Halycon Bike Shop

I spent last weekend in Nashville with my sister and her good friend. They had freedom from kids and husbands, I was taking a break from life.

Besides seeing Dave Matthews Band (who was INCREDIBLE!), I wanted to check out a bike shop or two. Obviously!

I only had time to see one, so I chose the only used bike shop in Nashville, that happened to be near our accommodations (which were kindly given to us by Trisha from Let's Go Ride a Bike...what a cute place she has!), Halycon bikes.




It was lovely. Local artisan hip and saddle bags, beautiful used bikes and cool staff working. I highly recommend you go in there and say hello. They have only been open 5 months and seem to be doing very well. In addition to the shop, they are running a Youth bike program in the back with the Oasis Center. Getting folks on bikes and supporting the youth of the community; we at Bike Skirt approve!

I took some photos. enjoy!


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Music City

Hey there! This weekend I am taking a girls trip with my sister to Nashville (yes, to see Dave Matthews...I am not ashamed!).

Was thinking I may try to stop into some cool bike shops and/or Co-ops. Want to check out some other Dirty South shops and meet some cool folks. I am staying near Vandy and don't really want to trek all over the place. comment or email me at elisa@bicicoop.org

Thanks internets.

Bike Love!

Bike Saturday and car free weekend!

Lately, it seems like Anna and I have bi-weekly Bike Saturday. Two weeks ago was a lovely Saturday involving bike shops and sunny rides.

Well...this Saturday was equally lovely. Ok, maybe not equally, but pretty close.

Once again, we headed over to Homewood Cycles for a Bike class. This time was level 2, bike tune-ups. Once again, it was awesome! The entire Bici crew came and we learned all sorts of stuff, including how to change a chain...which we practiced on Mick Jagger, as his chain was stretched and needed replacing. :) Nothing like a few hours at the Bike shop to make you excited about riding. I was reminded AGAIN of how much I love my bike shop. Walked out with a new chain and new gloves, not to mention knowledge and warm fuzzies (man, I am so cheesy!).

On to Primavera Coffee for a Bici meeting. With Prom behind us and our Community Interest meeting coming, it is time to get serious. Which we did, over delicious coffee. Starting a Non-Profit is hard work, ya'll. 2.5 hours later, we had accomplished so much and were feeling good. Overwhelmed (maybe that was just me?), but good. Are you coming to the meeting Thursday? Because you should be. go put it on your calendar now. I'll wait...

...Ok, now back to my story:
After the meeting, I decided to bike over to another local coffee shop to pick up something from a friend and indulge in my 4th cup of coffee. It was a nice ride, one that I had never done before. After spending an hour chit chatting and visiting, it was now 4:30 and the sun was waning. Time to try my new route home, the one I was hoping would allow me to get to work without having to drive part of the way. (Again, thanks to Homewood cycles for the route advice). I pulled on my gloves, slapped on my helmet and set off.

20 minutes later I was home, feeling triumphant!! (Then I collapsed and didn't leave the house again for the night...)

Sunday I got up late, really late. Decided to try the new work route round trip, since I had to go into the office for a few hours. I did it! Got over the mountain and all the way to Irondale. Took 45 minutes, which adds quite a bit of time to the morning commute, but well worth it. I. am. awesome. Only had to rest once along the way! Worked and rode home. Mapped it later and it is 18 miles round trip, which is not a bad workout if I do it 3-4 times per week.

I parked my car Friday after work and did not get back into it until 10:30 last night to pick a friend up from the airport. This, despite a busy weekend of dinners, concerts, bike classes, work and coffee shops. It felt like a turning point in my 'car-lite' life. All in all, a great weekend.

Was your weekend lovely, internets?

Bike Skirtin' around

What a great day to ride a bike. The weather was "abundant sun" and 68 degrees. Anna and I had a bike fun filled day that I just had to share with you. I lament the fact that we did not get any photos, but you will have to use your imaginations.

At 8 am we set out to go to Homewood Cycles for their free Bike Maintenance 101 class. The ride there includes going over Red Mountain. Anna does this every time she bike commutes, and let me tell you, even walking it is a hike! Then we got back on the saddles and rode the rest of the way. Since we are getting in better shape every ride we take, we had tons of time left over for a coffee and muffin. yummy.

Headed over to the bike shop. Learned a lot and totally geeked out about bikes with the awesome guys at the shop. I got a bike fitting, quick tune-up and lesson and a new commuting route (to be reported back on later). Anna bought some tools, learned to change a flat and had her brakes fixed up on Puggles (her Peugot fixie). Was a wonderful morning. Kenny also said that they are going to start carrying Action Wipes! This was really exciting for me to hear.

It was a great morning spent talking about bike and Bici co-op and Birmingham. Any followers of Triathablog probably know of my disdain of bike shops. Well, today completely remedied any residual angst I had. I heart the guys over at Homewood cycles and recommend them wholeheartedly. They are genuinely nice guys who want to see everyone on a bike and will help to make that a reality. Go and support them. Join us on Feb 21 for Bike Tune-ups 101. The bikeskirt girls will be there for sure. Come and say hello and learn a little something, all the while supporting your Local Bike Shop.

oh, did I mention that we rode home OVER THE MOUNTAIN? Without getting off of our bikes? This was a big deal to me and I kept yelling to Anna that we were totally awesome. Because we are. I have been trying to do this for 4+ months, so it was a huge personal victory.

We also rode and had lunch at a little outdoor cafe. I can't tell you how happy it made me to look over and see our bikes locked together in the sunshine.

Good day. I felt so sorry for people who did not have a bike to ride. Much too nice to be in a car.

Ended the day with a massage, and then quality time with a friend, some wine and milano cookies.

In the wise words of Ice Cube, "Today was a good day".

A shout out and thanks (again) to the guys over at Homewood cycles. We appreciate all the tips and bike love.

Hope you on the internets had a good weekend as well.