Recently, I had the great opportunity to sit down with Sarai of GirlBikeLove to talk about how I might be able to contribute to her goal of making GirlBikeLove a resource for women cyclists. GirlBikeLove does not have an exclusive focus on racers, commuters or mtb, although it has tons of great articles on those topics. It’s focus is on women in cycling and finding the best grub, trails, gear, emerging cycling stars, etc to help more women feel comfortable getting back onto their bikes or simply riding with more confidence.
Since that meeting, I’ve met other members of the GBL team and am so impressed with the range of experience and knowledge of those involved. From an event organizer to a bike builder to an expert on nutrition, Sarai seems to have gathered together a dynamic group of women. I’m really excited to be involved.
So, what does the image have to do with GirlBikeLove. Nothing, really. But this girl is waiting for the wind to die down so I can go for a ride.
The gals ran up these faster than I could ride down
I couldn’t figure out where the noise was coming from as I sat in the office on an early Sunday morning. It sounded close enough to be the neighbors but more substantial. It wasn’t until my husband woke up and reminded me of the Cyclecross event down the road from us that I finally connected the booming voice to the Boulder Cup cyclecross race.
We arrived for the women’s elite event at 2:40, which Katie Compton appeared to conquer with ease. She finished with about a 30 second cushion. I admit that I know next to nothing about cyclecross racing but I do know it is an amazing spectator sport. The course was tight and allowed a number of opportunities to watch the racers fly or flounder (in the sand) around the circuit. Watching the athletes quickly dismount and charge up the stairs was simply inspiring. I almost dashed home so I could ride like I was being chased to the nearest coffee shop.
Valmont Bike Park is fantastic and the setting itself, with the Flatirons soaring in the distance, made the event feel really epic. The whole park was brimming with athletes, participants, vendors (cyclecross audiences like both wine and BEER!) and a great vibe. I don’t know how many more events are scheduled but I’ll definitely get back to watch; I do know the park is currently closed for maintenance. The recent snow storm and racing has done a number on the track. In the meantime, enjoy these photos:
Flatirons
I think these two traded places throughout
I think this is where Katie took the lead
Bring your pet along to Boulder Cup
The gals ran up these faster than I could ride down
Why can’t I be like everyone else? You would think a lovely, black, squishy gel flow saddle would be the perfect fit for someone who likes long rides, up hill. But for some reason, the sella Italia and I have never had a compatible relationship. But this post isn’t about criticizing a product that didn’t work for me because it certainly works for many other people.
It’s about the amazing experience of unpacking and installing a Brooks saddle. I actually didn’t purchase it, my hubby did. But I got to unpack it and what an unexpected delight; not only did it come with a beautiful saddle but with a tool to immediately install it and a newsletter that immersed me in the Brooks culture.
Brooks Saddle Unpacking
Look at the packaging and the great reads when I first received it I didn’t know whether to stay inside and read or take a few spins. Of course, I went for a couple of rides and aside from feeling a bit like I might slip from the saddle, I was so much more comfortable. Don’t know why hard leather would be more comfortable for me than cushioned luxury but I suspect it may have do with the fact that I was applying uneven pressure to my pedals and maybe this uneven pressure was throwing my leg extension off causing some discomfort.
Check out this great video on the making of Brooks Saddles
Momentum Magazine was on it, as was Copenhagenize, who wrote a great article on it and the PathLessTraveled, each sounding the alarm about GM’s tone-deaf ad trying to persuade an already in-debt audience (students) to get further into debt and out of shape by buying car to save face. Here’s the ad:
Outdated and I'm not talking about the bike
There’s been so many great responses to the ad and even Giant got into the act with a super ad in response that I don’t think I have anything to add. Well, maybe just one question. What do GM and (and now) Zipcar know about the emerging commuter culture that has them on the defense like this? Are they responding to a shift in the market or just trying to appeal to the next generation of car owners? If you believe in the product marketing maxim that if you get them early, you get them for life then maybe it’s the latter. But maybe, just maybe we are beginning to see a shift from perceiving commuters as outliers and recognizing the real health and financial benefits of cycling over driving. Perhaps the misconception of a sweat-drenched, hemp-wearing, Huffy-riding commuter on their way to work at a co-op is changing to be one of everyday folks: office workers, parents, kids, educators, students, etc using a cleaner, cheaper, healthier way to get around. I’m not suggesting that cars will be replaced by bikes anytime soon but it’s refreshing to see that an alternative way of getting around is being perceived as less alternative.
