Olivino Wines | Bed-Stuy

City cycling takes on one urban adventure after the next. But lately we just can’t stop from riding up to Olivino Wines. This is the kind of wine shop that creates an experience — chic look, organized by region, named for the owner’s pup Olive… All that, and their second location is nestled in the steady growing foodie pocket (think Saraghina, Peaches, Celestino…) that is Stuyvesant Heights. For as many note-worthy eateries this hood has, sometimes you just want to take the spirit home. Rightly so.

Why it’s worth a pedal: Everyone on staff has a smile, a suggestion, and some serious knowledge on how to match your dish (or mood, or vague notion…) with your sips. From thought to pour, they’ve successfully paired everything from our post-work cravings to our late-breaking barbecue emergencies. And by your second visit, they not only have you pegged, but also encourage a step outside your boundaries.

Note to The Multi-Bottle Buyer: Stop in for Ten-Off Tuesdays (2 or more bottles, 10% off)
Looking for a real pro tip? Ask about their French Malbec. It’s the stuff of beaucoup returns…

And not a single bottle didn’t work its charm…

Olivino Wines  |  426D Marcus Garvey Boulevard  |  Brooklyn, NY 11216  |  718 249 0721

We caught up with BK-based yogi and self-described “painter of nature and other things I can see” (love that!) Emilie Lee as she preps for a string of gallery shows in typical urban cyclist fashion — by riding through it all…

Emilie Lee + Willow 3 | Williamsburg, Brooklyn

Which Brooklyn hood is home?
Sunny Park Slope!

What do you do?
I am an oil painter.  I love painting landscapes, but I also paint people.  I’m trained in a classical realist tradition, so my work is very representational.  I enjoy the process of working from life (I don’t use photos), observing quiet moments, celebrating beauty and nature.

 How does your bike factor into your day to day?
My bike gives me a sense of freedom and access to the all the wonderful people and opportunities in New York.  Biking around the city is a sensory adventure!  Just today I felt so uplifted by cruising the lush tree lined streets in Brooklyn, cutting through the park and hearing a man play his guitar, seeing some new neighborhoods I don’t normally travel through, and noticing some restaurants that I might try to find again later.  It’s nice to have something like that as my commuting experience…

Locked and loaded organic for a day trip with the brushes

… Traveling by bike is a great way to decompress and let my mind relax.  I love the feeling of the wind on my skin.  My favorite time to be out riding is just at dusk, or right after sunset when people are done with work and heading out for dinner.  At that time of day I sense big sigh of relief as most of the city transitions from working time to down time.

What’s best about Brooklyn (Interpret at will!)?
Brooklyn is more laid back than NYC, but if I need to get into the city, it’s only a few minutes away.  Here we have more trees, more green space, people bring their dogs to the bar, you don’t have to shout to be heard in a restaurant.  I feel safe riding my bike on the street.  I love the quality of life here, with all the opportunities and creative energy of the city right at my fingertips.  I can breathe more easily in Brooklyn.

Emilie harnessing the Red Hook love

Favorite place to ride in Brooklyn?
Lately I’ve fallen in love with Red Hook.  It’s developed more slowly than the rest of Brooklyn because there’s no subway access, so it still has some of it’s quaint charm.  In the evenings I’ll bike down there to paint the sunset from the pier.  There’s a great view across the water with the Statue of Liberty.  It is so soothing and peaceful to sit there listening to the lapping waves with the smell of the ocean blowing across the breeze.  When I leave I feel grounded.

Q: Anything you can’t ride without? | Emilie: Night Lights

Describe your dream ride…
I’ve never gotten into road biking, but I think it would be fun to learn how and go on an expedition somewhere exotic.  Maybe along the coast of Croatia.  I have a friend who did that and it looked like an amazing adventure.  I would love to go for a few weeks, bring my painting supplies, and camp out along the way.  I guess I’ll add that to the bucket list!

Tell us about your first bike memory…
I grew up on a farm in Vermont and we didn’t have any pavement.  I had to learn how to ride a bike on the bumpy dirt driveway and I was so frustrated!  I think that the training wheels actually made it harder to get the bike moving on that surface.

