Cycle away...fashionably!

I love bicycles I cannot hide it! They have a romantic feeling that still stays strongly attached to my youth, and I love the fact that people have started taking their bicycles more and more often these days...even in Athens!

And yes, I'm realistic -don't even mention it-, I know that we lack of proper bicycle roads, we lack of security, we lack of beautiful city scenery, but...thank god we don't lack of romance because that's what bicycles represent to me..romance! I once stayed at Aix-en-Provence near the French riviera and I thought that the picture of women with retro bicycles and baskets full of baguettes and flowers would be a myth...but guess what, it wasn't! And when I traveled to Barcelona a few months ago, I stared at all those beautifully dressed girls riding their bikes so carelessly that I was actually jealous!

And I was amazed by what these 2 guys did at Cape Town (credits for the pic, too). In their own words:

"We've noticed that in South Africa, especially in the major centers, very few people use bicycles as mode of transport. This is very strange since we have no proper public transport infrastructure, and that which does exist is expensive and unsafe. Given all the benefits of cycling - independence, fitness, cost-effectiveness, environmentally friendly - we would love to encourage the use of bicycles in South Africa amongst all social classes.

For our project we are looking at who rides bicycles, why they ride them, and if they love using bicycles as a primary method of transport. Through publishing this book, we want to be able to assist the underprivileged cycling community through our project - be it teaching bicycle maintenance skills, providing necessities like helmets, tires, tubes, locks…"

Wouldn't it be great if something like that happened here in Athens, too? Find out more about the project here.

I also wanted to tell you that from today I'm guest-blogging at Stylista.gr and my first blog post was also inspired by bicycles! Cycle chic is a trend I'm really fond of, I love all these Sartorialist images with fashionable girls riding their bikes! I love the fact that they wear their heels without worrying about the difficulties of riding! Anyways, if you're Greek check the post here!

p.s. Thalia was also inspired by the picture above, last week!

source: www.dayonepublications.com/Bicycle_Portraits/