Bella by Greg James: A sculpture made of what looks to be bronze of a woman sitting on a table in a green bikini and flowers in her hair as she stares out to the sea. People are sitting at the seats looking out to the sea, seemingly ignoring the sculpture.
The Swell Sculpture Festival at Currumbin Beach has been showing for the last fortnight but we only got out to catch it yesterday morning, before it closes today. We took Miffy with us because there aren’t many art events you can take your dog to! We are bestowing on her an education in the creative arts, primarily teaching her not to pee or poo near or on the art. We walked up and down the beach, stopping to look at sculptures and greet other art-loving dogs, and at the end of the walk we all sat down in the shade of a tree sipping our cool refreshments.
I wish I’d taken one of the booklets so I could have more information to accompany my photographs but please enjoy these snaps and my probably incorrect and uncultured descriptions. It was a super sunny, hot day and looks gorgeous in the photos but trust me, the sand was hot and the sweat was dripping!
War Ears by Pat Hoffie & Stefan Purcell: A huge orange binocular looking structure sitting on the beach.
So many more photos are beyond the cut! Continue reading »
An outfit photo of me with shoulder length blonde hair extensions wearing a white singlet with a red knee length skirt and a denim jacket.
No, this isn’t a photo from two years ago, and my hair hasn’t magically grown… it’s from Wednesday and I’m wearing hair extensions! Nick and I met up with Dr Lauren and Isaac from Griffith Uni to discuss our involvement in an exciting fat studies project, and as Nick took these photos we had Isaac taking photos of us and Lauren taking photos of him taking photos of us. It was all rather meta.
A portrait photo of me with the hair pieces in my hair and a blue scarf wrapped around my head. The hair is pinned half up and the ends sit on my shoulders in very loose curls.
I’ve been having a hair crisis for the past few weeks and having dyed my almost white hair back to brown, I actually added blonde back into it because I received some Lady Jayne hair extensions in the mail to trial and review. The colour of the extensions didn’t match my dark hair at all so I went in search of a streaking kit and enlisted Nick’s help in my DIY hair salon. I’m not a huge fan of proper salons, as you might know, and mostly always play around with my hair at home. Fortunately I’ve had a streak of successes recently (instantrimshot.com) and was pleased that my home dye job was a pretty good match with the hair pieces I was sent.
A photo of me from the back/ side, the extensions are half piled on the top of my head.
When I first clipped in the extensions I was pretty alarmed because my hair is so short at the back that they don’t blend at all. I experimented with pinning a few sections up loosely and decided to go with it! I’m sure with a bit more time I could style them a bit more neatly, with a little back coming and strategic pinning, but I’m always a fan of messy hair. For a seamless result with clip in hair extensions, it’s probably better to have more length in the back.
The Lady Jayne extensions are synthetic hair, and while they can’t be dyed they can be heat styled up to 210˚C. I own a set of very expensive extensions that I could probably dye to match my current hair colour, but I’m loath to touch them for fear of ruining them! What I noticed about the difference between my set and these Lady Jayne hair extensions was that the latter seems to be a lot fuller and thicker, with clips all along the top and two at the bottom of base of the extension. I used two of the 30 cm hair extensions in golden blonde and they didn’t move all morning, even though my hair is about 2″ long at the back and I didn’t backcomb it before clipping the pieces in.
As I wear the extensions and figure out how to do different styles with them I’ll post updates; I’m pretty excited to have longer hair again, even if my natural hair is a touch too short and I have to play around with the extensions so it doesn’t look like I have the most ridiculous mullet ever.
A photo of Miffy standing on grass, smiling for the camera.
This has been an obligatory Miffy photo!
An outfit photo of me, fat and pale skinned, wearing a white singlet top, red knee length skirt and denim jacket with black flats.
A side view of me in my outfit, as I pull a gleeful face.
