weekend ride report: cinderella classic 2013

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!

friday fun times: planning bike rides

really. after work, this bike advocacy thing takes up most of my time. whether it's here, or being involved neck deep in planning mass bike rides, or valet parking your bike so you can have a good time at an event, i can't help it. i love it.

part of why i do is to meet all different sorts of people who are all into the bike, the rides, the community, or just the solo road thing. but we all share at least one thing in common: the bike. oh, and probably not getting hit while riding one. as long as the last clause is always a danger, those of us who ride will always have a strong bond.

so the latest bike ride planning meeting i went to was amazing. the cusp of something phenominal: clitoral mass in oakland. sounds like the ride is national, and in no small part the idea is owed to those fierce latinas down south, las ovarian psychos.

the real beauty is we're planning this ride BY and FOR a non-male audience, as the name of the ride suggests. females, gender nonconforming, and trans folks all welcome. we have social media savvy, bike ride planning experience, website artists, and more importantly, the desire to put all this fierceness out in the world.

so two of my fellow bike party planners and i have to thank bart for their awesome "trial" where this week, all week, they have been allowing bikes on at all times. phew.



we introduced ourselves and sat back and then we all helped planned. a lot. then we took this picture.

foto credit to kanchan over on fb.

so what's next? ...just wait and see. ride coming up soon! save the date for MAY 25 for oakland's version of clitoral mass.

happy monday...bloomers and all

ooooo la la...

sent to the blog via klaw.

foremothers, or, "it's us 70 years ago"

well, being that i don't have any caucasian female ancestors that rode bikes (at least, that i know of), i'll still claim them as my foremothers. how can i not? this picture is pretty badasse.

approximately 70 years (give or take a decade) later, another lady bike posse gathers on the eve of a new year. and they document their legs.

happy women's history month y'all!

via lmg(if anyone knows the source of this pic, please share!!)

smiles and independence

a couple of weekends ago four people, including myself, gathered together after months of emails and changed plans for one purpose: to teach an adult how to ride a bike.

i was merely a spectator-cheerleader, yet the instigator, of the happenings that weekend. we met up in a deserted area near a great indian place in berkeley, chose an empty parking lot and let the teaching take its course.

my phone being at near capacity, i could only get two photos of the awesomeness that occurred that weekend.

n+j

n+j

but rather me tell you how it went down, i got permission from the new bike rider to use an email she sent to us after the fact. who better to describe how she felt than the person herself?

the email was edited a bit, but you'll get the idea, of that i'm quite certain.

from: JT
to: NA
cc: MM ,AK
date Mon, Nov XX, 2010 at 9:57 AM

and for real for real ginormous armfulls of gratitude for each of you. you each helped me jump a huge hurdle. i was so down and out. learning how to ride a bike really helped my spirits fly a lil higher when they were ready to sink. thank you ak for loaning your green bike to learn & now the white bike to practice on!!! and thank you mm for connecting us to na - learning how to ride a bike=best present ever!!! and thank you na for being the best bike instructor ever!!! i couldn't have asked for a warmer, supportive and patient group of people to help and witness me learn how to ride a bike. =)

my parents were in disbelief that i learned after all these years. and my brother said he was proud of me =) i can't wait to bike to work & everywhere else & go on bike rides around oakland and sfc!

with lotsa love,
jt

now if that is not the definition of the title of this blog, i don't know what is.

scenes from the bikey lane: monday march madness edition.

hey y'all. can you believe it's march already?! wow, 2010 is speeding by like a certain famous bikey dude riding his cargo bike down the wiggle the other day. vroom vroom.

ok then, let's get to it:

1. light grey skies, dark gray asphalt outlined with yellow stripes next to dewy and fresh smelling green grass. nice change of scenery.

2. sausage fest throughout said above route.

3. 3 women, 1 male at page and octavia.

4. 5 women, 0 males at 7th and market.

5. 6 women, 2 men at 5th and market.

6. red mixte seen inside bank: 1

7. baskets seen: 4. two were on the same bike.

8. mixtes spotted: 2. upright handlebars on those bikes: 2.

