you guys. i LOVE the sequoia. LOVELOVELOVE. i'm so glad we found each other.
we took a ride to the east bay...
i don't know the east bay super well, but i know we met up in oakland, rode through berkeley's campus, and started CLIMBING out of campus until we found the nice grade on grizzly peak blvd that took us up.
this ride was virtually the opposite of the cinderella classic. that was relatively flat and long. this ride was about 25 miles with about 1600+ climbing (got two different numbers from two different methods of recording...which one to trust?).
good news is, looks like this bike and i are ready for marin rides. can't wait to see how she performs out there!
so after the cinderella classic, there was OMGSHOPPING! and beer. we celebrated being done with an $8 fat tire and walked around a bit. cause, in case you haven't heard, women like to buy things. all these women like bikes. you make the connection.
these shorts were part of the fun stuff that i saw. designed by knights of mo' bay, who appears to be local. i particularly appreciated he was designing stuff for the female cyclist of color.
i decided to forgo the shorts, but walked away with a hat, a snap button jersey and shoe covers.
this weekend holds family time and marin century training ride in oakland. time to take the sequoia up some hills!
How adorable are these prints?
Oana Befort is an artist based in Romania.
Her illustrations and watercolors are so charming.
Upon coming across her work, I became an instant fan.
The very quiet magic details is what gets me, look at the necklance, that dress seam-dotted line and her left hand ring – not to mention the ankle booties.
Melt.
way too early on saturday i woke up and took bart to the east bay on one of its last destinations: dublin-pleasanton. i was meeting a couple of friends for the short drive from bart to the alameda county fairgrounds where the ride started.
the above shot was taken around 6:30am just before some guy rounded the corner to talk to me. he then determined i must be in law enforcement and walked away from me quickly.
at the fairgrounds it was rather empowering to see all these women of all ages and sizes ready to go on a ride. this event sells out every year at 2500 people, which is an indication that more rides like this are needed elsewhere.
some women were spandex queens ready to go fast. some were ready to have fun with tutus. one woman had one of those fake plastic butts with a diamond encrusted thong over her shorts. (how that was to ride in i don't know....)
some were the enforcers of the rules of the road and constantly shouted at people to PLEASE say on your left when you are passing or SLOWING when you are slowing. nothing wrong with doing those things, but perhaps it was her law enforcement tone. that guy on bart would have certainly changed his mind about me after that.
and more than a fair share of women brought their kids with them. one particular memorable mother had a kid on the back of her bike on a rack supported car seat. she was passing people up hills with that rather heavy load on her back. very impressive. other young girls were on their bikes riding in small packs of moms and kids. adorable and we cheered for them as we saw them.
as you can see, i brought the 1980s sequoia along for the ride. my thought with this bike is that it is going to replace my blue entry-level road bike that i feel i have outgrown. although it has a lot of gears on it, i don't particularly care for the gearing that it has. so i tested out the sequoia. i think it's a strong contender for the replacement. it has less gears than the blue bike, but it is smarter gearing. i push down on the pedals and this bike is ready to GOOOO. vroomvroom. nice.
i was able, for the most part, to keep up with my friend and her modern-day bianchi. for my first ride, i say we did a pretty good job. my little 1980s era avocet bike computer said we were going anywhere from 14-22mph. i'll have to confirm with her garmin. i'll have to figure out how to use the old school one more. or just upgrade, but i like that little thing. it looks identical to the one below.
for the ride itself, it was mostly flat with a few climbs. the 2nd leg was my favorite as far as just pure riding. the third leg included soul crushing winds that were combined with the most climbing. more like marin and SF "speed bumps," but with the wind, i was working more than a little bit. you could tell who was from SF, east bay hills or marin (other than the marin century / marin cyclist jerseys), because they kicked butt in the hills. i have joanie to thank for that since i didn't get a chance to train as much as i wanted to for this ride. she's a good training partner.
overall it was a fun ride. i was pleased with the sequoia's performance. time to take her out more in marin. i would like to do the ride again next year, and hopefully can have some more friends. my friend and i were already planning who we could ask and what our outfits would look like since we were horribly under-costumed for this event. less pink, more black. woot! but of course, whatever the look, they will have to match our bikes!
now that my knee seems to be better...2013 cycling season has begun!