Does cycling compromise your personal style or fashion choices?
I tend to wear comfortable clothes I can ride in, but that doesn’t rule out very much of my wardrobe!

A lucky look at Emilie’s Brooklyn studio

Find @emilieleelee on Instagram & Twitter | Like her Facebook Artist’s Page | Go see her art:

June 1 | One Night Only |  Rabbit Island Benefit Party & Silent Auction | 981 Dean Street, Brooklyn NY

June 8 – Aug 5 | “En Plein Air” at The Drawing Room Gallery | Cos Cob, CT

June 15 – Dec 22 | “Small Works Show” at The Bennington Center for the Arts | Bennington, VT

We’ll continue to post outtakes from Emilie’s day trip at #bkcruiser

You should never have to ride without. And whatever it is you need to bring along, your bike should look good getting it done for you. So we’re going to make this easy:

•    Like us on Facebook (if you already do, Share a bit of us with your friends)
•    Follow us on Twitter for an additional entry
•    Re-tweet us and you’ve just earned another entry
•    Come and hang with us on Instagram… you’ve entered yet again
•    Follow our Blog and you’ve got yet another entry
•    Get Pinterested in us and, you guessed it, another entry

And because, more than anything, we love to see how you roll…

•    Instagrams and Tweets tagged #bkcruiser get you double (entries, not crates…)

Enter Thursday May 30 (12:00 AM EDT) to Thursday June 13 (up until 11:59 PM EDT)

Entrants must reside in either the 48 contiguous United States or Canada to be eligible to win.  We will not ship to countries other than the United States or Canada.

Nothing says holiday weekend like an empty bike rack in Brooklyn… We’re riding off into Memorial Day weekend despite the rain in NYC, and we hope you are too. But before, we took a minute to marvel at the David Byrne designed bike racks at BAM in all their glory. And it reminded us just how inseparable bikes and design are. Bikes are design. And bikes get better by design. Which reminds us…

David Byrne designed bike rack | BAM | Brooklyn

We’d love for you to join us on Twitter this weekend @BrooklynBikes #bkcruiser #Hamptons35 as we watch how nine notable locals took to customizing their own Hamptons-inspired Brooklyn Cruiser bicycles. We couldn’t be more honored to watch these uniquely stunning re-imagined rides roll out, and we can’t wait to share them with you.

Until next week, Happy Memorial Day from all of us at Brooklyn Cruiser!

If you’ve been doing Bike to Work Week as intended, come Thursday you’re spending your proverbial 9-5 feeling less captured, and with renewed anticipation for not just your ride home, but also your next morning ride in. Even possible? Yes. Think:

Regular physical activity and endorphin release invigorates, twice daily alone time mentally cleanses, and cultivating a better urban landscape just rocks. And Friday morning, your dedication to the bike to work habit, whether long-standing or new, will culminate in rewards that remind why it’s better to be out in it, rather than stowed away from it in a car or subway.

Bike to Work Day is the grand finale. Fueling Stations strategically dot the city (free Brooklyn Roasting Company coffee and treats for you!) And, this year, there’s the Bike Home From Work Party.

www.transalt.org

Friday night, roll right up to The Archway under the Manhattan Bridge (DUMBO) for an urban bike culture celebration — gourmet eats and sips (Brooklyn Brewery, Saucy by Nature…), pop-up shops we heart, and even a Reflective Fashion Show (We-Flashy? Oh yes we are.) Add T.A. Member discounts and good ole community bonding into the mix, and there you have it — a new tradition.

And everyone, while you’re there, hit this up. Because this Friday night is a First Ever, and you should remember it.

FREE / Friday, May 17, 2013 /  6:30 – 9:30 PM / The Archway under The Manhattan Bridge

From one urban bike enthusiast to all others, I really could not have handpicked a better time than Spring 2013 to be welcomed into the Brooklyn Cruiser fold.

