Lady bikers...

you've come a long way,
baby!

At least here in The Windy City! Last Fall, a few gal pals were gathered on a back porch enjoying a warm evening. The conversation quickly turned to the gents’ perceptions of their velomania. The relative equality of the velotariat often hides a more complex relationship between the sexes. Is a lady biker cute or just one of the guys? Why can't they be both? Could they? From this, Thought They Knew (us) was born: a group of energetic lady bikers with a passionate commitment to explore their conflicting identities in highly creative ways.

But this ain't your grandmother's bike club. Rather than planning their first ride, they decided to issue what's gotta' be the first-ever Lady Bikers' 2009 PinUp Calender. It features 12 lovely ladies with diverse connections to the velotariat and their trusty steeds: from a career bike messenger to a poet, from all-weather road warriors to track racers. And the proceeds are dedicated to the Chicago Women’s Health Center. I picked up my own copy last Friday night at The Bike Winter Art Show Opening at The Flatiron Arts Building, 1579 N. Milwaukee. Va-Va-Va-Boom, what a night and what a calendar! All 12 models were in attendance along with a couple hundred fans.