Monday, May 31, 2010

Coastal Bohemian Blues

California Highway 1 Bicycle by ridingpretty

Is this not the perfect bicycle for me, at least for today anyway....


California Highway 1 Bicycle by ridingpretty

()


Quiet times and a wonderful meal at the sea shore.....


meal at the seashore by  ridingpretty

()

Seriously I've been quite distressed over the oil spill - with no way to come to terms with expressing just what it is I feel about it all - let alone how to do it on my little bicycle lifestyle/fashiony blog.

I look at photos of my day at the Monterey Bay Aquarium and I feel this warrior earth goddess well up in myself. I love these sea creatures great and small. I must have been a selkie in a prior life.

Now excuse me while I share some of my favorite friends....



XXXXXXXshared by  ridingpretty
(all photos by ridingpretty)


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Sex and the City 2 ...


LOVE THIS!

Finito to the Train Day Story + Comfy Romper, So Perfect for Bicycle Rides



 bicycle jumpsuit ridingpretty
(My super comfy romper worn over *gasp* padded bicycle shorts)


Finally sharing with you the end of my fabulous Train Day Bicycle Story....The above photo is what I wore that day and it ended up being perfect. Next meet Reef...


four and half years old on a bike by ridingpretty

Reef is four and one half years old! He was my direct lead as I followed in behind him winding along the road. You see, I purposely chose to be as close to the last rider - bringing up the caboose as it were out of the four hundred and fifty plus riders. I emphatically enjoy going ever so leisurely and sort of lolly gag along, all the better to really take in the sights and listen for distinct song bird songs of the rarer birds in our local. So back to Reef - he inspired me! I had my 3 speed to help power me along and he had no speeds, yet he kept well ahead of me- dare I say sportingly out doing me!


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Thursday, May 27, 2010

Train and Bicycle Day - Part II

train ride bicycles by ridingpretty


roaring camp bicycles by ridingpretty


train tickets bicycles by ridingpretty
(all photos by ridingpretty)


Four hundred and fifty people boarded the train... add that number in again and that's just about how many bicycles also went on board the train.

Just what is the Trail and Rail Day all about? It's about riding your bicycle to the train - then take a train ride to Roaring Camp/Henry Cowell Redwoods - then ride your bicycle nine glorious miles (down Highway 9) through the Santa Cruz Mountains on a beautiful mountain road that you've just about got all to yourself, meaning sans cars. This miracle ride happens once a year, and it's five years running now. A CHP escort secures the right of passage keeping traffic at bay during the course of the ride, sorta like what they do for the Amgen Tour.

Now there is a bit of an agenda behind all this. Come on folks, just do this ride once and you will want to see Rails and Trail get the funding and implementation it so deserves. Sincerely, I hope this idea continues to spread wide and far! For more info - Santa Cruz (local) or for National (in scope).
****
Anyway. Sheer joy! This day was so much fun, and yes I do have a few more photos from the day to share, so stay tuned...


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Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Train and Bicycle Day - Part I

santa cruz train and bicycles photo by ridingpretty
(all photos - ridingpretty)

Much more to share with you! This is just Part I of an incredibly fun day- the Santa Cruz to Felton 'Rail and Trail Day'.


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Sunday, May 23, 2010

SteamPunk Bicycle

Gasp! - A SteamPunk bicycle rolled through the village of The Makers Faire. Entranced, I followed along behind...

steampunk bicycle photo by ridingpretty



Lo and behold a really amazing SteamPunk girl sat upon her velvet throne....

steampunk girl photo by ridingpretty


steampunk girl photo by ridingpretty


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I spied some SteamPunk goggles I coveted ♥ ( the second ones from the top)...


steampunk googles photo by ridingpretty
(all photos by ridingpretty)



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Friday, May 21, 2010

The 'Win a Bicycle' Contest List !

orange bicycle shared by ridingpretty

Pretty amazing list of bicycle giveaways and contests going on right now - so act fast. Some bike contests end soon!

Win a handcrafted bike - details at Atayne + Dornbox

Win a Dahon - details at Bike Hugger

Win a Bowery Lane bike - details at MagnificentBastards (it’s a mens lifestyle magazine)

Win a Breezer or Trek bike by pledging at People for Bikes.org

Win a bike by tweeting you & your bike photo details at Martha Stewart Whole Living


Win a Breezer - details at Sierra Club
"All you need is a clean and crisp bike or bike-related photo and a thoughtful haiku (that's three lines of five, seven, and five syllables each). For example: Bicycle rider / Coasting without burning oil/ No tailpipe, no fumes."


This list was compiled out of emails that landed in my in-box. I listed them alphabetically. Well almost, I really like the Haiku contest from Sierra Club! If you look way down at the bottom of my side bar you will see a link I've had on my blog for more than two years - It's called "How Green is my Ride" - check it out :)

Trust me, you can win. I won a bicycle last year!

p.s. There are a lot more regional bike giveaways...I just concentrated on the national ones.
You're welcome to leave any word of any other good bicycle giveaways / contests in the comments field!


