Chamois Cream

I did it.

I went over to the...... whatever side this is....

I am currently preparing for the Rapha Women's 100 (km) ride on 20 July.  (It's an international event).

I have never ridden 100km.  My current maximum is 80km.

As 100km is just a long time to be spending on the bike,

I thought, I should probably have a look at what this anti-chafing thing is that everyone keeps raving on about...

So my husband had a tube of Aussie butt cream (yep, that's what it's called - us Aussies don't beat around the bush.. hahaha).

The local bike shop dude recommended it and said they pretty much use it every time they get on a bike..

I thought, I'd better start getting used to it - I don't want to be halfway through my 100km and be like oh this is wrong.

So I wish I'd had these instructions:

(via Bicycle Jockey's experience)

But I didn't.

I just had my husband.

And the internet.

But who uses the internet, when you have your very own Encyclopedia Brown.

And so I squeeze out like 1cm of a tiny thread and I'm like is this enough?

And husband is like, no! you want 10 times that!

And I make it 2 times that and used that.

Afterwards, I realised husband was right.  I could have used 10 times that amount.

It was weird at first, like squishy.

But it did really prevent any rubbing of the fabric on my skin.

It was just like a bit of extra moisturiser on my skin.

So it was good.

And now I wear it every time I wear lycra.


It's funny, so many things I was EW at first and now I'm "BEST THINGS EVER"!

1.  padded lycra shorts
2.  clipless pedals
3.  chamois cream

Here is a good article on how to (politely) use chamois cream.

http://www.bicycling.com/training-nutrition/injury-prevention/how-politely-use-chamois-cream

Includes - Avoid Eye Contact while you're applying it....

Haha.

By the way, chamois creams have some of the best names..

He. He. He. 

New toys! Chrome messenger bag (finally!) & new handlebar grips

Woot Woot!  Got my bag!

It's such a comfy bag.  It sits on my back and so you don't really feel any weight in the shoulder.

The velcro and clips are so strong that I can barely get them open with my tiny tiny weak little hands - which is awesome that the bag is so strong and tough!  I just need to work on my strength haha.

Except I have to be careful when I wear it because my husband thinks it's the funniest thing in the world to run up and press the button so my bag falls off.

HILARIOUS.

There is so much hilarity in my life.

In other news - I pimped up my commuter a little bit more with some hot pink handlebars.

I was wondering what else I could make pink and my husband's sister's response was.

"Seat, pedals, chain, spokes, guards and rack and then we'll talk. ;p"

It's a fair cop.

(Monty Python reference)

I want to be a fixie girl (maybe). A Messenger Bag (and maybe my third bike?)

I want to be a fixie girl.

(Like thechubbycruiser who is so super cool and does all sorts of cool bike things in New York!)

But I live in Sydney.

And we have hills.

And I just think I wouldn't look as cool as all those fixie girls when I'm walking my fixie bike up a hill...

Or spinning out of control down a hill "twiddling" my legs.

After I get back from holidays later this year, I was considering getting a Cyclocross (CX) bike.

(and it's pink!)

Friends around me are quite into it and it possibly could be something interesting to do while it's starting to ramp up in popularity in Sydney.  (Last race there were 3 girls - all quite hardcore - but it sounds like at the moment it's about participation.  Which is good, because I may be the sorest loser in the history of humanity).

A CX bike could double as a commuter bike when I just wanted to hop on it and go.

(At the moment, my commuter is all done up for all weather conditions - fenders / rack, etc - getting started involves clipping my pannier on etc and it's a bit slow and not as cool with the flat bars).

But I wouldn't put a rack on it, so to hop on it and go, I need a bag to fit my stuff.

And because I really like the fixie girl sensibility, I thought a messenger bag would be perfect.

I had a look around and decided that the Chrome series looked the coolest.

I really liked the seatbelt strap.

"We didn't have money to make our own buckle, so we salvaged a seatbelt buckle from the local auto yard and an icon was born."

