Seen on the street

I followed this woman down Broadway yesterday. See those "X"s on her fender? Of course you did, you can't miss them. Isn't that brilliant? What an easy way to gain visibility without having to remember anything or do anything special (once you've taped your fenders with reflective tape).

It could be done nicely with these vine stickers too, at least for night. I think the vines would look best as a stripe down the center, perhaps on a green bike, while these flat Xs look a little corset-like and are perfect on this black bike.

Smart Bikes - Washington, DC

Our nation's capital has led the charge into public bike rentals. I don't say it very often so I'll be sure to say it now - Hurray Washington!

Smart Bike DC offers Velib-style bike rentals throughout the central business district. The geek in me really likes that the docking stations are all networked and submitting status information to the system monitors. Someday perhaps we'll be able to tap into that status information by mobile phone.

An annual subscription will cost $40. There are currently ten locations.

The service is provided by Clear Channel, which created the very first bicycle sharing service in Rennes in 1998. Hopefully these 10 years of experience will help guide this project to success. The site in Rennes does not report statistics across the last 10 years, but they do say that use during the month of January is up 40% this year over last year. America, let's see if we can top that!

Photo at the top from the Washington Area Bicyclist Association featuring Pepco President Thomas Graham with a DC Smart Bike. The land Pepco donated to the city for the Met Branch Trail was valued at $3.3 million!

Best Diva Of The Week: Jennifer Hudson

Jennifer Hudson was on fire on the red carpet this week for the premiere of the "Sex and the City" movie. First with her gold metallic Peter Soronen dress(I had my doubts at first). She looked absolutely fabulous for the "Sex and the City" after party in this black fitted and flare Prada dress paired with a YSL belt...JDM(Jaw Dropping Moment)! Jennifer Hudson was pure perfection from her sleek bob to her fabulous platforms shoes!

Fashion Pics

Step Up Women's Network Inspiration Awards

Michelle Williams

She looks wonderful in this earth tone multi colored dress!

Ashanti

I know Ashanti never been a fashion icon but what is going on? She looks like a fifty year old cougar trying to look young! Word of advice, less is more and fired your stylist immediately.




MTV Movie Awards Style Lounge

Keisha Whitaker

She has that lollipop head thing going on and that is not cute! Another word of advice, EAT SOMETHING!

Tamera Mowry

She looks divine in this abstract printed dress!

Product Review: Test Rode a Velorbis

There's been some talk lately about Velorbis.

During Bike Week here in Boston I was lucky enough to get to test ride a Velorbis Scrap Deluxe. I confess that I was so tantalized by the shiny bike and the smooth lines that all thoughts of attribution fled my mind and I cannot recall who provided my test ride. A google search turns up The Dutch Bicycle Company as my likely hosts.

The bike is beautifully made. The cables are all routed through the frame and sealed, which seems great for longevity. The parts are all of remarkable quality (Brooks saddle and grips, nice hubs with internal gearing and dynamo lighting, etc). The rear rack is rated to 75 pounds which could be essential if carrying both food and a child. I'm not sure about the bolt-together rear triangle, I have an email out to a materials scientist friend about that one, but semi-official channels say it is better than a weld. My unscientific general perception weight-wise is that it's less than my old Raleigh Sport but more than my current townie. Everything works together so well that weight seems less an issue.

However the tires were the most astonishing. What total fun! I felt like a kid on a bouncy ball toy.

The only colors I got to see were black and just clear-coated (showing up as grey metal). Obviously I gravitated to the bare metal look, but now there are colors available and that will be exciting.

Perhaps after our elections the dollar will rebound a little and make these lovely bikes more accessible to Americans. Here's hoping! It's a lovely bike.

Update: my friend was not a fan of the bolted together triangle, but it seems this is becoming a trend with modern bikes, you can see it on non-Velorbis bikes as well. I understand that weld is difficult. I'll be interested in watching how the technique plays out.

Patterned Bicycle Tires

A company called Sweetskins offers patterned tires to complement your bike's overall look. Camo, flowers, flames; they have a lot of options for the dedicated fashionista.

Just watch the tire sizes - they have nothing sized for my bike (27" tires).

Ring my bell...

You are going to encounter pedestrians. A lot, a few, I can't know. I do know that a bell is the best way to alert them to your presence. Here are a few cute ones, please leave a comment if you know of others:

A classic from Rivendell:


Electrabike has many options including this cheery yellow:




Perhaps a ladybug for good luck? From WishingFish:




Blingarific from Abbey Hill Creations:




A very popular choice available in my LBS (local bike store) is this Jelly Bell (more colors are available):




And finally, my simple silver and black bell is perhaps the simplest of the many bells offered by Mirrycle:

Chanel Boutique Opening in Beverly Hills

Chanel Boutique in Beverly Hills



Tracee Ellis Ross

She looks fabulous as usual in this blue and red checkered Prada dress. I love her corky sophisticated style!






Leighton Meester

She looks amazing in this jeweled detailed Chanel dress!

Angie Harmon

She looks like she about to board a yacht in Saint Tropaz...Chanel Resort Chic!

Amber Valletta

The model looks stunning in this black sheered asymmetrically Chanel dress!




