No kidding. Today I have been feeling off the chart happy.

Let’s sit with a thought a moment. Eddie Vedder released an album of ukulele songs. Sweet. Some other good things are happening too, which feels pretty nice.

Here is where I’m at.

But I don’t want to lose focus, because we are getting close to our goal. In that our goal is getting a patch on someone’s sleeve. Now. The patches are on order, less beautiful that I would have wanted, but they are occurring at a very rapid pace, so this is good. Part of this goodness is one Ms Natalya.

She has been in London for god knows how long now, and left her bike behind in the move to Seattle recently. There, however, she found her heart. Which is a good thing to find.

And, having found her heart, Natalya is finding other things great and good too and is sponsoring Emma to find things good and better and best in the name of the FRED Wildlife Refuge.

I like FRED because they like PINK.

Here’s what Tals has to say about FRED.

It was launched earlier this year by Chris Snell and Fae Phalen, performers and producers at the heart of some of the best creative work going on in the city – much of what I photograph, and especially the hot glam burlesque cirque stuff, is created by either or both of them. The intention behind FRED is to give performers and artists a space to create, rehearse, exhibit and perform, and to collaborate in new and interesting ways. There are also commercial applications of the space, including private events and shoots for magazines and music videos. Chris and Fae are generous and full of fun and encouragement, and have made a big contribution to the best times I’ve had this year – as a photographer or just a punter. The fact that there is a wonderful arts incubator like FRED to play in makes me very happy and is one of my favourite things about Seattle.

(see how I learnt a new thing – blockquote)

Now, I haven’t seen Tals in person in a very long time, but somehow through the magic of the internet, I don’t feel like a stalker on an old friend’s life, I just feel really happy and pleasantly suprised that someone that I knew was always a lil bit wonderful, is such a rich and creative individual with diverse interests and eclectic passions. She is our one and only international sponsor, and I am honoured to have her here.

She makes me want to join the circus. Or at least look good in a horse. Not enough men wear eyepatches these days. Which maybe could be a good thing, but fashion wise, not as much of a good thing. Anyway over time, my respect for Tals has not waned on bit. I’m pretty sure if I met Tals now, I’d like her just as much as I did in first year uni, and probably I’d think she was one of the cool girls that I really wanted to make friends with me, just like in first year.

Pretty much the only thing that would get me right off the Joy-O-Meter is if I was back in Melbourne to be able to enter this WHICH IS COMING UP ON FRIDAY. For those who don’t remember, the Dirty Deeds Cyclocross is the best fun you can have on two wheels while getting dirty. Malachi from Northside Wheelers is keen to show most excellent support for a women’s podium. For this – We Need Women to Ride. And Fitrzoy Revolution, the Bike Store I Used to Be Able to Go Into, may or may not be running some women’s dirt skills stuff.

You know you want to. Get yourself on board in two days please.

Because this how the Joy-O-Meter looks in person (thanks Jess and Mik). Truly the image of the whole series for me.

PS I shall, instead be watching the women’s football in the last match before the Queensland Sunfires head off to the freezing wilds of Adelaide.

The complexity of your graph/chart/pictograph/thingy/post is not an indication of my affection or admiration for you.

Case in point:

This is an affirming but very simple graph.

So this is – I am afraid, likely to be a simple post. I am going to have to paste in Andrew’s content – because it is so comprehensive and thoughtful and full, there is little need for me. (And I am very sleepy right now)

Blakey is a unique picture. I have high esteem for him. And I think his sources of inspiration are as lovely and as thoughtful as he is. Click the links, they link to some sweet links.

If you are not inspired by women and cycling and life and Andrew after this, you’re pretty much dead.

Andrew’s kindly donation comes to me to Emma to you via…

Hmm. Inspiring women who ride? There are so many, so here’s a short list.

I have to plug Megan Dean, a totally awesome lady who makes rad decisions every day. She was a courier turned track racer who went to the Yamaguchi framebuilding school and now builds sweet frames in LA as Moth Attack. Hanging out with her in Austin and LA was a definite highlight of my recent trip.

For racing, it’s nigh on impossible to go past Beryl Burton who won more championships and held more records than nearly any other cyclist, plus she handily beat the chaps regularly.

There’s also Jeannie Longo, with 57(!) French & World championships, she’s been competitive at an elite level for such
a long time, she competed in the Olympics in 1984 and 2008. She’s 53 now and won the French elite time trial championship last year along with the Chrono des Nations, beating riders who were in nappies when she started racing.