9. cords worn: 1 pair. (brand unknown. not pink)

see anything fun or different on your commute this morning?

wednesday whispers of sundays past

a few sundays ago, friend of the blog *honeychild* and i went for a ride up twin peaks. there was a break in the rain and all i wanted to do was be outside.

i had a new steel tool at my disposal, new gearing, new fears. with *honeychild*'s encouragement, we went up. and up and up and up and up. and then when we got to the top, we saw this.

we busted out the bagels we had gotten at the cafe at the bottom of some hill or another. as we were nomnomming away, i spied some young man bounce off his fixie and jump and sit on the stone wall overlooking our gorgeous city all in one move like it was taking a breath of fresh air.

not to sound too SF or anything (ok, i am anyway...), but his energy was really nice and youthful and carefree. these things i have on my mind as about as i turn another notch on the odometer.

so to twin peaks, awesome friends, achieving new goals and pushing oneself. all things i have chosen to do in this new year of my life.

happy hump day to you and happy new year to me!

tu y yo...are looking for the bicis!

so to pick up where we left off the last time: the super cutie pie duo of pilar and dorothy were looking for a bike for pilar in LA.

the last time dorothy discussed types of bikes that are available from beach cruisers to bmxes to 10 speeds to mixtes mountain bikes. pilar decided she wanted to look for a hybrid bici.

so for this time, as they look for bikes, they come across a JAMIS. and i love how they discuss the finer points of language. as in how do you pronounce jamis? pilar, being a (self-described) chilean valley girl, says it would be "HAH-mees," whereas dorothy mentions that if you're in "america" you say "JAY-miss." please, see for yourself.



um, how cute is pilar riding around on those lil comfort bicis? :-D

anywaysssss...

part three has them narrowing things down to pilar's dream first bici at the "walmart of bike shops."



so what bike did pilar choose? i dunno! i don't know if i can find the last episode. sad face.

regardless i wanted to share these videos for a few reasons. one being that these were southern california women of color (for lack of a better term at the moment, but we're working on a better one...stay tuned) interested in looking for bikes and helping others by modeling how to buy a bike if one does not now how/where to start.

chances are if you are reading this blog, most likely you have a bike or know where to start when looking for one. but, sharing the beginning steps i always feel is important in that maybe now that the weather is starting to mellow out, the days are getting longer that maybe you all can grab a friend, someone you never thought would hop on a bike and get them started. maybe they are shy, maybe they are scared, maybe they don't have any money. whatever the case may be, there is always an option by just sharing and starting the conversation.

and to close, i'm going back to dorothy's own words back in the first video i shared with you all:

i don't have a car ... and i definitely want to show it, not just say it. i'm looking forward to hosting more rides so that not only can people learn how to ride, but also learn about their city. it's nice to hear that people are open to something like a bicycle in los angeles. maybe 5 years ago that would have been really crazy.

i don't know about y'all (yah, ahm from texas ok?), but i think those words nicely encapsulate what we are about on this here blog. don't you?

what about y'all? are you doing what you can to get someone you know involved in riding around?

bikey times with siteLA

in 2008 quicksilver, the surf clothing company, sponsored 6 female visionaries in residence for a project called siteLA. i followed them online and saw their videos on youtube.

two of the visionaries stood out to me. one, pilar diaz, is a musician i love & knew of her before this project. the other one, dorothy le, is a bicycle advocate. meet her below.



naturally, i was intrigued. and then when i found out the two went on a crusade to find pilar a bike to start riding around LA, i was sold.

here is part one of how to buy a bike with dorothy le.



so even though their 2008 residency is over, their words and actions live on. yay.

parts 2 and 3 of how to buy a bike with dorothy and pilar coming soon :)

an informal count

who says that women ride less than men? ok, a lot of people do, but this is what i gathered as i was scoping out items for scenes from the bikey lane from this morning's commute. the following numbers were counted at stops at certain intersections along my route. meaning there was enough time for us to stop and for me to count before moving along with traffic. this occurred just before 9am this first monday morning of 2010.

1. page & octavia: 3 women; 1 man

2. van ness & market: 3 women; 1 man

3. 7th & market: 4 women; 2 men

4. 5th & market: 4 women; 3 men

5. 4th & market: 3 women; 3 men.

this sort of interested me as i started really counting the numbers. i think i may keep this up and see how my very informal take on gathering data & numbers goes.

do you see a significant amount of either gender on your workday commutes? are you noticing any changes?

Hello Readers. Mucho Gusto.

Hi. Those rather enterprising sorts of readers may have noticed a new contributor as of this morning. Yes, that's me, calitexican.

You may have met me before on the interwebs, or not. I first appeared on this right here site right here (Texas grammar intentional), and then I popped up here. I kept bumping into Meli and Adrienne all over town and on flickr. Through our encounters, I came to believe we all share a similar philosophy on riding bikes, and how they can be incorporated seamlessly into one's lifestyle. I hope to make some of you laugh (or at least smile), and to make others of you think. Most importantly, I hope to encourage all of you to ride around over town just living your own life.