Rachel Bilson

She looks sensational in this black ruffled Chanel dress and as everyone knows the red quilted Chanel purse is my favorite accessory!




Michelle Trachtenberg

The actress looks Chanel Chic!





Maria Menounes

She has been on my best dressed list since Cannes and she continues to wow me in this sexy Chanel dress and of course the classic quilted Chanel bag!

Roberto Cavalli Wine Launch in London

Beverly Knight

The British singer looks fabulous from head to toe in this steel gray embellished dress and her shoes are hot!

Margo Stilley

The actress looks stunning ! I love the fur capelet.

Tamara Beckwith

Her pink Valentino trench coat is beyond adorable.

Roberto Cavalli

The designer looks chic and gay(he is actually marry) as ever!

Yesterday I volunteered with Bikes Not Bombs

A nicer and more generous group of people I have never met. After a warm welcome they gave me concrete projects I could do and enjoy. The volunteer evening is loosely organized chaos, which makes it that much more fun.

For 23 years Bikes Not Bombs has been recycling thousands of bicycles in a community supported program to send bicycles to places that need them. The shipment we were preparing will be going to Ghana. I worked with people 20 years older than me, and 20 years younger. I wrenched with folks I'd probably never cross paths with in "real" life. The local community aspect felt as good as our global purpose.

During the day program children are trained in bike repair and earn their very own bike. The children train the staff very well for dealing with us volunteers. Some volunteers had never worked on a bicycle before. The staff was great at showing them what to do. They were happy to educate me too - I got to bend their ears about all my bike's ailments (well, actually my husband's, he doesn't know it yet but he may have a cracked crank arm). I learned the difference between a cassette and a free wheel while holding used examples of each. Most exciting to me was learning how the cassette's races work to facilitate shifting. When I go back I'll see if they can show me how a three-speed shifts. I've seen a diagram but it isn't enough.

As if the community (local and global), and the educational aspects weren't already enough, my volunteer time counts for credits towards used gear in the bike shop. I don't know what my six credits from this evening would get me but I'm saving up my credits for a front rack. I want one large enough to carry a pie.

All told this is a rewarding way to spend a Wednesday evening. I look forward to going back.

A Dream Bike

I purposefully do not write here much about new bikes. There are so many beautiful vintage bikes which serve perfectly and fulfill all three tenets of this blog, they look good, they feel good, and by riding a vintage bike you're doing good.

But a girl's got a right to dream, and an ANT bike, bespoke crafted here in Massachusetts, is the pinnacle of bicycle dreams, the handmade wedding dress of bicycles. But you definitely need background and for that I lift the story (with attribution!) from Cris:

Perhaps you've heard the cliché that only 1000 people bought the first Velvet Underground, but all of them decided to form bands. In that spirit, the bike builder's equivalent to the Velvet Underground is Chris Chance and Fat City Cycles.

Fat City was founded in the 1980s (in Somerville, MA), in the early age of the mountain bike, and developed bikes that had an early reputation for legendary construction and handling. However, Fat City wasn't big enough to compete with the like of Specialized or Trek and so, in 1994 the company was sold to Serotta, a high-end bike builder in upstate New York. The Boston factory was shut down and most of its employees laid off. There were never a lot of folks who worked at Fat City, but all of them went on to create new bike companies. The list of companies started by ex-Fat City employees reads like a who's who of elite builders: Merlin, Seven, Independent Fabrication. Each of them builds bikes that are universally hailed as the finest rides produced in America.

Theirs are not bikes that you'll find in a shop, prebuilt, fresh from an assembly and pret-a-porter. They're custom built, created after a dialogue between you and a company, parsing out your dreams, desires and limitations. They will build a bike that is one of a kind, and they will build it only for you.

Independent Fabrication and Seven are sort of the BMW and Mercedes of the American bike world, with IF being the hipper, more aggressive BMW and Seven being the more studied and luxurious Benz. Randonneurs, who want a bike that will perform well under any circumstances and with several hundreds of miles, go to IF for their Club Racer, a bike built to carry fenders and support wider tires.

The Club Racer was designed by Mike Flanigan, one of IF's co-founders. Mike left IF some time ago, when the company was shifting its product focus to cater to the racer and performance market, and he was more interested in building bikes for commuters and everyday users. When that gap got to be too large, Mike left Independent Fabrication and started ANT.

For the very best in the everyday Dutch/French/Euro city-bike tradition, custom tailored just for you - this is it - and it's right here in Boston. There's even the more affordable and aptly named Boston Roadster. My husband has promised me, someday... I didn't buy a new wedding dress, so I'll get an ANT instead.

Supermodels:Maria Fuema

Oscar de la Renta

Oscar de la Renta

Oscar de la Renta

Badgley Mischka

Lela Rose

Editorials


Verrier


Peter Som

Helmet Lang

Oscar de la Renta

Oscar de la Renta

Oscar de la Renta

Maria Fuema is the beautiful Congolese model who is all over Oscar de la Renta runway shows. I remember seeing her on the runways of Thakoon, Lela Rose and Peter Som in 2005 and I knew she was definitely a diva. She is a natural beauty with grace and style! I constantly pray for her country because they have been in turmoil for many years and hopefully one day they can live in peace again.