THE SMARTEST SHIRT ON THE PLANET!!

DNS has been in love with sustainable fashion since the birth of the gang (unicorns ran around in circles while gazing at the seafoam sky and a ball of gold sparkles fell, and the Nightshades crawled out from the sparkle ooze onto their awaiting unicorns and galloped off into the night. RIGHT!). In 2008/9 we put out our own line made of sustainable fabrics, and loved the feeling we got wearing our clothes, knowing they looked good but also were doing good.
We much prefer supporting our local designers and manufacturers then big label brands, and believe staying local is extremely important. That's why we love our bud, and fellow cycling advocate Steve Sal Debus, owner of Modrobes and his new sports wear line made out of Eucalyptus.

Steve makes base layers for men and women for all types of sporting activities, but these base layers actually have some wicked cut to them too, making them fit AMAZING. They are sustainable, hypo allergenic, odor resistant and move with your body.
 He's currently raising money to make a full run of his awesome clothing and needs your help. Please visit the kickstarter below and donate what you can and send a message that you support a more sustainable fashion industry.
 

Lizzy Love-

Just listen.

Exactly, right? Mad love to Vel the Wonder for bringing the level of babe on a bike to inferno. Check her out in this LA Cypher. LA is burning.



Check out this post from spring- Jane and Finch female Cypher.

It's all fuel for the fire, let's go get 'em ladies.

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Woah there NYC

Bad-ass.

There was a few other bike crews out and about, I had fun watching the Grime boys and their antics on Instagram.

It seems many cyclists can be considered daredevils and trill seekers, many want to live life to it's fullest and experience the world as it is- not through protective glass. There is something about biking that gives you a confidence and an ability to not be afraid of using your own body, of doing something a bit daring, to trust in your own self and to the world is not as dangerous as it seems.

Other cool NYC bike things- Times Up is powering everything from cell phones to coffee machines with bikes. 

On the twitterverse, so many 140 character thoughts about the future of infrastructure will soon be turning into papers, lecture topics, design measurement and government policy. If climate change means more extreme weather, then we need infrastructure to reflect this. I had a friend from lower Manhattan email me asking if "What was going on with the Oyster Creek power plant- are they telling us the truth?" Then there is the giant oil spill in NJ.

Also, anyone out there heae that on the 27th BC got a 7.7 Earthquake? Thankfully the resulting Tsunami was small and in a remote location, but imagine if we had dozens and dozens of oil tankers to China in the area? The big one is still supposed to happen here in BC, and who knows what extreme weather the future has for us in store. So please, no tankers. The Dogwood Initiative has some great insight here. Fill up your brains, cause...

1 Love SF

So if you haven't heard yet, it's time once again to rally together to take care of our own. Bike peeps, we got to stick together.

"Beloved Cyclist "Chuey" Munkanta Beaten Unconscious and Arrested By Police"

There is IndieGoGo fundraiser to help Chuey with his legal and medical bills. My girl Melissa (talented, talented, bike-polo playing, fixed riding, designer at IndieGoGo) is part of a team that is putting on. Pitch in if you can, sadly at the rate democracy is going you don't know when this could be you or one of your best friends.

xo

#LeadwithLove

DNS Goes Glamping, Gabriola Island, Labour Day Weekend

NORTHERN STANDARD MAKES A DEAL!

A few of us Nightshades have caught the bike polo bug over the last few years. We travel all over the States and Canada to play our fav DIY sport and see all our good buds along the way. Its rough and tumble and full of fun, its also full of awesome people trying to improve the sport from the inside out. Our friends Max and Ken, owner's of Northern Standard have been making shafts and mallet heads for a few years now and decided they were passionate enough about their favourite sport to make it a full time job. They needed a little help first though, so they went to see "The Dragons"
Also play our favourite game "SPOT THE NIGHTSHADES". 3,2,1. POLO!

Why Do You Ride?

I got interviewed for this lovely blog out of Australia not too long ago.

"What's the best thing about cycling?" they asked, and I gave a cheeky answer....

THOMAS DAGG VS. PAINT BIKE

So we are getting super amped up for the Toronto premiere of PAINT BIKE - our latest film. As well as all the films we curated to be screened at the very first Toronto Veloreel this coming Saturday in Liberty Village. There are some real gems. To see Toronto Veloreel's full program line-up and events go here! It's going to be a great night!

