Cycle Chic Sundays Does Cockatoo Island

Ladies wanted for dangerously subversive step-through bicycle experiment!!!

Film-maker, Mike Rubbo has a mission.  He wants everyone to ride sit-up/step-through bikes.  He has a blog dedicated to this cause and some might say he is relentless in his quest.

He has 15 vintage ladies step-through bikes and I said I would help him find 15 ladies to ride them and participate in a short documentary film for YouTube.  It will be along the lines of his recent documentary Bike It Or Not (featuring some of these bikes) and that wonderful British film Beauty and the Bike.

The aim is to prove just how accessible this style of bike is and how different it feels to ride.
So have you always wanted to try a step-through classic bicycle ?  Not sure what the big deal is ?
Now is your chance.  We're hoping to find women of all ages (so yes, your younger sister, your mother....) who have perhaps never ridden this style of bike, to put on a frock and come and try.
To make it even more exciting, we will be selling said bikes after the film shoot at low cost (max $100 each) with all proceeds going towards a worthwhile bike related initiative (to be decided).  So not only could you be part of a fun film but you could get to ride away on a new (old) bike!

On top of all that, we will be having a fun ride around the Island and sharing a picnic with our lovely friends the Feather Brigade so it should be a great day.

It's imperative that I know who would like to participate in the film and will require a bike before Saturday so we know we have you covered.

Please either RSVP on the facebook event page, leave a message here or email me if you have any questions.

WHEN:     Sunday 5 December

WHERE:   Cockatoo Island, Sydney Harbour

HOW:       Meet at one of these ferry stops

- Rose Bay (ferry dep.10.13am)

- Circular Quay (ferry for Cockatoo Island via Woolwich dep.11.10am)

- Woolwich (ferry for Cockatoo Island dep.11.34am)

Return ferries are very regular.  Sydney Ferries link here.

BRING:     Some yummy picnic food and drink.  Your own upright bike unless you'd like to ride one of ours.

I'm Declaring This to be the Summer of Cycle Chic Love

That's all.  Bicycles, Summer, Love.  It's all we need.

Cycle Chic Kids Are Go!

One more sleep to go and everything is set for the launch.  We have rummaged through Reverse Garbage, begged and borrowed recycled bits and bobs from friends, scored great crafty supplies from the wonderful Wardrobe Department at Opera Australia and now we're ready for the blinging and biking to begin.

There are cute bike baskets to give away for the most imaginatively decorated bicycles, thanks to our lovely supporters at Gazelle Australia.

Perhaps take a spin in their Cabby too!

My 'Queens of Craft' will be on hand to help with the bike blinging and have all sorts of fabulous ideas - are you ready for unicorn bikes?  Perhaps a robot bike is more your thing?  Paper flowers, beads, bells? Just bring your bike, scooter or tricycle, raid the recycling box for fun stuff to bring and share and be prepared for some F U N!

WHAT:   Bring a family picnic, do some crafty bike decorating and have a fun ride in the park
WHO:     Kids of all ages and their families and carers (with bicycles!)
WHERE:  Near the Learners Circuit at the southern end of Centennial Parklands (map link below)
WHEN:    Sunday 28 November from 10.30am to coincide with Centennial Park's Spring Car-Free Day

Please like our facebook page here and RSVP to the event here or leave a comment or drop us an email

Centennial Parklands information here and map here

Storms are scheduled for late afternoon so fingers crossed for good weather in the morning - we will only be rained off if it's actually raining at 10am.  Check here for an update if unsure!

Cycle Chic Sundays Wraps Up Five Days of Bicycle Film Festival Mayhem!

From the Launch Party last Wednesday to the Wrap Party on Sunday, the Sydney Bicycle Film Festival was a riot of good times.  It was so great spending time with what felt like a big old bike loving family by the end of the week.
Things I learnt - those fixie kids sure know how to party and my bike doesn't keep up very well..... but then that's what I love about her, the LACK of speed.  One day I'll get a single speed, promise.

So as we plan madly for this weekend's launch of Cycle Chic Kids, here is our quick round up of the week.
More pics on flickr.

     
[l. Oh dear "bike polo is cool" says my Felix, age 4     r. Josh, Festival Guru]

     

[l. Waiting for the start of the ride to Bondi and loving my new vintage beachbag/pannier]

[r. Yogi and Axel, best seat in the house]

[Paulie with her very cool pimped up bike]

   

[l. Heading through Paddington on the way to Bondi    r. Great bikes down at the beach]

[The lovely Feather Brigade and the Gelato Cart!]

[The end of the ride]

   

l. The ride home is always my favorite part    r. The ladies camping it up outside the Beach Rd Hotel]

[Inspired bike parking in Bondi]

Hot Pink Bicycle Gelato Cart Deliciousness For Everyone!

