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I am still taking it all in; this race was completely amazing. We had 45 total racers, a huge number compared to our usual turn out; so many men in drag, so many ladies kicking butt, so much fun! The amount of sponsors we were able to get on board made the prize give away a blast – everyone who won something was totally stoked. And the food. Oh my god the food. SUSHI! VEGAN COCONUT CAKE! Green Central Station brought an unbelievable spread.

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Congratulations to all our winners! Alan was first for the guys, Elizabeth was first for the gals. Maaike won the Po Campo bag for best dressed among the ladies – check out that fancy necklace! Rishi won the Chrome bag for best dressed among the dudes. The competition for that prize was tough, but as you can see below, he really did it up right. Stuffed what needed to be stuffed and all.

HUUUUUUUUUUGE thank you to every who donated, volunteered, raced, hung out, gawked. Also thanks to the photographers who shared the photos for this post – Virginia Jones and Mary Lou Davis. Some others that the Bici crew took should show up sometime soon.

This race was the best. Be sure to visit our sponsors and say thanks!

Cahaba Cycles – http://cahabacycles.com/
Church Street Coffee and Books – http://www.churchstreetshop.com/
Charm – http://www.charmonsecond.com/
Chrome Messenger Bags – http://www.chromebagsstore.com/
First Avenue Rocks – http://firstaverocks.com/
Green Central Station – http://www.localgreencentral.com/
Naked Art – http://www.nakedartusa.com/
Po Campo – http://www.pocampo.com/
Primavera Coffee Roasters – http://primaveracoffee.com/
Sarah Johnson, Massage Therapist – http://www.sarahjohnson.massagetherapy.com/
Urban Cookhouse – http://urbancookhouse.com/
Urban Standard – http://www.urbanstandard.net/
V Richards – http://www.vrichards.net/

Lookie! It’s the Bici Coop 3rd Annual Ladies Alleycat! Per usual, men must wear skirts to race.

Event will start and end at Rushton Park. Registration starts at 1:30, race will roll out promptly at 2 pm.

Route around downtown Birmingham (not over the mountain), lots of great prizes for all sorts of things so everyone has a chance to win. After the race we’ll have a picnic in the park hosted by Green Central Station – lots of great food and lawn games will be provided.

We’ve got some AMAZING prizes from:

Cahaba Cycles - http://cahabacycles.com/
Church Street Coffee and Books - http://www.churchstreetshop.com/
Charm - http://www.charmonsecond.com/
Chrome Messenger Bags - http://www.chromebagsstore.com/
Naked Art - http://www.nakedartusa.com/
First Avenue Rocks - http://firstaverocks.com/
Piebird Design - http://piebirddesign.com/
Po Campo - http://www.pocampo.com/
Primavera Coffee Roasters - http://primaveracoffee.com/
Sarah Johnson, Massage Therapist - http://www.sarahjohnson.massagetherapy.com/
Urban Cookhouse - http://urbancookhouse.com/
Urban Standard - http://www.urbanstandard.net/
V Richards - http://www.vrichards.net/

A huge thanks to Green Central Station for partnering with us for the after party and providing the bulk of the food and beverages. Some food will also be provided by Urban Cookhouse.

Going to be the best thing ever! YAYAYAYA!!!

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Whenever I change from my sweaty ride to work clothes (on the days when I don’t wear my work clothes to ride…like when it is 100 degrees), I always feel like a superhero. Going into the bathroom (no more phone booths) and changing and coming out a different person: poof!

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By morning and night she is a hard core cyclist, weaving in and out of traffic, saving the earth and looking good doing it. By day she is a farmers market manager, wearing sundresses and being diplomatic and nice.

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Anyone else ever feel this way?

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I made another trip to Portland, Oregon recently and stumbled into a new shop called West End Bikes. Nice place, load of great stuff, great atmosphere, and then I saw a titanium and carbon tandem. Wait what?!

I went up and asked one of the sales guys for more info; I just really didn’t get exactly why such a thing would exist. Turns out there’s tandem racing! Mountain, road, velodrome…I was blown away. It’s hard enough to race in the first place, adding the complex interaction between two riders on a tandem; all I know is there is no way in hell I would be able to do it. I imagine a TOTAL melt down complete with yelling and screaming at my partner. What do you say Elisa??

But hey the bikes look amazing!

This mountain bike was fully titanium, single speed with a belt drive. So amazing!

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There were 6 of us out there, riding and throwing beads. Alan brought his vuvuzela (a cyclocross essential) and we rocked out. There were 100′s of people out, screaming and cheering for beads. So fun!!

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The Birmingham News caught a few shots of us as we passed. I was also on Fox News, getting the Bici name out there! Too bad I don’t have a TV…still haven’t seen it.

Anyone else have an eventful Fat Tuesday?

I just started taking ballet classes a few weeks ago. Naturally, I ride my bike to and from class. Last week it was 27 degrees and windy, making my riding attire pretty hilarious, but tonight was balmy and perfect. Riding is actually the perfect warm-up and cool down, making me less sore the next day.