I bought this red skirt for $4 from a local op shop (or, thrift shop for overseas folks). I’ve written a list of all the op shops in our area and I’m going to be hitting them up over the next few weeks to decipher which ones are rubbish and which are worthy of revisiting. So far, the only one worth going back to is the one I bought this skirt from, Salvos at Palm Beach. They have three and a bit racks of plus size clothing, and while it’s not all great it’s good fun to look through.
The second photo up there is one I had Nick take especially for an awesome new Tumblr called Fat From the Side. It’s all about showing fat bodies from, uh, the side because most outfit photos only show bloggers from the front and when many people see their own bodies from the side, or in other angles, they feel uncomfortable. So I’m going to make a concerted effort to include more angles of my outfits on here from now on! We have three dimensional bodies, dammit, and the front 180˚ isn’t the whole picture.
Singlet: Sara
Jacket: New Look
Skirt: Salvos
Shoes: Evans
Necklace: Made by me
Scarf: Swap
The other night I had a craving for a donut, but not a cinnamon sugar donut, more like an elaborate donut with sprinkles, fun, love, ticker-tape parades and a cheesecake filling. A donut as a metaphor for the things I can’t do right now, something that is elusive and out of reach signifying aspirations and hopes I’ve had to put on hold. I’m still feeling pretty wretched and every day is a struggle, so this “craving” sort of felt significant for me.
I haven’t done much drawing in the last six months, even though I’ve really really wanted to my cognitive abilities have been severely diminished. When I thought about what an elaborate donut might look like, I really wanted to draw it. So I started drawing, bit by bit. Then I added more and more until it looked like a new coat of arms for me!
A pen illustration of three sprinkle-topped donuts stacked on a unicorn horn that is held up by four fat babes and surrounded by a deer, a unicorn, licorice allsorts, diamonds and bacon. Text says “The most elaborate donut ever” and Miffy the little dog runs in front wearing a top hat.
I don’t know if I can adequately convey how proud I felt to finish this drawing but if you are a maker of things, you might have some idea. Lots of things pop in and out of my head and most of them are forgotten, some of them are written down and a miniscule percentage are actually acted upon. To pull tangible things out of your brain is a painful experience and requires concentration, revision, memory, composition, editing and diligence. In my current situation this is made even more difficult, so being able to put my elaborate donut down on paper feels like a massive achievement.
Lots of people ask me if I’d ever do a colouring book of my drawings and in the past I never gave much thought to it, but this drawing seems more like the type of thing that might be enjoyable to colour in. I’ve been colouring Nicole Lorenz’s Fat Ladies in Spaaaaace book over the last few weeks and loving the hell out of it, so when people responded so positively to this drawing on Tumblr and asked if I would make a colouring book… I started to think that I might actually pursue the idea.
What do you think? Would you like to colour in my metaphorical food cravings?
I’ve been collecting a few rad tutorials and how-tos lately and I thought I’d post about them because you might want to do them too!
A photo of a black and white patterned padded headboard against a dark grey wall behind a bed with white bed linen.
Make a padded headboard.
I made one last week and it was surprisingly easy after I found all the materials but beware, unless you have foam on hand it can be expensive and I couldn’t find flush mounts anywhere! The bedhead pictured is by aimlesslyhome.
Two photos of someone wearing a white singlet dress with white lace trim down the front and sherbert orange yarn fringe.
Make a Leyendecker-inspired dress.
I don’t like the sherbert orange fringe (even though it’s a cool colour!) but I love the ideas in this. You could revamp t-shirts in lots of different ways with these ideas.
A photo of a hand with rainbow stripes and stars on each nail and a unicorn painted on the thumb.
Paint a unicorn on your thumb.
I don’t know if my nails are long enough for this but maybe I could paint a tiny unicorn? Watch the video to see what kinds of tools are used (a skewer!) for your future nail art experiments.
A photo of a small black and silver dog wearing a blue patterned harness.
Make a small dog harness.
We bought Miffy a harness but it keeps coming loose and it isn’t very awesome looking. I’m going to make her all kinds of cute harnesses now!
A photo of a necklace made of box braided tan leather with washers braided into half of it.
Braid a necklace.
