Svelte Cycles Kickstarter

Svelte Cycles

I don't share too many kickstarter campaigns on my blog but this is something I would be proud to back...merino wool jerseys at a reasonable price AND made in London rather than Asia.  Check out Svelte Cycles Kickstarter! No affiliation with them other than I've liked them on facebook and followed on twitter because I think it's an awesome project. 

Back on Two Wheels

I ride a Jamis but the sentiment is the same

After approximately 2 years of not having ridden my beautiful road bike I finally worked up the nerve to join a group ride last Sunday.  Not one to do things in half measures I ended up cycling approximately 60 miles...yes, that was not the way to get back into it! By about mile 40 my saddle was starting to feel like this:

Image via Loving the Bike who credited Bicycling Magazine

To be honest I've been quite fearful of riding here in the UK especially going it alone.  Different road layouts, roundabouts, behaviours, rules and the list goes on, I am not happy to admit to this fear and even less so that I've allowed it to keep me from pursuing something I love so much.  This extended layoff showed up mostly in my low-speed manoeuvering like through the narrow canal path gates and while working my way up along the line of cars at traffic lights.  Hard to believe that at one time I could do the rolling dismounts while entering duathlon transition areas!    

Waiting to meet up with Catherine

I did discover a new US/UK difference though! While a mate was giving the bike a once over for me (the derailleur was slightly out of adjustment) he discovered that the rear brake on my bike is controlled by the right lever. I had no clue that the brakes controls were reversed here until he asked were mine supposed to be that way--guess he learned something new as well. 

Our lovely ride leader

We also had a bit of an off-road adventure on Sunday's ride, what appeared to be a road on the gps app ended up being a dis-used track instead! Lots of fun and ended up being something to laugh about afterwards although the muddy bit we walked through made clipping in and out a challenge for the remainder of the ride.  Regardless I survived Sunday's ride despite my skill deterioration and have been bitten by the bug all over again. The fear of riding solo is still there however and I think it is going to take a while to work through. 

Current *want* from Wiggle

While I'm on the subject of cycling please go check out the Taxing Rides Cyclists series from Treehuggery.  Jackie does amazing work, these are awesome gifts for cyclists!

This is the piece of art we own from the series

2014 TdF Grand Départ Stage 2

As the majority of avid cyclists and UK residents know this past weekend was the beginning of the Tour de France and the Grand Départ started in Yorkshire. While we didn't make it up north to view the first stage we were able to travel to Sheffield to watch near the finish line on the 2nd day.  Another thing ticked off my bucket list!!! While it wasn't France, it still was such an awesome thing to be a part of and according to a lady in my Tuesday Nordic Walking class whose son lives in Paris, even the French media was impressed with the record turnout and enthusiasm from England ;-)

Because we had a late start we decided to park just off the city centre and take the tram to Meadowhall. This served two purposes, we wouldn't have to deal with car traffic and it gave my partner a chance to show me the area.

Check out the Tour Maker shirt to the right, wish I'd thought to have volunteered

People watching

People watching II

The yarn bombed bikes of The Woolly Bike Trail at Sheffield Cathedral

Pub lunch and tram ticket

Waiting for the cyclists.  Yes I wore very impractical shoes to traipse about in but you gotta admit they are cute

McCain Chips publicity caravan vehicle

Yorkshire Tea

Carrefour polka-dot jersey themed caravan

Lead racer at this point, he zoomed by to quick for us to get a good pic

Jens Voigt in the Polka-Dot jersey

Yellow Jersey

The Team Sky kit looks GOOD.

Media helicopter

Zoomed in on the other side just before the 1 km banner

Stormtrooper cyclists

Stormtrooper cyclists II, as you can see they created quite a stir

Ummm, I don't think he is an official part of the TdF! Still got lots of cheers though and good on him

Go home, it's all over! A few of us stayed to the end

What's on the agenda

One interesting thing I'm planning on doing while on vacation is attend the Cycle Show 2011 on one of the event days.  I don't think they'll turn me away at the door since I've only been on my bike twice this year, do you?  Maybe I should dust Buffy off, air up the tires, squeeze into the spandex and take her for a spin at least around the block before going so that I can say I really do  cycle occasionally.

My Jamis, reduced to art this year (ignore the crooked map, I certainly do)

La Femme de Velo Tour

A friend of mine (that I haven't spoken to in quite a while) and my favorite not so local anymore bike shop is sponsoring Arkansas' first only female cycling tour this fall!  Very, very, very cool! Unfortunately, I will be on vacation in the UK on the day of, so no chance of me getting to participate in the La Femme de Velo Tour.

La Femme de Velo Tour

 First Annual-No Men Allowed!

 Sponsored by Bike City, Searcy Arkansas

 October 1, 2011

 20, 30, 50 mile options

   La Femme de Velo Tour-$30.00

 Check-In at St. James Catholic Church in Searcy no later than 7:15. 

Tour begins at 7:30am.

All riders MUST wear helmets!

This ride will offer limited support,

including directional signs, aid stations, and sag support.

There will be no local law enforcement acting as escorts or traffic control.

