Model Agyness Deyn with her Electra "Amsterdam" bike in Soho, photo courtesy The Daily Mail
So here is a little secret about me: I don't know how to ride a bike. Yet. I am fully committed to remedying this sad fact in the next month or so. Sure its Fall going on Winter, but that just means less people in the park to watch me fall on my bum, right? I have to say I haven't been so excited by a new personal endeavor in a while. (Well, there was my first road race this summer, but I technically already knew how to run so it was just a matter of showing up. This is different.) No one taught me when I was a kid because... well I think my parents just had more important (not really) things to do. I remember asking a few times, but it never happened. Fast forward 20 years and here I am. But this time around I have the time and the resources to get it done on my own. And did I mention I have a pretty (sweet) young thing just waiting to be my ride?
Electrais a brand of bikes that I have just become familiar with but I have devoured their whole catalog in the past 24 hours and I am in deep, deep amour. I was originally lured by the Electra Townie, which was recommended on a message board as a stylish starter bike, and it has definitely taken the place of first runner-up should my Amsterdam dreams not come to fruition. But the Electra Amsterdam is just too chic and beautiful to pass up - I must have it. The obvious pre-condition to this is that I actually learn how to ride first. And I've got that all figured out. Found a wonderful PDF lesson on teaching bike riding for kids and adults, and after reading it three times I have never felt more certain that this is definitely doable and going to be one of those things I laugh at myself for not doing a long time ago.
Besides, I can't possibly move to any of my dream cities like Copenhagen, Amsterdam, or Ho Chi Minh without some bike skillz... Well maybe not Ho Chi Minh because as much as I love it there, their school-of-fish traffic laws bewilder and frighten me. I'll stay on two feet.
Need some fashionable biking inspiration? Check out Copenhagen Cycle Chic