Bicycling Hall of Fame Comes to Our Neck of the Woods

I was excited to read today that Davis, CA will be the new home of the U.S. Bicycling Hall of Fame! UC Davis is my alma mater, so this makes me especially proud, but I also like the fact that I can go visit the Hall of Fame next time I see my parents in Sacramento.

Ah, Davis... home to bike circles (roundabouts), bike speeding tickets, and bike "BUI's." I enjoyed many happy years there on my Schwinn Collegiate.

You can read the article here.

Bikes on the UC Davis Campus

The Bike Adds 10 Pounds

Wait, no, my bike weighs 20 pounds? Okay, that's not what I mean. I'm referring to that "camera adds 10 pounds" adage we all know. Here is my experience: I can look fatter in photos, I can look fatter on a bike. Put those together and I've got a photo of me, on a bike, looking significantly larger than I am just standing there.

It's a number of things, really. Part of it is you are hunched over and your belly tends to just sit there (unless you're engaging your core of steel). Another thing is that layers of cycling clothes add bulk, and wearing skin-tight shorts while seated does little good for the appearance of your thighs. Lastly, there is that expectation that a photo of you riding will look, say, like Alberto Contador riding. The sad truth is, I have had many photos of me taken on my bike, by professional photographers at countless registered rides, and I have yet to find one I truly like.

This past Saturday I rode in my second Cinderella Classic. This is an all-women's metric century (100K/65 miles) that draws participants from all over California, and even neighboring states like Oregon and Washington. I think it is the only all-women's ride of its kind in the nation, and registration for it sells out tremendously fast. Being said, I feel lucky to have this ride in my own backyard. The tradition is to wear girly accoutrements, and you'll see women riding in anything from Rapunzel-styled hats to full-on prom dresses. I myself have an aversion to doing really long rides in anything other than cycling clothes (hello chafing and sweat-retention), but hey those gals look pretty good!

The Cinderella draws riders of all sizes, ages, and abilities. In fact, I saw a girl of about seven riding attached to her mom on one of those kid's trailer cycles. You see a big variety of bikes out there, too- from road bikes to hybrids to cruisers. Of course that can mean some much slower riders to get stuck behind, but hey it feels good to be one of the faster crowd on my road bike for once. Plus, the Cinderella is not about racing, it's about enjoying the day, with all it's wacky costumes and sisterhood. All 65 miles of it.

A fairly flattering photo of me at this year's Cinderella, equipped with helmet tiara.
The mustard fields in the background make me look like a Tour de France rider whizzing past the iconic sunflower fields... almost.

The Spoils of Victory

Why do we ride as hard as we do? For the food and beer, of course! There was nothing more gratifying than rolling into the parking lot at the end of last Saturday's ride, and seeing my friend, Jake, who immediately passed me a lager-filled water bottle.

Eager, grabbing hands at a SAG stop

Pizza, beer, and good company post-ride

I Saw a High Wheel Bicycle!

Riding High

I was on my lunch break, about to cross Sutter Street at Kearney, when I spotted him- it was a guy with a high wheel bike! Now the only high wheel bike I'd ever seen in person wasn't even a real bike. It was just the high wheel bike sculpture in Davis, CA- my old college town and bike capital of the nation.

The guy wasn't riding the bike, but he was wearing a helmet, so I know that at some point he was going to ride it. It was really beautiful and authentic, painted black with a leather saddle. It was a moment where I once again realized I need to carry a cheap digital camera at all times, or maybe finally get an iPhone.

I wanted to catch up with this man, and ask him all the obvious why? and how? questions, but somehow he disappeared into the crowd ahead of me. How you can disappear while walking with a high wheel bike is beyond me, but he did.

Man atop a high wheel bicycle, sporting a handlebar moustache
(not to be confused with moustache handlebars)
TIME Magazine archives

Vintage Racing

The sight of the high wheel bike got me thinking about the early days of bike racing. We may cringe at the idea of today's pro cyclists and their doping scandals... but drugs have been part of the sport since its onset. I am in no way advocating this, but it is a surprising fact. How else did those guys stay awake for six-day races in the velodrome? It wasn't about electrolyte supplements- it was about coffee laced with cocaine.

Below are photos from the Tour de France circa 1920s. Don't try this at home.

Sharing a smoke on the way to the Champs-Élysées

Stopping for a pint

The Three Bears

So I should write about last Saturday's ride. It was The Three Bears plus some extra mileage and a short climb up Rheem Boulevard in Orinda. I actually handled this ride well, and the weather was spectacular- warm enough to ride sans arm-warmers. I was even wishing I had worn shorts.

But, there was one thing- I had some digestive issues for most of the ride. I think it started the night before, and continued to the morning. It's something similar to Runner's Trots, which I will not get into here (but you can click on the link if you're curious). Just the name sounds gross, so you can only imagine. In any case, I had stomach cramping and vague nausea for the first half of the ride, and thankfully this dissipated by the time I had to climb The Bears.

