Posts tagged bike

Enjoyed a perfect winters weekend in Sydney. Bike rides to our favourite cafe, sushi roulette with gal pals and pub dinners with boyfs mates. Helped my Granny install a set-top box too. I love how the oldies just don’t get technology. I can’t wait to be like that. In more fashion related news, 2 new pairs of jeans for $100. I’m loving the higher waist. Can’t wait to keep tucking in blouses come spring!

What did you do?

Today I wore … Shirt (Ben Sherman, op shopped), cardi (HK), blue jeans (Just Jeans), necklace (Equip) & black oxford heels (Payless Shoes)..

Do you like my skirt? I made it from a men’s shirt I bought for $7, and some elastic thanks to Megan’s DIY. I think I’ll be making many more.. they are so enjoyable to wear and great to ride in. Not much more to tell you except that I am off to watch the Socceroo’s play Germany over the long weekend at a live site here in Sydney- its a shame the game isn’t till 4.30 am Monday!! Anything exciting planned for this long weekend?

Today I wore … a check shirt (K-mart), trench (Target), reconstructed shirt skirt (me! from Meg’s DIY), black oxfords (Payless Shoes) & a scarf (Basque) .. .

Only 2 biking days left..

Here’s to more frequent posts! I have been dying to find a denim or chambray shirt to pair with my ultimate winter look but I just can’t find anything to fit the bill. This shirt dress is something I spent waaaay too much on about a year or two ago, but it’s been the closest thing to a plain denim shirt that I can get my hands on! Its far too hot to wear riding my bike with a jacket on (its a really lovely but thick long sleeved shirt dress) but I guess I have to suck it up until I head over to Target or Kmart since I can’t find anything thrifting. Please excuse my mess of a kitchen/entry-way. Leftover mixers from my party over the weekend are the culprits! And my helmet on the stove.. only three commute days to go :(

Today I wore … chambray tux style shirtdress (Don’t ask Amanda), jeans (LTB by Little Big), black leather biker (Ebay), black oxfords (Payless Shoes) & a bowler (Sportsgirl) .. .

The cycling course I took on Saturday was one of the greatest community run/ council organised events I have ever attended. I feel 100 times more confident riding with traffic, and although my bike lost its pedal, riding a mountain bike took me right back to my childhood! I wish more cities would run these events, its all about communicating with all road users and understanding that the road is there to share!

So, being all ramped up on safety, I  decided to DIY a high visibility cycling vest.. that isn’t as ugly as all the others on the market! (see figure 1 below)

Figure 1: www.eurosafedrive.com

If you too would like to look a little better than the average Joe on your bike at night, choose yourself some light weight polyester fabric, ~70cm, in a bright colour that isn’t too harsh, get some reflective strips from the fabric store and measure between your shoulders to determine how far apart to cut your arm “holes” (see step 1).

Then (step 2) mark your “shoulder to shoulder + 2 cm” length in the middle of the fabric, parallel to the short edge of your fabric rectangle. The extra 2 cm will let you pop on the vest over coats and jackets!

Step 3 will see you folding over your fabric to make a fabric sandwich, lining up the marked arm holes and meaning you only cut once & get a vest with symmetric openings. My slits are about 35 cm in length, again to fit over bulky coats.

In step 4 you have to try on your vest! Make any adjustments to the length of your arm holes here, before you start sewing. Cut cut cut!

Set your sewing machine on a wide zig-zag stitch & sew all the edges to stop your vest from fraying over time. This includes the arm holes (step 5)!

Step 6 is pretty important for evening cycling.. its all about attaching the reflective strips. Lay out your vest and pin your strips in a “coolish” pattern towards the base of your vest, on the outside. You could get really creative here. Now, go sew them on with a straight stitch!

Step 7 is all about laying out the final product and taking photos with and without the flash, to show your friends in blog world and, of course, to test the reflectivity!

Step 8, Wow! Go try it on! Decide if you will be too embarrassed to wear it.

And here it is, all done. I will probably (read definitely) add some reflective tape on the front later. It is all about safety y’know?

What’d ya think? Would you wear it instead of the vest in Figure 1?

I sure will.

Any wanna-be Sydney Cyclists out there?

The City of Sydney is offering FREE Cycling Courses to encourage biking as a genuine mode of transport. They’ve been working hard to upgrade cycling infrastructure (although nothing like that of those biking cities in Europe!) and they realise that there are heaps of people out there that can & want to ride, but aren’t all that confident on the roads.

I’m no expert by any means, so I signed up for the Free Cycling Confidence Course this weekend (there are many more to be held so get clicking!). Also, I’m totally excited to do the Free Bicycle Maintenance Course sometime the following week!

I dare you to give these courses a go (if you live in/can get to the inner west that is). I have no doubt they’ll teach me to be an uber safe bicyclist while having a super fun time. Go on, what are you waiting for?

(I’d recommend going on some easy, local, practice rides to boost your two-wheeled confidence before you go. The waterfront circuit in Glebe is perfect for exactly that & you see the Harbour and ANZAC bridges as you ride! Bonus.)

Hey, so life is pretty damn good at the mo, no? If you were reading this AND wondering, yes I did get the job! The interview was yesterday and I found out today.. I’m pretty damn lucky for the quick turn around. I will finish here in a month and a bit, so no farewells (yet), but the new job means a train-train or a train-bus commute.. which means, unless I grow super balls-y I won’t get to play with Mr Bikey everyday. He’ll just become my special weekend lover. Sorry boyf.

So, for the next month and a bit, I’ll enjoy the pleasure of fuss free, annoying co-passenger free commutes that take all my stresses away. And when its all over, maybe I’ll just ride more often on weekends? Here’s hoping!

Our weather hasn’t really made up its mind yet, and I kinda want it to.. I want to be able to layer up my clothes, experiment with strange jacket/bottom combos and not feel too hot after 9.30 am! And sadly the new employment isn’t as casual as my uni position atm, so I might need to amp up my “professional yet still laid back” looks. New clothes right? Right.

Today I wore … shirt (Italian from the Rozelle markets on the weekend), jeans (old Esprit), leather belt (Vinnies), brown leather shoes (Scooter) & my trusty sidekick Mr Bikey (He’s from ebay!) .. .