Tour De Fat

We couldn't make it over to Tour de Fat today due to my son's injury but would love to see any photos. Post or send me your craziest pic from the day!

Now that's what I'm talking about!

I know most of you cruisin' ladies on the coasts think that Denver is not a biking mecca but I have to say things are quite progressive here. The latest? Happy Coffee. A drive-through...or shall I say, Ride-Through coffee window!! Yes, you heard me...text in your order and ride by, grab your coffee and go! Other than to grab some sweetener, I don't think you even need to stop! Happy Coffee is attached to the Salvagetti Bike Workshop so if you need any repairs you can kill two birds with one stone! Now that's what I'm talking about!

Mile High Music Festival

We are gearing up for a very exciting weekend where we'll be vending at the places of all places....Mile High Music Festival in Denver!!! It's a two day festival featuring some of my fav's The Samples, Phoenix, Amos Lee, Jack Johnson and Dave Matthews...who is playing for 3 hours on Sunday night!!! Stop by our booth for a chance to win a free, yes, FREE Electra cruiser bike along with a basket and a beautiful Betty!!! It's not too late to buy tickets and we'd love to see you there this weekend, August 14th and 15th!

Fort Collins....the place to ride!

We just spent the weekend in Fort Collins and I must say that I am sooo impressed with the number of people riding. Why are there more people riding there than most towns? Is it because it's a college town? I don't think so. It's because it's relatively flat with wide bike lanes and numerous bike trails that follow several rivers! The city has created this environment purposely! They also have foothills and mountains if you'd rather head to the hills!

The best part?? They have a Bike Library....an even better idea to encourage EVERYONE to ride, not just those that can afford fancy and expensive bikes. The bike library offers free bikes to residents, students and even visitors! You can borrow for as short as an hour or up to 5 days!!! Don't try to use the kids as an excuse for not taking advantage of this great service...they also have bike trailers, tandems and tag-a-longs! Now that's what I'm talking about!

Love it! Hopefully more cities and towns will follow along and offer this service in the future!

Rails to Trails

I have been reading lots of magazines lately and this "Wheel Deal" caught my eye. There is an organization called Rails to Trails Conservancy which was started by some very respectable and smart people. They are converting old railroad lines into biking trails. Wow! I know this wouldn't be the first place you'd ride your cruiser bike but this is a novel concept for those who take riding a bit more seriously and want to get a good workout. Below is their mission:

Rails-to-Trails Conservancy is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., whose mission it is to create a nationwide network of trails from former rail lines and connecting corridors to build healthier places for healthier people.

I'm all about building healthier places for healthier people! Get out there and ride now!!!!

The new version of Etsy....

I just discovered this new site called Shop Handmade and wanted to share it with all of you. If you are familiar with Etsy then you'll love it! It's got everything you could ever want, all made by artisans and sold directly to you, without the middle man, or shall I say, middle woman. Etsy is one of my favorite places to look for gifts but lately I've been totally overwhelmed by the sheer number of people listing products on there. Let's say you search for earrings...you could potentionally be faced with 46,000 pages of results. Not 46,000 items, 46,000 PAGES!!! Who has time for that? Even when you narrow your search results, it becomes rather cumbersome. Now enter the same search terms on Shop Handmade and it yields 164 pages....ahhh, much more reasonable. Yes, it is not the veteran site for selling handmade items but at least it's more manageable. Not to mention they have the added benefit of carbon mitigation. How? Here's a quote from their site..."Every item on ShopHandmade is carbon mitigated. We protect 25 square feet of endangered rainforest every time an item is sold. You don't pay a penny for this. Sellers don't pay a penny for this. We pay for it." Now that's a place I'd like to spend my money! Be stylish, frugal, and environmentally conscious all at the same time! Check it out.... www.shophandmade.com

The Knack

Thought I'd share a review from The Knack in Canada...they highlight what's new and hot. It's a great site to seek out new products, people and places!

http://gottheknack.blogspot.com

New Style Coming Soon!

We've been diligently working to bring you a few new Betty Designs for the summer 2010. I am always getting requests for something with more pink so here is a sneak preview of one liner that will be on our site very soon! It's called The Sydney....

Colorado in Spring

Yet another typical Colorado spring....flipping from snow to summer temps is not unusual! Here we are, all excited to start riding again, and this morning I woke up to 4 inches of fresh snow!!! The reason I live in Colorado??? Well, by 3pm ALL of that is gone and we are playing outside in the beautiful sunshine!!! And we're expecting temps in the 70's all weekend. Thank goodness...we can finally get out and ride!

Also, for those of you who live in the Northwest...there is a new bike show this weekend at the Convention Center in Portland called The Bicycle Show. It's put on by Pedal Nation Events and sounds like they have some great activities planned. I would check out the Bike Fashion Show on Sat. and Sun. at 3pm! They are also having a Pimp'd Bike contest that I'm assuming will showcase some really interesting cruisers! Wish I could go...

Riding Revolution!!

Who would have known that a gift from my husband would inspire me to become a cruiser biking diva? I received my first cruiser bike along with a large beautiful wire basket. Living in Colorado, I have always been a mountain biker, but riding a cruiser is a totally different ball game. I quickly fell in love with casual riding, not only because it's convenient and comfortable, but also because it was something I could do with my kids on a daily basis. What I discovered was that I wanted a fashionable basket liner to add to my new ensemble. As I embarked on a journey to create stylish and high quality liners, it was also very apparent that it HAD to be functional so my liners convert to a sturdy handbag with straps. Thus, Betty Bike Basket Liners was born.

Biking has traditionally been a male dominated industry, until now!! Women are just as athletic, motivated and willing to ride, whether it be in a race, on dirt trals or on pavement. I lived in Europe as a young child and riding your bike was, and still is, the main form of transportation. It wasn't unusual to see a mother pulling three children and the groceries behind her bike. The United States is finally catching up to Europe and I have noticed a tremendous emphasis on cycling rather than driving. Yay! Not only is it better for us, it's better for the environment. What I have also noticed is that women want to look and feel good, even while they are riding! It makes perfect sense....why not marry fashion and function? Betty Bike Basket Liners is the beginning of that marriage.

This chic cycling movement is an important one. My goal is to inspire women to feel and look great while riding! I want to highlight bike fashion AND function through this blog so that we can all feel better about our time here on earth! Girls, let's start a riding revolution.....