I’ve made it no secret that I have a love of cycling. Though I don’t write about it as often, I have a decent eye for fashion. Maybe I don’t write about it because mine is more utilitarian than trying to express myself through clothes, but one aspect of fashion that always bummed me out was cycling fashion.Not in the sense that I don’t like cycling fashion. It’s actually the opposite. I wish I could wear my cycling gear more often, but lycra bibshorts and a skin-tight jersey aren’t appropriate in mostly places aside from the open road. You can only take about 10 steps in clip-in road shoes before you fall flat on your face. But there are a number of companies popping up who are making cycling-specific clothing that you can wear even out of the saddle.

Mission Workshop rose to prominence because of its hand-made, top-of-the-line messenger bags and backpacks. I’m a proud owner of the Vandal backpack, and I don’t know what I would do without it. It’s weather-proof, attractive and, with its 15 gallon capacity, can comfortably fit a pony keg. Mission then launched a couple of jackets, one waterproof and one odor-proof made from Merino wool, a favorite fabric of cycling companies.

But then it changed the game with its new SPD-compatible shoes.

For the uninitiated, there are two main ways to secure your feet to your pedals for the most efficiency when cycling: clipless pedals, and straps. Straps are most often used by urbanites who are only on their bike for a few blocks and don’t want to change shoes. They literally strap the pedals to your feet, which can be dangerous if you need to stop and jump off your bike quickly. Clipless pedals are a bit of an oxymoron, because you clip into the pedal, but twisting your ankle will release the shoe from the pedal. But the shoes that go with them are cleated and usually have carbon fiber soles for extra stiffness, so not very friendly for walking.

But Mission’s new shoes look like converse sneakers, and have clip-in technology so you don’t have to use straps for short jaunts. I think many more companies will be following suit.

Rapha is a clothing company that is known for its performance gear. It’s usually for cyclists who are out for hours on the open road and enjoy Lycra shorts. But for some reason, and despite their high costs, Rapha has also been a favorite among hipsters in the city. Now that they have released their first cycling-specific pair of jeans, I think Rapha is going to be the go-to clothing company for anyone you might see on a colorful fixed-gear bike.

Cyclists have always embraced technology even when they are reconnecting with nature. We wear Lycra jerseys and shorts to wick away water and keep us dry on an epic century ride. We have carbon fiber bike frames to make it easier to hoist in the air and cork up traffic during Critical Mass meetings. And we have GPS units strapped to our bicycles with built-in heart monitors to play the ever-addicting number crunching game to figure out our fitness levels. Now, we also have a social media app to meet up with friends and share all of our content.While I’m sure people in epic locations will use the Rapha Rendevous app to schedule rides and provide helpful tips when scaling the Col d Tourmalet in France, given hipsters’ love of all things Apple and Rapha. I bet it will be used more for pub rides and meetups at the local Intelligentsia than anything else. Especially in a place such as Chicago.

You can now add friends like any other social network and check out the routes that your friends are taking when you get sick of the same 25-mile loop day in and day out to get some endurance miles in. I just fear that for those who already wear earbuds while cutting through city traffic it could be another distraction that could end up with a few smashed cyclists.

I was also recently introduced to another cool app – Fooducate. It will create more zombie-like scenes like what ran on the cover of the Nov. 2, 2009 issue of the New Yorker. As if people didn’t already walk the aisles of the grocery store in a trance as they stare at boxes of food, now we have an app that you can scan the bar codes with your phone and contribute to the ever-increasing time we spend staring at various screens per day. I guess all is not lost, as Fooducate tells you what bad ingredients are inside the box and offers alternative and healthier suggestions. It might help create thinner zombies, but the visual bombardment we are experiencing these days is approaching “Minority Report” levels.

Though it took me until it was released on DVD to check it out, I finally got around to seeing The Hurt Locker — a day before it was nominated for Best Picture for this year’s Academy Awards.I had read on blogs after it was released in theaters that it was a great film. I read reviews from critics I trust like Roger Ebert, who raved about it. Then after Avatar came out, it seemed like everyone started talking again on blogs and in Tweets about The Hurt Locker and how the two would likely be going head-to-head with Avatar in a David vs. Goliath-like battle. They were right.

