Bike Directions from HopStop

Alexandra from HopStop emailed me a week or two ago to let me know of their new bike directions feature. Exciting! The feature is in beta right now, and I fully aim to try it out this summer. It was launched in collaboration with Equinox Gyms (they also brought us the new "calories burned" feature to the service) - pretty smart, yes? There are some mapped routes on the site, and the directions have little labels showing where the bike paths are.



When I asked how the routes were calculated (safest, most direct, bike lanes vs. not, etc.), Alexandra responded with, "We prioritize bike lanes, and highlight them within the contextual route itself and on the overview map. We also consider the fastest trip in our routes in terms of routing bikers from point-A to point-B in the most efficient way possible." Efficient sounds familiar, it is HopStop after all. Their public transit directions have been scarily to-the-minute accurate (way more so than Google Maps) over the years. So I'm excited to see what this is like. You can still use the "send to your phone" option as well, which has always been a nice nod to the whole mobility thing. Happy (and safe) riding!

Safari bikes

This was a rare moment of brilliance - leopard and tiger striped bikes, locked next to each other.



I hope their owners are friends.

Eastery Feather

Saw two stunners on the way to brunch last weekend...

I saw a bunch of these Fujis last spring when i was shopping for my bike; I may have even ridden one. And almost wiped out.



These beautiful wheels were on the diagonal corner. Same color scheme as this one.

Oh, it's definitely Spring

My boyfriend's parents were in town this weekend, and we all went for a long walk after getting plates heaped with cheeseburgers and fries for lunch. It was the most bike-ful day of the year, and I went camera happy. I was still a bit fuzzy from the previous night until I saw this:





Here's a white one with seafoam wire basket and back fender:



I'm going to get mine tuned up soon so I can start zooming to noodle shops at dusk with friends. So excited.

Hints of spring

And an apropos color, too -



I saw this one while walking around a friend's new neighborhood, and stopped in my tracks to take a picture. It made me want to search Etsy for an enamel hair comb, or find a gray cardigan with shiny green buttons in this exact color.

You guys will be seeing more and more posts here soon, the weather is finally beginning to un-stubborn itself. I think. Strange that I never did a post about the poor bikes up to their handlebars in piles of snow this winter - I mostly just felt badly when I'd walk by them.

Also, I may have written about this blog for the first time on cellar door just now. Strange, no?

The golden season

Kinda like the golden hour, but for time of year. End of summer. I threw clothes on with my eyes half open on Saturday morning, filled my tires and rode my bike in the 72° weather to an aluminum-sided diner car under the bridge.



Met my dear friends Brandi and Robby for bloody marys, omelettes with gruyere, bratwurst and salad. Last minute sticky bun, too. Sat next to those shiny moustache handlebars outside.



I was singing The Bike Song to myself for the rest of the day.

Aspen color explosion

Try to ignore the title of this blog for just this one post. I can't just leave the photo on my Flickr page. I went to Aspen for a wedding over the weekend, and minding my own business walked nearly into this:



Isn't that insane? All of these were well over a thousand dollars, and well over a thousand jaw drops. I was taken back to my middle school mall hangout days when I would walk into Candy HQ and walk out with a cellophane bag full of sour straws, candy buttons and gummy sharks.

Popsicles Please

Spotted this across the street while wandering around waiting for late dinner companions.



Makes me want watery Popsicles all over again.

Springy

This one stopped me dead in my tracks:



It is the most perfect springy green shade I've seen on a bike. The other color flares, accessories, and fact that it's standing very straight make it even greater.

Eastery

This is a cute friend to have.



This one's owner was nice enough to let me take a picture with her standing right there. She said she got it for $35! Pretty awesome. I love the mismatched aspect that still manages to match anyway.

Nice Italian.

I saw a guy walking this bike from a coffee shop across the street a few weekends ago, and selfishly hoped he would lock it up nearby so I could take a picture of the beauty.



Isn't that pretty! My friend Ashley told me that "Basso" in Italian means low to the ground. I tried to get my head around the fact that this beautiful color combination now automatically makes me think of Prilosec (thanks a lot, branding), because it really is nice and does not deserve that association.

Fuji x Shepard Fairey

This fancy sir sure is fancy, isn't he.



It's a collaboration between Fuji and Shepard Fairey (take a peek at the down tube). Mighty nice.

Jay's cousin

This could totally be my bike's cousin.



I love the gray with white accents. Almost nicer than black with white. Does that make me a bad bikemom?

Lavender Bruxelles

This brightened me up during the hottest walk to brunch ever. I was wilting.



I would never in a million years have thought that the colors of the Belgian flag on lavender would look so great!

Fire and Ice

Jordan was on the phone when I met him for omakase yesterday evening, so I wandered around a little. Saw this across the street.



I would never have thought of this color combination; love it. Makes me want Hot Tamales.

Post Yakitori

Forgive the terrible lighting.



Saw this after a big yakitori dinner. I love the greenish paired with metallic pink drop handlebars.

Sky Bianchi

I always get melty when I see a Bianchi.



I almost like this color better than it's seafoam cousin.

Good Saturday

Two friends and I rode all over the place yesterday. We rode through 2 neighborhoods in Brooklyn and over the Williamsburg Bridge. Then down the East River, past the Manhattan Bridge, and underneath the Brooklyn Bridge. There were sodas and snacks and daydreaming.





My pedal bit my leg, Robby put air in my tires, and we rode to a party back in Brooklyn. There were tacos, grilled corn, Brooklyn Lager, I ran into some friends and met some people. I rode home at 6pm to get ready for yakitori.

I don't know why half the city leaves in the summer; I had wings and helium in my chest.

Popsicle Perfect

Snapped this with my BlackBerry from a moving car this weekend.



It's the first thing that made me want something frozen and blue since Blue Day; quite an accomplishment!

Almost fainted.

I haven't been stopped this dead in my tracks by a bike in ages.



I backed out into the street to take this. Nearly got swiped by a cab. Woops.