Biking Champ

My husband is more than just little bit into mountain biking.  Some might call him obsessed, but then they wouldn't have met his friends (I'm talking about you Francois!).  When out eldest was 2, the hubster insisted we get him one of those Strider bikes so he could 'establish his balance.'  I rolled my eyes, but we got one, and I have to admit that he was totally right (don't get used to that, darling.)  My little guy is a whiz on it, zooming down the sidewalk like a pro.  But he's got nothing on the kid in this video - holy moly (and thank heavens).  His bike is pretty souped-up, with the brake and I do believe suspension, and I am going to go out on a limb and say that his dad might also be a little bit into mountain biking?  Maybe even more than my guy?  I love that it is done just like all the bike videos my husband watches.  Pretty clever.  So, would you let your toddler ride like this?  He sure seems to be having fun...

Taliah Lampert

My handsome husband just completed a 5 hour endurance mountain bike race on Sunday, and will be going to Vancouver in a few weeks to do the BC Bike Race - a seven-day stage race from Vancouver to Whistler.  This boy LOVES bikes, specifically mountain bikes.  Although to my knowledge Taliah hasn't done many mountain bike portraits, I still dedicate this post to my hubby. :)

When I saw this photo on Apartment Therapy, I was immediately in love with the artwork (although that little shelf big enough for a book is kind of cool too).  And even thought they look like track bikes, I thought of Chris.  The artist is Brooklyn-based Taliah Lempert, and her reverence for all things bike can be seen in her art.

A track cyclist herself, she lives and works in New York, and her subjects are, in her words, "bikes [that] are, or have been, used daily for transportation, messenger work and/or for racing, They are worn and customized uniquely, being at once a specific bike and a collective symbol of empowerment."  

She seems to work in just about every medium, from paint to drawing, to screen-printing and pastels.  She sells t-shirts, postcards, posters, prints, and even a bicycle colouring book.  Check out her site bicyclepaintings.com or her store on Etsy.  The prints are quite affordable.  Unfortunately, she doesn't work from photos, preferring to paint the bike in her studio, so I can't commission one for Chris (although she may not do mountain bikes - "roadies" and mountain bikers for some reason often don't mix...).  Too bad - as this is one place where our obsessions can co-exist!  *UPDATE* Taliah wrote to assure me that she has nothing but love for mountain bikes as well! )  :)