The Hurt Locker is a beautiful piece of film. I’m a big fan of the war film genre because it’s so hard to get right. But when it’s done right, it is done right. I don’t really want to get too deep into the glorifying war vs. anti-war film debate, but The Hurt Locker is simultaneously a great commentary on the current wars we are fighting and a flat-out great action movie. The suspense in the film is palpable. I don’t think I have been as physically involved and on the edge of my seat during a film since Paul Greengrass’ United 93. Director Kathryn Bigelow does a great job of letting you feel the suspense that these soldiers must be going through every time they leave the wire. Nevermind the fact that they are defusing a bomb and never know when it might go off, but you also never know when a sniper is going to fire on you, or someone is going to pop around out of an alley an point an AK-47 in your face.

I’m not a member of the Academy, but it has my vote.

For the past year I’ve been waiting for the release of Empire after seeing its initial teaser. It’s a film about having fun on fixed-gear bicycles by a group of friends in New York City. There are a bunch of films out there on the internet generally about the same thing, but the guys at Empire have done a great job teasing the film by running a blog about it is and releasing these short trailers. I’ve found that for me, nothing really gets me more motivated to get out and ride than watching cycling videos, especially during the winter months. I can’t wait for the full-length version to be released.

I do not know why, but it seems that some trends simply will not die.  The trend I am referring to here is Ugg boots.  They look awful, they aren’t waterproof or good for your feet, yet people will not stop wearing them everywhere, with everything, in distasteful colours all over the place.  The ultimate fashion faux pas is the ugg boot worn in combination with the latest in horrific varieties of the spandex pant–the ‘jegging’ worn skin tight (of course) and painted with delicate faux denim detailing.

Thankfully, there are some people who naturally gravitate toward classier atire, and this season most of them can be seen jazzing it up adorned in a variety of posh wear somehow incorporating sequins.  From dresses, shoes, and handbags to vests to cardigans, skirts, and ties, sequins are the toast of the holiday season.

When it comes to accessories, chunky rings and bracelets have that unique crossover appeal between casual and dressy, and add a little funkiness to any outfit.  I am especially fond of pieces made by local artists or from recycled bits of… anything.  As an avid cyclist I am particularly impartial to accessories made from bits of bicycle chain – earrings, necklaces, and bracelets.

When you’re a hockey fan, you get used to taking the back seat in terms of outlets to find coverage of your sport. But when you are a cycling junkie, until recently you would have been SOL to see it anywhere other than magazines and in newspapers during the Tour de France.That said, Cervelo bikes has been putting episodes of its compelling “Beyond the Peloton” documentary on the internet over the course of this past racing season, and it doesn’t have just racing junkies hooked, but the urban fixie riders who wouldn’t be caught dead in lycra — even if their jeans are pasted on just as tight.

In true 2.0 fashion, the company keeps the most recent episode hosted on its main company page, has a designated for the documentary, and in video sharing sites like YouTube and Vimeo, where users can take the episodes and embed them across a variety of blogging and social networking platforms.

Though the racing season has come to a close and the weather is getting colder, the episodes currently being released are from the Tour de France — something I doubt is an accident.

Another thing I’m excited about is Twitter lists, which acts as a way to curate what might otherwise seem like unmanageable content if you follow a ton of people on Twitter. I don’t know how people kept up with following multiple hundreds of Twitter users without being on it all day long, but now with Twitter lists you can manage the content and get what you need. For people like me who follow friends, journalists, athletes, news sites and musicians, I now have an easy way to categorize everything and get what I want without having to scroll through every update since I last checked in.

I see hipsters trying to be fashionable by matching their t-shirt or trim on their messenger bag to the rims of their bikes. And they love cutting a perfectly good pairs of jeans at the knees to make jorts. It was so refreshing when I ran across OUTLIER, which actually blends fashion and function seamlessly for urban cycling. They make great pants that work as well on your bike as they do in the office. These are clothes that will turn some heads when seen on the streets — and for once not in a bad way. Luckily for me I work freelance and can show up at my desk in my underwear. But it’s nice to know the clothes are out there if I need it.

Maybe it’s because the Blackhawks nearly made it to the Stanley Cup finals last year and sports pundits are predicting the Bears could make a run to the Super Bowl, but I’ve noticed a lot of girls wearing sports team T-shirts lately. And I’m not talking your oversize men’s or packing into a boy’s youth large size, but nicely printed shirts made specifically to fit women. Say what you want about the little black dress, but there’s nothing sexier than a girl who is confident going casual in a fitted t-shirt and jeans. It’s nice to see the ladies representing their hometown teams, even if some might not know what’s going on on the playing field.