the illustrated lady

hey everyone!  hope everyone had a great weekend. we spent ours up north again hanging out with kelly-anne, working out and dying my hair. it was very fun!


on to the fun news! tom has a flickr account and is friends with a few bike industry peeps and last year when we went on one of our a tandem bike camping trips, swift industries (an awesome bike bag & accessories shop) favorited this picture.

then a little later, they contacted tom to ask if they could use the picture for their summer ad campaign!! i was more then thrilled because what an awesome opportunity and how cool that someone liked the picture so much that they wanted to use it! and this is how it turned out!! 

drawn by karl addison

i really really love how it turned out. the colors are awesome and it just really rocks all around. they are having a essay contest about riding a bike and the winner receives 15% off their next purchase and tom and i have been eyeing  another pair of bags for our camping trips, so i took the opportunity to submit something. here is what i wrote and the picture i submitted........wish me luck!

Riding has changed me. It has changed how I see the world, where I want life to take me, and what truly is important to me. Being able to power my own way through life and feeling independent from what the mass majority of what society thinks and does is such a freeing feeling. Cycling started as a way to better my health & to be happy about my body by feeding it what it needed, and then it grew the more I rode, the further I went and the harder I pushed myself to tear down mountains that I thought I could never climb. It has put into prospective what matters: living life to the fullest, trying and challenging myself, not just on the road, but in other areas of my life. Now more then ever I feel like I am on the right path to where I have always wanted my life to go. I have a partner who shares my goals and who pushes us to keep going and when that hill is super steep and we are in our granniest of granny gears, to put your head down, keep breathing and keep pedaling. There is nothing like conquering that hill, looking back at what it took to get there and then flying down the other side to reap that oh so sweet soothing breeze. It is so easy to jump in a car, put it in cruise control and be taken on a ride but nothing is more satisfying & empowering to truly earn that final resting place.

And there is no better resting place then that of the ancient redwood forests. Touring has opened up so many wonderful worlds and so many other places that are yet to be explored. There is a warmth on that open road that I often do not feel on my everyday commute, a solitary nod from my fellow cyclist acknowledging that in that single moment that we are both out for the thrill and joy of living an awesome life. Although I have had my run in with unfriendly motorists, it doesn't stop me from living how I want to live. It is more important to preserve rather then to hide when the road gets a little bumpy. That is what riding on two wheels is all about.




is there anything in your life that has changed you and your perception on life?


xo,
cb