Somehow on the way, I cut my knee (I think it was carrying the bike up the stairs at Alabama Ballet Company). Because you do not hold up ballet class, I just put on my shoes and got in line on the barre. Throughout class, I kept feeling the cut get bigger every time we pliéd. By the end of class, I had a 3 inch trail of blood through my tights. Back on the bike to ride home, then finally peeling off the bloodied tights and taking a hot shower.

I told a friend of mine this story and her response “You are just that kind of girl.” Yes I am, and I like it.

I forgot to bring my camera, so some phone photos of CRC follow.  I made them look “hip” to make up for the lower quality:

I really loved both of these shops because they combine coffee and bikes.  It’s a beautiful thing.

I was looking for a gold Chris King bottom bracket for my new build up, and thought I would ask if they happened to have one.  CRC did not have one in stock, but my friendly helper called One on One and they had one ready to purchase!  I couldn’t believe my luck, or how nice the CRC guy was for calling around for me, so I purchased a rockin t-shirt (which has already gotten several comments from strangers) and hustled on over to One on One.  I got both the bottom bracket and an awesome set of Brooks grips.  People, my bike is going to be seriously bad ass.  Both shops were incredibly friendly, and I loved my 2nd visit to Minneapolis for this very reason.

Sometimes work gets you down, but bikes always, always make it better.

I decided on Florida because my parents live there, and I knew it would be flat.  Elisa intended to join me in this endeavour, but alas work and illness prevented her.  I contemplated putting it off until there was someone else available to go with, but in the end I decided to go ahead and ride solo. I found the following route on Map My Ride, and determined a goal of 15 mph average speed.  After a stop at Homewood Cycles for needed equipment (thanks for all the help Andrew!), I was ready to go!

Destin area century

The weather couldn’t have been better – partly cloudy so I didn’t get blinded by the sun, a cool 50 degrees so I never got too sweaty, and no rain in sight.  Alas, there was wind, and plenty of it (I did not realize this until later).

And so it begins

Bike lanes or wide shoulders the majority of the way made a very comfortable ride safety wise.  The route was pretty unattractive for the first 40 miles – strip malls and the like, with extended periods of nondescript coastal scenery, i.e. flat as hell with skinny pine trees.  I learned after the ride that there was a road that went onto the beachfront that I could have taken, and that sure would have been nice for viewing sake.  My average speed was a little over 20 and I was absolutely blown away; I felt like a speed demon!

Flat as hell with skinny pine trees

It felt like in no time I had arrived in Panama City Beach, and ran across one of those bizzare little township/vacation/shopping places.  It promised coffee, so I decided to take my first break for an espresso. Said espresso was shit, but hey it did the trick. And I got to read about John Mayer’s sex life while drinking, so that was a nice consolation.

Hot Java was not so hot

I got back on the road and shortly there after had my first turn.  Immediately after turning I realized that I had been enjoying the wind at my back, as I was buffeted with a huge gust of wind that knocked my speed down to about 11 mph. This was not good, but I was not discouraged.  Seeing some good ol’ boys getting ready to hunt something made me happy to be in the south.

Aw hell yeah!

Still feeling like I was karate chopping this ride

So…yeah after this I was just riding, fairly mindlessly, no scenery to speak of, while fighting with the wind.  I was debating as to whether the wind would change once I turned back toward home, but I didn’t have much hope.  I came upon my first “climb” at some point, which was up and over a bridge.

Nice to see some water

There was also a fair amount of roadkill on the shoulder, which was unfortunate.  Finally I reached my second turn, and was greeted with a resting place in the form of a motel.  I pulled over and stumbled off my bike onto the grass, not noticing that there was a woman walking out of the office.  I must have looked pretty rough because she asked if I was OK.  I said that I was just really tired.

Resting place for Whitey and me

It was about 12:30 and I realized that it was about time to eat.  Unfortunately there wasn’t anything too appetizing around, so I continued on in hopes that a restaurant would pop up soon.  I had been eating some jelly energy…things, so I wasn’t too worried about immediate loss of power.  I rode a while more, and the wind did not abate.  I was pretty unhappy.  I was running out of water.  No food was appearing.  I began to panic.  Then this little cutie popped up at mile 60.

Bruce would be the name of the town

On the menu was chicken and dumplings, pot roast, and ham.  I had the pot roast.  There were a few toothless old folks in there enjoying lunch.  They were very friendly.

I jumped back on feeling nice and refreshed, then after about 5 minutes of riding I was blasted by a gust of wind that brought me down to 8 mph.  I almost started crying.  If this was going to be my speed for the remaining 40 miles I wasn’t sure I would make it.  I set goals, told myself that I would stop at 10 mile intervals – only 5 more to go, only 3 more, 1 more, then I laid down in the grass at a church.  My back and shoulders were killing me.  I couldn’t see straight, but I continued on.  I saw some cows grazing, chickens hanging out in someone’s driveway, and a fish fry to raise money for Haiti.  I would have liked to stop and take pictures, but I just couldn’t or I would have never made it back.  Every time a gust of wind would slow me down to an excruciating pace, I would let out a little yelp of despair.  It was pretty pathetic.