It would be unfair not to also mention Alice B. Toeclips, aka Jacquie Phelan, another woman who raced with the guys, beat the guys, while having to endure their ostracism. She was 3 time NORBA champion 1983-5. She founded the Women’s Mountain Bike And Tea Society (WOMBATS) to encourage women and girls to ride and is still active today.

For adventurous spirit, Dervla Murphy, who toured from Ireland to India in the 60s, by herself. “In Iran she used her gun to frighten off a group of thieves, and “used unprintable tactics” to escape from an attempted rapist at a police station.”

But really, more credit is due to all the women who took up cycling in the 1890s, Susan B. Anthony said that bicycling had “done more to emancipate women than anything else in the world.”. The “safety” bicycle afforded them increased mobility, independence & freedom of dress. A great example of these trail blazing ladies is Annie Londonderry, who cycled around the world in 1894-5, swapping a heavy “womens” bicycle and skirts for a lightweight “mens” bicycle and bloomers (and later a men’s suit).

Blakey, I re-read your email in making this post, and followed the links and, dude, you rock. What amazing stories. I feel really buoyed.

So much so that I made you these two sweet handmade bikes for you and your lady. It’s neither chart nor graph but I just kind of felt that you deserved something reflective of you. Everyone is different, everyone’s graph is different.

Remember all things I said to you outside of Long Play? Well, I still mean them.

Stop sending your money!

Because we are now officially a team sponsor of one Ms Emma Best – öur Emma (why the swedish overtone? I don’t know. strange keyboard malfunction).

Now you may not know who we are in collective power yet, because this is a wall of support that has been built brick by brick with kindness and love and skittles and bad graphs and total overuse of the sharpie.

So – we have still to thank the Amazing Andrews (x2), the wonderful Natalya, MTB Skills Rowan (who may have wanted to be anonymous? oops!), and Björn Rust (ooh, appropriate use of dots I hope!)  – so please don’t lose interest.

We have a few days until the 6 June, when the fun really starts – and I faithfully hope to get through my remaining testimonials of support before then.

But – for right now folks – pat yourself on the back good and hard. Then pat yourself on the bum. It’s the footy way.

I can only send my humble thanks and gratitude to you, the universe, team spirit, short shorts, long socks, the weather, this sunshine, the sunrise, the soulset and the sheer joy of doing something nice for another person for no other reason that you’ve got the capacity to do that nice and that’s a sweet place to be.

Shine on crazy diamonds.

With Bon Iver. Unexpectedly at yoga.

That’s the place to end the day too.

Do you know the way you feel sometimes when you come over the top of a big hill, not that exact moment of coming over the top, that exhilarating bravery of launch, but that other feeling, when you are part way down a hill which is bigger than you thought at first and you are all the way back over the saddle? That feeling, when you just kind of know you could totally get the speed wobbles and die? But it feels sort of okay. Actually pretty damn good. You think about getting back centred on the saddle  and opening up your arms to meet the wind. That would be okay. You would be flying.

But you worry it feels okay in a Meg Ryan City of Angels kind of way? Like you’d open up your arms to welcome the sky over your wheels and your hands off the bars and then. Well, we all know what happens then.

Well, Mirerva, our next sponsor on this road to football fame and fortune, she knows what happens then. She has gone up and over more hills than most and still she flies.

Mirerva is also an honorary Radelaidean. Where the magic happens. Handorf. Recommended for those not in perpetual states of game preparedness in the 2011 AFL Women’s National Championship player handbook. Yeah right. Tourism and sport. Why not? There were no carbohydrates harmed in the making of this meal. I nearly had a coronary afterwards but.

Mirerva took a step away from human inspiration recently and learnt to paddle her own canoe. And found joy in inanimate objects. This is how she put it:

Now, I’d like to redo this shot, but it’s very late and I’m very having eaten too many of my picture. Which is not really a graph. Nor is it a chart. But Mirerva is off the chart anyway. And that little piece of paper says “captures of the here and now” and was the insert to a mix tape that someone gave me almost a decade ago when they were someone special. And that’s a heart in the middle. A beautiful origami heart. That someone gave me not very long ago. And there’s a bell. And two little clogs from Em. And worry dolls from Sabra. And ten packets of freaking skittles. Mirerva is beautiful memories.

My heart is leaking colour.

My soul is riding hard.

Speaking of colours, Blues or Maroons? Who won?

And frankly, Adelaide, you better get yourselves ready. Because it’s the next 5 minutes that matters.

Mirerva takes the big waves.

This is the case with Nik C.

You may remember him from a previous graph.

