Hello Beautiful

Meet Freddie Mercury, my new ride. Ever since I lost Mick, then got Betty Paige (who was a mite too small) I have been dreaming of a new ride. Well, about a month-ish ago, I got one.

Isn't he a beauty? A Bottechia, with Shimano 600 components and a color scheme that stops traffic.

I love everything about this bike. It was hard to get used to the down tube shifting and the higher (lower...harder) gearing, but now I am in love. Freddie is a steel bike, so the vibrations in the road feel miles away. I am steady, safe, secure and fast as hell. Seriously folks, I am a stronger, faster rider now.



click on photos to enlarge for more bike-y beauty

(photos courtesy of T-Photographic. T. Scott needed a model to help with location and lighting scouting, so we packed up bags and took off on our bikes, looking for prime locations. It is amazing how much more you see riding beside a photographer that you would never, ever see just driving in a car.)


check out the awesome shadow situation in this one!

Oh, Betty Paige is happily being ridden by our good friend, Dan. He is taking good care of her and they are quite the pair. Only Dan could make pink bar tape look sexy on a guys bike.

one more note: be on the lookout for a new look here at Bike Skirt! Our friend (and awesome photographer) T.Scott is hard at work on a new layout/look/logo for our little blog. Yay Bike Skirt 2.0!

New kids on the block

I am coming to terms with the fact that Mick Jagger is probably not coming back. This has been hard, and I am still hopeful. However, it was time to move on and get rolling again.

One perk of running a Non-Profit Bike Shop is that I have access to loads of frames and bikes. A good thing in times of need...like this! Sunday morning, a mere 10 hours after discovering Mick's disappearance, we were hard at work getting me on the road again. One of my good friends (and bike mechanic) Heath and I went to Bici and took a look around. We found a great Specialized mountain bike that would work and made plans to work on it. However, we stopped by my house (where Bici is storing extra bikes) and discovered a beautiful blue Schwinn that looked just about right. Oh how excited I was. A mountain bike would be fine, but I am a roadie at heart.

Plans changed and we got to work on it. Spent a day and a half in the shop working feverishly. Runs to the Local Bike Shop and pulling parts from other bikes (wheels) happened. Then...voile! A new bike for Elisa! Isn't she pretty?


I have spent the past 3 days trying to figure out a name for her and today finally it hit me: Bettie. As in, Bettie Page, Bette Davis...heck, Betty Boop! I have never met a Betty I didn't like.

So, internets, meet Bettie. She and I are becoming fast friends.



Oh, and the week before the tragedy, I went and bought an old Schwinn Speedster from Joel, the bike guy. Her name is Kat Von D. She and Bettie are going to be buddies, I can tell. Kat still needs some love, but I will keep you updated on her progress.



Both bikes have beautiful features, such as Schwinn nameplates (is that what it is called?), pretty lugs, original parts and stickers. Nothing like a pretty steel bike.