This year was the 104th Annual Toronto Santa Claus Parade and never before has it been documented as it unfolds - That is, until the Purple Pedals joined!

Two riders from Yahoo! Canada, Sarah Bradley and Megan Blackburn, braved chilly weather and wet flurries to show a new side of the parade - from the pre-parade organization, to the crowds lining the streets of Toronto — the Purple Pedals saw it all.

The remarkable photos captured a different side of the parade — from within the parade! … Continue Reading

Without much fanfare at the border, and missing their US Passports, the now infamous Purple Pedals slowly rolled their way to the Yahoo! Canada offices in Toronto on November 4th.

We welcomed Swerple and Purple Shutter with great adoration – getting them all charged up and taking them for a spin on the Harbourfront during the unseasonable, yet most welcomed, warm November weather in Toronto.

Nearly every day since their arrival, they’ve toured Toronto, St. Lawrence Market and surrounding area snapping pics at every turn. They’re getting ready for their big appearance alongside … Continue Reading

Indeed, Monday was a day that tested both pant and purple bike promotions to the extreme. An all-day downpour scared away all but the heartiest riders and cloud cover kept Purple Reigns’ from capturing any GREAT photos. The result: an ill-attended ride.

The good news is that folks brought their cameras and we’ve uploaded them to Purple Reign’s Flickr account to record this not-too-historic celebration of the time change. Legend has it that the first Critical mass had 10 riders, and Rollin’ Lightnin 1 exceeded that by … Continue Reading

After getting a hang of the bike and how it works, I wanted to figure out an interesting way to use it. The elements (bicycle, camera, GPS data) were a unique and exciting mix in my eyes…The GPS-reflecting, pink dotted map seemed the new and most interesting element to exploit in this GP-bi-cam, and I usually found it a very interesting thing to come back to and check after a day of riding around town (just a little behind the photos themselves).

So the thought of going on a bike ride with … Continue Reading

Dogseat and his bike, appropriately named “Dogseat’s Bike,” have officially announced their endorsement of Barack Obama for President of the United States.

On October 31st Dogseat followed a preplanned route from downtown to midtown Manhattan, and with the bike geotagging every 60 seconds he managed to spell “Obama.” We thought this was such a cool and creative way to use the Purple Pedals, and definitely appreciate the time and effort required to craft a 40 block long message (as simple as it is). Super cool.

Tomorrow, Purple Reigns will meet it’s next rider - Chris Lindland of Cordarounds. Chris and Purple Reigns will ride in Critical Mass on Friday night - Halloween!!!

On Monday, Chris and many friends are hosting a “commute home in the dark ” in honor of the switch to Pacific Standard Time and to showcase their new bike-to-work pants.

At 6:00, participants will ride from the Embarcadero’s gigantic bow and arrow to the Gestalthaus in the Mission , illuminating the streets with all manner of reflective and light-emitting commuter gadgetry. … Continue Reading

Billyburg was getting a little tired of NY, as the fall and winter settles in, so we decided to send him on a little trip to Beirut. I recently met, Dave, a smart and savvy entrepreneur/biker in NY who agreed to be Billyburg’s chaperon for the next couple of months. I asked him for his thoughts of the bike, the project and the cities he has rode in. Below is his response. Here are the photos.

Dave says:
I rode the Yahoo! bike around New York City for a few days … Continue Reading

In the second blog post from our friends at Uncommon projects, Heather writes about the trials and tribulations on how the bikes were powered, and how they eventually came to the conclusion that solar was going to be a mandatory component.

Three of the Purple Pedals are in Camden this week at Pop!Tech and they are being enjoyed and ridden, despite the brisk fall temperatures.

Attendees are riding them and enjoying the view from the saddle and the new perspectives they provide.

Here are some thoughts from one of the riders of the Purple Pedals.

David Byrne has been an avid New York City cyclist for over 30 years. As an homage to his passion, he approached the New York City Department of Transportation with an idea: “artisitic” bike racks designed to represent the neighborhood that they were placed in. Much to his surprise, the DOT agreed to install these racks for 1 year.

As soon as we heard about this, we knew that we had to send the Purple Pedals out on a documentary exploration. It was a long day, and so unfortunately we had to give Brooklyn and Harlem the … Continue Reading