Today, Nik is easy to love because he has provided me with some of the most touching and comprehensive information on his sponsor sponsor sponsorship. All my sponsors (oh, and there is blog clog, by the way, so sorry for the delays!) have been quite lovely. So this loveliness is in line with the quality of sports support that we are all about here at Helmets are Hot. But I seem to have a lot on my plate at the moment, so things are getting backed up in the works. Given that we have until Friday to get our name on a possible t-shirt. I have to motor.  Again with the ten minute posts and the power typing.

But, more importantly, what Nik has shared with me is exactly the kind of very thoughtful information, helpful responsiveness and considered conversation which is the hallmark of Nik C. Sometimes I can get despondent and think that there are no good men in the world. But Nik is a good man.

So today, for you, I just provide the pictures to break up the text.
Nik C is the main event. For accuracy’s sake, I leave all spelling and typing as the message was received. So then Andrew can do the editing. Also, this saves time.

My selection is actually two people – Jackie Avery and Aiyana Kane.

I decided to pick them as they were two of the first three people I met when I started riding fixed (and arguably riding regularly) in vancouver.

(HRH: Wait! Emma has been to Vancouver! This is a good sign – people how have been to Vancouver like bikes, like life, like people! Yes. Valid, and helpful content.)

they had been posting on a frequently dormant yahoo mailing list (remember them?) about meeting up to ride each week. on their second or third ride i managed to show up and met them both. both are very friendly and lively ladies (and at the time were both primary school teachers so herding and encouraging new riders was something they were good at).

that regular ride ended up becoming the biggest fixed-orientated ride in vancouver (somewhat like the wednesday night rides are here) and while jackie and aiyana tended to turn up less regularly they were always a positive presence. their enthusiasm in welcoming new riders and often quickly befriending them may have had a mark on my own actions…

they were also a strong part of the slowly growing fixed-centric bike scene in vancouver… their house had some great parties (global warming swimwear party anyone?) and were at the heart of or participated in some of my favourite adventures, things like riding to picnics at out of town lakes or birthday barbeque rides. they gave as good as many others in the alleycats of the time as well. i have memories of chasing them both down (they always worked as a team and thought before they pedalled thus avoiding the normally testosterone fuelled misdirections that occur).

(HRH: Sigh. Dudes.)

after a couple of years they decided that they wanted to run a ‘all-girls alleycat’ to combat both the small number of girls who regularly showed up to race as well as to do a race ‘their way’. what resulted was one of the most daring, amazing and hilarious events i’ve had the pleasure of being part of. the ‘school girl pussycat’ had ladies riding around town in school attire, spray painting skateparks, carving their names in park benches, playing arcade games and ‘procuring’ apples.

(HRH: This here is your link in  to the wonderful world of women’s football – short shorts and long socks. Remember folks, this is where the dreams will come true.)

it inspired a new wave of females to turn up to events and many new friendships were formed at the event. that race continued for another 2 years (with each years winner being required to put on the next years event).

(HRH: This is a sweet idea; can I steal it?)

one of the things i’ve learnt from them is that females can be a valid and equal part of a bike scene. that they can exist in conjunction and with their own flavour and not as a curiosity or afterthought.

(HRH: Yeah! Recognition!)

a couple of years ago they quit their jobs as teachers and opened bandidas taqueria (have a look through the site)

(HRH: Sweet site, reminds me of this lady who totally gave me the ballsiest helmet pic ever; another impending graph her goodself I should mention. One Estelle Burrito please.)

without doubt one of my now favourite places to eat in that town. when they asked their friends to help them fit it out if they minded… there was no shortage of help offered. many of those friends ended up helping out some more when they opened, this time as employees. as their website says they are committed to a low impact, community minded approach. for them these arent words, its how they are. their staff trips are always bike tours to a cabin or camping somewhere.

(HRH: How come my work goes to The Regatta http://www.regattahotel.com.au/?)

when i was recently there the only thing bad i heard about the place is that its now so successful that you can hardly get a seat there, let alone chat to your friends who might be working. it is cool yet transcends any type of hipster-hate or stereotype. you could take your parents there, or bring a first date. see a crew of messengers drinking or a young family sharing some breakfast. i could not eat there enough…

another thing ive learnt is that you can follow your dreams, do your own thing and that your community will support you if you support it.

(HRH: oooh… Just like Our Emma. Did you know, I actually cry at the advertising during the Olympics, like when the whole little country community are gathered in MacDonalds watching their INSERT PERSON about to start on the TV screen and they say, “she’s already won”. It totally makes me cry.)

i’m very glad to know these ladies…

(HRH: I’m glad to know you.)