piecycle races are coming your way

Piecycle!
Piecycle!
I want to ride my piecycle
I want to ride my...

Hm.



Friday is "treat day" in my department and yesterday it was my turn. I baked an apple pie and a mixed berry pie (only one with a from-scratch crust, though) and transported them to work the best way I know: by bicycle.

I took my older bike because it has the wider basket that was able to fit the containers. You can only see one of them in this photo; the second was in a flat box underneath that red towel.

The pies arrived at work completely unscathed. Mission accomplished.

archive adventures, part 2

It's back to the archive again today, with another old shot that my mother sent me when I mentioned I was looking for photos of myself and the bicycles my family had when I was young.



This isn't me, actually; it's my little sister (on the left) and an anonymous wee friend. (She may be 27 now but she'll still always be my "little" sister.)

This trike was... how do you sum it up in one word? Awesome. It was our introduction to bicycling, but it certainly didn't get left behind when we moved on to two-wheelers. I remember our forays into "cargo cycling" like the photo above (and that wagon deserves a place of honour itself!) and into doubling (a second kid would stand on the back). A bell, those jangly spoke-beads, and oh-- that colour!

Tricycles so have a place in my heart. If I ever have a need for a cargo cycle, I think a cargo trike (2-wheels-front OR 2-wheels-back) may just be considered.

shopping by bicycle

Holt Renfrew never disappoints with complicated and often stunning window displays. This holiday season, winter transportation cycling appears in one of their windows on the Granville side. Chain gaurd! Furry boots! This manequin has done her Christmas shopping by bicycle and so can you.

(Although a slightly more organized load might be prudent...)

cycling shoes

Because what is a rear rack for except to carry extra shoes?



Extra new shoes.

bike to work & to the garden centre week

This was Bike to Work Week in Vancouver.

Monday to Wednesday, it rained. It drizzled, poured, and spat in typical Vancouver style. It did so always in the morning, when I was making that crucial decision whether or not to ride to work, so 2 out of 3 nice afternoons did nothing to alleviate the problem.

Today ... not so. Ta da! Dry enough. Just in time, too, for the nearest Thursday bike-to-work-week commuter station to be the "cycle in style" one, where they said they encouraged suits and heels. I was late leaving work so rolled up almost at 6:30, when they would supposedly be closing. Regretably, I didn't see any suits or heels other than me, but I did see a beautiful dutch bike from Rain City Bikes. (Didn't manage to identify its owner, though.) Chatted with a nice gentleman who's helping organize Velopalooza starting tomorrow and complimented me on how my helmet coordinated with my outfit. (It's purple ... which matches everything in my wardrobe. Not kidding.) I also got some info about local cycling resources and was given a free banana, perfectly ripe. Free perfectly ripe bananas ... now that's fantastic!

Voila, my cycling "shoes":




I rode up Granville (closed to traffic right now so a cycling paradise!), navigated a traffic jam, and then tried out a bit more of the bike land on Burrard (which still intimidates me). Destination was the garden centre to pick up some herbs. Thank goodness for bike baskets to carry them home in, no? I think, however, that I'm going to put a larger basket on the back because I seem to be turning into a cycling trucker. I'm both the "be prepared" type and hate lugging junk on the bus, so extra space won't go to waste. Maybe a rack on the front, too, and probably a kickstand. Practicality rules!