So no matter what sort of riding you do, please get to it. There's a lot of roads, trails, mud, grass, whatever and et cetera to explore.

I would like to officially shake hands with the internet for bringing the three of us to know each other. I would also like to thank Meli, Adrienne and Caryl for asking me to be a part of this venture.

Have a great rest of your day. New horizons await all of us.

Silly Girl

There is a lot of interesting commenting going on out there in the cyber world of late. The "I Hate Cycle Chic" crowd is starting to stir in places. CYLRAB is not a "chic" blog, but it is not not a "chic" blog, either. Meli, Caryl and I try very hard to find pictures and stories from all over the world about what the people who ride bikes as a means of achieving their personal ends look like and how they live.

So what is it that makes cycle chic so compelling? Aside from the fact that we have not seen any in North America since the late 70's, that is. It isn't the clothing, it isn't the sex appeal (those are a small part to be sure). From my experience, it is because "cycle chic" is about people. For the first time in decades, we are seeing the people who ride bikes before we see a bike that happens to have a person on it.



This woman is lovely, to be sure, but is that what makes the picture? Is this attractive because she is young and thin? For myself, I am drawn to this image because this woman is so obviously comfortable, happy and confident. She is gliding down the street and loving the light and the feeling of movement.


I took this picture a couple of weeks ago. This woman is stunning. She looks like she could be my friend, and if she were, this is how she would dress to meet up for coffee. Her bike could just as easily be her back pack. It is simply part of her day. Instead of it being the center of her public persona, it is just her transportation and who she is shows on her face instead of in her gear.



This is one of my favorite shots of Meli. She has the whole "cycle chic" thing going here. Not because she is rocking those fabulous shoes or flashing those red tights. It is because she is happy to be in that moment. There is no way that looking at this picture could be damaging to cycling culture unless you look at it through the lens of self-loathing. When viewed as it is intended, as a window into a positive person's life, the fashion becomes so very unimportant.



Lastly, this is a picture of myself. It is a bit over the top, and admittedly, a little reminiscent of an old pin-up calender, but there was a point to it. After years of feeling completely out of place in my body and creeping closer and closer to 40, I finally feel like I have reclaimed my physical self. I wore a bathing suit for the first time in 3 years this summer, all because riding my bike around town instead of using my car has made me feel thousands of times better about how I look and how I feel inside my own skin. Despite what others may say out there, I do not feel exploited, I am not objectifying myself and I am fully aware that I am the equal of any person out there.



So if you feel this image damages the cycling world,

photo by bicyclesonly

or this one,

photo by Amsterdamize

or perhaps this one, then maybe it is time to deepen the conversation. If 20+ years of only seeing bicycle racers and urban bike messengers didn't get people out riding for transportation, then how exactly do pictures of people doing just that not count? If people are out on bikes, and their only reason for starting it is because they saw a photo of some beautiful moviestar on a cruiser why does that matter? If the goal is to get butts in saddles, then we need every sales pitch we can find, and for many Lance Armstrong and the X-Games just don't register.

Feel free to discuss. May I suggest putting on some high heels first so that you can get in the mood? : )

Small Packages

Aiko here is making the blog rounds this week, and one look at her will tell you why- she is damn cute!



Cute, though, is just the door to this wonderful story. Aiko is 84 and rides the 150 miles of the 2 day City to Shore MS ride in New Jersey. She has done this every year for over 20 years. She rides a single speed bike, she wears the clothes she always wears (including her heels) and she rides the race with her family (including great-grandchildren!!) as a team.


Aiko is a remarkable woman, to be sure. More than that, though, she is the benchmark of what we should all strive for. She is a woman without boundaries. With complete style, being only herself, she completes tasks that most of us think of as monumental but really only require a different point of view to be manageable. Through a simple, determined act, Aiko proves that the only things that hold us back are our own, self imposed mental limitations.



Reading her story makes me want to ride. It makes me want to be better as a person. It also makes me want to start a purse and heels group to do some charity riding! Who wants to join me?

(huge thanks to "the skepticaloptimist" for the pictures!!!)

Shazaaammm!

I usually leave cycle chic posts over at "Vélo Vogue", but this one just had to go here. We'll call it an homage to my bike blogging beginnings : )







From Flickr group member, Sweet Olive.

It may be time to step it up, people! How good can you look on your bike?

38 Weeks

You are not a real, dedicated cyclist until you have ridden clipless at 38 weeks of pregnancy! What's that crap about the weaker sex? : )