This is a nice project for gifts or for doing on a lovely crafternoon with your friends. Honestly WTF also has tutorials for a wrap bracelet and braided hex nut bracelet. Make a bunch and mix them together on your wrist, it looks great.
Image - a pale green frame with a tiny vertical garden of succulents planted inside it.
Make a framed garden.
I’ve loved vertical gardens for so long, and this project is an awesome small scale idea that you can hang on a wall. I want to scour op shops for frames of all sizes so I can make lots of framed gardens to hang on the fence in the backyard.
A photo of my dad smiling at the table sitting behind a plate full of blue "sea" frosted cupcakes with one white frosted cupcake in a paper boat with a sail saying "Bite me".
In Australia and a bunch of other countries it’s Father’s Day today! Happy day to all the fathers over the world, and also love to those with fathers who aren’t here.
I made my Dad a cupcake diorama displaying his little boat “Bite me” in a choppy ocean. Of course there are some inaccuracies. His boat doesn’t have a sail, it’s not made of paper and the sea isn’t made of butter-cream. That aside, I’m quite proud of it and I hope Dad liked it!
We had a nice family lunch today, the meat eaters were spoilt with pork belly, prawns and oysters. I made the famous zucchini and ricotta galette from Smitten Kitchen, I urge you to eat this at least once in your life! Our Miffy met my sister’s dog Moose, I couldn’t get a good photo of them because they were moving too quickly but they had a grand time playing in the backyard.
A photo of the cupcake and paper boat sailing over the sea frosted cupcakes.
A photo of the food laid out on the table, including oysters and my galette.
A photo of my lunch: Two different salads, a spinach pie and zucchini galette.
A photo of my sister's awesome bowl which is white porcelain shaped in an arc with the bowl sitting in the middle, and an old fashioned milk bottle.
A photo of my other sister's dessert, a stack of chocolate cake with cream, jam and ganache.
A photo of my dad grinning broadly with a chocolate stack in his hand.
A photo of Miffy from above, she's looking up at me and standing on large grey tiles as palm fronds cast shadows across them.
An outfit photo of me wearing a short black dress with white polka dots, black leggings with little dots around the calves and I'm holding on to Miffy's leash.
Outfit details:
Dress: Evans
Leggings: Not sure!
Shoes: Evans
I hope you had a good day today everyone.
Thanks for everything, Dad.
A photo of Miffy the dog sitting inside looking up as black blurry legs walk past her.
Sometimes a super-heroine blogger gets approached by clothing companies to review items, and The Porcine Protector recently received such an item from No Xceptions. After moving headquarters and recruiting a new sidekick, TPP emerged from her clandestine cover to show off her new bit of kit, a black dipped hem jacket.
A black and white photo of TPP's legs showcasing the dipped hem coat, with animal print dress, mesh insert leggings and black creepers.
A black and white photo of The Porcine Protector with her back to the camera showing off a dipped hem black coat with buckles up the back. She has dark sunglasses on with long dark straight hair.
A close up black and white photo of Natalie's face.
A photo of Natalie from the side peeking from behind the turned up collar of the jacket.
No Xceptions lists this as a Punk Gothic Jacket however TPP preferred to think of it as more of a dark heroine trench-coat with handy leg room for fighting fat stigma and discrimination and a large collar to protect her identity. The jacket is double breasted, has two pockets for storing donuts and other super-hero paraphernalia, and buckles up the back for that badass vibe.
The brand on the tag is Chicstar and the fabric is 100% cotton. The jacket is fully lined and all the buckles on the back are adjustable. Her Porcineness found that the cotton wrinkled too willingly and required frequent ironing, an inconvenience for her considering she has no butler to take care of such things. The construction and quality is great however TPP insists that you pay attention to the sizing chart, because she had to go up to a size 28 (the largest size) in order for this garment to fit her shoulders and even then it was too snug. Our chubby champion is of the opinion that those with larger arms and shoulders size up.
An outfit photo of Natalie as The Porcine Protector, wearing a long brunette wig with the black dipped hem jacket over an animal print dress, mesh insert leggings and black creepers.
