CicLAvia Report Part 3 - Me and my Homies.

Today's CicLAvia report will focus on the wonderful group of friends I was with that day.

Me looking um...shiny.

 Nate. You might recognize this guy.

 Lissette (who designed my awesome banner).

 Sara. She's pregnant but she didn't let that stop her!

 Lissette and Sara - posing oh so naturally.

 Omar. He has a MUCH better camera than I do. :)

 Mmmmmm. Jamaica.

 Omar and his bike - he won it in a raffle.

 Our bike gang - the sweet version.

 Our bike gang - the surly version.

 Bike gang - with Omar.

 Sara and her new bike.

 Nate and Omar checking out a street performer.

 Lissette "racing."

 Fun with bike racks.

 Nick and his new bike.

 Taking a rest on the 4th Street Bridge.

We all had such a great time. I'm so thankful that my friends were able to come out and share such an incredible day together.

Dress for your Tweed Ride! Harris Tweed Cape for Sale.

I've noticed a few Tweed Rides are popping up around the country. Earlier this year I purchased a beautiful Harris Tweed cape I thought I might want to wear at a Tweed Ride.  However, even though the cape is a one-size-fits-most deal, it is quite long. At 5'3" I feel rather swamped by it. Before putting it back on eBay, I thought I'd see if any of my readers are interested in buying it. It's genuine Harris Tweed from Scotland, and it is a nice, substantial winter weight. It is in perfect condition.


E-Mail me at thisgirlsbike@me.com if you're interested. Price is $120 plus $15 for shipping.

CicLAvia Report Part 2 - The Sights.

Here are few more pictures from CicLAvia.

A view from MacArthur Park.

One of the rest/information stops.

Crossing an intersection.

Shiny, happy people.

Helpful police officer managing intersection.

A street performer.

The neighborhood.

Bike-shaped bike racks!

A view from 4th Street Bridge.

More of 4th Street Bridge.

Downtown in the background. 

 Bridge over railroad tracks.

 4th Street is a bit hilly!

A cutesy beach cruiser.

There are so many blogs out there that have posted incredible pictures of the event that I have to say I'm a bit ashamed to post mine but ah well...this is what I got. :)

CicLAvia Report Part 1 - People Watching.

CicLAvia was truly a dream. I still kind of can't believe it was real. The most common refrain I heard all day was "This is so cool." Variations included "This is so amazing," "This is so dope," "This is the best day ever," and "Can you believe we get to do this?"


Today's post will focus on some of the lovely people spotted at CicLAvia.

Spotted: Cosmo from Los Angels Cycle Chic - Making even baby wearing look chic!

I love this guy's jersey - is that a Mayan calendar?

A Bike Twin!

This lovely lady above told me her name and I'm sorry to say I've forgotten it. She has a rose-colored Centurian Le Mans Mixte very similar to mine! Hers, however, is in beautiful condition. Mine needs, ahem, a little work. We had a nice chat about the bikes and she said she'd look for my blog so I hope she's seeing this!

Check out her "Beer View Mirror." How cute is that?!

Cycle Chic Perfection!

How cute is this girl? Check out how her little owl bag matches her olive green Biria bike. And those little yellow flats? Amazing. I'd never heard of these bikes before. It seems like it's a really reasonably-priced, cute city bike. The guy standing behind her is awesome too.

CicLAvia Teaser Pic.

I won't have time until later today or tomorrow to do a real post on CicLAvia. I can tell you it was a FANTASTIC (albeit a bit hot) day. Kudos to all the people who must have worked tremendously hard to put it all together. I promise that at the next event I will volunteer. Here's one little picture. This is what LA might look like if all the cars suddenly disappeared.

On 4th Street Bridge - Downtown looming in the background.

CicLAvia.

CicLAvia 2010 Route Map

The blogosphere is already saturated with information about CicLAvia. But just in case you didn't know:


"CicLAvia consists of the temporary opening of streets to residents so they may enjoy a safe and pleasant space for walking, jogging, skating or riding a bike. CicLAvia differs from permanent bike routes because it is a temporary space whose principal use is not transport, but recreation. In general, CicLAvia occurs on a fixed day of the week (usually Sundays and in some cases on holidays) and has an average duration of six hours."


I'm so proud of our Los Angeles cycling community for putting this together against all odds. It's here! Tomorrow! I'll be there. Will you?


Official CicLAvia Site


This post at the Gary Rides Bikes blog has lots of useful information about feeder rides that are riding over to CicLAvia from all different parts of town.

Cycling in the Rain. A Bikey First!

The past year and change that I've been cycling has been such a wonderful experience, and it's been full of "firsts." This week I rode my bike in the rain for the first time. I am not a full-time bike commuter so this was purely by choice.  I know all you other hard-core kids out there are doing it so I thought why not?

Leaving the office to cycle home in the evening rain.

My outfit was practical if not completely waterproof.

Long sleeve merino wool cycling jersey - Swobo

Trent coat - Target

Jeans - Citizens of Humanity

Boots - Rubber rain boots

Gloves - Head ($10 from Costco. I keep them in my panniers at all times.)

Helmet - Bern Watts

My bike is always prepared for rain because it has full fenders and lights. The only special thing I had to was to put plastic bags over my panniers because they are not waterproof.

The ride was was exhilarating! One gentleman on the sidewalk told me that he also rides a bike and he was very impressed with my biking-in-the-rain set-up! He also said that he enjoys biking in the rain.

I did end up pretty wet! (crappy iPhone picture)

I'd definitely do it again! However if I was riding to a place where I had to look presentable, I'd bring a change of clothes and make sure to allow my self enough time to clean myself up a bit.

While this week has been cool and rainy, we are heading into a sunny weekend with temps in the 80's!

Diagnosing Rose.

You may remember a while back I posted that I bought a vintage mixte to restore. I haven't posted anything about it since because, well, it's been sitting in my garage. I promised myself that I'd take care of a few more pressing matters in my life (like finishing two years of back taxes) before starting on this project. Well today I took the first step in getting it started. We took the bike (which I've named Rose) over to Bikerowave to see what kind of shape she's really in. My plan is to get the bike in working order while spending as little money as possible. I'd like to ride it for a while and evaluate it before spending a bunch of money on replacing components. The one thing I plan on splurging on, though, is a Brooks saddle. My reasoning here is that I can always use the saddle on another bike, and it'll last me a lifetime.

Over the next few weeks I'll post some pictures of the "before" state of the bike. Here's a teaser:

Photo Credit: Omar Gonzalez

The diagnosis from a very helpful volunteer at Bikerowave (Ryan) is that the bike is in pretty decent shape over all. It will need new tires, new cables and housing, new brake pads, and possibly a new chain. I also plan on doing quite a bit of cosmetic cleaning. They carry pretty much everything I need at Bikerowave, so the whole thing should be pretty painless and not too expensive. I can't wait to get started!