A couple weekends past, it was a beautiful Fall day with perfect temperatures, leaves slowly beginning to change and there was the sweet prospect of a ride up a quiet canyon road. In short, it was a perfect cycling moment, which makes this admission that much more difficult. Our goal for the ride was to cycle to Gold Hill, which is about an hours drive from Boulder. It’s a stunningly beautiful ride because the road bends and curves along a tree-lined street. Staring out it’s a gentle roll up Canyon Rd and even when you begin ascending up Four-Mile Canyon the grade is manageable. However, anytime there is a road labeled Suicide Rd. you know that you probably don’t have enough gears on your bike.
We started the day’s ride from our house, which is east of downtown. Boulder is awesome in that you can ride virtually from one end of town to the other strictly along bike paths, which we did. We took Boulder Creek Path which runs parallel all along Canyon Rd until you are forced to quickly (very) cross Canyon to catch up with Four Mile Canyon. (I say quickly because cars are moving pretty quickly up and down this road, so there’s no time to fiddle with your pedals.)
There was a fire up in Four Mile this year and you don’t fully comprehend the devastation until you come upon both the sensory and physical manifestations of a fire like that. There were points along the road where we smelled the charred trees and vegetation before seeing it.
You could smell the burned out trees before seeing them
I hadn’t realized how horrific the fire must have been and was saddened to see whole sections of trees along the road charred and blackened. But I was relieved to see many homes had survived and some were even rebuilding.
Despite the damage, it was still a beautiful ride. Well, it was until I was forced to do an inglorious dismount. As you can tell from the picture above the road turns to dirt and about 1/2 mile into the off-road my dreams of reaching Gold Hill and having a bevvie at Gold Hill Inn quickly turned to dust, as well. I just couldn’t turn the pedals. To be fair I hadn’t ridden much in the mountains this summer for a variety of reasons and I’m still sporting a double crank instead of the more age-appropriate triple or compact crank. But still. This was first time in a very long time I’ve had to stop and dismount. The only face saving relief from the ordeal was that I dismounted before I was unable to completely turn the pedals and unclick from them. It would have been quite humiliating to have hubby and his friend lift the bike off of me.
Nearly 18 months ago, I started working out at Crossfit Roots, where I met a bunch of people who did interesting things, including working out til they were breathing out their ears (I wish I could claim that phrase but alas I cannot.) It’s there that I met Andrew Hyde, who was heavy into the startup community and was actively working on creating a TED event for Boulder. In between jobs, I offered to help out not really knowing what I was getting into. at. all. But I have to say if most of my spontaneous, why-not decisions brought such unexpected and great experiences I would be living a more amazing life.
This year was the second TEDxBoulder and I think it was really something special. The whole organizer team comprising:
came together and I think helped bring together a lot of ideas and input, the audience (including me) rarely gets the chance to hear and experience.
I enjoyed each of the speakers and there were a number of talks that have really stayed with me but I think the theme of “just doing one thing” to make a change, make a difference, is a concept that I am still thinking about two days later. Like a good book or movie, where the characters or plot stay with you, the calls to get involved by some of the speakers from TEDxBoulder certainly inspired me.
I think I did “do one thing” when I asked to get involved with TEDx and I hope that the experience I had Saturday night, which was so positive and inspiring, was shared by the community in which I live. Certainly not every chance or risk I’ve taken has been so fulfilling but this is one experience from which I have gotten so much more than I could have expected.
Last weekend, hubby and I filled out our custom cards, got our shots and headed down to Denver to see the ArtCrank show at the Super Ordinary Gallery. A small space but packed with a great collection of biking inspired posters. We went down on Saturday so probably missed most of the vibe and scene but we still felt hip and trendy if only for a few moment.
The event represented a super collaboration between artists & Trek to create a bike about art. Check out the video. Any effort or cause that strives to change how people view bikes has got to be creative and fun and I think ArtCrank does a great job of promoting local artists, cyclists and reaching out nationally to spread their message. Check out their About page to find out how they help raise money and awareness for groups.
We hung out for a bit, bought a couple of prints and enjoyed hanging out in what appears to be a very cool part of Denver.
