Dana Point Grand Prix '12

Once again, it was that time of year for the annual Dana Point Grand Prix. Brad Huff won making him the champ two years in a row. It was amazing to see him power through in the last laps. I love how accessible this race is for the common folk. Most just pull up some lawn chairs and a cooler. I myself greatly enjoyed the beer garden while still being able to fire off a few shots. Bikes and beer, like bread and butter :)   

Yeti ARC Trike

I Met Tom the other day as I was getting ready to leave work. As I was fussing with my purse and the radio, I looked up just in time to see this odd looking trike roll by. It took me a minuet to realize what I just saw. "WTF!" was all I could say. I ended up tracking Tom down to south day use, and he was more than happy to tell me all about his one of a kind Yeti. Found the official Yeti article by Sarah Rawley. Check it out: Yeti Blog July 7, 2011

It was great talking bikes and Mazdas with Tom and Patricia. I hope to see them around town and on the trial!

Ya it's just like riding a bike!

I was back on the muddy trail again! My weekday job is becoming slow so I took the opportunity to leave work early and ride my bike. Simply put, it was amazing. It had been so long since I last rode that I was a little scared to venture out all by myself. I sucked it up and was so grateful to be back on my bike I forgot about my fear. The trip started out with a stop at the bike shop to get a new pump. My little one just fell apart in my hands the last time I tried to use it. Making it out to the trail was fine. Only Stopped twice to adjust my seat. After that smooth sailing. I got a 2nd ride in on Friday. It felt just as good as my last ride. Tho I did see my first snake on the trail!!! Oh good lord, I hate snakes!!! Many friends have gotten' a cheap laugh out my deep fear of snakes and being run over by a car. But that's a story for later. It was a small baby snake (the deadliest kind) lucky for me a teacher had cleared the way for the little guy to pass, and I happily kept riding along.
I want to ride everyday, sometimes twice a day. I want to try other types of bicycling too!! Expand! Got to make more time for bikes :)

Dana Point Grand Prix of Cycling '11

It was a beautiful day for a race. Sunny and warm with a breeze off the Pacific. 

Day 20: Bike Maintenance and Repair

    On a recent ride with Gris i noticed that my front brake was dragging. We had pulled over to catch our breath, so it was a perfect time to talk bike and problem solve. Speaking like we knew what the hell we were doing, we decided it was the brake pad that needed to be repositioned. Not having the right sized allen wrench, we conclude it really wasn't a safety concern, and continued on our ride. Now for some the idea of repairing your bike is a scary one. The mechanics of all those gears, levers, cables, chain, and wheels can be over whelming! Oh lord, what if I don't tighten a bolt right, I may find myself screaming down a hill with no brakes! For me I found the experience to be rewarding and strangely relaxing?!
    There are so many video tutorials online that you can learn to do just about anything! Bike repair included. Just type in what you want to learn and go. Tools on the other hand is something that you will have to invest in. I had bought a more bike specific multi-tool from amazon (Crank Brothers 17 function) which now lives in my backpack, along with a spare tube, small pump, tire lever set, and a basic first aide kit. Like photo equipment, throw bike on the label and people feel like they can charge up the butt for it. So my advice:


*Never pay full price. Shop around do your research. (price point has great deals on tubes)
*Never force something tight. You will strip the threading of what ever you're working on.
*Prepare to get your hands dirty and or fork fluid in your hair.
*Don't be afraid to take something apart. worst case go to your bike shop and have them put it back together. If you end up doing that ask question, learn from your mistakes.


    For me fixing my brake pad was easy and I ended up learning a bunch from the tutorial I watched. I even adjusted the timing of my breaks, so I didn't have to squeeze so much on the lever to engage the brakes! It was vary zen to work on my bike, listen to the birds, and drink my coffee. I highly recommend it.

Day Five: The First Ride

I have just got home from my first real ride with my best gal pal, Gris! We didn't go up anything to steep or go over anything remotely technical. Had so much fun! I feel tired and I want to take a nap, but with my first taste of dirt in my mouth.... I like it. I still don't know really what am doing and my bike isn't dialed in to my specs, so I can see this deceasing my motivation later on. For now I enjoyed myself and will try and get out on the trail as much as I can.

