Apres Velo Blog

Sometimes members of the Cog-regation get inspired and provide us with feedback. It certainly helps us at our weekly product meetings in the production temple. We review our feedback and see if we can make improvements or simply pat eachother on the back but NEVER do we simply sit back and let the world ride by.

Here is some cranking feedback from Mike Hunn, a member of the Cog-regation who live across the ditch in the land of the long white cloud.

"I have been checking out your shirt designs for a few months now and last month my wife, Karen, hooked me up with a voucher for my birthday. Sweet. So I ordered one that I had like from the start and eagerly awaited it's arrival. First though, we got the confirmation letter. Karen, me and my work mates all had a laugh and admired the witty writings. A couple of days later the shirt arrived and I was blown away with everything to do with my parcel.

It went like this....

"Oh wow look at the wrapping,cool". (shirt in plastic). "Hey, look at the lettering, that looks awesome". (take shirt out) "Far out, that shirt looks really cool". "Hey look a free calendar. Wicked". If you're not getting the picture, the whole frigging deal from looking through the website, ordering the shirt, the promptness of delivery, the actual items received and the complete professionalism shown by you guys is out of this world. Thanks. Like Arnie said "I'll be back".

So there we go. Another satisfied member of the team. Gotta love this job.

Sometimes when I try to explain things that I'd like to make, people look at me as though I'm crazy -specifically my husband, Michael-who-is-very-sensible-and-grown-up. BUT when I draw a sketch and explain what I want to make to my Uncle Russ he just gets me straight away.
He's great. He can weld, fix and make ANYTHING. He has the best shed in the whole world. It has all sorts of wondrous stuff in there...trucks, engines, welding machines and SO many tools. It's the ultimate shed  of your dreams. Bike bits hanging everywhere. There's even a an old vintage caravan in there now that he's going to restore and a cherry picker! It is heaven out there in Dural. He has 4 sons and they ALL have sheds like this. It doesn't get much betterer than that in life. What more could a girl want?

Anyhow, when I drew some Apres Velo clothing stands to take to Germany for a trade Fare that had to be foldable, light and made out of bike parts he said "No Worries, Rene"....which is what my family call me. They don't know "Crash test Mummy" is my nom-de-plume or that my other more-used nickname is "Fatso" which I have been told is a term of endearment.....? My Aunty Andy (Russ' wife) is the best cookerer of cakes, scones and bickies and tries to make me live up to my name, Fatso. I have NO self control when I visit Aunty Andy. My cousins look on in disbelief when I get to the dessert table. No cake is left untried.
  
Anyhow, he whipped up the following stands for me. The clothes hang on the wheel rim on my resin hangers in a previous blog.
 Down the bottom is the base which has a tyre sewn around it.

       

I have designed a pages of different stands, racks and display shelving out of bike parts. Now i just have to hope I can twist my Uncle Russ' arm to make more of my ideas into reality. He's retired and just wanted to fix up the caravan.......not come scrounging for old bikes with his very nice-niece.

 

This is a stool I re-covered for my favourite bike temple (it's my local) and i covered it in an Apres Velo tee shirt strike-off "For Cycle Nuts" because it um, seemed appropriate. Then i sewed an old MTB tyre around it and put bits of MTB tyres on the base for your feet to rest on.
My favourite paint is Silver Chrome and i get really happy when i use it. I use it on everything. Lots of things become sliver and if you hang around in my studio too long and stay still you either get covered in some sort of fabric or become silver.

My friends all have to eat my cooking too....I am on a quest to make the perfect energy bar. You will hear more about this down the track...

I made a pile of bags -again using Apres Velo tee shirt strike-offs and using Rubber tubes for the handles.
Rubber Tubes rock and there's so many ways to use them. I once tied an obnoxious cousin up with some when I was a kid.
He said he could untie any knot......they found him still tied up hours later. Idiot. You shouldn't make claims you can't keep.
 I put a tyre patch under the press stud. The base is tyre tube as well. I did quite a lot of these....

Cycling, as you all know....becomes a Religion or a cult for most of us. We live it, breathe it, eat and drink it. We FUEL our bodies for the ride, train ourselves to accept pain and then MORE pain and practise with friends or groups of like minded souls who live the life we do. Sunday long rides become a ritual, the weekday dark, early rides are part of our religious fervour. Our heroes & heroines (saints, Gods and demi gods) are the ones who do it harder, faster and longer. We dream of winning races, or of conquering mountains or achieving certain goals and distances. We devour bicycle magazines, websites and bicycle films with relish. We cherish our trusty steeds and clean and polish them....but look with lust at gleaming new models in bike shops, the temples we worship at.
I listen with reverence to the mechanic priests who try to teach me all about my beautiful bikes - but I'm not worthy, i'm a mere artist, a scribbler.... and all the petrol and resin fumes must have affected my brain because they teach me how to pull my hubs apart, clean them and put them together again and 6 months later I've forgotten and am too scared to do it by myself. They have infinite patience but i wear them down.
I have made a cross for the devout True believers, for those in the grip of Bicycle religious fervour to pray at. Before races, rides or for selfish reasons....I just want a new bike.......

this cross is made out of resin and stands higher than me and is set onto a conrete base with a MTB tyre around it and inlaid chain Apres Velo logo. It has holes for incense sticks in the base, of course. Offerings of Goos, bike parts, money and/or energy bars are acceptable.