Carbon Trace » cycle chic

Way Totally Cool

Andy Cline — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 15:27:38 +0000

So I’ve been grousing for more than a year now that Springfield needs a women-oriented bicycle blog and/or cycle chic blog. In my media ethics class the other day I discovered that a student of mine has started such a blog and is trying to get a causal riding club going for women. Check out WhimCycle.

Technorati Tags: bicycle advocacy, cycle chic, cycling

Bumping Into Cronies

Andy Cline — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 19:49:31 +0000

I try to spend an hour or two in the morning hanging out at the Mudhouse about twice per week. It’s a good spot to bump into my cronies, i.e. people I know around town –and good friends — who are willing to spend a few minutes (or one or two hours) chatting. Developing, and then bumping into, cronies is one of the pleasures of urban density. It also happens the be a nexus of ideas.

This nexus is one of the things Richard Florida has in mind when he claims that cities that want to thrive in the 21st century must attract the creative classes. When these folks bump into each other, interesting stuff happens.

OK, I don’t want to make too many claims for me and my cronies. But this morning a few ideas were flying:

To go along with the 1-mile Solution, we need something to accommodate people who, for whatever reason, just cannot commute by bicycle regularly or at all. So how about this: Keep a Bicycle at Work. It may be possible for some regular commuters to keep a bicycle at work for short errands. So I started a Facebook group and will put some brain muscle to this idea and come up with a few suggestions. Any ideas out there that might make such a choice easier?
We need a regular get-to-know-downtown ride connected with Center City Saturday — monthly happenings on the third Saturdays of the month.
We still need a Cycle Chic blogger for Springfield (I’ll help you; just step up!). And we need a Cycle Chic or Tweed ride connected with the First Friday Art Walk.

Oh, yes. Bumping into one’s cronies a a good thing.

Technorati Tags: bicycle blogging, bicycle culture, cycle chic, cycling, Urban density

Proper Bicycling Attire

Andy Cline — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 17:08:06 +0000

Here’s a test to determine if your short-trip utility bicycling attire is appropriate: Your attire should be equally comfortable and useful for the trip and the destination.

Pictured below is what I believe to be the proper utility bicycling attire for a 1.5-mile ride to a friend’s house for dinner.

Note the leather jackets that look good and keep you warm on a cool evening. Also note the casual tops and pants that are comfortable for riding and lounging after dinner while engaging is witty banter and enjoying a fine bottle of wine. Shoes: Low heels for her and casual leather for me. Oh, and can’t forget the Carbon Trace hat — good for publicity mostly. My wife opted for a helmet.

We found this equipment in our closets.

Technorati Tags: bicycle advocacy, bicycle culture, cycle chic, cycling, utility cycling

Good Sign (And Cycle Chic)

Andy Cline — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 17:19:35 +0000

The picture below represents good news, IMO.

I had an appointment downtown yesterday afternoon at a coffee shop heretofore untested called Heroes. On my way home at about 4:00 p.m. I ran into these four young women riding on Pickwick Ave.

Casual, normal clothes. Check

Cruiser bicycles. Check.

Smiles. Check.

Things are getting better in Springfield.

Technorati Tags: bicycle advocacy, bicycle culture, cycle chic, cycling

The Whole Cycle Chic Thing

Andy Cline — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 19:23:56 +0000

I’m a big fan of the Cycle Chic movement, epitomized by Mikael’s work at Copenhagen Cycle Chic. He links to many other similar sites — a growing number of them in the U.S. I like it because the whole point is to highlight how normal bicycling is or can be. All those chic folks in all those bicycling pictures are really just wearing their everyday clothes — and looking good doing it.

Springfield needs a Cycle Chic movement. Here’s a step in that direction:

That’s my kid. I took the picture the day I bought her that bicycle. I sent the picture to Copenhagen Cycle Chic, and Mikael ran it. That lead to a bunch of hits — more than year ago and I still get hits.

Besides showing bicycling as a normal thing that normal people do in normal clothes, Cycle Chic also portrays bicycling as safe — because it is safe. It’s safer per hour than just living. And it’s waaaay safer per hour than driving a car. You don’t see a lot of helmets in Cycle Chic pictures because a helmet is just such a drag on a fabulous (i.e. entirely normal) look.

We need a Cycle Chic movement in Springfield as part of our progression toward becoming a bicycle-friendly community. It would be easy if I just volunteered to do it (whatever “it” is). But I’m thinking there has to be someone out there itching for a fun role in bicycle advocacy. I’ll help. But who will run with this?

Technorati Tags: bicycle advocacy, cycle chic, cycling