We were well chuffed when Tanya's email showed up on the cyber radar. Yet another Portland view of their blossoming bike culture, this time through Tanya's eyes.
I love your blog. I used to live in Copenhagen and I really miss it there as I
miss a lot of the practical and humane ways of living in Northern Europe as a whole. Still, someone has to help spread the dream here in the USA. I am now the CEO for a corporate wellness company - RecessWellness.com. I just think that going to gym to "workout" or donning a bunch of crazy cycle gear is just silliness. I even own a Christiania trike that I use for hauling gear.
I have been trying to get regular people in Portland offices to just get on their bikes and stop making such a big deal of everything. People just about have a coronary when they find out I bike around in a suit and heels in the rain!
Happy biking (in heels)!
Tanya
What a wonderful and inspiring email to recieve. Thanks for thinking of us, Tanya! We wish you an eternal tailwind and best of luck with your quest. What a cool, blue bike you have, too.
Go Portland!
Wow, the first shot is great I thought it might be a self portrait, but it looks very cool, and she has some nice legs :) The 2nd set was good too, not sure if you are familiar with this or not but there is a great calendar done by a group of ladies out there at
ReplyDeletewww.point83.com - Unfortunetely the calendar is sold out I think but it is great I got one this year after missing it last year. Some hot ladies.
Another great calendar is at www.muddbunnies.com - Its a mountainbike girl group calendar.
I am totally with Tanya on cycling garb. I work for a large bicycle store in Texas and lead a ride on Saturday mornings in casual clothes. My manager said "Everyone looks like there in the Tour de France, you look like you're going to a Jimmy Buffet concert"!
ReplyDeletethanks for commenting.
ReplyDeletethe first shot is a self-portrait... not of me, of course, but of the submitter, Tanya.
thanks for the links.
i agree, mark. when cycling becomes 'normal' in a society, people just wear normal clothes. like millions of city-dwellers in Europe.
Those shoes rock!
ReplyDeleteAwesome post, and way to go Tanya!
ReplyDeleteTanya- I don't know you, but already I'm a big fan! You've got style, chutzpah, and hopefully a really great ride today in your pumps.
ReplyDeleteZakalicious- Yet another inspirational post--- thanks.
If i had unlimited resources i would single-handedly transform portland into a cycling paradise.
ReplyDeleteyou people are just so really cool.
Tanya, how come I've never seen those pink shoes?! Probably because I would find some sneaky way to take them from you.
ReplyDeleteI'm a client and friend of Tanya's. She truly bikes everywhere and manages to look good and smell good too. I'll have to ask her about how she manages that. When I bike to work, when the weather is nice (okay, okay, I'm one of those fair weather cyclists), I wear work clothes: dress, pearls, but with bike shorts and shoes. I'm a long way from doing it in heels. I also have to deal with 20 minutes worth of glowing (sweating) as my ride catches up with me. It's fine if I don't have a meeting I'm going to right away.
Lovely shoes, Tanya.
ReplyDeleteI am a bit surprised at what Tanya says about people's reactions to her commuting by bike in suits here in Portland. I recently moved here from New York City (where lots of girls in lovely clothes ride beautiful bikes) and find that Portland is the bike-friendliest place I've ever been in the US. I see people in suits, women in work clothes, and people dressed all sorts of ways commuting by bike here. And unless I'm on my way to the gym, I'm always nicely dressed on my bike, too. That part of the bike culture in Portland is one of the things I love about my new city!
what about minneapolis minnesota in the USA? (or 'iceland' whatever you prefer) we ride thru it all and even like it. about fashion.. since many of us claim to be of norwegian heritage... "there is no such thing as bad weather only improper clothing". bike trondhiem, the bike escalator is weak but unique. .
ReplyDeleteRegarding sweating, please refer to #4 on the list of 18 ways to know that you have bicycle culture
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear that Minneapolis has avid bike culture advocates. Regarding the Norwegian comment, there have never been enough Norweigans to go around to populate a state. You can also thank the Danes and Swedes and Icelanders for creating the Viking enclave that is Minnesota... .-)
sorry i couldn't let it rest like this ... on norwegians populating a state...2 things you don't want to see, sausage being made and norwegians making love.
ReplyDeletei'm married w/ 2 kids and I can't figure out when we got together to produce them, my wife is hot,she's a norwegian/american, nye, ikke likke lutefisk. but i make and she pushes it around on the plate
Andrew - do we know each other? Ha ha. I have lived car free and biked in Minneapolis, MN AND Iceland. And in heels (except for in the winter in Mpls - then I looked like a pile of blankets on wheels).
ReplyDeleteAs far as the comment about the Portland bike scene goes, yes, the bike scene is good but don't fool yourself into thinking we don't have a long way to go. Most of the folks I meet through work are not converts (Jackie being an exception)...yet. I think this site could change their mind.
thanks for the heads-up zakka. I didn't know there was another christianiaiste in Portland. Tanya, if you ever see us pushing our trike around, give a holler! --Patrick
ReplyDeletePatrick - I am surprised we haven't already collided. I am in NE near Pix! Where you at?
ReplyDelete