I found this video that showed how much stuff you could put in the mini one and thought it was probably the most suitable one for me (since I'm only small)..

After last night, lugging around my pannier around the markets, I thought that it was time to get a messenger bag so I had a way of carrying my stuff around without bending over sideways like a baba yaga.

My Basil pannier - which I love and is great for carrying heaps of stuff, but not so great lugging around on your shoulder..

I wanted the Chrome mini messenger night bag (with reflective bits) but they didn't have it, so I settled on the black one.

I bought some reflective ribbon off ebay so I can sew some on it if I want.

They're quite expensive (approximately $200), but there is an Australian retailer - rushfaster - that works out pretty much the same as buying it from the US.

There are some extra options available when ordering from the US.  They do custom colours and there are some limited edition designs.

I have heard good reviews about this bag and very importantly, it has a "EVA foam-padded shoulder strap with cross-chest load stabilizer for increased rideability".

The cross chest strap is really important when cycling, otherwise the weight of the bag just swings to the front of you - I actually try and rig up cross chest straps (out of ribbons and carabiners) for some of my cross body handbags when I use them on the bike.

I went to the rushfaster website tonight and there happened to be a 25% off sale for the next 15 minutes!  

"I saw the sign!"

So I ordered it (I saved $50!!) and it will be here in a few days!!

I love this photo from fixiegirls.com and now I have the haircut AND the bag!

Why I Cycle (and a bit about Safety)

Why I Cycle

I was cycling home last night from Australian Technology Park where I checked out the lovely Finders Keepers markets.

I thought it was such a lovely opportunity to cycle commute - despite the weather being quite rainy in the morning.

By the time I finished work, the roads were quite dry and it was a lovely evening.

It was so quick to cycle to Fratelli Fresh on Mitchell Rd.  (Which by the way, is a much different vibe to the one in the city on Bridge St.. Not so corporate - more families / wider age range.  Much nicer I think.)

(google maps)

(www.broadsheet.com.au)

Anyway, on my way home at around 10pm, I realised why I cycle.

I cycle because, I dislike public transport.

This blog post pretty much sums it up - 

http://beckysaysthings.com/2014/04/01/becky-says-things-about-commuting/

I love cycling over public transport because:

1. It leaves from my doorstep to exactly where I need to be.
2. I can depart whenever I want without waiting for a vehicle that may or may not be coming soon.
3. I don't have to deal with the awkwardness around being near random people.
4. I don't have to sit on / touch dirty seats & handrails.
5. I am in control of the speed and route at which I travel.
6. I am engaged and interested during my commute.
7. I see much more than the inside of a large motor vehicle.  So many cats and dogs and cool buildings and people!!
8. I get exercise while I'm doing it.

Also for driving:

• I don't have to spend 20 minutes or $20 on parking.

Safety

While I was cycling home - I was thinking, this is amazing, I am travelling home independently very late at night.

I would never do this if I had to catch public transport!

That is because I feel like it's unsafe.

Cycling is a little safer because I can go straight from door to door (without having to stand and wait in a dark / unknown area).

However, as I usually select cycling routes that are a bit more quiet, off the main streets, if something were to happen to me, I'm not sure what I would do.

For example, if a group of people were to come up to me and want something from me for some reason, I would have no way to get out of that situation.

I could ride away, but my commuter bike is quite slow and if it was me against a group, I'm not sure if I could out-cycle a fit person.

Also, if I had a fall or something on a quiet street, perhaps there wouldn't be anyone around to help me.

So I was considering getting an ICE Dot.

ICE stands for In Case of Emergency.

In the event of a crash sensor, a signal will be sent to the app on your smartphone (via bluetooth) that will send a message to the US servers which will contact your specified emergency contacts by the specified methods with a specified message.

Video demonstration here:

Cycling Tips review:

http://cyclingtips.com.au/2013/12/icedot-crash-sensor-review/

From these articles, the sensor seems to be set off by anything stronger than dropping your helmet from a 20cm height.

