Breathing Bike

Two of our world's greatest challenges are smog and obesity. Bikes can solve that. Matt Hope, a British artists, came up with the Breathing bike. Kinda neat, eh?

Good news: The Pan Am Path in Toronto!

"Combining the power of culture and sport to create a living path across Toronto."

 Woot Woot! Smart cities take money from events such as the Olympics and Pan Am games, and use it to benefit and create long-lasting public infrastructure projects. I'm glad that Toronto has managed to secure this amazing path, which will unite Toronto with public space, art, sports, and nature! Landmark projects such as this help to push forward longer, more involved public infrastructure. The 2010 Olympics left Vancouver with the very well used, awesome Canada Sky Train line, which takes travellers to and from the Vancouver Downtown core in only 20 minutes for $3.75. At last year's VeloCity in Vancouver, I learned that the amazing and iconic Sea Wall was key in creating public interest and demand for better cycling infrastructure in the community. Looking forward to seeing the long-term benefits of the Pan Am Path!

SISTER SESSION- OMG- girls in BMX

This amazing documentary on rising girls in the pro BMX circuit is one of the best things I have seen so far. Women cyclists seem to be breaking into in the bike scenes in all regards, from sports to infrastructure.

Sister Session – ONLINE PREMIERE! from Simple Session on Vimeo.

Directed by: Brett Astrid Võmma, Helen Habakuk, Doris Tääker
Produced by: Brett Astrid Võmma, Risto Kalmre
Girls riding: Katherine Diaz VEN, Chiara Felder GER, Rebecca Berg GER, Angie Marino USA, Zandile Mkwanazi GER, Allison López ARG, Saki Sawada JPN, Sam Moodie GBR, Camila Harambour CHI, Kayley Ashworth GBR

Thank you so much to GIRL BIKE LOVE for pointing me to this supper rad video about Female BMXers at Simple Session 2011.

This amazing looking documentary on sustainable textile design in India also popped up online. I would love to see the full thing!

Unravel Trailer from Soul Rebel Films on Vimeo.

Soul Rebel Films, Unravel Trailer

Orontas Loves DNS (and it's mutual or something)

Orontas is a rad cycling brand out of Toronto. They love this city, bikes and smart design as much as we do. Naturally we've become Besties. They even partnered up and did these amazing Orontas Kit Saddle Bag with YNOT.



We're one of the few who get to be Orontas Activists, meaning we do rad stuff so they give us product to try out.  They profiled our crew on their website. If you want to know why the Deadly Nightshades are like the Wu-Tang and what is our world takeover plot, you should go mosey on over and read it already. Bonus: photo montages of what we ladies of DNS have been up to these past years.

Thanks Orontas!

xo

Want to know?

Are you a writer or journalist? Are you an entrepreneur or a social media maverick? Do you like the best design has to offer in cycling and fashion? Do you enjoy MegO's point of view? Do you like bikes and babes, good times and great graphic design? You should sign up for DEUXDEER's mailing list:

Sign up!

DEUXDEER is MegO's entrepreneurial venture with Monika Koch; together they ride their track bikes to the beach and talk about good design and moral standing. They are also both half-polish. Naturally, they had to start a creative agency that combined their passions for their passions [good design and bikes]. DEUXDEER was then conceptualized over many, many cups of coffee. 

Pedaler Clothing

Hello Internet!

I'm reppin' the amazingly stylish, sustainable and bike friendly Pedaler Clothing.


Photo: Richard Masoner from Cyclelicious

If you're a retailer interested in carrying a line of rad, comfortable, sustainable unisex clothing that you will sell out of, please contact me at meg (at) pedalerclothing (dot) com and I'll send our 2011 lookbook right over.


Here I am in my Pedaler Shorts in the OC last fall.

Love,

MegO!


Here is an article from Bust Magazine. One day this year Virginia will do my DNS tattoo.

Post-Modern Sewing goes National!

About a week ago, I had the pleasure of sewing for an afternoon with the lovely and very literate Alison Broverman of the National Post. Alison writes a column for the Post called Standing Engagement that covers anything and everything awesome in Toronto - from the Brickworks to indoor volleyball to home canning classes at Good Egg. So I was really stoked to have her at The Make Den for a few hours for a Halloween Sewing Class! We stitched up my favorite beginner pattern, my Lady Gaga jacket with huge pleated sleeves (which never fail to make me laugh when they get sewn up, by the way). I love showing beginners how to sew up that jacket because it looks totally unlike anything you'd expect to see in an intro to sewing class. Here's a quote from the article:

"After just a few hours in The Make Den, unlikely things occur. Sewing machine phobia melts away. Oven-mitt liner is transformed into a wild glam-rock blazer. Hemming is much simpler than you remember it.

The Make Den is seamstress, designer and teacher Irene Stickney’s Bloor West sewing studio, a sunny room above clothing store 69 Vintage near Bloor and Dufferin. The studio’s large windows look out on to a greenery-draped deck, and the shelves and cupboards are crammed with fabric, accessories and clothes-in-progress. A row of sewing machines against the wall gleam with sartorial promise."

You can read the rest here.

Eco T-shirt Contest!!!

FYI: T-shirt Monster and Environmental Defense are having a contest!

Armchair Activism.... Hallelujah!

Anyone who knows me, knows that one of my favorite things is armchair activism. Yes, we're all busy, but it's a pretty big privilege in my opinion to be able to change things by hitting 'send'. And we all know what Spiderman feels about that.

My fellow Nightshades' adventure in NYC has led me to want to share this one group. Reverend Billy and The Church of Stop Shopping may be the coolest live performance/activism/evangelical group that I know off. They are all about spreading awareness about rampant consumerism through the awesomeness of live performance, and you know how us Nightshades feel about that.

So, sign their petition to save NYfuckingC public space! Public space is your right! Even if you're just a group of tourist trouble-making bike gang bloggers...

We, the undersigned, believe the historic Pavilion at Union Square must be kept public space for use by the people of New York City. The Pavilion's priceless legacy as a platform for children and families, musicians, and progressive political activists must not be subverted by a backroom deal to turn it into a restaurant. The Union Square neighborhood is saturated with restaurants, yet New York City is starving for public space.

The First Amendment, invoked in public space, is a community's greatest weapon against repression and exploitation. Emma Goldman and Paul Robeson and countless activists have demonstrated this at Union Square, winning the 40 hour work week and other freedoms we now take for granted. A high-end restaurant on the site of the Pavilion will have a chilling effect on the essential demonstrations and organizing that take place on the north side of the Square to this day, and will swindle the families and people of New York City out of yet another commercial-free space for community use.

We call on the City and Union Square Partnership to preserve and invest in the Pavilion as a public space for the public good, and terminate their plan to convert it into a restaurant.

Sincerely,
The Undersigned