A photo of the buckles up the back of the black jacket.
A photo of TPP with the jacket open, it falls in a waterfall down the body and reveals a full lining.
This jacket from No Xceptions looks awesome and inspires fear and respect but The Porcine Protector thinks she requires one in black leather. Is that possible? CHEERS!
TPP WEARS:
Jacket: Chicstar from No Xceptions
Dress: Yours Clothing
Leggings: Asos Curve
Shoes: TUK
Necklace: Made by me
Sunglasses: Giant Vintage
Wig: ebay
After all the excitement of the last few weeks I’m a little behind on my Malaysia Kitchen exploration! We dined at Little Malaya, Coolangatta on Thursday night after doing some research on Malaysian restaurants on the Gold Coast with more than a few vegetarian options. Nick had enquired about vegetarian dishes at another restaurant but the person on the phone said we’d have to come in to have a look. This isn’t good enough, there’s no happiness in getting to a restaurant and finding you can’t eat anything, so we continued our research. It’s hard though when many places don’t put their menus online, and I encourage restaurants to do this because I guarantee that I and most of the people I know look up menus online before deciding on where to eat. It’s something that can make or break a booking!
Nick came across the menu for Little Malaya and found a whole page of vegie dishes so we set off for Coolie (look how local I am!) After a bit of difficulty finding the restaurant (it’s just not actually on Marine Parade, and the street is unnamed on Google Maps) we were welcomed to a quiet restaurant with cool lighting along one wall. I opted to sit down the back in a dark corner but didn’t realise it would hamper my photo taking!
A photo of a pink wall in Little Malaya with a cityscape cut out of wood and lighting behind it.
A photo of vegetarian spring rolls, calamari balls and a bowl of tom yum.
We opened the menus and found that they didn’t match the website’s offerings, with only a few vegetarian options presented. Eep! I decided to go for some vegetarian spring rolls and laksa, not especially adventurous but it seems that the vegie options I’ve come across on my Malaysia Kitchen outings have been pretty stock standard. I ought to have asked if they would do me up a special dish but I wasn’t feeling too good and just went with one of my favourites! Laksa!
A photo of vegetable laksa in a big red bowl. Bok choy and fried onion sit on top.
The laksa was HUGE! This is definitely a dish for sharing, or for eating if you’re very hungry. The soup was delicious as were the fresh vegetables and silken tofu. I did chomp down on a few kaffir lime leaves accidentally and had a bit of a “WTF WAS THAT?” moment. While I’ve used them before, I’ve always taken them out before eating the dish! I managed to eat half of the laksa but had to take the rest home. It made for good eating the next day.
A photo of our dinner with Nick's crispy skin chicken sitting in the middle with crackers on top.
One of the wait staff came out after we’d ordered and encouraged Nick to try a special dish, so he got the crispy skin chicken because he’d never had it before. He was a little shocked to find most of the bird was on the plate and had trouble eating around the bones. The special sauce was apparently very good and he mopped it all up with his coconut rice!
A photo of me in the restaurant.
Hi, here is me looking tired and full! On the way out the wait staffer noticed my Malaysia Kitchen eftpos card and so I told him about my blog. Hi if you’re reading!
Little Malaya is quiet but has a nice ambiance, I especially liked the cityscape and light treatment on the wall. The vegetarian offerings are pretty standard but the meat dishes look to be more adventurous for those who have a western palate. Next time I get a laksa craving I’ll know where to go on the Gold Coast!
Little Malaya
Shop 14-15 Beach House Plaza
52 Marine Parade, Coolangatta, Qld
Ph – (07) 5536 2690
I dined at Little Malaya as a guest of Malaysia Kitchen Australia as a Blogger Ambassador. This is my second review out of four planned reviews over the next few months.
My favourite perfume for the last five or so years has been Burberry Touch and I’ve always been faithful to it because it suits me so well. I’ve had a little bit of difficulty finding it at times and it scares me that it might one day be discontinued, so more recently I’ve been looking into indie perfumers and more unusual scents.