The gps seems to be accurate to 100m (tested outside).

The Local Bike Shop said that the ICE dot can be attached to all helmets, it's just a matter of working out where it can fit on your helmet.

As I don't really do any offroad / outside city rides - especially not alone - this would probably suit my purposes as I would always have mobile reception / enough battery for data & gps.

It's $179 + $10 annual subscription.

Which I think is a reasonable amount to pay for safety.

Unfortunately, I have a Samsung 4 and ICEdot are still ironing out bluetooth issues with Samsung, so I will wait a little bit and see if they can work that out.  (It seems compatible with iphones - ios7 - and other android 4.3)

Perhaps in the meantime, I will install one of those partner tracking apps instead.  :)

Things That Make Me Happy / Inspire Me

Cyclists wearing bright colours

(via MC Cyclery on Facebook)

When I first started wearing lycra, I wanted to look as bland as possible.

Then I noticed what some of the other cyclists were wearing.

And I wanted in!

Female cyclists showing their bike style

These women inspired me because they actually described cycling / commuting in normal clothes, including the challenges as well as the joy.

Melissa from Bike Pretty:

Jeanne from Bike Stylish / Elephant Journal:

Janet from One Woman, Many Bicycles (and her awesome Flickr photostream!):

Dottie from Let's Go Ride A Bike:

(This video is kind of funny in that it feels like ridiculous overkill for our mild Sydney winters.)

Bikeyface - accurately comical cartoons about the challenges of cycling:

(So accurate - sometimes when I'm feeling fragile, I channel "delicate woman" when getting dressed and get prepared to trade in some verbal harassment for a bit more car passing distance.  Sad but true.).

It's actually pretty cool that I've actually been in contact with a couple of these ladies through instagram and twitter to thank them for being my inspiration, and they in turn have been so humble and informed me that they were only passing forward the inspiration they received from others. 

Like a cycle of inspiration.  Hehehe..  Cycle.. GEDDIT?

Professional road cyclists

Jens Voigt
He is my favourite cyclist.  He's known for being pretty hardcore and he just has a really great, down to earth sense of humour.

Having watched him cycle for a number of years and see his attitude at how he breaks the peleton* by cracking people at high speed, he has really inspired me to push through the mental challenges.  Not only for cycling, but for jogging and boxing as well.

*peleton = descriptive term for the large group of road cyclists - there's usually a large group of them all riding together, and then a few small groups off the front and back.

Jens Voigt Facts

Eg. "Jens Voigt will never have a heart attack. Jens Voigt's heart isn't stupid enough to attack him."

Orica Greenedge
Australian professional road cycling team.  They publish a series of videos called Backstage Pass where you get to see behind the scenes of their races.  It's amazing and just feels like so much fun and camaraderie (in addition to their hard work and dedication).

Their videos are so awesome and down to earth with that Aussie humour - apparently it turned a bicycle hating truck driver into a cyclist who wears that "lycra crap".  Amazing!

Marianne Vos.  
Maybe the best female cyclist at the moment - she just wins everything!

"It's not about the number of rainbow jerseys I've won"

Um.....  we wouldn't discount your 13 WORLD CHAMPION TITLES..

Anna Meares
Australian female track cyclist.

Insano!

And this hardcore contract with her husband:

Which leads me to...

My husband

For believing in my ability.

Even when I don't.

For moments like I describe in this previous post: "Gosh my husband shits me"

(Instagram or it didn't happen)

And finally...

Myself!

It's been a couple of months and I've come such a long way!!

And I know there's so more to the journey ahead and it's going to be super fun!!

Sydney Autumn Clothing For Cycling & Eating More

So it's been cold this week.

I went on the Local Bike Shop (LBS) ride this Saturday and despite us calling it halfway, we still got wet.

Which wasn't a major problem.

Except we then stood outside the coffee shop in the wind for an hour afterwards.

I got cold.

So today I went into the city to stock up on warmer gear.

I'm one of those people who freeze whenever they go swimming in the summer.