I woke up on Sunday morning and was totally inspired by the cooler weather, soft blue sky and large number of dishes in the sink to jump on my bike and head up to Jamestown. Jamestown is a small mountain town just northwest of Boulder, with an enormous amount of character. It has become a great meeting place or resting spot for cyclist coming up from Boulder.
A number of cyclists like to start the journey from Left Hand Canyon; you’ll see a number of them in varying shades of spandex, removing their bikes from roof tops. I think that’s a fine way to go but today I started off from home and just accepted that after several months of just commuting round town that the pace was going to be slow.
Cycling out of Boulder on Hwy36 is not that much fun even though the shoulder is quite wide and clean of debris. But I can’t complain too much as the views of the Front Range, friendly waves from other cyclists, and general feeling of well-being is enough to get you past the one or two gnarly areas. Off of Hwy 36, you take a left onto Left-Hand Canyon wave to the cyclists pulling on their shoes and gloves and begin the climb.
It’s a super ride. The grade isn’t too steep, you catch occasional glimpses of rushing water, and before you know it you’re taking the turn-off for Jamestown. I did try and catch pictures of all these landmarks but it’s hard to ride uphill and focus a camera. Once you hit the turn-off, you have about a 3 mile jaunt up to town. It kicks up in a couple of spots but not bad and you generally don’t notice them unless someone is flying down hill and you are trying not to act like you are breathing out of your ears.
Finally, you get to Jamestown, where you can swing into the Merc for a full on breakfast or a quick snack on whatever you stuffed into your cycling jersey. I went big with eggs, avocado, bacon and coffee. I think the Merc is under new ownership but has still retained its casual Jamestown vibe but with better coffee. The Merc also has live music on Thursday and Saturday.
I was reading a blog post by Gini Dietrich (ginidietrich) over at Spin Sucks called Public Relations for Sharks. It’s about misplaced fear; people are more likely to die of obesity than from a shark attack. Yet the perceived threat of being eaten by a shark far outweighs any concern about the influence of weight on our health. Gini suggested that sharks need better PR and I would suggest that Sustainability does, as well.
We can’t go back and reframe how the ideas around sustainability and climate change reached the general public. Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth” brought home for many of us the human impact on the planet in a way I, at least, had not experienced before. But because of the messenger, the message immediately became politicized and the insights from movie were overshadowed by political discourse. Since then we have been inundated with facts, videos, and news feed of the changing climate and its impact on our lives, communities, health, food, etc yet the argument has not shifted.
We need a new narrative. But one that maybe does not try and address the full story of climate change. Perhaps, it is a series of stories that presents ideas and solutions in a manageable and digestible manner that gives people a reason to believe, change and have hope that their changes do make a difference. I think convincing people that their actions make a difference is critical and probably the biggest thing that is missing from the sustainability discussion.
It seems most discussions around sustainability or green are simply too large: BP oil spill, droughts in Texas, that it’s hard to connect our day-to-day behavior with events that seem large and complicated. Maybe it’s taking a step back and tying choices and behaviors directly to the health and wellness of individuals and communities.
It’s hard. I don’t always see the line that is drawn through our systems that impacts and influences our world. Talking about the health of the Amazon doesn’t give me enough to go on to change what I buy, from whom, or when. But I do know that clean air is healthier, safe food is critical and people need healthy environment to live and work. And that might be the story that needs to be told.
And this maybe where social media can help craft that story. I was shopping around for some new underwear and happened to notice an article on Pact, a maker of responsibly manufactured underwear. I can’t remember where I read about them but I noticed that a friend of mine had liked them on Facebook, so I read more about them and how they sourced and designed their products. I liked their story “Change starts with your underwear and PACT is here to prove it.” I gave them a try because I felt like by doing something as boring as buying underwear my choice was making a difference by supporting a company that is doing business in a sustainable way. The way you choose to make a difference may be different.
The important point is to create new stories about sustainability that changes people’s perception of sustainability from one of austerity and shortages to one of abundance and hope.
Hubby and I spent the weekend in San Diego. We went out to learn to surf but the beach, where we stayed was shut down due to two (yep, not just one) shark sightings. But we didn’t complain.
We spent mornings wandering around looking at strangely shaped seaweed.
Why can’t I be like everyone else? You would think a lovely, black, squishy gel flow saddle would be the perfect fit for someone who likes long rides, up hill. But for some reason, the sella Italia and I have never had a compatible relationship. But this post isn’t about criticizing a product that didn’t work for me because it certainly works for many other people.