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Thursday, May 20, 2010

Rita Hayworth on a Bicycle

Rita hayworthshared by ridingpretty
Rita Hayworth on a bicycle ...

AND bathing suit time is here. Yeah for summer!
Anyone out there ride their bicycle in your bikini, swim suit?!??


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Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Final Evaluation...

Throughout the year I have done numerous projects and looked at many different ideas for inspiration. I have researched into trend prediction, current and past trends and printed textiles. I have looked at various ideas which have been strong starting points such as the recession, destruction, the natural world, animals, organic, synthetic and even randomness.

I found various and interesting designers which inspired my work, and I have come across new techniques which I have applied to my work over the year. I have been inspired by various artists and designers, but I have been especially inspired by photography. I looked at numerous photographers such as Richard Misrach and many up and coming photographers who are non-fashion related. This year I have found my self fascinated with Digital Print, and I have used Digital Print throughout the year. I have found inspiration in the work of designers such as Basso and Brook, Christopher Kane and Prada.

Over the year I have had many strengths and weaknesses in my work, and I have used my journal to write about some of the problems I had with projects and to also write about my ideas and how my work is developing. I used my journal to write up my weekly tutorials.

This year I have done six projects, Think Tank (Part 1 - Fashion Intelligence, Part 2 Trend book), Authorship, Testing, and two Digital Print Supporting Studies.

I found the Fashion intelligence project to be a great insight on trend prediction, however I would say this was my weakest project. I enjoyed working as a group on the first part of the project, when it came to making the trend book I feel I had a strong set of ideas but my print designs and the layout of the trend book just wasn’t strong enough. 



The authorship project was a very enjoyable project for me. After not being happy with my trend book in the Fashion Intelligence project I decided to attempt another trend book as I am really interested in trend books and trend analysis. Again I feel that my strengths in this project lay in my ideas development. My weaknesses lay in the finished trend book and the whole presentation itself. 






I feel that the strongest of the projects was the ‘Testing’ project, however it did have its weaknesses. I had a strong range of ideas however I could have drawn on a wider range of sources and my print designs could have had more work on them. I found the project really interesting and it was great to contact designers and enter competitions, something which I have carried on doing since finishing this project. 






I found the two supporting study projects really interesting and enjoyable, and I learnt a lot of new Photoshop and Illustrator skills which can now be used in my future work. It was defiantly a very valuable experience. I really enjoyed this project and I enjoyed the experimental approach to working with imagery. I was pleased with my final print designs in both projects however I feel that they could have been more sophisticated and I could have illustrated my prints on a wider range of flats and illustrations, which I would say are my weaknesses in this project. 



 


I often include current trends, and interesting designers or photographers which I have come across in my journal, I find this really helpful as I can always go back and use the information for future projects.  

Overall, I have enjoyed all of the projects I have done so far. I have been faced with problems but learnt to overcome them, and developed new ways of working.

After the Race

Amgen stage 3 photo by ridingpretty

Amgen stage 3 photo by ridingpretty
After the Race...

Santa Cruz was host to Amgen Stage 3 :)


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Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Over the Rainbow

Sometimes the jobs we do are very random...this was one of those. Great fun though.




IMATS interview.

This is an interview we gave at the IMATS for the German blog Looking-good-blog.com 

Monday, May 17, 2010

Unicycle! Plus Amgen Stage 3...Coming to Town!

unicycle photo by ridingpretty
too cool - downtown santa cruz

Tomorrow Amgen Stage 3 is coming to town which is pretty exciting and pretty crazy at the same time! Yes, I will be out there in the masses of crowds, with my camera looking for something interesting to share with you....



unicycle photo by ridingpretty



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"Teens Leaving for Prom Night" - Take the Challenge

Enjoy! a little video from the carfreechallenge !

(via carfreechallenge - take the challenge it runs June 1 to June 7)

Sweet little video, I wish I'd gone to my prom in such style!!

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Stephanie Baker - Bicycle Portraits South Africa

stephanie via kickstarter shared by ridingpretty
(Stephanie Baker - photo via kickstarter)

Beautiful photos aplenty over at Bicycle Portraits - simply every day people riding their bicycles in South Africa. A book is forthcoming, but you can learn more about this project by visiting.

Anyway back to Stephanie Baker, who is utterly amazing! She is in her 80's, has ridden a bicycle for many years and has quite the stylish flair about her! She very much reminds me of another lovely lady who so inspired me and whom I mused about not so very long ago....
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Hotel Griffou...9th Street, NYC

5/14

I caught up with my good friend Christina on Friday night at Hotel Griffou—a cool hidden townhouse-turned-dining club hotspot on 9th Street in the West Village. She wore a crystal rope necklace (her latest purchase from Madewell) which turned out to be a surprise hit amongst the bartenders. Here, they demonstrate that the boys can rock bedazzled necklaces, and look fabulous doing it, too.


Getting creative with it...
 

Taking the creativity to another level, the boys even added their own behind-the-bar charms

Left, wearing the finished product.  And right, the mastermind behind the design.

 Outside the restaurant, ladies work the spandex leggings while enjoying a smoke.