Those lovely chaps at Gelato Cart will be joining us tomorrow for some Cycle Chic ice cream madness down at Bondi Beach.
They will be at the northern end of Bondi Beach in front of North Bondi Italian when the Cute Commute and Cycle Chic Sundays arrive for our beach party - just in case you need another excuse to join us tomorrow ??
Their list of flavours will get your tastebuds tingling, salted caramel, cherry-coconut nougat, lavender, rhubarb crumble, elderflower, sesame ginger, lime and mint, oh my.......

Organic creamy scrumptious gelato in a hot pink bicycle driven gelato cart - match made in heaven.

Bling Bling - Are You Ready for Cycle Chic Kids?

We've been planning this for a while and the momentum has been building and now we're ready.
Sydney is ready, indeed it seems the WORLD is ready for kids to get back on their bikes. 

So welcome the newest kid on the block.

We want our kids back on bikes and we're evidently not the only ones as there have been some great global initiatives lately. 

Kidical Mass started monthly rides aimed at children and families in Eugene, Oregon in 2008 and has now spread to other cities along the West Coast of America.

Another American bicycle advocacy group Bike Friendly Oak Cliff (BFOC) in Texas set themselves a challenge recently to get 100 children riding to school in just one week - they succeeded.  Have a look at their video, wonderful stuff.

As parents, we have an obligation to make the streets safer and above all, to make cycling fun again for our kids.
We all remember what it felt like to cruise the streets with friends in the early evening with nowhere in particular to go,  just for the hell of it - no wait, I do that now - fun right ?

My son Felix is four, loves his bike, wants to ride it all the time.  My neighbours Simon and Sonja have three kids between three and ten years old who all ride everyday but there are still too many parents who rely on cars for short trips and relegate bicycles to sport and occasional use.  Time for change.

[Velvet at sunset in pink converse and spokey dokes]

[Felix, far too cool for 3]

So come and join us for our inaugural event in Centennial Park on November 28 be part of the movement of change!

WHAT:   Bring a family picnic, do some crafty bike decorating and have a fun ride in the park
WHO:   Kids of all ages and their families and carers (with bicycles!)
WHERE:   Near the Learners Circuit at the southern end of Centennial Parklands (map link below)
WHEN:   Sunday 28 November from 10.30am to coincide with Centennial Park's Spring Car-Free Day

Please like our facebook page here and RSVP to the event here or leave a comment or drop us an email

Centennial Parklands information here and map here

We are planning all sorts of exciting things on the day so stay tuned for more details over the next few weeks!

Do Purple Bikes Go Faster??

Well Newtown Festival was HOT HOT HOT yesterday and I dragged myself away from Bondi just long enough to check out the entrants in their inaugural Bling Your Bike Competition.

The girls were out in force with their blinged purple bikes and it was great to see them get crafty and have fun.  Fun being what bike riding should ALWAYS be about.... at any age.

Maya and Georgia had decorated their Malvern Star with cupcakes and muffins - a nod to Masterchef Kids perhaps?? - and even had muffins and cookie cutter on their helmets! 
The only mishap was that some of the muffins got knocked off by their skirts while riding - the perils of riding in style discovered at an early age :-)

     

Samira's purple Southern Star was festooned with foil, streamers and sparkles galore and she happily posed like a true Cycle Chica for me to take her photograph.

Disppointingly, there were only two entrants, what's up with that Newtown???.  I have to say I was suprised but I think it was more to do with lack of publicity rather than lack of interest.  Certainly the parents I spoke to were well-informed and very keen to encourage the girls to ride as much as possible - but I suspect they don't need much encouraging....

Miss Nell (one of the City's Cycling Ambassadors) was there in fine form to do a lap of the park with the kids and the rest of the festival was heaving as it always is. 

My guess is that Sydney is more than ready for my next little project - it couldn't come at a better time - are you ready for Cycle Chic Kids???

I'd Love To See This Bicycle In Motion

Cycle Chic Sundays Does the Bicycle Film Festival!

We've been looking forward to this for a while and are planning a big week of bike F U N!

We'll be starting with the Opening Night Party at the Beresford Hotel on Wednesday and assuming we're still rolling at the end of the week, we'll be joining the Cute Commute for a ride and some beach fun followed by the final night of films at the Bondi Beach Hotel and the Festival wrap party.

So, time to get ready for some Summer beach lovin' and sand between your spokes. 

There will be a competition to find the most bikealicious beach babe so dress up (or down as you see fit....) and more surprises revealed through the week.

Hope to see you somewhere along the route on Sunday and during the Festival.

