These are beautiful.  You can learn more about them, including where to buy one HERE.

It’s coming around the corner. I know it’s only October 1st, but soon enough, winter will be here, and then, before you know it, January 1, 2010 comes. If you are like most people I know, and sometimes myself, you spend a bit of time without a calendar. Whether you forgot to pick one up, or you are waiting till they are cheaper, a couple months into the year, you don’t have anything except for the GMG events calendar. That is really all you need for bike events in the Northwest, but if you want to add Aunt Lily’s birthday, or when your child support payments are due, then a wall calendar is what you need.

Where do you go from there? You’ve got lots of options. Personally, I don’t remember the last year that I didn’t have a bicycle calendar.

The 11″x17″ Cycle-And-Recycle calendar will run you $13 from the International Bicycle Fund

The 12″x12″ BICYCLES calendar might be better if you like the old ads, like most people with good taste do.

Or if you like really bad art, maybe the 12 months of bicycles is up your alley.

Myself… I like bicycles and ladies sharing the page together. I know I’m not the only one. As with the calendars above though, there are some differences in quality and content between the different calendars. I have 3 different calendars with bike girls on them. I like them all, for different reasons:

The Seattle calendar: Lovely Ladies on Beautiful Bicycles- which WILL NOT BE AVAILABLE FOR 2010

The good cause calendar: TyK: Thought you knew

The Proceeds from the TyK Project go directly to the Chicago Women’s Health Center [CWHC]. Providing health care and health education to women in Chicago, they have long filled a gap in the US health care system. TyK is proud to give CWHC a leg up. (And so you know- 2010 will bring a Men’s Calendar to the wall as well)

The Team Calendar: Team Pegasus

These calendars are all good for different reasons. My favorite at the moment is the TyK calendar, which I picked up at Interbike. But then I found another one. Not in print form, but on the world wide web. It costs a very pretty penny, but if you’ve got money to burn and appreciate things like the Pirelli calendar (NSFW), you should check out the

Cycle Passion Calendar

It’s bigger at 16″x20″, doesn’t have much room to write down events, but it looks very beautiful. The models are professional riders, from different disciplines, and by the looks of it, shot well. It’s expensive: 36 Euros, about $45 US. But they are selling. And if you are trying to hold out and get them later for cheaper, in Europe apparently they do things the other way. They get more expensive the older they are. The 2006 calendar is being sold at 55Euros!

Some people don’t like these kind of calendars. That’s ok. I think that the images are tasteful, and I appreciate that these women are riders. In the Cycle Passion Calendar for 2010, you will find Sabine Spitz, Anna Sanchis, Lene Byberg, Steffi Marth, Julie Krasniak, Solveig Lindgren, Nikki Harris, Monia Baccaille. They are National Champions in road, track, mountain biking… They look amazing, and will outride you any day of the week.

This can be said about many of the women in any one of the “Bike Girl” calendars. The Thought You Knew crew says it well:

The TyK Project was created to address modern day stereotypes of women. Frustrated with being pegged as either mechanically savvy but asexual, or cute but inept with their bikes, these PinUps showcase the dual nature that women cyclists embody. The Ladies of TyK are everyday cyclists. They are not models. These women ride the streets of Chicago for a living, for transportation, or just for fun. But once in the photo studio, they’re given a chance to show off their femininity. The Ladies who participate in the TyK Project learn to embrace their sexy side, too often crushed down in favor of being taken seriously. The PinUp Calendar forces people to look at the women they see every day, dirty and greasy, riding their bikes out on the street, as feminine and sexual beings. It forces people to realize that just because a woman is wearing a dress doesn’t mean she’s unable to fix a flat.

Of course there are calendars that have dudes on bikes in them too- I just don’t know what they are. If anybody out there wants to do a guest post recapping what’s available- get at me.

Other calendars of mention:

• Feminine Frames featured nude female mountain bikers
• Bold Beautiful Biathalon- put together with the Canadian Women’s Biathalon Team
• Apparently Tara Gins, an aspiring Belgium pro is working on a calendar featuring female pro racers from Europe. Not sure on the status of that one though.
• South Bay Wheelmen Elite Women’s 2007 Calendar