That school kid who turned purple and sat there shivering while all the other kids donated their towels.

As an example, I was wearing fleecy Winter arm warmers during the Sydney summer.

Anyway, I casually mentioned how I keep getting super cold at coffee and the girl at Liv Giant pulled out this jacket.

(Pearl Izumi W ELITE Barrier Jacket Women - peacock)

Which I then proceeded to fall in love with and have to buy.

I am biased though - I love anything aqua or pink.

Anyway, I wore it on the way to the morning ride this morning and at coffee and it was AMAZEBALLS.

Along with my new Winter cap, I was utterly toasty.

Giro Ambient Skull Cap

So happy.

Much happier than Saturday!

Eating More

So I'm trying to eat more.

Since starting cycling, I'd lost a bit of weight.

However, I'm finding that I'm tired all the time.

A lot of other cyclists suggested that it was a problem of nutrition.

As I find it hard to stomach things in the morning, plus, I tend to stick to eating things I think are tasty, I bought this book.

http://feedzonecookbook.com/portables/

So I'm committing to cooking one thing from it every week.

I figure if I do up a batch, at least I have something on hand to eat - which is half the problem - it's easy to get lazy and not eat / eat badly when there's nothing good on hand.

This week I have:

Blueberry rice cakes - (sticky rice + coconut milk + blueberries)

And potato and sausage cakes - (potato + chicken sausages + egg + flour)

Despite my Sunday nights being quite stressful (I don't cook and find cooking quite stressful and for some reason seem to have a super power of misreading recipes - getting halfway through and realising the potatos were supposed to be cubed BEFORE boiling, the chicken sausage was supposed to NOT BE ONE COMPLETE SAUSAGE when cooking etc), it's working out quite well.

So I think I'm doing well in starting to build up a routine to make the cycling less impactful on other things.

Although, I love cycling so much, everything else seems boring in comparison!  (Woe is you if you come across me shuffling around at work).

Speaking of work, I'd better be off!  :)

LADIES TOPIC (DON'T SAY I DIDN'T WARN YOU)

Ok, this is a bit of a personal post, but I feel like I have to write about it as part of my journey.

So, guaranteed every month, I couldn't cycle for 2 days because of my period.

(via www.dreamstime.com)

This was not me.

Mainly for 3 reasons:

1. Period Pain
2. Muscle looseness - hard to explain, but I feel like I can't engage my muscles properly.  Which is annoying when you're trying to do an exercise where you specifically engage your muscles properly..
3. Pads - they can be uncomfortable and feel insecure and since you don't wear underpants under the shorts, I was worried others would be able to see it sticking out (since in a bunch ride, people's faces are literally 1m away from your ass).

But the 2 days of non cycling was bringing me down because I am enjoying and putting a lot of energy into cycling 6 days a week.

Plus the weather starting to get rainier, I'm already losing days, making it trickier to maintain a routine.
(I still commute in the rain, but am not comfortable going out on the road bike in the wet).

1.  Pain I can manage with pain killers.  And exercise makes it better - despite that feeling really counter-intuitive.

2.  Muscle looseness - I go a bit easier on myself and let myself get away with a slower, shorter ride.  :)

3.  Pads.

I was speaking to the doctor about a range of issues and she suggested using tampons.

Which I suppose I am late to the party - even with all my dancing - I think most people use tampons, but it always seemed scary and foreign.

But I did it and it was amazingly freeing.

I kind of wish I hadn't been so scared of Toxic Shock Syndrome (which is still a risk).

But I googled lots of information about it so I felt like it wasn't really as difficult as I thought it was.

I think it's definitely much better now with the internet.  When I was a teenager it was really embarrassing to find information by asking people and there wasn't that much information around so it was hard to feel comfortable about your knowledge with a topic.

And I guess I never really thought about it / could be bothered doing anything about it.

So yeah, I didn't immediately go out horse riding on a beach, but I did run up and down the apartment stairs kicking my legs around.