Register HERE.  And even though men are not allowed to ride in the tour, they most certainly are welcome to volunteer :-))).

As a side note, good luck and congratulations to Duane and Becky on their retirement. The shop is not gonna be the same for me with y'all gone

Giving Back

I occasionally try to do either a cycling or running event that has a fundraising emphasis. Unfortunately this year with my work schedule I don't think I'm going to be able to do so.  However, more than just a few of my friends are getting out there and raising money for some worthwhile causes and I thought I would put up links to a handful of them.  If you are able to do so and one of these charities/organizations happen to strike a chord with you, I'd love it if you could help them meet their fundraising goals.  No amount is too small and it all adds up quickly.  Thank you xoxoxo

Natalie is doing (and has done) the MoonWalk in London to raise money for breast cancer research/care etc.  This is a very unique event in that it is a marathon that is walked in the middle of the night. How cool is that??? Natalie's fundraising page and info about the Walk the Walk organization

Matt of the excellent Run Digger Run podcast is running the Marine Corps Marathon this year for TWO very worthy causes the Semper Fi Fund and the Captain Jennifer J. Harris, USMC Memorial Scholarship.  The direct link to his blogpost about how and why can be found here.  Oh and subscribe to his podcast! It's excellent.

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Jules is riding the RONA MS Bike Tour in June to raise money MS.  Absolutely great lady whose tweets I always look forward to.  Her fundraising page where you can also read about her friend Simon and why she's riding.

Penny is an avid animal lover who backs up what she is so passionate about with TONS of running for fundraising (and just for fun). Completely in awe of what she accomplishes and I've yet to meet a more generous lady.  Pick one (or more) of the charities she has listed on her blog.

There are so many more that I could list here but honestly I need to get in bed and sleep.  Even if you can't give monetarily, I can assure you that comments and thank yous are just as welcome so please stop by their pages and say "way to go" if you have the time.

Time is not on my side

I'm so going to quit promising blog posts, they're just not happening due to a lack of time.......and that's really quite frustrating because I do have a few topics bumping around in the hollow spaces of my brain that I'd like to get down before I completely forget them.

So what's up in the world of Gabby? Well, thank you for asking :-).  I've now moved, much closer to work and my running friends, although further away from my cycling friends.  Busy with work, missing my 3 day weekends that I had for the previous 4 years but I have things to do and I did volunteer so not complaining *much*.  It is nice living much closer because I can drive home on my way down to Laredo to grab a shower and check my mail.....Hey, boring stuff but it is the little things that make life bearable.......and this brings me to why I'm actually getting to write a post today.  After fueling at the purgatory that is the North Little Rock Pilot, I parked at the terminal, raced home for my shower, and upon arriving back to the yard, noticed a very overwhelming diesel smell the moment I got out of my pickup.

Thinking nothing of that, I walk around to the driver's door and am confronted with a huge puddle of diesel on the ground, yeah, not good.  Quick look underneath and there was a steady drip, drip, drip of diesel....I'm guessing one of the straps had rubbed a hole into the bottom of the tank but since it was night and I had no desire to lay in the diesel to determine exactly where it was coming from I just unhooked from the trailer and drove over to the shop bays only to have to deal with some moron of a driver who kept interrupting me while I was trying to find out who, what, when, where, why from the lead mechanic on getting repairs done.  Y'know all the stuff the dispatcher asks when you call in to tell him you can't deliver the load......

And this brings me to this morning.....laying on my sleeping bag aka bed, writing this post.  I am frustrated that I'm missing out on 1,424 miles worth of pay but so incredibly thankful that I found this while parked at my home terminal......The EPA and DOT fines alone would have more than wiped out any wages I would have earned not to mention being stuck out on the road getting repairs......oh and let's not forget the safety aspect of it........least of my worries would have been running out of fuel......yeah, there's a whole lot more that could have happened.

Ok, gotta get out of bed. Have a lot of unpacking to do still and I NEED to get out and run at least a little, all this ice has had me out of the trainers for the past 2 days, I'm 16 miles in deficit this week and I kind of have an international 1/2 marathon end of February that I've maxed out my credit card for so training is a bit important, lol.  Plus I NEED to go buy a washer and dryer that I actually have cash money for thanks to a very generous Christmas gift from my dad (still feel odd about accepting that but a very loving lecture from my sis kinda put the brakes on refusing it).  It is much appreciated though.

New bicycle!!!!!!

I've had a Marin Portofina road bicycle on layaway at Bike City for the past month and James and his mom surprised me with an early Christmas present by going ahead and paying it off for me today. I had an armload of laundry when the doorbell rings and I was kind of cranky when I opened the door and they were standing there. Boy was I surprised when James said come on out and look what we have here. Moral of the story, don't get snappish over something small.
Here's the link to Marin's website--http://www.marinbikes.com/2008_Marin/bikes/specs_portofina.php.
No pictures yet, I'll try to get some taken over the weekend. I'm so excited about having a road bike, I would like to try a duathlon next year. No tris for me at least until I get some swimming lessons. I also need to take pics of James' bicycle, he has done some customizing to it, starting to resemble an Electra bike. Why don't we have cheap hobbies?