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.

Arthursday: tunnels

/link+art credit: work by Tatsuro Kiuchi via it's nice that.

Tunnels would be a big prominent birthmark if Critical was a human body. With the exception of the Geary and Park Presidio ones, tunnels are a frequent and quintessential experience whilst participating in a San Francisco critical mass ride.

Tomorrow is the 20th anniversary and here is more info, links and good stuff including purchasing/download of BEAUTIFUL poster done by rad local artists: SF Critical Mass

I've expanded the usual short+sweet Arthursday a bit, including a few San Francisco tunnel shots as well as one from Los Angeles by our 4th amiga in Los Angeles: Caryl (first photo below) +the rest them are from the 3 of us here in SF :)

Los Angeles by -Caryl

polo fields in golden gate park by meligrosa

--

Ade+calitexican+i: tunnel trolls 3+ years ago:

Tunnel Vision by Adrienne Johnson SF

-- and this from that:

three tunnel trolls by meligrosa

calitexican's previous yellow mixte! aw.

stockton tunnel by meligrosa

critical boys 2009 by meligrosa

golden gate park, late 2009 by meligrosa

Badass bullet belt by calitexican

At dusk. SF critical mass. September 2009. - Stockton tunnel by calitexican


- - - -
Tunnels are like blogs, they connect people from one side of their screen onto the other – with people in a different place with a similar perspectives -- xxom

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!!)

Get a hold of me

When it comes to carrying and strapping things, there is no doubt that us as a cycling bunch, are extremely creative by nature. What has been the latest repurpose or holding-down method you have tried? When I was in college, my biggest challenges were carrying tubes, rulers (think 60+in.) and odd objects art students are known to get creative with. On wheels. I didn't have a basket in the beast I used to ride while in school many years ago, but I did have a little rear rack for a short time that came super handy. Bungee cords did the trick. Somehow I made it work.

Ade the other day showed us how she makes the most use of those belts.
I don't recall if she had blogged this photo yet or not, but here it is. That belt is quite handsome.

The other day, trolling around Etsy I found this beautiful corset-like bottle holder [link]

Last year I invested in a little velcro-attached cage (the one holding the white water bottle) for my road bike, which I hardly ride. When I take my road bike I miss my basket tremendously, but it is nice to just carry the minumum. Coffee still needs to be with me, so here this photo (below). This is in Marin near Pt. Reyes shows the velcro-attached cage which is used for water, the other is for my insulated coffee kanteen. Prioritize.

Meanwhile, on Frenchie, the basket accomodates to all kinds of cargo. I keep bungee cords in my bag or sometimes around the basket, making sure they are on TIGHT. Those bungee cords could get lose, and when you least know it, could be a pretty bad situation in your wheels. Eeek. They also come in handy when holding down bigger grocery bags or other larger things when running errands. I bought an unexpensive pack of about 8 of them in various lengths and color/sizes or so at a local mom+pop hardware store.

Our friend Patrick in Portland has extreme precious cargo here:

Grocery Panda by Patrick B.

Asides the adorable view of AnaBee reading her book while running errands, I found very clever the small details around it all. Note the old inner tube wrapped around the handlebars, working as a sunglass holder. Patrick says: "i originally wrapped this inner tube around the handlebars so I'd have a tube handy for tying things down. but i mostly use it to hold sunglasses or my gloves-- very convenient!" Super! =)

 "Steady steel steeds"

And here these beautiful bikes which belong to the local pretty ladies, our own Calitexican and LMG (orange rivendell) roaming all over the Bay, keep everything nicely kept in their baskets for any cargo, work and play.

