Velo Angels - Ride, Girls. Ride.

#epicfail - New Year's Adventure(s)

I hope everyone's had a fantastic year and all ready for a brand-spanking-new year. 

Well.  My friend Ko and I had an awesome plan for the new year. We were going to drive out to Zion National Park on the 31st (today) and hike on the 1st!  What a wonderful way to to start a year, right?  We thought so, too.  Just a couple days ago, Ko calls me and tells me she can't make it for personal reasons. I was sad, but I was going to move on.  I started to plan a trip to Palm Springs instead.  I wanted to do this 54 mile ride that circles around Palm Springs! 

Here's the route.

Looks pretty fun right?  Scenic with a long but mild climb.  Ideal! 
Besides, I wanted to do something special.  

I had the hotel room lined up and ready to go, but just wanted to double check the route to make sure I knew what I was doing.  I looked at the map again and realized.  Hmm.  Half of this route is in the middle of nowhere.  I checked on Google Street View.  Yup.  Desert.  Kind of sketchy.  I talked to a friend who's a veteran rider, and he thinks it might not be safe either.  Do I do it or not. 

I didn't.  That's why I'm sitting here writing about it... 

To be honest, I'm not proud of my decision.  It's utterly uncool to not be able to do what I've planned to do!!  I do feel like chicken poop for backing down after all the preparation.  But.  I have to be safe.  I have to be alive to do more fun rides in 2010.  

All of my new year's adventure plans turned out to be an #epicfail.  Well.  Life goes on.

Happy, happy new year, everyone!!

In Search of a Perfect Saddle

Supposedly your ass is not supposed to hurt riding.  Not only is your ass not supposed to hurt, other body parts are not supposed to hurt either.  This is only if you had the perfect saddle.

 

I don’t. 

 

 
The saddle that came with my Ruby was a Specialized Jet 143 mm.  While I never had any serious discomfort, I was told by a bike fitter that it was the wrong size for me.  So, I bought the same saddle in 155 mm, and that started the whole thing.  With the wider saddle, my sit bones were happier, but the cut-away angle was not sharp enough and when I pedaled, the back of my thighs (where the glutes meet hamstrings) hurt.  Next one (and my current one) is
Selle San Marco’s Aspide Glamour  (One size 155 mm).  This one had a perfect shape for me except I had soft tissue discomfort.  It’s that numbness…  My friend put it nicely… “Where did it go?!”  It’s an unnerving sensation that your body part is so numb that you don’t know where it went…   

 

I demoed a Ruby Gel saddle in 143mm.  And, this might be the winner so far even with the wrong width…  I have to accept that I might not find the perfect saddle ever.  But I have to settle for overall comfort, and this Ruby might be it. 

 

Is anybody having the same problem?  Holler.

My tire is going soft!!!

So, just as I told you I wouldn't pretend like I knew anything...

I know one thing and one thing only!  And, that's how to fix a flat. 
I'm pretty crafty at this.  So read on.

Whenever I got a slow-leaking kind of flat, I used to say, “My tire is going soft!” and my fellow male riders hated the term.  To me, going soft was different from flatting.  Going soft meant that the air is slowly leaking out, while flat is a flat. Right?  Wrong!  If the tube is losing air, whether quickly or slowly, it’s a flat.  I learn something new everyday.  You knew all this?  Well, you are smarter than I. 

 

I would like to upload a clip of “how to fix a flat” one day, but until then, I only have one thing to say about fixing a flat. 

 

PRACTICE.

 

There are a gazillion youtube clips showing you how to do this.  Watch it.  Also, go to your local bike shop’s “How to Fix a Flat” clinic.  It’s usually free.  It’ll definitely empower you. Practice when you are at home.  Don’t wait till you actually get a flat on the road!  And, when someone shows you how to fix a flat, DO NOT let him/her actually do it for you.  Let him/her help you so YOU are the one actually fixing the flat, otherwise you will never be able to do this on your own.  If your pushy friend tries to fix it for you, be firm and kindly say, “Don’t touch my tire, biatch.”  It’s important to be assertive.  Oh and don’t worry about those greasy fingers.  They make you look so hard-core.  There is a way to fix a flat without touching the chain whatsoever.  That’s for the actual how to blog some other time. 

 

Why do I speak about fixing a flat with such confidence? 

Because I’m the queen of flats!  I’ve flatted a million times unfortunately.  I shouldn’t be so proud of being able to fix a flat.  I just don’t know how to avoid a flat in the first place…  that’s all. 

 

For some reason I always ride into the ocean of shattered glass.  My friend once said to me that I should keep an eye out for any sharp objects on the road and try to avoid them.  Duh.  What a concept!  I am far more careful now, and it seems to be working.  I get fewer flats by far.  And also, if you think you rode over something, pull over after making sure it’s safe to do so, and check your tire for any foreign objects.  You can spin the wheel while you run your gloved-hand over the tire to check to see if anything is in the tire. And ultimately, if your tire looks worn out with slashes everywhere, change your tire.  It’ll save you a lot of time on the side of the road trying to fix a flat and also the embarrassment of, “You flatted AGAIN?!”  I know.  It’s me again…

How It All Started – The Beginning

A broken heart.  That’s how it started. 
The very end of one love was the beginning of another.  (Yes, setting an over-dramatic tone here.) 

 

 

My ex was a tri-athlete and enjoyed riding. I had been pestering him about his long training rides because they left me a “tri-widow” over the weekends, so he offered to buy me a bike one day hoping we could spend more time together. Since I wasn’t sure about my commitment to the sport, I declined.  (Besides, the bike he was going to buy me was an aluminum piece of shit the bike shop wanted to get rid of.  Glad I didn’t say yes.)  A few months later, we broke up. 

 

December 7^th, 2008, I was on my apartment floor crying my fat ass off again, lamenting about the love I have lost.  I mean, c’mon.  It had been like 6 months since we broke up.  Get over yourself, right?  Yes.  In the middle blowing my chapped nose, I heard a voice.  “Start something new.”  And, I remembered the bike I was going to get from my ex.  Cycling.  Why not?  If anything, I can burn off this fat I’ve collected over the months of sitting my ass off crying!!

 

I peeled myself off the floor, did some research on bikes, took a shower, put on some makeup and left the house to find my perfect bike.  After a few hours of shopping and asking around, I found my “home” bike shop that day.  I promised the bike shop guy that I’d come back once my Christmas bonus paycheck comes in.  And, I did. 

 

That Christmas, Specialized Ruby Comp came home with me.
And yup, that’s how it all started. 

Introduction - Hello. My Name Is...

Hello, Fellow Cyclists. My name is Mai.  

(Bare with me for the boring part where I explain who I am and why I'm starting this blog etc.  Then we will go in to the good stuff later.  I promise.) 

I'm a 2nd year cyclist.  Yes, I'm just a newby.  Actually, yesterday last year was when I brought home my first real bike, so I have been riding for exactly a year.  You might be wondering.  Who the hell are you to write about cycling like you know anything about it after a year.  Well. I'm nobody.  I don't even pretend to know anything about cycling!  But I'm a nobody who LOVES cycling and ride as much as possible to learn the craft and culture of it.  I'm not here to tell you what to do or how you can be a better cyclist.  No way.  But, I'm here to share my experiences with you and hope that we can all be a better cyclist together.  

Besides... I have some funny cycling pictures to share,
(Um, I hope you guys don't mind me using this without your permission!) crazy stories to tell and tricks I learned that you might find useful on the road. 

So stay tuned as our cycling adventure begins!