WHO: Anyone who favours style over speed and feels like some beach frolics
WHERE: Meet at Taylor Square at 1pm or the following Pit Stops / Cnr of Queen & Moncur Sts, Woollahra at 1.45pm / The top of Cooper Park Steps on Victoria Rd, Bellevue Hill at 2.15pm. Finishes at the Northern end of Bondi Beach (in front of the RSL)
WHEN: Sunday November 21

RSVP on our facebook page here and like us too while you're there if you haven't already.

New York City Chic... From Behind

[Stylist, Actress and Fashion Lover Yana Kamps on 4th Street]

Ok so this site has been tweeted around lately but perhaps you've missed it and even if you haven't, it doesn't hurt to see it again.  downtownfrombehind is a brilliant photographic project capturing subjects riding their bikes from behind on every street below 14th in New York City.

These environmental portraits highlight Manhattanites who have had an impact on NYC, making downtown what it is today but more than that, they convey the feeling of a city in change.

Subjects have included designers, musicians, artists, restaurateurs, hoteliers, academics and activists. 

It's a great concept and beautiful photographs and it celebrates a city which by all accounts from last night's CITYTALK 2010 is undergoing somewhat of a renaissance. (more on the talk tomorrow)

[Coco, Freelance Travel Writer on Astor Place]

[Cole J Ramstad, Musician, Blogger & Love Enthusiast on 13th St]

Book 'em In - Cycle Chic Sundays' Upcoming Rides!!

Busy, busy, busy - it's a crazy time of year as Sydney starts to warm up for Summer and we are plotting and planning some great rides, so lock in these dates and we'll post more details as they come to hand!

November 21 - The closing day of the Sydney Bicycle Film Festival
If there is ANY strength left in us after the 4 days of festival fun, we'll be joining the Cute Commute from the city to Bondi for the final session at the Bondi Beach Hotel, followed by the final after party.
Too much fun being planned for one day - you don't want to miss this!

December 5 - Cockatoo Cycle Chic
We'll be taking a trip to the magical Cockatoo Island for a picnic and making a film for YouTube.
This will be a BIG one and there are beautiful bikes to be borrowed and auctioned so round up your chic bikeless friends.....

Calling all Cycle Chic Kids - Bling Your Bike at the Newtown Festival!

Ok so there are a lot of bikes in Newtown, that's a fact. So at next Sunday's Festival, we expect to see some serious cycle chic.
The Festival is one of Sydney's largest and longest running free community festivals and will be a day full of the usual community shenanigans. World music, great food, an Eco Zone, the wonderful Great Aussie Clothes Swap, stalls, bicycle valet parking with free tune-ups, kids activities and.....no wait, kids activities?

Now there is something pretty cool happening for our little bicycle warriors at the Newtown Festival this year. Something that I have a very keen interest in, being mother to a mini bicycle maniac.
Kids are not only being encouraged to ride to the festival, brilliant in itself, but they are also being invited to decorate their bikes for the inaugural "Bling Your Bike" competition.

Open to kids of Primary School age, all they have to do is go bananas with the recycling and get crafty with their bikes, ride up to the festival and register and then join the parade through the park. The City of Sydney's Bicycle Ambassadors will judge the best bikes, there will be cool prizes and proud parents.

Kids love bikes, especially Cycle Chic Kids (as Mikael's son Felix from Copenhagen Cycle Chic proves) and they should be riding and having fun.  We were all kids once and we remember what it was like. So if you have small people, help them funk up their bike, pimp yours while you're at it and head on down to the festival next Sunday.  We'll be there with bells on.


The festival is on November 14 from 9.30-5.30 at Camperdown Memorial Rest Park, Australia Street, Newtown.
Festival details here and full kids competition details here.

Cute Boys On Bikes

My work colleagues and I think that Elvis definitely qualifies as a cutie on a bike on this Tuesday morning....

Severely Pimped Up Ride

I'm not even going to ask how this is possible.....?

Is This Picnic Basket Too Ambitious?

Just need some sunshine and a LOT of food and Cycle Chic Sundays Summer Picnics are set to go....

Autumnal Cycle Chic, Canadian Style

I miss Autumn.  Those days when the Seasons start to change and you can almost smell the earth.  The beautiful red tones of the leaves and that crisp feeling in the air.  The anticipation of the months ahead with the lead-up to Christmas and the possibility of snow....ah snow.
And here, the Seasons drift seamlessly between the extremes of Winter and Summer.

Thanks to the guys over at Vancouver Cycle Chic for allowing me to dream for a while of cute Canadian boys on bikes on this miserable wet Sydney day.

Gorgeous Bicycle Illustrations from Denmark

SO love these illustrations from Danish graphic designer Mads Berg - not all his work is bicycle related but hey, this is Cycle Chic after all.....

A Little Bike Porn for a Monday Morning

[via Design *Sponge]

Design *Sponge really turns me on.  There I've said it.  Give me some nicely varnished floorboards, white bed linen and a vintage bike and I'm yours.