We filmed the intro for PAINT BIKE last week, along with the help of the ever so talented Thomas Dagg. The following are portraits he shot amidst the chaos of the evening - and they act as a great sneak peak for what's to come on Saturday night.

Get Excited About Bikes

FOR IMMIDIATE RELEASE

Toronto VeloReel
Get Excited About Bikes

Just in time for TIFF! Toronto VeloReel, is a one day film festival working toward cultivating community & celebrating bike culture through film. The festival debuts September 15th in historic Liberty Village.

This year's program is guest curated by The Deadly Nightshades, Toronto's only all girl bike gang/arts collective. The Nightshades are known for organizing many cycling and arts events in the city, including Ring My Bell and Style Spin through the Drake Hotel. They hope their international and Canadian reel selections will include a snapshot of various histories, communities and viewpoints that will entertain all audiences and contribute to the successful birth of VeloReel.

To kick off the days events, there will be a peepshow film loop which includes the feature length films; Hit ‘Em in the Mouth, a Seattle Bike polo documentary, Cycle Me Home, the tale of Levi and his bike ride home to Budapest after studying abroad in Madrid, and I Felt Your Pulse, a Super 8 film dedicated to Darcy Allan Sheppard plus a few more.

While hanging out in the courtyard, be sure not to miss the various bike art instillations, a short play entitled “Cadillac Kills” and a drop in from the Bicycle Music Festival with musical performances by the Complete Street Band and Garbageface in the afternoon.

As night falls, projections will light up the big screen outdoors for a bike-in style theatre at 7 Fraser.

It will begin with a mixture of short films including; 10 Things: I Have Learned About Mountainbiking, Paint Bike and Sex On Wheels, to name a few. The audience’s heart will get pumping with 10-20 Berlin, a film made of the 1993 Courier World Championship, featuring many original Toronto names. To end off the evening, the audience will awe at Line of Sight, directed by Ontario’s own Benny Zenga, featuring world renowned Lucas Brunelle, “the gnarliest bike videographer in the world.”- Rolling Stone Magazine

VeloReel is in it's first year, but it intends to become an annual event, and a staple for the cycling community in Toronto. Please join us at 7 Fraser Ave., on September 15th. For more information and a full line up, please visit: www.torontoveloreel.blogspot.ca

#knogblinder4v posthumous review

So another not-so-awesome thing about Carebear being taken was I had all my rad new Knog Blinder 4V lights on them. In a nutshell, they are excellent at being very bright vertically on your seat post, and lend themselves perfectly to the Nightshades #1 rule: Don't die.

I kept meaning to write a review, but with everyone from the Bike Snob to your mom doing a review I thought no one would notice my opinions. People did notice them on the road and at parties "AH MY EYES- what is that cool thing?" was often the remark I got. I'm telling you, if you want to talk to strangers daily- be a Knog product tester.

Anyway, in true Nightshade fashion I began to compile all the uses for them that weren't just being seen by motorists on the road.

#1- Bike Rave enabler. I powered a mini break dancing session with my blinders at the 2012 Vancouver Bike Rave.



#2- Finding crap in your bag. Sometimes finding things in your bag at night is just hard. Just drop your light in and problem solved!



#3- Bling bling! When you take it off your bike to go inside and boogie, you can wear your super duper bling ring. In some smoke the light beams look like Wolverine's talon thingies. I wish I had gotten a picture of that.


#4- Hypnotize cute bike boys with your awesome blinky bike swag.



#5- Is it too dark to climb that 50 foot tree? Not with your Blinder mouth light!



#6- Who needs a real fire when you can make a bike light fire? It's cop friendly version of the real thing.



Also, you can:
- Unlock your door when your automatic porch light just doesn't feel like working!
- Find thing in the dark on the beach/park/dance floor!
- Fight back against that stupid little barking dog.
- Feel superior to all the puny bike lights around you.

That is all. I also have their cool Bouncer lock and it worked especially well when I actually used it. Actually, it was kinda funny as I'd come out from whatever building I was in to see someone staring at my bike. I would get rampantly paranoid they were thinking about cutting the lock and say something aggressive/mean/crazy, but they were always just admiring the funky design and the conversations with strangers never ended.

Now I'm going to go back in a corner and hate myself for at least another two weeks. Is it true there is life after love? Cher isn't reassuring me. Oh Carebear, I'll wait for you forever...