Zoe tweeted about buying samples from The Morbid The Merrier and naturally I took a peek at the etsy store. I was immediately seduced by the sideshowesque packaging, and after taking a look at descriptions of the perfumes available I decided to order some samples.
I received a beautifully packaged bundle of samples and some sweets. The sherberts remind me of being a kid, what a lovely bribe! Here’s my thoughts on the samples.
A photo of a small paper wrapped bundle of samples with some lollies and a business card from The Morbid The Merrier.
A photo of the small sample vials lined up and labeled, "Fun House, Dhanya, Morton, Katrina, 1891, Natali."
Funhouse – Fresh milk spun with black amber, ripe berries, and bright, wild sunflowers… hints of pepper and incense barely concealed underneath.
When I sniffed this in the bottle I thought it too sickly, but on my skin it’s really not sweet at all. The berries hit my nose immediately but it seemed like there was something more complex underneath. Maybe the milk or the pepper? I thought this would be my least favourite but actually, it’s up there just outside my top three of this bunch.
Natali is a brooding yet comforting blend of sweet, spicy orange and dark, fragrant chocolate with a heart of vanilla and wood.
Directly out of the tin it smells exactly like a Terry’s Chocolate Orange. After a few minutes, however, the scent begins to mellow and change into something extraordinary. A little incense, a little tobacco, a little mystery.
I’ve never had a Terry’s Chocolate Orange (even though I’ve always wanted one!) so to me this smelt like jaffas or chico babies. I was instantly hooked and kept sniffing myself. Surprisingly it’s not a cheep and cheerful chocolate scent (say for instance, Cadbury, har har) and the spice and woodiness lasted for a long time after the initial heady cocoa hit drifted away. One of my favourites, I’d wear it to cheer myself up.
“1891 perfume oil is all man. Masculine, earthy, with just the right amount of sweet thrown in for balance. Notes of amber and rum surface first, followed by spicy clove, smoky wood and moss. A classic, powerful scent. “
I’m not a perfume expert so here’s what I wrote in my initial notes when I put this sample on my skin. “Woody? Leather? Smells like escaping into the past, into a forest.” A little flowery (my description, not the scent!) but this perfume really affected me. I put this on in the morning and it lasted well into the afternoon on me. I would use even though it’s supposed to be masculine.
Dhanya – orange blossom, blackened amber, blood orange, whiskey, and a most decadent Indian white amber.
I have a pretty strong aversion to sweet perfumes and from the description I didn’t suspect this one would be. I chose it because I had no idea what amber might smell like but my initial reaction to this was all about orange! Some people may love this scent but on me it was too sweet and overpowering.
Katrina – A trio of white flowers, smoky almond, and spiced pumpkin. Sweet, but somehow really earthy, especially on the dry-down.
Another sweet reaction on my skin, and much more flowery than I would ever wear. I gave Katrina a chance though, and was rewarded with pleasant veggie garden smells.
Morton – earl grey tea, creamy milk, patchouli, vetiver, dirt, wood. I will warn you – this is a dirty, morose blend. It’s very beautiful, but heavy on the earth.
A very earthy perfume that appeals to me because it smells like gardening and tea, in fact it reminds me of my Nana and Papa’s house when I was a child. I would wear this every day, I find it comforting.
A photo of the sample vials scattered with the sherbert lollies and a The Morbid The Merrier business card standing behind.
My favourites were Morton, Natali, 1891 and Funhouse and I will be buying the perfume oils as soon as I can afford them. I find it amusing that I liked Natali so much, because I only got the sample in a moment of conceited whimsy!
I’m so impressed with the standard and price of these perfumes. They’re complex and interesting, with fabulous packaging. The talent behind this perfumery has impressed me so much, I urge you to check out The Morbid The Merrier and discover something curious and delightful for yourself.
[Warning: There's an animated gif at the end of this post!]
