3W - and with its arrival finally approaching this weekend, I definitely have bicycles on the brain.

To keep me calm till then, I thought I'd write up a little blog post sharing some interesting Bicycle links. Let me know if you know of any good bicycle websites to visit!

Critical Mass Atlanta - Monthly bicycle ride occuring here in Atlanta (and in many other major cities all over the world) every last Friday of the month. Some view it as a chance to protest cars, other an excellent way to see your city and meet others who like to ride bikes, or as the website states it, an opportunity for "CELEBRATING our vision of a preferable alternative mode of transportation in the city of Atlanta". Regardless, it is quite a spectcle to take part of or witness, and was one of the ways I got back into cycling as an adult two years ago.

Faster Mustache - Fun message board started by my boyfriend and his friends. I'll nab the description from their website rather than try re-invent it myself... :) "Faster Mustache is an independent organization made up of a diverse group of Atlanta residents with one thing in common: riding bicycles. Fixed or free, geared or single, cruiser, chopper, racer, clunker, we ride 'em."

Vélocouture - A bicycle + fashion group on Flickr "Smart, stylish, functional outfits worn by transportational bicyclists."

Quote of the Day: On Not Wearing a Bike Helmet - Or really, Why you SHOULD wear a helmet!

Purple pedals - Flickr (and Yahoo) has teamed up with Electra Bicycles to issue 20 purple painted bikes to people in Brighton, UK, Toronto, New York, California, Sydney, Singapore and Japan. (And one went to the blogger from Copenhangen Cycle Chic!) The bikes are equipped with gps and cameras (ran by a solar-powered battery) to document the rider's adventures every 60 seconds. Very cool!

Bike in the City - an adorable French bicycle blog filled with cute illustrations (and Vélib's!) There are English translations on the entries sometimes too for those who don't speak French.

An open letter from No Impact Man - The writer from No Impact Man had an interesting (to say the least) run-in with the NY State Senator on his bicycle... And to put it lightly the senator didn't treat him very well! No Impact Man is inviting those who are interested to reach out to the Senator and express their concern with the way he handled sharing the road with a cyclist.

Munnybrella photos, playing in trees, and old cameras

The Munnybrella show was pretty cool! I uploaded some of the photos I took on my flickr - I went out really briefly after Festival of Speed... and it was exciting to see all the different styles - that and my munny's hat was backwards (correct way technically but not how I wanted it!) so I ran over real quick and adjusted him - glad I caught it! I'm really happy I participated in this show, it was lots of fun. while we were there we saw another flyer there for a show that sounds real fun called "Steal this art show" - also at MINT gallery. It'll be on Saturday, October 4th. Here is a brief little summary from their site:

"For Steal This Art Show, artists are asked to recreate a stolen piece of art, hang it in the gallery, and include a theft deterrent system that may prevent it from being stolen. Attendants at the opening are invited to participate by attempting to steal the work. Any artwork successfully stolen may be kept by its thief."

How hilarious/awesome is that? I think I will try to make it out to that show.

Highlights of this past week/weekend:
- Running out to B Complex in the middle of the night with Chris and seeing their beautiful plant lights
- Watching the crazy bikes at Festival of Speed while wrapping up some knitting
- Briefly seeing Laila and Nicki at the Munny show
- Playing in the woods with Chris and seeing beautiful giant "Champion" trees
- Eating tasty tasty Chinese food with Chris' family for his Father's birthday
- Catching lunch with my cousin, his wife, my two aunts and my mother on the fly
- Going to see Beautiful Losers with Chris
- Celebrating my grandmother's 80th birthday! (WOW!)

Sometime this week Chris is going to tinker with my dad's old camera to see if he can figure out how to fix it... Exciting!! I have been wanting to use it for a long time - and I was going through the lenses and we found out one of them is a wide angle! How fun it would be if we can make it work again.

Photos of my pouty little Munny

Here he is! Sorry to separate the photos from the above post - I couldn't get my computer to cooperate earlier :P I had a lot of fun working on this and I can't wait to look at everyone else's on Saturday! My favorite parts are the little scarflet and his hat.

He will be for sale at the show, and then I think after the show FantasyBurrito will be selling him for me. If you are interested let me know!

The show sounds like its going to be pretty fun - Baron Saturday (of Judi Chicago) will be DJing and there will also be live demonstrations on how to customize Munnys.

More photos on my flickr.

Art at the Munnybrella show!

Come out and see my customized munny at the Munnybrella show at Mint Gallery!

Saturday, September 20th
8p.m. to 12 a.m.

Mint Gallery is at:
684 John Wesley Dobbs Ave.
Unit B
Atlanta, GA 30312

I'll be swinging by of course, and if you are showing up let me know!
Due to computer difficulties, I'll post photos of the munny I made later on when I am at home. :P