(via www.thelifestyledblog.com)

It just goes to show at any age, you never run out of things to learn and try, even if you thought you couldn't do them before.

Apparently though, moon cups / diva cups are pretty good for cycling, but baby steps..

Lull aka training for another discipline

So after a bit, I realised that my lull in achieving my small goals was because I had turned my training tactic to finding my comfortable pace.

Instead of attacking up hills as fast as I could, I'd been pacing the hills to find the "I could do this all day" pace.

So I attacked a few times this week and got some icons through Strava.

Made me feel a bit better.

GAMIFY EVERYTHING!!

(via five-steps-to-enterprise-gamification)

Husband and I might head to Akuna Bay / West Head tomorrow.

I might just do Akuna Bay and see what it's like.

1 week left until 80km Bobbin Head!

It's funny, I've met lots of girls who have signed up for it but it sounds a bit like none of us want to make a group because we're all too scared and don't want to hold anyone back.

We'll probably all find each other along the way and end up riding as a group.

Hopefully!  That would be cool!

All Women's Liv Giant Ride, Car Back!, #WomenTalkBikes

On Saturday, I went on a women's only ride this morning run by Liv / Giant.  The Saturday morning CBD road ride for this month.

It was very enjoyable.  The group was encouraged to introduce ourself to each other - so it made for a very friendly ride.  There were 2 ride leaders, but the ride was mostly led from the front.

The pace was good - 22 km / h average which was comfortable.

Distance was about 35 km which was good, however, felt a bit longer because of the 7am start (later than most rides) and we had a flat at the beginning.  But it meant that we were still out on the road after 9am so the sun was out and quite warm.

We were quite a large group so a little unruly on the road (not exactly a tight bunch) but we stayed together pretty well.

On the way back we split up into 2 groups - hills vs no hills.

I went on the hills group as I am already familiar with Mons & Torrington.

I ended up going on the back of the group.  From the MC rides, I am used to there being someone at the back calling "Car Back!" so I kind of did that on the way back.

CAR BACK! 

= "I am communicating there is a car back but I will leave it for the ride leader to make the call about changing lanes / going single file" 

(I initially thought it meant "get out of the way immediately everyone, there is a car behind us!".)

As this ride is only once a month, I guess it's hard to create a routine and have regular riders to help control the group.  (Like what MC do).  

I spoke to my husband and he said there are actually other clubs such as SUvelo (Sydney Uni Cycling Club) are actually much more tight and organised on the road - one rectangular group (equidistant from each other) and rotate leaders consistently, etc.

In computer games, I often play medic / support roles, so I think it's quite natural for me to be the last rider and look after the group from the back.  However, I haven't received structured guidance on how to do this role, so I hope I am helping rather than hindering!

Hey Ladies!

We only got 2 "ladies" comments from passers by.

1. "Good morning *ladies*!"
2. After taking a photo for us, "how about one from the back?"

Which to be honest was better than I expected.

#WomenTalkBikes

So from Facebook I heard about this discussion in LA:

Henny Alamillo, Voluneer Coordinator of Cyclavia; 

Daniella Alcedo, founder and current chair of the Pomona Valley Bicycle Coalition; 

Melissa Balmer, editor of Pedal Love and director of Women on Bikes California; 

Lauren Grabowski, bicycle and pedestrian planner for the UCLA Prevention Research Center; 

Jennifer Klaunser, Executive Director of the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition; 

Hyeran Lee, Advocacy Chair of the UCLA Bicycle Coalition; 

Susannah Lowber, creator of She Wolf Attack Team (SWAT); 

Andrea Denike, creator of Bodacious Bike Babes; 

Cynthia Rose, Director and co-founder of Santa Monica Spoke; 

Siobhan, Braking the Limit blogger; 

Maria Sipin, Pedal Love blogger; 

Laura Torres, with Multicultural Communities for Mobility; 

Nona Vernado, the force behind LA Bike Trains and creator of The Bird Wheel.

