Traffic in India

Beep! Beep! Apart from left-hand traffic this is the first thing one notices after coming to India. It’s the cars, autorickshaws and motorbikes blowing their horns on the crowded roads. Unlike Europe, however, this noise level does not indicate stress or anger. People honk for various reasons -- before and while overtaking, to indicate a turn, before stopping or changing lanes.

Girls and bicycles

I must admit that I almost forget the importance of today -- it's International Women's Day, and probably a good idea to think about women and transport as well. If once written how little influence women have on traffic planning and how much of difference that could make (see "Women and transport").

Through Alec's article "Girl.Pedal.Power: Selbstbewußtsein per Rad" on the Austrian bicycle culture platform Velosophie.at I found this interesting video about school girls in Darlington, UK, who started to think about the use of bicycles in their town and compared it to the bicycle-friendly German city Bremen. Here's their video "Beauty and the Bike" in which they talk about their experiences:


If you got interested -- read more about their project "Beauty and the Bike" in German and English.

What are your reasons to (not) ride a bicycle? Do you prefer cycle lanes or rather not have them?

Lingerie on bikes

Earlier we already discussed whether there is something called "bike fashion". Well, there is, in some ways. But these days also the "usual fashion" is proudly presented on bikes -- even underwear! Here's a picture of the lingerie collection "Sonia Rykiel pour H&M" presented on beautiful old-style bikes in Paris:

Leg warmers are ladies' best friends in the winter

You like to ride in skirts and dresses? Ever wondered how to survive a cold winter's day with just (thin) tights? Well, let me tell you that suffering is not necessary. There is a simple and elegant solutions called leg warmers.

Leg warmers will obviously warm your legs. But they don't just keep you warm, they are also fashionable. They come in different lengths, colors and fabrics. Currently I own three woolen pairs, one of which is over knees. That is particularly useful if I want to wear rather thin tights underneath, or short skirts.

The good thing about all of them: once you get inside they are easy to take off or can simply be pushed down to the ankles. Besides you can wear them with all kinds of clothes (may it be skirts, dresses or trousers) and footwear (even boots).

And you can easily knit them yourself! It's almost as easy as kniting a scarf :). Find a few how-tos here: How to knit leg warmers, How to knit your own leg warmers, Knitting Pattern Central etc.

Ready for the winter now?

re: bike fashion in fall

In Budapest, just before our ways parted after the mobility workshop, me, Anna and Ida went to do some shopping at a bike fashion store Musu. The store was tiny, but there were not many identical products on the racks and they would customize their products in your taste so the choice was plentiful. We were impressed by the collection, which was inspired by and designed for cycling, and everyone ended up leaving with something bought from the store. Here's what I bought:


Some bling, of course! And...


... a poncho for the chilly fall. It is made of thick and heavy cloth so it keeps the wind off your skin. Love the print! The skirt (below) is also a Musu product. The gray part which rises almost to the empire line is part of the skirt. There is a pocket on the right side made of the gray cloth. It is a good skirt for cycling because the hem is just high enough not to get stuck anywhere and low enough not to show too much. Also the gray kidney warmer-part is very comfortable. A big bonus is that you can combine it with other garments to wear it anywhere (tested while shopping, in school, bar, and a fancy arts exhibition opening party).


Here's what I wear in the fall (OK, the jacket wasn't the right color). You can see that it is quite a lot of clothes, layering is essential, but just wait for the winter...

Do you have special cycling clothes? What do you think about Musu style and mine? (Yep, I'm combining toque, helmet and high heels, but all of them are must!)

Is there something called 'bike fashion'?

A difficult topic. Of course, some people would say, we even own 'cycling clothes'. However, when I say 'bike fashion' I certainly don't mean that:

Weekend warriors on their bikes (and a bad example of a two-way bike path in Vienna)

So what kind of 'bike fashion' am I talking of then? Let's say there are two different types, not necessarily disjunct:

1. Comfy clothes one can easily cycle in:

That includes of course almost all types of clothes. You name it: trousers, skirts, dresses, suits etc. Just open your closet!

Bike fashion

However, there might be some designer clothes or shoes that are neither constructed for walking, sitting nor cycling, but only for gracefully standing around. Like this:

In case the dress is stackable, cycling is still an option :)

2. Clothes with bike-related imprints:

Although I have seen a lot of such clothes I don't own any myself. But I can provide you with a picture from the lovely musu shop in Budapest:

Simply adorable

No matter what, most of use are aware of the fact that cycling is fashionable anyhow. And that it is particularly fashionable if one rides a lovely bicycle. Indeed, riding pretty is easy. Especially girls and bicycles go together quite well. If you're not convinced consult Vélo Vogue for some fashion advice. So come on, let's go for a ride!

Keep it up, fellow cycling friends. We will too :). If you're keen on spying you can see what we wear in blog posts marked with the clothes label.

Time for tights

After a long-lasting wonderful summer ...

... I'm now ready for a colorful fall.


Let's cycle into the golden sunset together!

Rasta riders or what to do with hair

To meet the title I guess I have to post some pictures of rasta cyclists in Vienna ...

How do you like to style your hair when cycling? Any experience with messy hair and how to deal with it?

I currently have shoulder-length hair and mostly just leave it like it is -- simply wild and untamed :-). I like to feel the air flowing through my hair when I'm riding my bike. Only when it's really windy I pin it up or use a hair-band. When I had longer hair I used to tie it back into a ponytail as it's easy and it doesn't get messy this way.

Take a ride on the wild side

I had been against riding in skirts since I can think of it. My friends didn't, and nobody in my family did. Mum used to tell us that cycling in a skirt is vulgar because it might ride up. Another reason not to do it is that I almost always ride on men's frames with high top tube and I thought that it would be difficult to get on the bike.

Only now my blog mates Anna from Barcelona and anna from Vienna encouraged me to try it.

Last weekend I spent in Vienna to visit the bike festival (anna wrote about it). I just had my KONA racer with me, but Sunday afternoon on the Danube island I gave it a go.

It's not too hard to get on the bike, although it feels a little strange to pull the leg over the top tube instead of just to swing it over the saddle. The skirt did not ride up (well, it was a rather long skirt borrowed from anna) to show my private parts but it was quite chilly between my legs. And the skirt got entangled in my rear brake quite often, so I would say that it is still improper to ride with a skirt on a road bike.

maff's rocking hard in a skirt (German: Rock)

Well, it could be deemed to be improper to ride in a skirt for men.
:D

Women and transport

I can only talk about my own experience, but have you ever noticed that there are no women doing BMX (at least none that I know of) and that women road cycling is little-noticed in the public? There are hardly any female bike mechanics or frame builders too (actually Trisha already investigated that). Even among civil engineers and traffic planners are far less women than men. There are also fewer women driving buses, trams, subways and trains..

What about everyday life? I read that in Austria there are more women than men who use public transport and bikes to commute or simply walk, although generally women have more trips per day and have to carry more things (because in families there are still more women who look after the children and do the shopping). Hence women move much more complex than men and therefore have more "experience" with transportation systems.

But as I already said -- traffic planning in Austria (and probably also worldwide) is mostly done by men who drive their cars to work in the morning and back home in the evening. Can you see the discrepancy?

Some people already ask for gender mainstreaming in traffic planning. I found a nice introductory website about women and mobility: "Frauen machen schön mobil!" ("Women make lovely mobility", in English and German). Please tell me if you know more about research in that direction, I'm very much interested in that.

And to round the topic off two pictures of beautiful women cycling in Vienna :-). Keep at it and get involved!