It is known, that us city ladies here at CYLRAB are huge fans of belts, bungee cords and nets in our baskets. 
What do you use to hold your stuff around your bike? Baskets, racks, panniers, or in a backpack or messenger bag? And what has been the most DIY or creative tie-down methods. Do tell =)

Keep on rolling

Change your tire. Get back on your bike.
The other day two of us here, calitexican and I, joined a number of our wheelwomen friends and their peeps to learn more about our bikes and some tips for maintenance. It was very simple but super helpful.
So we can keep on rolling.
Often times it helps to know how or why things do not function or can possibly be fixed, before heading to the bike shop and not knowing how to explain something that is wrong or has not been working properly for you.
I forgot mi camera this day, but so lucky for me I have one of those shiny smart phones =) so here is some evidence. We started with basics and helpful tips here pictured is our clinic guy fellow riding bike buddy Trystan, working on Calitexican's bike: Joanie. He was very professional and throughout sharing his tips and general rules of thumb for various scenarios.

It also helped that we had various levels and multiple bike users in the group from mixtes, road, and mountain. A few of the ladies will or have participated in the annual AIDS Lifecycle ride, so too much knowledge or clinics about tips will not hurt any of us.
We continued the evening with info and tricks about brakes, brake pads, cables, front+rear derailleurs.
It was nice to have case-scenarios and how we have gotten to know our bikes throughout our experiences and share them with the girls.
I'd never thought I'd hear Shannon say that bibs rock, but hey well, if they are comfortable. I can't help myself but to think of Borat's yellow bib, but that's just me. I guess it could work with a pair of tights and some boots and wear it with a dress.... mmmh.

Oh, HAAY. All the ladieeeees (well and me, taking this) with Trystan at the all women-clinic. Wooot

Anyway, have you attended a clinic at a local bike shop, or company? do tell.
And what was most fun of it!? Here we learned we were ALL guilty of having the blackest, non-lubed chains evarrrr (sorry bikes!!...)
A special thanks to Klaw for organizing, and to Trystan and the folks at Marin bikes for the space on a late Monday night

Being savvy and super-efficient with our bikes is super sexy and powerful, bike clinics rock!
♥xxo.meli

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.

Cruising around

There aren't many cruisers in the city, but enough to make you smile. I spotted these 2 super cute baby blue ones in the Inner Richmond. As I turned, the two friends were giggling because I thought those orange flowers were automatic smile-makers.
My friend and dinner partner for the afternoon just said 'ok, meli - remind me to put orange flowers on my road bike when I get home'
Keep taking notes I said.
Boys, are so silly.

The weather was in the high 80°s and the sunset couldn't be more beautiful. It is September, and it is summer in SF. With mostly foggy skies, so we take full advantage of the 'heat waves'

We made it!

Just in case you were wondering. Total of 7 of us (us 3 +4 guys) completed our very first Marin Century 100K.
That is all for now, we will probably do a little recap soon. Cheers with Marin brie cheese!

At the half-point check, in Petaluma, Calif. Woot woot.

Cross-posted.

Century ladies

While you are reading this, we are busy riding the rolling hills of beautiful Marin County in the 2010 Marin Century. +I'm probably actively looking for the next coffee stop.
♥See you all next week!!

What's up Marin, here come the city dwellers triplettes de San Pancho attack. Wheeeeeee

About to meet up.

Love this picture. From our flicker pool. Have a nice day everybody!

Muévete en bici hoy, será un buen día
Move by bike, it will be a good day

A punto de encontrarse
by By Quiltro Elemento

100 mile radius potluck

This was written by Mark Stosberg along with his capture, which is our "Picture of the Week" in our banner above. I thought it was a great story and so I asked Mark for his permission to re-post here, so here it is. Enjoy!

coming home from the 2nd anniversary of a the 100 mile radius potluck

It's hard to believe its been two years since we started going to the 100-mile-radius potlucks here in Richmond, Indiana.

Everyone brings a dish ideally sourced from with 100 miles, but over time we've found there are some standard cheats: olive oil and salt.

In the photo above you can't see also carried two folding chairs like we did two years ago. (The prior photo is linked above). The two chairs are strapped to the other side of the rear rack. They were easily dropped into an 18-gallon Rubbermaid container which is there.

The major differences in the bike experience from two years ago are of course that the box bike has been replaced with this electric Yuba Mundo, and my wife is piloting it instead of me.