They say the internet is for cat lovers, but I have always been a dog lover. My family have always had dogs (and birds!) including Sasha the doberman, Phoebe the poodle, and Molly the poodle and King Charles cavalier cross. When Nick and I moved in together I really missed having dogs around but we could never have a pet because our landlord forbid it. (Willis the rat was indeed a sneaky adopted pet, shh!) For the past four years I’ve had a puppy cluckiness that has gotten stronger and stronger but I’ve had to make do with lots of pats and puppy love at Mum’s place and photos of cute dogs on the internet!
I truly believe that animals can be wonderful supports for people with mental illness, and in my experience Mum’s dogs Phoebe and Molly have given me great comfort. Moving down the coast was important for Nick and I on a few levels but one big priority was to look after ourselves and create a caring, nurturing household with his super awesome Mum. Moving also meant we could adopt a dog, and we did a lot of research into hypo alert dogs that can detect when my blood sugar drops and warn me. Unfortunately hypo alert training is in its infancy and completely dependent on the individual dog, and may have meant we’d have to foster or adopt any number of dogs before finding one that could pick up on my hypos.
Fortunately I still have a good sensitivity to my hypo warning signs (I usually get tingling mouth, slurred speech, lack of concentration or super emotional and teary) so the hypo alert dog isn’t a huge priority right now. There’s a lot of expense involved, and the gamble of bonding with a whole bunch of dogs who might not even be able to help me detect hypos. With that criteria struck out for the moment Nick and I focused on another priority: to choose a dog ethically and not from a pet shop, so we started scouring pet rescue websites.
A photo of Miffy from her Pet Rescue listing. She's a little white dog with silver tipped ears.
On Monday morning I was browsing through petrescue.com.au cooing and tearing up as per usual, but I came across one particular dog who struck me with her gorgeousness. I urged Nick to call up her foster Mum out near Toowoomba and we made a time to go out and visit Tuesday morning. On the drive out it was absolutely pouring with rain and we had a bit of a prang on the freeway. After checking the car was ok (we were fine, just a little shaken) we kept going on our puppy mission!
A photo of Miffy wearing her harness, sniffing the grass and saying good bye to her foster Mum's yard.
At the foster Mum’s place we found a little sweet-natured 2-3 year old dog who loved toys and got on really well with her other foster brothers and sisters. She was so lovely, I couldn’t believe that her original owners PLUS the RSPCA didn’t want her! The foster Mum explained that this gorgeous shih tzu and bichon frise cross was afraid of storms and on one occasion had bolted from her previous owner’s yard, so we would have to give her lots of hugs and reassurance if she was ever scared of thunder or loud noises. We got the phone number for the RSPCA’s behaviour therapist if we needed help too. After more chats, puppy hugs and playing we decided that we would LOVE to adopt this dog and that we would call her Miffy!
A photo of Miffy's adorable face tilted to look at the camera.
A photo of Miffy standing. Her front legs are adorably stubby and her fluffy tail curls around and splashes onto her rear.
A photo of Miffy standing in the kitchen with her nose in the air.
After a few days here with us Miffy is settling in so well. She is a beautiful dog and I’m completely smitten with her, I think all of us are! Miffy enjoys pats and scratches, going on early morning walks, sitting on the balcony watching the comings and goings of the street below, and playing with her toys. It’s going to be wonderful to get to know her more!
A blingee graphic of Miffy with animated sparkly bits including a tiara, butterfly and flower border.
My first bike was a mustard yellow Malvern Star that Dad bought second hand for Christmas. The colour was awful and I remember being excited to have a bike but so horrified at the colour. Dad taught my sister and I to ride in our cul-de-sac and soon we were flying down the hill in the middle of the road like we owned it.
Even though the colour of my bike was the approximate shade of a McDonalds cheese slice stuck to an oily wrapper, I grew close to it and learned of all its secrets. If I wanted to carry stuff on the rear rack I had to balance it just right because it was a little bit wonky; and no matter how hard I tightened the bolts on my handle bars and seat they would go askew at inconvenient moments throwing me off the bike violently unless I paid attention to the warning signs.