Copy of mp3 recording here.  I found the first half interesting but tuned out a bit during the call-in section as it was quite LA-centric.

Some highlights:

What made you take up commuting?

• Health / Fitness - Trying to fit a workout into one's normal routine.
• Environment - Earth Day / No Car Day
• Social - Commuting with someone else.

Safety for bike commuting

• Get to know the neighbourhood - wave at other cyclists, people on the street, people on their porch.  Cyclists are fun, happy people, no need to fear us or worry about us.
• Play the woman card - wearing pink, wearing a dress, smiling.  Even though you get sexist comments, the motorists slow down!  (Not always though!)

How to achieve equity for cyclists?

• Communicate the law - knowing the law related to cyclists.  Why aren't these rules included in driving tests?  
• Visibility - Portland is nicer to everyone because there are pedestrians, cyclists, dogs everywhere.  They're proud of their biking infrastructure.
• Communication with other people on the road - eye contact, saying hi to people at red lights, being friendly (smiling, acknowledgement).  Let them know that we know they're there, it's a team effort, we're all on the road together and we all want to work together.
• Communication with people we know - let them have space to "vent" about cyclists, but let them understand that you are a cyclist and that the people they are "venting" about includes you and you are on the road doing your best.

My tweet made it on the show!

"I've been looking for non aggressive ways to communicate with aggressive drivers."

Although, the group didn't really come up with anything immensely useful.. 

• Make "kissy" face back at them.  :p
• Write messages on marshmallows and throw them through the driver's window!  :p
• Pedal Love have been trying to brainstorm - get more allies out there.  There are guys asking what can they do to support women? 
• Educating families / schools - teaching children how to bike safely, navigate on roads.  Have the kids bring home the messages to the adults.  Cyclists aren't just strangers, they're your friends / families.

How to get more women into racing?

• Outreach and encourage women to race.  Host womens racing clinics.  
• It's ok to get hurt - it's no big deal - you can get hurt anywhere.
• Social aspect - cycling community
• Freedom, enjoyment, joy - experience and share this with others.

How to share this freedom / enjoyment / joy with others?

• Take people to cycling events (eg. CicLAvia)
• Reach out to inner circle.  So people know at least 1 cyclist and the experiences.
• Combining love of cycling with love of something else - eg. nature.  Do a tiny portion of cycling on street, but mostly in nature / on the beach.
• Sphere of influence - when someone says "I'm thinking of getting a bike" - take your chance to share your excitement - when you get excited for them, they're hooked, they get excited too!

Other notes

• Empowerment of women cycling and independently getting around will lead to empowerment in other avenues.
• Bicycle advocacy - remember the fun aspect
• Remain open minded about why people want to ride a bike.
• It's ok to push the Style & Fashion angle.  It's about fun and joy.  Sometimes in advocacy we can be heavy handed / too focussed on athleticism - sometimes it's ok to ride a couple of blocks, sometimes people want to ride the pretty bikes.
• It's difficult to educate a transient group (cyclists include lots of travellers / tourists) in relation to residents, etc.
• To make a change, we don't have to have the same voice, but we have to be speaking to each other.
• "Crashes / collisions" rather than referring to them as "accidents".
• Wear whatever make you feel comfortable and happy.  Dress for your mood.
• Give tips to others, but acknowledge it is a journey of discovery and tips depend on how you want to ride, when you want to ride.  There is not one solution for everyone.

Things you can't live without in your bag

• Chapstick
• License / emergency contact information
• Phone inside a plastic bag (to protect it from sweat)
• Baby powder
• Cucumber makeup wipes
• Buff = neck scarf for biking that saves you in any situation

Buff=neck scarf for biking that saves you in any situation #womentalkbikes pic.twitter.com/oC3wYMaXy6
— Spokes Gal (@brakingthelimit) February 5, 2014

Last note

I met up with my parents last night and my mum said, "How are your cats?  Are they still alive?  You never talk about them any more, it's all about cycling!"