Roll call: It’s prime ride season in the East (wheels are in mind and at hand every day now). The Bedford is back (what self-respecting Brooklynite* doesn’t appreciate a streetluxe single speed?) Our 2013 Willow and Driggs 7-speed models are both feeling hearted on the daily. We’re forging supertight bonds with our new Canadian and West Coast family. And we’ve got a lot of next-level projects and collaborations in the works for the Spring/Summer season. (Now’s probably a good time to formally introduce myself…)

*Hello! Heather Holland here, and I’m the latest addition to Brooklyn Cruiser’s Williamsburg HQ. Part of my role is to share all of the aforementioned experiences with our friends, family and BKC collaborators both present and future on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, email, (Morse code, carrier pigeon…) and, hopefully, face to face when possible. The other part is to live it. (Oh, arm twist…)

When I’m not here, I fill my time absorbing all things local (wherever “local” is that day), snapping photos of immediate environs, scribbling words about other places, tending to (and still learning about) my green roof, and… oh, wait… do I ride? Of course I do.

I’m lucky to have recently added a Columbia Blue Willow to my growing stable of urban getarounds, which includes (but will never be limited to) a black vintage Royce Union (aka Goth Bike), a Stella motor scooter (aka Stells), and a Supreme deck on two pairs of Spitfires (aka “Have you seen my board?”)

Still life with Goth Bike (Willow’s next…)

Of all modes available for skimming across the city’s surface, a ready-to-ride urban bike is my numero uno. In a practical sense, it’s my way about town. No cab fare, no potentially AC deficient subway (I can say with certainty that I’ve never once missed my place in the underground throng…)

Creatively speaking, it’s how I maneuver in and around less obvious angles, those unplanned vantage points tucked throughout the borough. Off wheels, I’m not sure how I’d find clean shots of positionally difficult street art (and that just wouldn’t do). Riding never feels the chore that walking sometimes can and, besides, have you seen my board?…

All that glistens beneath the Brooklyn Bridge. I saw this because I was on my bike, and looked up.

But it’s more than that. Doing my thing on a cycle is my best chance to notice something new in the city, and my only chance to escape it without having to leave. And leaving can be tough, because no amount of travel lust will ever negate the fact that Brooklyn happens to be one of the greatest loves of my life.

The thing about Brooklyn is that sense of  “come heck or high” community. People in our borough talk, listen, collaborate, and genuinely support one another. Brooklyn Cruiser is a part of that community, in both business and social capacities. And we’re no isolationists — ours is a sincere want to intersect with other cities, to learn about their urban biking culture, and to share with them the finest bikes we can.

If I hadn’t been riding, I’d never have crossed this fairly defining scene in Bushwick.

Oh, and Willow’s aka? I’m letting Powder and Columbo duke it out for now. We need more time together first. You’re sure to catch us bonding on any number of BKC’s social bases, and we can’t wait to show you what we get up to… Watch this space.

Every New York City cyclist, at one point or another (or, many), dreams that traffic will part so that they might sail, unbothered by wayward drivers, delinquent car doors and trucks (oh yes, just “trucks”), down streets, across bridges, and straight into… Cheer Zones.

I know what you’re thinking.
“Cheer Zones? This isn’t a race. I’m just riding through my city.”
You’re right. It’s not, and you are.

It’s The TD Five Boro Bike Tour, and it’s happening this Sunday (May 5) in, you guessed it, all five of our bike-able boroughs. For those unaware: This is a 40-mile, no-traffic ride for 30,000+ cyclists, commonly referred to as “America’s largest cycling event.” No-traffic. As in traffic-free. Absolutely zero trucks.

But there’s a higher-minded concept at play. Bike New York, the non-profit-dot-org outfit behind the legendary cruise (est. 1977), has an enviable mission we can certainly get with: “To elevate cycling as a green, healthy compliment to New Yorkers’ daily lives by providing access to safe cycling practices and engaging events.” No guff from us on that.

www.bikenewyork.org

And since the greatest urban bike tour going happens to be in our backyard, we’d like to kindly remind potential Organized Event Naysayers just why this one should be your ultimate exception:

It’s not a race
Participants, get your leisure on. Helmet up, hydrate, peddle at a non-competitive pace. Sunday is all about encouraging Bike Culture-City Life integration.

