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Is that the coolest buffalo-on-a-bike tattoo you’ve ever seen, or what?!?

My new tattoo based on my buffalo-on-a-bike design, which is also uploaded a few pictures back. Why a buffalo on a bike? Do you really have to ask?

I’ve had this design idea in my head for at least a year. I had a guy I know draw a slightly different version of it a while ago, but this version I made myself by combining a buffalo silhouette that I found on the interweb with the bike symbol from a bike path sign. I had to stretch the buffalo’s legs a bit to fit them onto the pedals (buffalo aren’t exactly easy to anthropomorphise), and I angled the buffalo’s tail back with the wind, and then angled the front legs to rest them on the handlebars. It was fun. And now it’s permanently tattooed on my left shoulder.

I got it done at Shamus McInky’s in South Buffalo. The tattoo below it is from 1993.

-Thomas - Bike Blog

So here I am at 42 years old and one day I wake up and realize that I like tattoos, and heck why not? So, I searched online for local shops and looked at their galleries, finally finding Dirk Hays at tattoobydirk.com. A cool guy that does excellent work.

This is in fact my second tat I’m showing here. I wanted to symbolize my family, so I looked for the idea of a child-like colorful car transporter. Eventually I found the perfect image at a toy site.

I used Paintshop Pro to add thicker outlines to the picture, then Dirk did some magic. I love it, and it’s a great way to show how cool a family is.

I’m the truck, carrying my 3 kids through life - and, yes that’s my wife driving! The 4th car is our son Jake Harry who we lost, so he’s shown off the truck. I added it to the inside of my left arm (closest to my heart).

-James

Tattoo Design: James Shaw
Inked by: Dirk at Tattoo by Dirk

Becca’s Bike Lady Tattoo

Last year, after a lifetime of being non-athletic and just generally not taking very good care of myself, I started biking with some regularity. This May, I registered for a 2-day fundraising cycling event (www.rideforthefeast.org) that, if I completed it, would include my first century (i.e., 100 miles in a single day; a big deal to cyclists). I told myself that if I completed the century portion of the ride, I’d get a new tattoo to commemorate the achievement. Participating in the event symbolized my commitment to care for my community; completing the event symbolized my commitment to care for myself. Both of those commitments were so important to me that they needed to be marked and celebrated. One week after biking my first century, that celebration happened.

Many people have asked about the tattoo design. It’s original. I sent links to two images (www.melkadel.com/drawings/medium/wheel_shoe_in_garden.jpg and www.terrybicycles.com/product_images/display/7124000.gif) to a dear friend and fellow cyclist and told her I was hoping the tattoo artist could come up with something in between. She sent me back a rough drawing and said, “do you mean something like this?” In fact, I meant something exactly like that. (And no, she’s not a graphic artist. She’s an ER doctor. However, in addition to restarting hearts and soothing drunks, she also has a knack for realizing her friends’ vaguely stated tattoo concepts.)

The work was done by Bill, owner of the Baltimore Tattoo Museum (www.baltotat.com). He is also a cyclist, and he totally loved the design. In fact, he took one look at it and exclaimed, “wow, can I do this?” Bill is a great guy. He is one of those guys who you get the sense would give you his kidney if he thought you really needed it, even if he didn’t know you very well. But despite his obvious heart of gold, the thing that most endeared Bill to me was when, as he was working on the tattoo’s outline, he paused and said, “Heh, your bike lady has a boob.” He was goofy, fun, smart, and excited for me about what I had achieved athletically. Awesome.

-becca

Tattoo by: Bill at the Baltimore Tattoo Museum