Around 80 miles I stopped at a little picnic area and laid down on a concrete table.  I called home and told my mom that I didn’t know if I could make it back before dark, and that I knew there was a huge bridge ahead that I would have to climb.  I thought I would have to walk over, which would have taken forever and would have been incredibly unsafe.  I felt absolutely broken.

The scenery was nice at least

Getting up, I told myself that I had less than 20 miles to go.  I could do it!

Then I saw the bridge in the distance.  I almost cried again.  It was huge, and I just knew that the wind would be fierce up at the top.  I imagined myself getting blown off into a watery grave.  (Side note: I actually imagined myself getting killed a lot on this ride.  Decapitation mostly.  Every time a truck would drive by with two-by-fours or ladders in the back, I imagined them swinging around in the bed as the truck drove by and hitting me right in the head.  Weird.)

I kept riding.  The sunset was beautiful.  I made my turn and stopped one last time.  Then I noticed that the wind was at my back again!  I couldn’t believe it  (although now it makes sense).  I came up to the bridge and it looked much more manageable up close.  The wind pushed me up to 23 mph, and I made it up and over the bridge with no problem.  It really was amazing guys.  After that it was just about two more miles until I got back to my car.  I set my seat warmers to burning hot, cranked up the heat, and drove back to my parents house.

97 miles total.  Average 15.5 mph.  Can’t believe I did it.  And Whitey didn’t even get a flat!

]]> http://bikeskirt.com/2010/02/08/100-miles/feed/ 21 http://bikeskirt.com/2010/01/07/azor-lovin/ http://bikeskirt.com/2010/01/07/azor-lovin/#comments Fri, 08 Jan 2010 03:36:35 +0000 Elisa http://bikeskirt.com/?p=1106 I know that I have mentioned my friends Joshua and Kristen.  They are some of the coolest, smartest, most community minded couples I know.  In addition to being freakishly smart (a physicist? rocket brain surgeon?…what does Joshua do?), J loves bikes.  As in, moves Freddy to a safer place when I ride to their house, geeks out about bikey crap with me and drives his kids in a Bakfiets up one of the steepest hills in the city after grocery shopping.  Loves loves. So does K, but not to the extent that J does.  (btw-she can pretty much knit anything…anything…and will roof your house, make you a wedding dress and cook the best effing mac and cheese in the world for you).

Joshua, a cycling badass

I digress…

So, they have DUTCH BIKES!  In alabama.  Startling and wonderful, I know.  Last weekend as I was serving up coffee, J pulled up on his Azor.  Being the pushy friend that I am, I told him I would take it for a spin while he shopped.  Which I did.  Of course I loved loved loved it.  Here are some photos documenting my wonderful experience, as well as some showing what a badass J is with all the groceries he carried up the hill.  This hill is not to be fucked with.  It is intense and would kill a lesser man.

A bicycle for 2? Maybe not!

on second thought, maybe we should borrow it for a date!

test riding in the Piggly Wiggly parking lot...classy

makes it look easy

coming up: Kristin’s Oma and the Bakfiets!  Richman’s FTW

Bici had a few cans of Frame Saver that I bugged Heath to get for us months ago. When we got it I found out you had to strip it down to just a frame, spray it, let it sit for 12 hours, spray again and let sit again. Considering Freddy was my only mode of transport this was a challenge. So I did as I normally do…nothing. Until Tyree scolded me. “fine!” I thought, “geez, I’ll do it”.

Then it sat at the shop for 2 weeks due to random circumstances. damn. Last Monday I finally said to Heath “This must get done”. So we started…and immediately ran into trouble. The bottom bracket was stuck. Some pulling, cursing and a busted nose later, it was off. Everything else came of with no trouble, we sprayed it, plugged it up and I was happy. (btw-that shit is toxic…spray outdoors ONLY)

The week got away so the next chance I had to work was Thursday during open shop hours. No mechanic, no problem…I can do this.

Girls night at the shop!

Friday after work and a nose piercing outing (not mine), I went to work at the shop. 2 hours, tears, blood, cursing and a couple of phone consults, I had a completed bike. Turns out the expander plug for my handlebars was in my fork, and I scoured the floor thinking I had lost it. sigh. I was covered in grease (all over my face from wiping tears!) but feeling triumphant.

I called my mechanic friend and he said “you can’t ride that Elisa, it may not be safe”. “What?!”, I exclaimed “I have to ride it tomorrow morning!”. So I called Tyree and asked him to double check my work. 2 hours later he walks in with a bottle of wine and proceeds to tell me I did a great job and the bike was rideable!! I could have kissed him. SWEET! I had done it, all by myself (mostly).

Freddy is resurrected

A house in my 'hood (not mine!)

ready to roll out

A Christmas-time miracle.