Despite the whole fascination with forests and flowers, most mori girls are city girls. For most city girls, commuting is an inescapable (and in fact, sometimes enjoyable) part of daily life. Whether they are riding trains, buses, scooters, cars, or just using their two legs to walk to the corner store, mori girls are a pretty mobile bunch...
... which leads me to the mori girl's vehicle of choice: the bicycle. Environmentally friendly and inexpensive, bicycles let mori girls feel the wind in their hair and the air on their cheeks, all while getting them from Point A to B in the most fuss-free and enjoyable way possible. Best of all, bicycles can be customised to showcase the mori girl's quirks. In my city, I've seen pastel pink vintage-style bikes with wicker baskets in front and flowers wound about their frames.
Bicycles also feed mori girls' love for vintage items. A simple European-style road bike (as opposed to mountain bike) has the air of times gone by. Just look at these pictures of Audrey Hepburn on her timeless bike.
Grace Kelly too!
Mori girls' loose clothing and flat shoes are ideal for bike riding. No need to worry about breaking your heels on the road or your skirt being too tight to pedal in!
Unfortunately, living in a city often means the roads are usually filled with cars, not bicycles, and it can be inconvenient or even dangerous to cycle if there are no bike paths. In my city right now there are bike paths but they are limited. However, I did live in a European country for a period of time and there, bikes were the default vehicle of choice. It was a wonderful and memorable experience, biking down to the city centre with friends, one after the other, balancing my bag on the handlebars (my bike didn't have a basket) and whirring gently past the prettiest city imaginable.
In my hometown (where I'll be moving back to soon) there are no bike paths at all and a crazy amount of cars on the road. I'll probably only be able to ride my bike around the residential area where I live, to the local park and perhaps to the nearby convenience store. Still, it's nice to be able to ride down to the park to read a book on a cool evening, the smell of other people's dinners wafting from their windows, the sound of my tyres on the tarmac filling my ears. I'll be sure to do that! I have memories of riding my bike down to the city centre with a friend or two in the wee hours of the morning when there were no cars on the road, pedalling furiously for one or two hours just to buy a $3 bowl of noodles from our favourite 24-hour noodle shop. Sadly, most of my friends have grown up and have to work the next day, or would rather drive the car down instead. Still, I'll remember to give my bike some exercise now and then!
If your city isn't bike-friendly, you can still ride your bike close to your home, or go further later at night when most cars are off the road. Just before or after dinner, or early in the morning are the best times to ride. The best bags to take are backpacks or little sling bags or pochettes--just tighten the strap. As long as your bike doesn't have a high bar in the centre, you can wear long, loose dresses or skirts to ride. Be sure to wear comfortable flat shoes like rubber-soled slip ons. Take a bottle of water with you (you can even attach it to your bike if your frame has a holder), a sandwich and go where your heart pleases!
