Photo Friday | Mickey's Loop Bike Ride

Happy Friday, everyone! It's been yet another whirlwind week...while I keep hoping that one of these weeks will be a little less busy, I've pretty much accepted the fact that I will have about five minutes of downtime a week before the baby arrives, ha.

Who all is looking forward to a day off next week, even if it's smack dab in the middle of the week?

But looking ahead on the calendar to an event I saw on Facebook this week...the third annual Mickey's Loop Memorial Bike Ride is scheduled for Wednesday, July 11. The loop bike lane is named for Mickey Shunick, and passes in front of her memorial bicycle on St. Landry Street near downtown. Forward Lafayette and TRAIL Events are putting on the ride again this year.

This year, the bike ride is in honor of JeanPaul Judice, who was killed earlier in January while riding his bicycle after a pickup soccer game.

My husband and I participated in the first Mickey's Loop Memorial Bike Ride back in 2016, and it was definitely a hot, sunny evening. If you participate in the ride, be sure to bring a lot of water, and don't forget your helmet and lights.

Because of the heat, I won't be able to participate in the ride this year, although I wish I could get in a bunch more miles on my bicycle before September! Baby and I will still be supporting all of the riders in spirit and remembering the legacies of all those who have been killed while riding their bicycles.

Visit the Facebook event page for the memorial ride to get all the latest updates.

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Photo Friday | Bicycle Safety Festival and Summer Reading Kickoff

Tomorrow will be a busy day for two of my favorite eco-friendly things: bicycles and libraries!

Happening tomorrow at Parc Putnam in Downtown Lafayette, the third annual Bicycle Safety Festival and Lafayette Public Library's Summer Reading Kickoff is helping to herald in summer vacation.

Parc Putnam is on Lafayette Street across from the federal courthouse - there is plenty of street parking, but of course, I encourage you to ride your bicycles there! The Congress Street bike lane is conveniently adjacent to Lafayette Street, allowing you a safer ride. (In previous years, the festival was held at Parc San Souci.)

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Photo Friday | National Bike Month

Happy Friday everyone! Are you just as relieved as me that the weekend is here?


In honor of National Bike Month, which kicked off on Tuesday, I've got a new article in this week's Times of Acadiana on a new bike rental option in the Lafayette area. The city does not have a large public bike share program, although the UL Lafayette campus has the Geaux Velo bike share.

However, BudBike, the new bike rental program, offers something different for riders - electric bicycles! These allow you to cruise a little more and enjoy the surrounding scenery, and can be rented by the day.

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Recycled Billboard Crafts, Attempt One

When I got a bicycle a few weeks ago, I set out to find an eco-friendly or recycled materials basket for it. After not having found anything online, I started brainstorming ways to make my own basket, and the thought of using billboard vinyls kept sticking with me.

I have some contacts at the local outdoor advertising company, so I called them and asked if I might be able to take some billboards that were being thrown out. They said absolutely, and I went over to visit the warehouse and pick a few vinyls. I ended up with two smaller vinyls and a larger posterflex. After picking up a few construction supplies, I began working out how to make a basket and cupholder.

Cupholder concept #1.

It was an interesting process, making these things over the past two weeks. One thing I will admit about myself is that I have trouble actually executing the ideas that come to me. And I'm impatient. But I tried to be thorough and slow with these projects to make sure they would be somewhat usable. I did end up going with a second idea for a cupholder, and modified the basket design a few times.

My goal was to have both completed for this past Saturday, the day of Mickey Shunick's memorial celebration. I met that goal, even though I decided the cupholder wasn't good enough to be used. And I modified the basket one last time right before departing - giving it a way to close at the top instead of remaining open.

The basket did well on its first ride. It held everything it needed to, and it kept all the contents safe from the dreary, rainy afternoon. It left me with a lot of ideas on how to make a better version in the future, and I'll take my time working on that better version.


I learned through this process that billboard materials are fairly easy to work with. It's not difficult to cut, it sticks to Gorilla Glue (oh, the Gorilla Glue...), and it's a great all-weather material. Because of its purpose, vinyl is made to weather wind, sun and rain - and stay durable. What better material to make bike accessories with?

I began the basket with a square piece of vinyl and figured out how to fold it to make a cube shape. I then marked the fold lines and made cuts so I would be able to redo it another evening.

The initial basket shape, held together with incredibly official clamps. Hey, I reused as much as I could for this project!

Once I was satisfied with the shape, I glued all the panels together and kept the structure with two large books inside.

I decided to make the basket look more polished by adding a trim to the top, using the actual trim of the billboard, so the top fold was already well-creased.

One of my biggest challenges was figuring out how to attach the basket to my bike. Important, right? I ended up deciding to try industrial velcro, which I was able to get by the foot at a local hardware store (score a few points for shopping local!) instead of having to buy all 15 feet in the box.

Cupholder concept #2 with its velcro strap. This concept mostly needs a way to stay upright instead of just dangling from the handlebar. But check out my color matching skills to the basket!

My bike and basket at the conclusion of Mickey's ghost bike memorial. During the memorial, native butterflies were released, and this beautiful one landed on my basket. I think it's a fitting dedication to Mickey herself and her legacy, and a nice little way to inaugurate the basket for Shunick the Schwin.

I'm incredibly inspired to continue making things with the vinyls, and only in part because I still have a metric ton of it lying around my apartment. The ideas are endless; the ability to execute them, less so. But I won't let that stop me!

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