Cycling and Street Style

In true form to what I purported in my first blog post, this post has a couple topics that are of interest to me! Now that it's spring I've been biking to work. It's a really easy bike ride - ten to fifteen minutes and it's very easy to avoid busy streets; which is a good thing considering that the city I live in (Regina, Saskatchewan) doesn't have much in the way of bike lanes. This daily trek has got me thinking about the problems facing bikers. Biking is great! I love it. In Regina it's usually faster than driving, or transit (like most North American cities) and it gives you that feel-good-ery of being environmentally friendly.
But it's dangerous. My father, who is admittedly a bit of a fear mongerer, always told me to "bike as if everyone is trying to kill you!".  Now this sounds pretty alarmist, but I am pretty sure he just means everyone driving in automobiles, and not that cyclists are targets for snipers and knife-weilders.
Anywho, here are my top pieces of advice for bike riders:
1) Wear your gee dee helmet. If you don't, man, I can't even. I could go into anecdotes here (ie someone I know who crashed and cracked theirs in two!) but just wear them! Ridiculous not too. You look cooler with a helmet on, trust me. And remember they are only good for one spill! Replace them often!
2) Signal! Maybe not every motorist knows the signals but they know that the weird gesture you are doing means something and so will be ready to react/watching you. And signal all the time too, someone could sneak up on you!
3) Where you can, ride in the lane. If you're like me and take less busy streets then it is easy for people to go by you. It's not worth getting a door prize (ouch), and people notice you more if you are right in traffic. Don't go straight in the right hand turn lane at an intersection. People can't tell what you're doing and will turn right into you.
Another great thing about biking is that it's a great opportunity to show off a fabulous outfit, you big exhibitionist. So dress up, get out there and bike to work! Here is my #ootd that I felt pretty spiffy in during my ride today:

The jean jacket I have had for years, I got it at Sears clearance centre in 2008 I think. It's just a standard denim jacket but it's collected some embroidery over the years when I've felt creative. Actually the back piece is the first thing I ever embroidered! My mom did the 'o' because she thought it looked like I was having so much fun :3

It makes me look super tough, no?! Also you'll notice I am wearing a scrunchie. I like them! You can match them to your lipstick (as pictured) and if you've abused your hair by repetitive colour changes like I have, they are nicer to your hair. I also embroidered a little prairie pride over my heart.

I've been really into patterns lately, so I wore one of my favourite pieces, an American Apparel dress. It's technically a dress, although I'm wearing it as a top here. It's a little on the short side (curse of being so tall) so I only wear it as a dress when I'm wearing leggings. I love the pattern and it has this totally bitchin' back which makes me feel like a ballerina. Also, it provides me with enough support that I can go bra-less. Not everyone is into that but I love having no bra on.

And I finished with a totally ace black velvet skirt from Joe Fresh, my long term pal and ol' stand by.