Space
This is the rare occasion when the oft-precarious car-bicycle relations aren’t a factor. Think opening scene of Vanilla Sky. But with thousands of bicyclists. Less Tom Cruise. And well beyond the parameters of Times Square. Freeing, right?

Unity
Cycling Shorts alongside Denim Cut-offs, Performance Bikes alongside 3-Speeds… All sharing lanes in the name of a single statement. Good stuff. (You know what won’t be in the mix? Traffic.)

Causes
If Bike New York weren’t enough (you know, promoting your two-wheeler as an acceptable and sustainable means of transit and recreation year round…), a lot of worthy orgs are getting an awareness boost as well, courtesy of your community, who care a lot. So might you.

Incidental 5-Boro Sight-Seeing
Battery Park. Central Park. Bridges Queensboro, Pulaski & Verrazano. Manhattan, Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn (Hello!). Staten Island, The Ferry, Fort Wadsworth Overlook… In one day.

Brooklyn Bridge Park Entertainment & Cheer Zone
Ever been to Brooklyn Bridge Park? Place is gorgeous and celebratory on a non-designated day, and that’s without entertainment and zoned cheering. Seriously. Hit that spot if you’re riding this Sunday. After all, it is Bike Month… Roll with it.

www.bikenewyork.org

We were jazzed back in August when Vogue paired our Women’s Willow 3 City Bike with a super-chic Thakoon frock for a Fashion Cycles feature. Our baby blues, creams and browns made quite the complementary duo, so what a compliment it was to hear that Thakoon was willing to answer a few of our questions on cycling in the city (and looking good while we’re at it…)

Q: We have seen a great deal of intersection of late between cycling and fashion, from bikes on the runway and print adds to bicycle specific garments by high end designers – what is your take on this?

THAKOON: I think it’s a lifestyle thing, but also as that mode of travel is becoming more and more useful for the city, it’s a natural evolution that you’d want more beautifully designed bikes.

Q: Have you ever considered or do you take into consideration utility or versatility when designing any of your apparel? As in, does the idea that a women might ride a bike in your apparel ever come into play?

THAKOON: I haven’t thought that far into the design, but I do consider pockets quite a bit, as well as the idea of something being detachable or something that you would normally have to style — but the piece is concocted for you so that it’s already styled.

Q: Do you ride a bike in the city?

THAKOON: Yup I do.

Q: Do you think some women might be less apt to ride a bike when cycling’s perceived clothing requirements are a compromise in style?

THAKOON: I think some but the ones that don’t think this way are the cooler ones I see around the city. Ones that ride with heels and skirts.

The gorgeous couple, as matched by Vogue (August 2012)

Q: I don’t have a separate set of bike riding clothes. I ride in chinos, jeans, suits, sneakers or wingtips. (I would even ride my bike to a gala at Lincoln Center in a tuxedo.) But women are at a disadvantage here, with certain types of skirts, dresses and shoes giving them a few sartorial constraints on a bike. What are some ways you might suggest women can get around that without a compromise in style?

THAKOON: I think it’s up to each woman. I’ve seen shoes that can be very tricky to peddle in, yet they cruise down the West Side Highway. To each his or her own!

Q: Are there garments that are designed to be more graceful when the wearer is on a bike?

THAKOON: Bikinis?

Q: Most everyday non-athletic fabrics like denims, cotton twills or some wools are durable enough for bicycling. In the interest of preserving our finer clothes, what are some fabrics you would suggest riders avoid wearing for riding a bike?

THAKOON: It’s not the fabric, it’s the color… Especially white when you don’t have a back wheel guard and get splashed.

Q: If you were to design something for a stylish, busy city girl who gets around on a bicycle, what might we see?

THAKOON: I think it’s super cool to see women wearing men’s oversized shirts as dresses.