An Ode to Threadless and Bicycles

I'm in the worst mood lately, so consider this entry for good measure. I have been making progress with biking and exploring new things, however I've been going through some personal issues lately and am having a hard time gathering my thoughts. 

The first 6 shirts can be found at Threadless. IF you've been living under a rock, or just aren't into t-shirts, Threadless is a lovely clothing company that let's artists contribute original designs, and let their customers vote on ones they want to be made into shirts.

 Liberty by

Kneil Melicano at Threadless

I'm not all about wearing bike shirts, just to say "HEY EVERYONE! Yeah I ride a BIKE!" But most of the ones I own are ones that I really like the art concept. I bought this one because I really like the symbolism of the phoenix.

Missing by Julian Glander at Threadless

This one I bought after Tom had his Bontrager stolen out of the back of his car. It's a sad sad thing when a bike gets stolen. I feel like this is the general thought that anyone would have towards a bike thief. Tom's a good guy though, and thought, that if some jerks stole it and tried to sell it, then maybe someone somewhere bought it and enjoys riding it. If YOU have ever had a bike stolen from you, check out the I Hate You Bike Thief blog/website. There are posters you can print to tell your local bike thief that he/she's a jerk face and reader stories that are HILARIOUS.

Have A Nice Day by Chalermphol Harnchakkham at threadless

I never bought this one, but think that it's really beautiful. I love nature, and I love bikes - the bird on the handlebars is a nice touch.

Bike Chaos by Fabio Franca at Threadless

I love this one. I wanted to buy it for Tom but he tends to like smaller simpler designs. I like it though =)

Color Wheel by Ross Zietz at Threadless

This one they just recently put up, I think it's pretty cool, maybe for some of you art majors out there.

Infinity MPG by Ross Zietz Threadless

This is Threadless' most popular bike design. I decided to show the tote bag, because if I ever do end up getting it, I'd get it on a bag or a water bottle, rather than the shirt.


Another one of my favorite shirts that I'll probably be wearing a lot this summer is this one

It's JANE! from See Jane Ride! (no, not the model, on the shirt!)

They also have a slamming shirt-dress that I want to get. Look look look at it!

These and other merch can be found HERE. I'd recommend it especially if you're an active sassy lady and of course if you love See Jane Ride.

Well hopefully blog, this will hold you over for now. Coming up soon -

-My personal beliefs regarding motion and why everything in my life needs to constantly be moving, and how biking fits into that.
- My progress so far, and things I feel better about, like evil hills.
-Ride soundtracks. I don't know if there's some rule that it's unsafe to listen to music while on a bike, (not being able to hear things around you) but I always have my ipod with me, and I'd like to share the tunes.
-Updates on some more adventures, Trips back to Allentown, and Vali's biking progress as well.

BE the Bicycle

My biggest obstacle I face is wanting to tell every story all at one moment. Please bare with me kind readers. I need to ration my entries =)

When the warmer weather of 2010 rolled around I started to accustom myself to the idea of my new bike. I knew that I wanted to spend more time with my boy, get in shape, and see new sights in a different way. We walked our roommates dog, Rascal, around the neighborhood, and in doing so discovered a nice little park nearby with a bike path. The path was pretty tame, except one part where you had the option of fording a river. Clearly this was awesome. I got out to ride a couple times, fell in the river twice, but felt sad without Rascal. My outdoor ventures remained walking the dog, and barely riding my new bike.

 This is Rascal, upset that I was attempting to ride my bike,

instead of taking him for walks.

I faced riding my new bike with optimism. While I faced many obstacles - my bike was too big for me, I didn't have a helmet yet, the seat hurts my hoohah, the area I lived in was also bicycle-challenged  - I was determined to overcome them. I coped with this as I tend to do with all things, by making it mine. Personalization is something I do as a roundabout way to possession. By declaring something mine I can take ownership of the situation.

I think back to acting classes in high school. "BE the bicycle Megan, BE THE BICYCLE."

an example... When I was a teenager I had a guitar. Decorated to say, "this is my guitar." Could I play guitar? NO. 

Complete with butterfly transfer decals and glow in the dark frets. 

All I could play was the Meow Mix theme song and the 007 song. 

And how might this guitar relate to my new bike? Well.... I did the same thing to it. Thought dressing it up nice would make it more for me.

Green was a lovely accent color, so I got some pretty star handle grips, a mint green light(for night riding) and a green bottle holder.

Conveniently the water bottles at FreezeThaw (my friends' shop) are also green.

Luckily I had some sweet gloves lying around, from when I was a cage fighter. 

I also found my name license plate from when I was a kid, and crashed my sweet red huffy.

I delayed buying a helmet. I attempted to get one when I bought all this other awesome stuff but couldn't afford the ones at the shop. I knew the world of biking was going to be expensive. I didn't even know what I was looking for in a helmet. If we have to get personal here, and we will, I think I didn't buy a helmet because I was scared.

I figured that as long as I didn't have a helmet yet, I couldn't do anything of a higher risk level. Probably the same reason why I won't go snowboarding without health insurance. It became my excuse for everything. I stuck to riding on the road, which was equally scary (grr traffic). As much as I wanted to venture into the woods, I told myself I wasn't allowed to without protection. Finally, when I thought I was ready for bigger and better things, I bought a helmet.

I think I've worn it once.