A little foto-moment to say CONGRATS for the big efforts, hard work and preparation to continue to do awesome accomplishments and have super fun while at it, our very own Calitexican and our friend Bill - completing the East Bay Cinderella (100km) and the Inaugural Rock and Roll SF Half Marathon (as well as a Bay swim the day before..)
→ and to all of you who do your personal best, and challenges time after time, whatever your very own goals may be.
ROCKSTARS ♥
tomorrow is the cinderella classic. as i recall last year, the ride fell on the worst weather day of the year. my house was shaking, rain was pounding on the roof so hard, and the sky looked greenish gray. and the wind.
so, that's sort of what i woke up to last year. some hawdcora people went out, but most of the 2500 riders did not go or, if they went, did not finish the ride.
tomorrow looks to be vastly different. in short, it looks to be a beautiful day for a bike ride!
i'll be riding the 100km on this beauty. sneakpeekaboo.
took her out for a spin in the headlands not long ago. rode realllly nice. i've had a bum knee that's kept me from training as much as i would like, but i didn't want to make things worse. if the knee acts up, so be it. i can always sag out i guess. but looks like a long flat ride. just what i need to get back in the swing of things.
Bikey representations of the A's Stomper & Giants' Lou Seal :)
Crafty fair shops in the Pumpkin festival 2012, in Half Moon Bay
Baseball season has started!
We are fans of Bay Area baseball – and Caryl in LA, maybe too :)
SF 2012/ OAK 2013
Last year, I was fortunate to go to the first game of the Giants 2012 opening series. This year I went to the first Oakland A's 2013 opening series game.
Jeff y big papi / SF Giants 2012 Opening Night (First 2 fotos above via my friend Jeff)
Oakland A's opening game 2013 (this week).
It has been a great last few years in Bay Area sports: the 2x World Series champs Giants, 49ers went to the Superbowl, the Oakland A's were AL West champs last year. The San Jose Sharks have also made it a few times into their conference finals. In college sports, this year Stanford women's basketball made it to the Sweet16, CAL men's basketball made it to the NCAA tournament, CAL women's basketball are in the Final Four! and now mi personal favorites, Golden State Warriors with a high possibility of making it to the playoffs(!!) EPIC.
2010 World Series winning game
Ratta y Richie
It is pretty rad that the SF Giants provide bike parking service. The rockstar parking peeps will take care of your ride while you watch the games.
June, 2009
Our very own Calitexican parks bikes in her sleep I'm sure ♥, and she is at the ballpark rather often. I'm sure she'll continue to share her bike parking adventures with us all. Or awesome bike party pictures like the one she took sometime last year:
In Oakland, the A's don't have that pimp bike valet parking across the Bay, but they do have $2 Wednesday BART days... make sure you are ready to listen to some metal, lots of drums and fans cheering like it's the World Series any game.
Ratta y Guillermo. Detroit Tigers vs A's post season series.
This hat duo were so loud, super fun. Detroit Tigers vs A's post season series.
The Giants World Series game in 2012 was super mellow fun to celebrate (the city got pretty crazy once again) at a non-alcohol bar eating and enjoying a good time at StreatFood with Ade +fam, CTX +V, and crew. All ages, all good.
Anyways.
There are way more pictures and sports moments I am very glad to say “We were there” and to have shared with my family, friends and fellow fanatics. Good times!
Velcro checks out this season's schedule.
and if you have gotten this far, the above foto is from a decade ago at the Giants :)
For you fellow Dub fans, the WE BELIEVE 2007 Dallas series, my personal fave highlight..
OK that is all for now. GO SPORTS!
xxomeli
// Most fotos mine, a few borrowed from KT, my friend Jeff and this above from the internets/Big Bang Theory.
