Roll Model: Corny de las Alas

"My super hero bike name," explains the outgoing Decatur resident, single dad and long-time cycling commuter, who finds that "people on bikes seem to be happier and more approachable, which fits my personality." While his daily commute to Midtown could be spent reading or listening to NPR news aboard a MARTA train, enjoying cool mornings and connecting to people and savoring natural beauty along the way can only be accomplished on two wheels. "I get to go through some great neighborhoods, shop if needed, and see some great art. It’s a safe route with little car traffic and what car traffic there is, are use to bikes on the road. And I get to ride with, wave, say hi, ring my bell at some awesome folks who are enjoying the outdoors on their bikes or walking on the BeltLine or the PATH."

Corny calls his commuter bike "a SoPo franken-bike made up of all different parts". That building experience is one he is happy to share with others. "I was lucky enough to have discovered SoPo when I first started bike commuting and I have been involved with them ever since 2008. It’s great to see where SoPo’s donation bikes have gone and the stories behind them."

Fortunate are the children who can claim a super hero for father. The family portrait came from a chance BeltLine encounter on their way to Piedmont Park for the Atlanta Icecream Festival. "Now my favorite memories are seeing my daughter and son ride at 3 ½ years old. With no training wheels he is already pushing his boundaries in cycling. She has been gaining confidence learning to ride. It’s great that they want to ride with me whenever they see me riding."

Street Scene: Midtown

dress: BCBG
shoes: Jeffrey Campbell

Seen At The Jane

Geometric details mark this Gay Gibson dress from the fabulous collection seen in weekly series at Sunday's Best Vintage. According to the Vintage Fashion Guild, that label's name was not a person but a trademark of the Gernes Garment Company in Kansas City, Missouri. Could those mid-twentieth century designers have known their work would endure for the ages?

Street Scene: Decatur

dress: Baby Phat
shoes: London Fly
necklace: Vincent Peach from Worthmore

Seen On Peachtree Street

dress: Prabal Gurung
shoes: Renegade
jewelry: Stella & Dot

Street Scene: At The High Museum Of Art

Street Scene: Midtown

Diesel jeans complement a collection of thrift scores from Salvation Army and Goodwill. The much missed Stefan's Vintage Clothing in Little Five Points proved the pocket square.

Roll Models: Jessica Estep And Johann Weber

Atlanta cycling takes on a special meaning when meeting your love. So it was for Jessica Estep and Johann Weber, who are long time friends of these blogs. He reached out to me two years ago in his work for Georgia Tech Bike Week. A professor of English, she interviewed him to write this guest blogger post for us to enjoy.

Jessica: I actually started riding because of a dream I had five years ago, in which I was flying down the street on a blue bicycle. The next morning I got on Craigslist and bought a blue bicycle for fifty bucks. That bicycle was stolen after a few months (lesson: invest in a decent U-lock), but I’ve kept riding. This summer I purchased a white steel-frame Jamis road bike with dropbars. I was scared of dropbars for a long time, and I now I can’t remember why. I also have a rear rack for carrying my purse and groceries and the occasional water balloons.

Johann: I have two bikes. Nicole is my commuter/touring bike, a Trek Portland I’ve outfitted with a rear rack, pannier bags, bright front and rear lights, a fancy rear tire, and a rear fender. Lexi is my road bike, the more finicky and impatient one but so much fun. She’s a Trek Madone, which I’ve given some Look pedals (good for cleats and sneakers). I mostly ride her recreationally. When I moved to Atlanta from Portland, I drove across the country with her on the roof, stopping frequently to make sure she was secure.

Jessica: I would call myself a casual transportation bicyclist, as I typically wear flats and summer dresses when I ride, and I rarely go further than a few miles. However, Johann recently bought me spandex bike shorts, my first pair. I tell him he has to stop upgrading my bicycle gear, that I don’t want to change the kind of bicyclist I am. Last weekend, though, we took our spandex bike shorts to the Silver Comet, and we rode over forty miles, an incredible distance for me, and it was exhilarating.


Johann: Riding a bicycle is simply the ultimate independence—there’s no need for anyone else to fix, fuel, or store your machine. I ride mostly to save money and enjoy my commute. I used to commute forty-five minutes each way by car, and I’d watch so much of my paycheck disappear into gas and repairs, and at the same time the long commute was destroying my old love of cars, stressing me out, and exhausting a large chunk of my day.

Jessica: Johann and I met at an Atlanta Bicycle Coalition event at Georgia Tech, the same night that you first photographed me for your blog, Cameron. My old vintage Schwinn had bled chain grease on my leg and my white dress. I guess he found that pretty; less than a year later, he proposed to me on a Mobile Social bike ride. Sometimes I think our lives are so intertwined with Atlanta and bicycling that each improvement (like the city’s first cycle track) is a deeply personal celebration of the life he and I are building together in Atlanta.

Johann: It’s funny, though: I don’t consider myself a bike nut or anything, and I don’t think Jessica does either. But biking has been a wonderful way to share the city with each other. I can’t imagine how empty my life would be now without bicycling, not only because it is an exceptional way to experience Atlanta but also because it led me to meet her.

Street Scene: Memorial Drive

On The Eastside Trail

His well-traveled look mixes a shirt from Hong Kong, Zara trousers and London shoes with a belt he found in Shanghai.

On The PATH In Old Fourth Ward

If not for coffee shops, Atlanta Street Fashion might not exist, so when long-time friends of the blog reached out to me for help with their social media, I could not refuse. Please follow this link to news of Condesa Coffee.

Street Scene: Eastside Trail

bag and dress: Vicky Tower
bicycle: Houndstooth Road

On Fifth Street

At STK: The Rules Debunked

Andrea Syrtash and Jeff Wilser have written a charming guide to etiquette called It's Okay to Sleep with Him on the First Date:
And Every Other Rule of Dating Debunked. Says she, "You need to take risks in love, and rules are designed to keep you safe. But love is messy and vulnerable and unscripted." Says he, "Dating should be fun. But how can you relax when you're counting the hours between calls, the days between dates, and whether he's following Rule 1138?" Their key to happy romantic adventures lies in personal authenticity. That sounds a lot like great fashion sense and there was plenty of it on display last night for their book signing party at STK. Enjoy!

More Bastille Day

headband: diy from upcycled fabric
blouse: Old Navy
shoes: vintage
Found and Fixed on Common Thread

From Bastille Day

On Peachtree Street

Street Scene: Ponce De Leon Avenue

dress: ModCloth
shoes: Anthropologie

Street Scene: Eastside Trail

dress: vintage
jacket: Anthropologie
shoes: Cheap Monday
necklace: Corrie Sweat