Jezebel: bikes

Vogue's Eco Economics

Dodai — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 12:20:00 EDT

As discussed, Vogue's "green" issue is more about cash than the environment. So even though Cammie Diaz is wearing organic cotton on the cover, the last page features a $5,900 bike with $975 "basket."

Oh, The Womanity

Anna — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 14:10:00 EDT

[Douglas, Isle of Man; June 8. Image via Getty]

DOUGLAS, ISLE OF MAN - JUNE 08: Promotional girls pose for photographs before the superbike TT race in Douglas on June 8, 2009, Isle Of Man, United Kingdom. The annual TT race is one of the highlights of the motorbike racing calender with fans travelling from around the globe to watch riders compete in the 37 and three quarter mile lap exceeding speeds of 200mph. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

Women Avoid Cycling Due To "Helmet Hair" • Ex-Mormon Gives $1M To Support Gay Marriage

Maria — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 17:40:00 EDT

• According to a survey commissioned by Cycling England, 58% of English women don't ride their bike to work because they don't want to arrive sweaty and 27% avoid riding because they don't want "helmet hair." • On Thursday, Tennessee State University gave degrees to 10 black students (3 of them posthumously) that the University had previously expelled after the students were arrested as part of the Freedom Riders in the '60s. • A former Mormon in Utah (and founder of WordPress!) responded to calls from the Mormon church urging him to support a proposition to outlaw gay marriage in California by giving $1 million to a group opposing the proposition.•

• A small study suggests that sperm quality may be affected by close proximity to cell phones. • Marilyn Fithian, the founder of the Center for Martial and Sexual Studies, passed away on September 11th due to complications of pneumonia. She was 87. • Uh, why was Mick Jagger invited to an EU panel on simplifying internet shopping rules? • Dozens of Canadian students with facial piercings staged a walkout at St. Mary's Catholic high school in Ontario after the school issued a ban on all facial piercings except "unobtrusive ear piercing." • Children in the UK are wary of "playground myths" about sex (ex: you can reuse a condom if you wash it) and want to talk more openly with their parents about sex but most parents are embarrassed to discuss such matters with their children. • A study of bisexual people in Canada revealed that many are frustrated when interacting with the health care system for mental health issues because therapists and treatments are often sided to either gay or straight problems. • According to official figures there are no men under the age of 25 that are working in state-run nurseries anywhere in England. • Pig diving: Human-inflicted swine-cruelty or adorable pig-related activities? •

Miley Cyrus & Her Dad Are On A Roll

Dodai — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 15:10:00 EDT

[Toluca Lake, August 13. Image via x17.]

Patriotic Nudists

Maria — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 10:30:00 EDT

An Oregon woman plans to ride her bicycle while topless in the Ashland Fourth of July Parade. Jen Moss, known around Ashland as "The Naked Lady," stated her plans to ride in the parade in an online posting, saying she will be wearing "only a hemp G-string and blowing a conch shell." Ouch! If we can remember correctly from our hemp anklet-making experiences in summer camp, hemp is not the softest fabric in the world, is it? Ashland has some lenient nudity laws which state that one must only cover the genitalia in public, but the Ashland Chamber of Commerce is saying they don't want Moss to be showing her nude (and probably well-tanned) body in the "family" parade. Moss says if she isn't allowed to ride, she'll sue. If she's known as "The Naked Lady," her bare breasts are probably nothing new to that town. Let the woman ride! [CBS News]

Hey Ladies, Let's Talk About Our Cycles

Dodai — Thu, 22 May 2008 17:00:00 EDT

Over on Salon, Rachel Shukert is writing about bicycles. "A bicycle is a perfect machine: simple, elegant and efficient. It does exactly what it needs to do, whenever it needs to do it," she writes. And "there's a convincing case… that the bicycle advanced the cause of women's liberation more than any other inanimate object." General interest magazine Mental Floss explains that "the Victorian lady rarely exercised or engaged in physical activity, which left her poorly conditioned." But when the bicycle took off in the late 1800s, "There was no reason a woman couldn't get on a bike and sedately pedal farther from her home than she'd ever been before." There have been some disparaging remarks regarding cyclists on this site, but shouldn't we all be biking more?

I'm one of those people who loves to bike (Yes, the one above is mine. And I have another one ). There is such a simple pleasure in the self-propelled rhythm of it. Wind in your hair, book in your basket. You can cover more ground than walking, and you don't necessarily have to work yourself into a lather like running. And it's eco-friendly. I understand that this country's growth was car-related. Didn't people used to live in cities or towns and villages where nothing was too far away to be reached by bicycle? Then economic boom meant everyone could have a house with a picket fence and a two car garage. The so-called "freeway" was invented. The suburbs were invented. Cars became necessary. But maybe it's time for a shift? Considering the price of gas and our dependency on foreign oil? Adding bike lanes instead of HOV lanes of killer SUVs seems like a good idea. Think of the decrease in roadkill and teenage drunk driving accidents. Lord knows Americans could use the exercise. As Shukert writes:

I can't help thinking, a little sadly, of the spinning classes I walk past every day at the gym — 30 or 40 women, all in terrific shape, pedaling none too sedately … and going nowhere.

Wheels Of Change [Salon]

Women's Lib Arrived On Bicycles [CNN via Mental Floss]