The Three Bears are so named because they are three moderately difficult hills along Bear Creek Road. First there's Mama Bear, more of a straight, gradual climb. Then there is baby bear. There are arguably two small hills after Mama, and it's debatable as to which one is Baby. In any case it's a short climb that's not too severe. Papa Bear is last, and is the most steep at about a 7% grade. The descent off Papa can get really fast, and I had to feather my brakes the whole way. Against popular opinion, I find Papa Bear easier than Mama. Maybe it's because I'm already warmed up by the time I climb it?

Finally, just to rub salt in the wounds, there is a little menace of a hill called Goldilocks. You have to make quick-and-dirty work of this 9% grade bump in the road.

If there was a lesson to be learned on this ride, it is the importance of treating my body well and carefully watching what I eat. There is nothing worse than stomach discomfort paired with physical exertion. Your body just can't perform as it should.

A flat part of Bear Creek Road

from http://www.inl.org/bicycle/routes.html#bearcreek

Beyond Tough

So I thought I've been having a hard time lately training for my century... today I read this article in SFGate, about Jon Withrington, who, just 2 months after completing chemo for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, is now training for the Death Ride: Tour of the California Alps. Truly amazing and inspiring.

Jon Withrington with his wife and daughter

Point Reyes and Environs

This past Saturday we started our team ride from the Bear Valley Visitor Center in Olema. One thing I noticed while driving there that morning was a formidable hill less than a mile from the starting point. I thought to myself, "Are we gonna have to climb that hill later? Nahhh... that's not the route I remember from before." Lesson: If you feel compelled to wonder, it means you will end up doing it.

Listening to nutrition clinic pre-ride

(that's me on the right)





I did this 40 mile ride during my first season with TNT, and what I remember were great views and a super-hard climb somewhere along the route (refer to paragraph one). But being the seasoned cyclist that I am (proclaimed with swaggering bravado), I was not too worried about a 40 mile ride. Hmmm... I did not, however, factor in the weather, my lack of proper clothing layers, my lack of sleep, and an extremely inconvenient climb at about mile 7.

When I do these longer rides, I really feel like it takes 15-20 miles for me to properly warm up. But on this ride, I don't feel like I ever warmed up. The climb at mile 7 was more difficult than I imagined. I was tired, sluggish, feeling every extra pound on my body. On climbs like this I always question why I ride... a thought I dismiss when I remember my health. Sure, I'm struggling. Blood vessels feel like they can burst and the top of the hill is nowhere in sight... but I always have the option to simply unclip and stop if I want to. It's not like chemo. I have options.

Putting that first climb behind me, the rest of the ride was just okay. Such a contrast from last weekend's ride when I felt really strong. I'm sure a lot of it had to do with sleep deprivation, and the chilly weather that eventually turned rainy. I didn't have the right jacket with me and rode too cold the whole time. My descending was sadly sub-par, too. I kept neglecting to get into my drops and then suffered when I had to use a death grip to brake- and with little effect given the wet weather.

We eventually made it to that hill I remembered on the drive. I had steeled myself for it and was pleasantly surprised to get up it easily! I remember this hill being really unbearable my first season, which was an affirmation of my progress over the past two years. There was a potluck at the end of the ride, and I had a nice time huddling with the coaches and staff (we were the only ones that stuck around), trying to keep warm and dry while we waited to cheer in the last team.

Keeping warm with Coaches K. Sue and Steve, waiting for the last team...

... and here they are

An Open Letter to Blazing Saddles

Dear Blazing Saddles,

I feel that your customers are not understanding the rules of the road and common bicycle courtesy. As an avid cyclist I'm all for encouraging people to bike, and think it's great that tourists want to rent bikes and enjoy the outdoors... but enough already with hazardous (mostly) Euro-tourists almost running us locals off the road!

In my experience riding over the bridge to Sausalito, I have encountered:

• Blazing Saddles cyclists riding 3 and 4 abreast, almost forcing me into tourists shooting photos along bridge rail
  
  
• Blazing Saddles cyclist bombing downhill to Sausalito on wrong side of road, barely dodging cyclists riding slowly uphill, swearing while she did it


• Blazing Saddles cyclists abruptly stopping with no warning at bridge exit, causing pileup to ensue*


• Absolutely no response from Blazing Saddles cyclists to basic call-outs like "on your left" (I understand there may be a language barrier, but I've encountered no response to my bell and universal shouted warnings, either)

* When this happened, I unfortunately had to stop myself, which led my friend riding behind me to stop, which led to being yelled at by a jerky roadie who thought it was our fault- "That's a bad place to stop! A baaaadd plaaaace to stop!!" As a person with a fair amount of pride, I was truly mortified.

Additionally, I often see Blazing Saddles cyclists doing these things:

• Riding with seat way too low = knee pain


• Riding up impossibly steep hills given their bike setups

After witnessing all this time and again, I feel the need to air my concerns. It is my hope that you are briefing your customers on these points, but I feel like something is just not sinking in.

Sincerely,

Cherylismo!