If we were going to load of the box bike with the baby plus cargo and needed to get some place quickly, that notably lowered the odds of the box bike being used, if we went by bike at all. That means that kind of bicycle use was more limited to the weekends, when there were two of us and we had more time.

Electric assist has been a game-changer-- my wife regularly choses the bike for trips with the baby plus cargo, even when she needs to get there quickly. As a result, we celebrated our 400th mile on the Yuba Mundo today, completed in about two months (including a week vacationing without our bicycles and some other out-of-town travel.) Most of those miles included carrying the baby, and were for short, around-town trips. It represents replacing quite a number of car trips. I'm curious now what percentage of trips that we take by car now. Perhaps I'll have the family record our transportation modes for a week and see what happens.

flickr.com/photos/marstos »

And stretch.

The 3 of us here in SF: Calitexican, Ade and I – kicked some butt and finished (last, but we finished!!) a 115K Brevet. Here as a quick teaser. I have a pic of our calitexican and the one on top borrowed from Adam's photostream of Grace, because I think they were at the same spot stretching, a bit earlier than us. Stretch those buff arms ladies!
More to come this week :D

Grace on flickr By TyrellVoightKampff

calitexican

Visual dose of wonderful, by darice

the image with the orange(y) bike was taken outside of the middle east in cambridge on an afternoon ride i took.

the image with my black bike was taken while i was doing some site research in chinatown.

the red bike with the flowers the this amazing store called 'pod' in brookline. that is her open sign. i work upstairs from her. there is a shop dog named tulip who is the grumpiest and my #2 favorite dog on the planet.

dcadriel, via our flickr pool
thanks for the visual great bits of bike artsyness.

What is the price of your bicycle?

Here at this blog we ride all kinds of bicycles. Mostly re-purposed, passed on from relatives, found on the curbside, with the exception of Ade's Yacht (the bat), I could say all of them did not cost much at all.

Ade

meligrosa

cailtexican

This morning I read an article (from a woman's persepctive, written by Christina Binkley) and found it quite interesting. Check it out at wsj.com: The Season of Biker Chic

These are old-fashioned-looking bikes with heavy frames, strong, wide tires and handlebars high enough to let the rider sit upright.

Well, my frenchie is that. Melyssa's bike is that. And most of Ade's bikes are that. But they certainly did not cost over $1,800 USD. The article does offer information from bikes in the range between $300 - on. I am all for exposure of bicycle city riding of all kinds, not only the uber cutesy marketing that has recently sprung out (not that I am against it either) but all choices. People should ride as they please. And also support new companies that make an effort to be locally active (ie, Public bikes has participated in many events here in San Francisco)
The article also mentions the various companies, targeted at getting more women to ride, which I think sets the tone for a thumbs-up in my books.
My favorite part of the wsj article, which sounds like a story cut for our story blog here is:

"My ride to the office is 7.2 miles, mostly downhill. As I cruised to work, I saw Los Angeles from a new purview. The city is badly in need of bike lanes, and the streets are littered with hazards like glass.

But generally, I found L.A. surprisingly easy to bike in. To avoid car traffic, I tried to stick to quiet neighborhood streets. Being near to the ground allowed me to discover several new shops and restaurants along the way, and the ride made the city community seem closer and smaller. I arrived at work feeling as energized as I do after a morning yoga class. I even made a mental plan to do this more often."

(this excerpt and the quote above from wsj.com by Christina Binkley: The Season of Biker Chic)

So to put out the question out there, how much would you drop on a new bike? (from publicbikes.com "Our bikes are designed in the United States, by us. They are built and assembled in Taiwan...more") or would you rather fix an older bike yourself?
And I'm curious that if design and colour would influence you to drop almost 2K on say, those juicy citrus orange mixte public bikes? If I had spare money I'd be tempted because they are quite irresistible, but to be honest, if I had 1500 to burn on a bike, I'd probably do so on a touring bike like a Surly LTH.
Maybe.