Gris always on the job 

My first mountain bike wound

The Bike

Day Two: Learning To Ride A Bike... Again

Sounds silly but now riding with clips I felt like I was learning to ride a bike all over again. I cleared all the cars out of my long driveway, giving myself plenty of "learning" room. Leaning the bike up next to a table I practiced clipping in and more important getting out! I learned the basics from Mr. Yeti but had never used it in practice. Push your foot forward to clip in. You twist your foot to release; or you fall over like a deer in headlights. Ok got it. It was hard to meet the cleat with the pedal, but a few times I started to get the hang of it. "Ok now lets ride to the end of the driveway." Talking myself through all of this. "Right foot... got it. Left foot. Clip dam you! GRRR." I did this for a half an hour or so. Each time I clipped in faster till it just happened on its own. Clipping in check, clipping out another story. Keeping the bike up right as I tried to twist my foot was more difficult than I though. Slowly I got the hang of that too. Clipping out with my right foot first was key, then I could stop, stand, and twist the left foot. By this time I was too excited, I wanted to go for a ride! It was getting late and I was still to intimidated for a real bike trail. So I decided a ride down to the beach trial would do for now.

Backstory: I hate crossing the street with out a walk light, even then I jog across. If some said a car was coming even if we were in the middle of nowhere I would double time it in fear of being ran over by the invisible car. So riding the couple of blocks to the beach down curvy steep streets scared me. But this is the new me right?! Ya that was the last time I would do that! This was no cruse down to the bar. Beach around sunset on Valentine's! What was I high? Valentine wasn't what bothered me it was the sheer volume of people I didn't like; cars, people, strollers. Too much! But once I got down there and started to peddle all was good again. The people just obstacles to get around, and I enjoyed the sunset just me and my bike.

Day one: Bike Shop Vs. Bike Store

Acquiring a mountain bike the day after your break up with Mr. Yeti was a heart breaking event. I took this as a sign from the cosmos; "come on you know you always wanted to, but you never did because you didn't want to take away his "man time". F him its your turn now." I will say, I did learn somethings from Mr. Yeti and I do thank him for that. Am not totally oblivious. Getting the full suspension bike for starters, saving for disc breaks, the color white always makes you faster and cooler; as in awesome (scientific fact), knowing my fork is shit if I plan on really getting into this, and the need for a bike shoe you can clip in for the ride, or hike section if you need to.

My local bike shop had only road shoe for woman. I had hoped I could avoid the bike "store" but I need to try the shoe on and I didn't want to wait. Feeling comfortable in a bike shop is one thing. The owner probably is in the back on the phone or running the counter. Their here for the love the sport and if they can make a living doing what they love great! Bike stores on the other hand are typically a chain of some kind. Dealing with the newest and the greatest, and always over priced. Not to say the people working there don't have a love, but its different love.

Walking in I found the woman's section easy enough, then was greeted by a young man in his early 20's if that. I told him I need a mountain bike shoe for a beginner. He stated in; "oh this one runs about 90 bucks" Look don't get me wrong I knew going into this I has to put down the green but the shoe looked like I would slip and die if I walked any trail! He talked a bit more about other shoes total skipping the one shoe that looked like I could walk in. I pointed at the one shoe with a sub $90 tag, "What about that one?" "Oh that's a hybrid. Its more like a hiking boot with cleats." "I am a beginner. I will probably be hiking a lot." He grinned as realty slapped him up side the head. "Oh, ya... right." Found the right size and paid. "Got everything, helmet, shorts, jerseys...." Just wanting to get out of that place before they had me in a full matching kit, I forgot to ask how to get my shoes all set up.

Shit! Sitting down with the box looking at the instructions I forgot about the cleats. This time to the bike shop. The owner an older man was on the phone with sounded like a regular customer about an order. Called to the boys in the back, a young man of the same age as the 1st young man greeted me the same way. "Hi, I need cleats for my shoes." "Oh, ya sure! What kind of peddles do you have?" Oh, no I don't know this one. "I don't know, but they look like those, " pointing to some in the case. "Cool. Let me get you set up with the easiest ones." The owner now off the phone throwing a pair of cleats to the boy, "These ones just fell in price." He smiled at me with warm grin, "beginning biking? By the look of your shoes; mountain bikes?! Good choice." "Thanks." The young man was back with the cleats, his boss pushes my shoes over to him "Help this young lady with her shoes so get can start practicing."

I walked out of the shop with my shoes ready to go, and a little more confidents to really give this biking thing a go.

The Shoes

Recycled Bicycle Disc Brake

This clock was made from an old bicycle disc brake. It was painted then glued to a rigged disc covered in red cotton fabric.