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?

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

NAME THIS BAG & WIN STUFF!

While we may be a bike crew by night*.... by day, Patty and I put in our time over at YNOT Cycle, helping make and design awesome cycling bags & accessories. And right now we're doing a little contest to name the newest addition to the YNOT bag family!

So put in your two cents for mad bragging rights & chance to WIN that lovely unnamed, unreleased, brand spankin' new day bag! Head on over to YNOT for more details!

Also, we're going to be at the Toronto International Bicycle Show this weekend, hanging out with our rad booth neighbours Modrobes & Bike Polo TO. So definitely come by the Better Living Centre at the Ex, and say hey at Booth 190! We'll be way more exciting that any of those awesome trick competitions or free ride demos going on.... promise.

* we are actually a bike crew at all times, not just night-time. Despite our name.

The Rules

Recently, we've been interviewed a fair bit, and everyone wants to know how the the Deadly Nightshades started. Well, after Venus's blood gave birth to us on Mt. Olympus, we largely bonded out of saying "F YOUR RULES". 'Cause know what? We can rock up to fashion week and glam parties on our bikes. We can create amazing fashion without hurting the environment or using semi-slave labour. We can have a design collective slash bike gang. Why not? Hello, it's the millennium!

So when my friend Brady (amazing founder of the Projecting Change Film Festival) sent me this link from Brain Pickings on a Lists of Don'ts for Women Cyclists circa 1895 that was published in the New York World, I laughed and laughed and laughed. Here are some examples of "The Rules":

• Don't faint on the road
  
• Don't boast of your long legs
• Don't cultivate a "Bicycle Face"
  
• Don't chew gum. Exercise your jaws in private.
  
• Don't scratch a match on the seat of your bloomers.
  

Oh, and it gets better. I suggest you young lady cyclists out there read up on it. I am so grateful to all the women cyclists before me who broke barriers and helped create a better world for women on the road. I pledge to help in every way I can to make sure bicycles are not just for boys.



On the other hand, DNS was also largely formed out of having rules- moral rules that is.

Amisha Ghadiali's and Joana Casaca Lemos collaborated on 12 Rules to Dress By, an amazing visual lists to inspire and help everyone have a more sustainable wardrobe. I support their goal that 2012 will Be The Year Of The Sustainable Wardrobe. When you go to their website, they have the checklist in French, Jurjati, German, Japanese, Portuguese, Turkish, and much more with more languages to come. Making this information accessible in more languages is a very challenging step to undertake, but it shows a forceful commitment to equality and global change.



Congratulations Amisha and Joana. Happy 2012 World! With so many amazing people in the world making changes, I am so excited for what humans are going to be writing about us in a century.

Lovelovelove,

On A Bicycle with Amy Walker

Amy Walker used to be my boss at Momentum, although she hated me calling her that. Amy left Momentum and has been pouring all her amazing creative talents into her recently published book, On A Bicycle, which is amazing and I wanted you to know about it.

"Amy Walker has been at the forefront of this trend as cofounder of Momentum magazine, which chronicles and inspires urban bike culture and transportation cycling. In On Bicycles, she gathers a wide-ranging group of cycling writers to explore the ways that biking can change, and is changing, people’s lives. From utility bikes that are becoming the primary mode of transportation for entire families to the artistic creations of freakbike riders, On Bicycles has something for everyone who has ever ridden a bike.

Topics include:

* cargo bikes * bike parties * a history of bike advocacy
* the bike-craft boom * folding bikes * recumbents * biking with kids
* handmade bikes * car-free streets * relocalizing * bike style
* collective bike shops * women and bikes * and many more..."

Now go buy it, read it, enjoy it and pass it on.

Love, Love, Love....