I had that same bike until I was about 16 and with it I explored three different neighbourhoods; I rode around multi-story carparks, made my way through bushland to fish water lilies out of the creek and snuck out to the shops to get ice blocks on hot summer days. There must have been some moment when I thought I had outgrown my ugly yellow bike, leaving it in the garage in favour of catching trains and buses to explore things outside my neighbourhood. When I learnt how to drive a car it seemed that I would never ride a bike again!
In recent years I’ve noticed a renewed interest in biking for transport and fun. Brisbane City Council have even started the City Cycle initiative with bikes for hire to get around the inner city and CBD. The programme is pretty cool but I never lived close enough to a City Cycle station to have a go. That, and the last time I’d ridden a bike was well over a decade previously! So living too far away from a bike station, having long distant bike experience, no helmet and lingering doubts that one of the City Cycle bikes could even hold my magnificent body sort of precluded me from jumping on a bike like the Council wanted. Their “healthy initiative” unfortunately won’t be a great success until it becomes more accessible and inclusive.
The thing about encouraging fat people to “just get active” is that far too many activities are unwelcoming and even hostile to fat bodies. Did you know that many resistance machines at gyms have weight limits? Fat people do. Have you ever gone on a nice walk only to have people looking at you or screaming fat hating jeers out of cars? It happens to fat people all the time. So pardon all the fatties when they react with extreme suspicion to council “healthy lifestyle” initiatives!
It wasn’t until I came across the Fat Babes on Bikes Tumblr that I truly believed I could possibly get on a bike again. When the seed was planted, it grew furiously! Fuck Yeah Fat Positive started receiving lots of tips and information about bike riding for fatties and with those bits of encouragement I started researching bikes, tyre pressure and seats until I was fairly confident that I’d be able to sit on a bike and fly down a hill just like I used to.
Before we moved down the coast I had a few goals, and buying a bike and learning to ride again was one of them. My plan fell into place beautifully thanks to Zoe, who sold me her Electra Amsterdam Ticino! I started out by having a ride on the grass with the seat lowered but found it really hard until I figured out the gear was set high, another challenge for me since my childhood bike was only a fixie. My first practice left me feeling exhilarated but a bit daunted, it was a challenge to balance myself on the bike and control the brakes.
A photo of me wearing a bike helmet and smiling.
So I sat back down at my computer and looked up information on learning to ride as an adult. Best of all, I discovered I wasn’t alone and that I wasn’t a complete failure for forgetting how to ride a bike! Top tips that were helpful for me: don’t use the handlebars to steer, instead use them for balance; it’s easier to ride in a straight line when you’re going faster; and many people find rolling, not pedaling, down a gentle grassy slope useful for getting their bike balance. There are quite a few more tips on this fantastic forum thread too!
A few days after we moved into our new place Nick went out and bought his own bike. The assistant at the bike shop was super helpful and listened to all the things Nick wanted to have in a bike, plus he ensured the best fit. Nick bought a speedster, a much faster bike than my Dutch city-styled Electra, and we started out slowly for my benefit because Nick seemed to be able to get the hang of his bike much easier! Once I raised my seat to the right height for me everything clicked and I was able to ride down the street with a fair degree of ease (but alas, very little grace!)
A photo of me standing next to my light blue bike in the middle of a street.
A photo of me standing with my helmet on and my blue bike in front of me.
A photo of me riding my bike, taken from the side.
We’ve been riding down to the shops, along the local bike path and exploring our neighbourhood and while I’m still a little nervous it’s incredibly liberating to be able to get on a bike and make it fly. It’s been so beneficial for my social phobia too, allowing me to go outside for some exercise and exposure to the world while still having a little personal space bubble enveloping me and my bike. I’ve been able to ride around by myself without feeling like everyone is going to laugh at me, probably because my bike makes me feel like I really am in a badass bike babe gang! I’ve even got plans to sew myself up some cute biking outfits. Wanna join my gang?
A photo of me riding my bike away from the camera, down the road.
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