Back in 2010, I made these wings to decorate helmet for some of the events I did for the Bicycle Alliance of Washington (now called WA Bikes, I believe). Turns out that the wings actually didn’t work well on the helmet — besides being heavy, they acted kind of like a rudder, which you don’t really need when riding. I took them off, but kept them.

At the same time, perhaps you recall that I had a pink fork custom-built for my bike. There was a bit of a saga around it, but in the end, I swapped that fork out for a lighter, more comfortable carbon fiber version. But again, I kept the pink fork, because it was beautiful and unique.

Fast forward ten years to my pandemic-inspired, bike-themed office redecoration. A colleague mentioned the idea of buying some bike taxidermy to add some interesting 3D art to the room. What if I did bike taxidermy with my own bike parts? I thought of a pink saddle I had kept for a while, but when I searched for it, it turned out I’d finally thrown it away nary a month before. But in that search, I rediscovered the pink fork and, a bit later, the wings turned up as I cleared out old Bike Alliance stuff from my office closet. I hadn’t seen any bike taxidermy with elements like that, but maybe I could figure something out.

After doing a little research, I took the fork and wings to Tsuga Fine Art & Framing. We shopped a few ideas, I made some choices, and then I forgot about it for three weeks. Yesterday I picked up the completed project. It turned out just fantastic.

After seeing it, I knew this thing needed its own wall. I mounted it as soon as I got home, and then spent the rest of the day distracted from work gazing at how awesome it looked.

I’m nearly done with the office redecoration. I have a few more pictures to hang that had been waiting on the bike taxidermy. It’s going to be difficult to go back to work in the office after I’ve gotten my office so delightful.