Tuesday, March 15, 2011

April, Campbell and Milwaukee, Chicago, IL

April rides a Champange colored Pugeot called Jolene
What are you wearing? I thought I looked pretty ridiculous on my way out today...it was too warm for a jacket but cold enough for Smartwool socks and lobster-claw gloves, apparently. All my clothes are secondhand except for the Tour de Fat hat, comfy knit neckwarmer my lovely friend Julie just made me, Seagull messenger bag, and Aldo (sale shop) shoes. I'm also wearing a Major Taylor button that I made, because he was pretty much a badass. Got these pants from a West Town Bikes women's night clothing swap, by the way, and I think I found this sweatshirt on my friend Jeff's porch? I'm not usually this color-coordinated, but I ALWAYS wear my helmet while riding.

Tell me about your bike? This is Jolene, my mostly-Craigslisted, currently-mustachioed Peugeot. I believe the color would be "champagne". She's sporting a cardboard basket-stache in honor of 826CHI's annual "Mustacheathon" fundraiser. The event has been over for a few weeks now but you can still support my favorite nonprofit's excellent free writing programs for Chicago youth, and see Jolene in her fully mustached glory, at www.826chi.org/moustache.

Where are you going? Home from downtown to pick up my other bike/panniers to go grocery shopping. (the snickerdoodle cupcake in my basket isn't going to cut it)

Why ride? Well...Because it's Fun. It's Exercise. It's good for the Environment. And it's free Transportation. And if you take the first letter from each of those reasons it spells FEET, which is exactly what you use to ride your bike! (Sorry, did I mention I got paid to teach fifth graders that for two years?)

While riding you …? Stick my tongue out a lot to relieve road rage.

How can Chicago improve bike infrastructure or make Chicago more bike friendly? More enforced education of bike laws: I honestly wonder why there are signs for every other parking restriction but nothing telling drivers that parking in a bike lane is illegal.

*** Check out April's Homemade buttons on Etsy.  She takes custom requests at aprilbuttons@gmail.com
She also has a blog: http://silverfoxter.tumblr.com/ 

4 comments: