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This weekend Rubarb (Rusted Up Beyond All Repair Bikes) is having an alleycat! I have yet to do an alleycat since I moved here so I am pretty excited. The best part? It is PIRATE THEMED! My skull and crossbones leggings will have their day to shine.

RUBARB is a great shop with cool people running it. We met them at Bike! Bike! SE a few years ago and have loved running into them every year since.

New Orleans, I better see your ass there. In pirate gear. DO IT. Sunday. 3:00, Pirates Alley (the French Quarter). Be there. Or risk having my kick your ass.

Argh!

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Every Wednesday night in the Fall, New Orleans has Harvest the Music. This is a free concert in Lafayette Square to raise money and awareness for Second Harvest Food Bank of New Orleans. The concerts feature great musicians (Irma Thomas, Blind Boys of Alabama, Dirty Dozen Brass Band, and more) and this week was no exception. I had been looking forward to it since they made the announcement: Trombone Shorty! For those who don’t know, Trombone Shorty is a local star who is good looking, a great singer and a killer brass player.He in gaining recognition and fame far from New Orleans as well. A free show with him is a gift.

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Clearly, I rode my bike to the concert as parking is a total bitch downtown. Riding home in the night air, a bit cool and windy, was the perfect end to the evening. Finding friends at the concert and dancing outside was the perfect way to spend a Wednesday night.

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New Orleans, if you haven’t come out to Harvest the Music yet this season, hurry! There are a few left and it is the best thing in this city right now.

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Last friday was Park(ing) Day. I have always wanted to participate, and this year I got to! New Orleans had 5 sites, run and organized by The Green Project, Bike Easy, Transport for NOLA and many others. They were set up from 8a-6pm, so stopped by before work.

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The one I visited just happened to be in front of one of my favorite places, La Divina Gelateria. They are friendly, shop at the market and make AH-MAZING gelatos (peach prosecco is my fav!). I grabbed a coffee and took it to eat in the street outside. It was so fun.

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Thanks to everyone who helped make this a fun way to start the day. I loved the looks on the drivers faces as they passed by! To taking back the streets!! Hurrah!

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(The faces above are how we feel about cars!)

Did you celebrate Park(ing) Day? How was it?

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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/

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Late last week, Sugar and I had a night on the town with my good friend (and co-worker) Kelly. Working at a farmers market, I very rarely get to wear heels (or even dress pants), so I was excited to even get the slightest bit dressed up (business casual means something entirely different at a farmers market!). Even dressed up, Sugar and I looked good together.

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We went to the One Book One New Orleans kickoff party, sponsored by the New Orleans YLC. This was at the African American Art Museum in the Treme, across town from me. The weather was awesome, so the ride was enjoyable and fun.

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We stayed, listened to a brass band, had some free food and drinks and mingled. Then we were off again!

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Next up was Culture Collision, an event put on by our local NPR station, WWNO at the Museum of Art. We got there just in time for the cocktail party in the Sculpture Garden, which is not normally open at night. Again, we had some free food and drink (donations were given, of course!) and listened mingled while looking at the amazing sculptures.

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All in all it was a killer fun night. We criss-crossed all over the city, laughing and being ridiculous on our bikes. I also met a man.

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With the weather changing, I could ride and not look like I just spent hours in a barn before deciding to go out. Anyone feeling this way about the weather change? Surely I am not alone!

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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We’ve got the Bici Anniversary weekend April 29, 30, and May 1, then then following weekend is Sopo’s Annual Fundraiser, which is also a weekend extravaganza! Neato!

From Sopo:
“Broken Hearts and Bicyle Parts 7: Backroads and Lightloads,” Sopo Bicycle Cooperative’s seventh annual fundraiser is slated for a weekend of fun, May 6-8th. This event has grown from an alley cat in past years to a full weekend of inclusive cycling events meant to encourage individuals to pick up their bikes and go for a ride. Advance registration can be done now online at Sopobikes.org. Those with smartphones can quickly link to the registration page via QR code from any of the posters or fliers around town.

Friday, May 6th is set to be a low-key welcoming event for both travelling participants as well as new cyclists to town; including a group ride, cookout and dance party. We hope that this relaxing start to the weekend will encourage good friendly relations in the community and allow a positive competitive spirit to grow between participants. Meet at Woodruff Park at 7pm for the group ride.

Saturday, May 7th, alleycat participants will meet at Sopo Bike Coop at 3pm to pick up manifests, and the alleycat will at begin at 4pm. Participants will finish by 7pm at The Music Room, followed by a benefit concert starring Indyana Jonz, Basement Banshees, and The Wild, ending with DJ Soundwave spinning the night away. Prizes will be awarded based on the originality of participant costumes, creativity and good spirit in completing checkpoint tasks, as well as overall time for completion. Tickets to the benefit concert will be $10 but event participants will have complimentary access. The benefit concert is an 21+ event, ID required.

We will also be hosting a farewell vegan friendly brunch Sunday starting at 1pm and all are welcome to come out. This event will be hosted at WonderRoot and will be $5.

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Bike parties and races are the best, right?!

Woohoo May 1 marks the Bici Coop 2 year anniversary! Time to party:

• Bici Poster and bike art show on Friday, free admission, 7 pm, not sure where yet. If you (anyone regardless of where you live) want to show your art lemme know – anna{at}bicicoop.org
• Time trial hill climb on Saturday with kickin after party at Bici HQ, $10. Probably will also start around 7 pm
• Bike parts swap on Sunday, 2 pm, Bici HQ, $10 for a table.

I’m super stoked and think this is going to be a great weekend. Hope some of you can make it out! ROAD TRIP!!!

Aaand of course big big thanks to our sponsors:

Chrome Messenger Bags

Balkan Tango

Yancopads

All City

Primavera Coffee Roasters

Stage 3 in Bici's Tour de Birmingham race series.

It is confession time, folks. I dislike bike racing.  Sorry, let me clarify: I don’t like actually racing myself.  I like watching races, planning races and helping with races.  I just don’t particularly love racing my own bike.

I am sure you are confused, as Bici is often putting on races and I travel to other towns to race a bit.  I like supporting people, what can I say?  But lately, with Bici hosting a month long racing series, it has become clear that racing is not my thing.  Why?  I am not very competitive.  I simply don’t care about winning against my friends (who are mainly the ones who race here), or feeling like I am dying and still not good enough. I just want to ride!

If I do race, I do it for fun, NOT to win.  This was the case for the Huntsville alleycat, where I joined up with some other friends and let Anna and her riding buddy actually try to win the race (they kicked ass, btw).  I had a great time and don’t regret getting nearly DFL.

Part of me feels like a loser for not wanting to race.  I really really enjoy 40-70 mile fun rides, like the upcoming Tour de Cahaba and the past Tour de Cure(s) I have participated in.  Those are riding just to ride, not to beat anyone or to win.  In Birmingham, we have a big racing culture, with the roadies, mtn bikers and Bici.  I am gearing up to cheer on our own Anna in Cyclocross season and can’t wait to see her on the podium!  I have a blast hooting and hollering and ringing the ole’ cowbell, but you probably won’t see me with a number pinned to my side anytime soon.

What about you?  How do you feel about racing?

See you Saturday

Special thanks to Andrew Thomson for designing and hand screen printing these kick ass posters.  A small number of them will be available at the race for a couple bucks.  Art for the people!!