Bicycle commuting with a baby bump

Chad and I are expecting our first baby in August, which we are over the moon about. I am 25 weeks pregnant this week, and so far I'm still riding my bike.

I go quite a bit more slowly than usual, and I listen to my body.  I'm also finding that my personal safety bubble is hyper-inflated, probably the beginning of my mama-bear protective instincts kicking in. I am way more nervous in traffic than usual, and I haven't enjoyed riding in the rain due to fear that someone won't see me. So, I ride on fair-weather days only, and I've modified my typical route a bit to take advantage of greenways and bike paths, as I feel most safe and more at peace when I'm not encountering as much traffic.

Pedaling around Oakland

We wrapped up our bay area trip with a stay in Oakland's Dimond District at the lovely, sunny place of our dear friends Jeremy and Gena. Isn't this back yard an enticing spot for a sunbath?

J and G have put a lot of time and effort into little details of their garden, including this sweet trellis decorated with chainrings:

 

A day in San Francisco- Huckleberry Bikes, Cafe Mojo, urban growth and adaptive reuse

After our lovely time in Marin and Davis with friends and family, we made our way to SF.  One of our first stops was at Huckleberry Bicycles, a labor of creativity and love by our good friends Zack and Jonas. The shop has grown to a thriving business which is playing a big role in the revitalization of the Market Street corridor in SF's financial district.

Photo from the Huckleberry Bicycles website

June Methow weekend - rattlesnakes and mountain bikes

The last weekend in June, we headed east on Highway 20 for a quick Methow getaway.  The objective of the weekend was to put the dogs through a rattlesnake aversion training class, so that they could learn to steer clear of rattlesnakes on our many Eastern Washington adventures.  

Though we had intended to do this training for quite some time, it was an encounter with this guy over Memorial Day weekend, on a hike in the Tieton River Valley, which solidifed our decision:   

What I wear while pedaling: Icebreaker merino wool

Over the years, I've collected quite a few Icebreaker pieces.  While not cheap, they are durable and really versatile, and always made of high quality merino wool. Merino wool, in my opinion, is the perfect fabric for cycling.  It is soft and comfortable (not itchy in the least!) it wicks moisture well, breathes well, and performs well when wet.  It doesn't get stinky the way synthetics do, so you can ride in it and then go straight to the office, bar, dinner party, grocery store, etc, without having to change out of your cycling gear. Simple!


While there are many companies making merino clothes, I value Icebreaker's strong environmental, manufacturing and animal welfare ethics. They have a very transparent supply chain - you can even trace your garment's "baacode" (ha ha!) back to the farm in New Zealand from which its wool originated.

This sheep looks like it has a pretty fantastic life, don't you think? 

Here are some of my favorite Icebreaker pieces:

Bicycle baby track jacket

I've been off the bike for most of December and January.  It's been cold, I've been battling some respiratory crud, and I needed a little mental break from my typical bike commute.  I've been using my daily light rail ride to knit some fuzzy, warm wintertime gifts- cowls, hats, and fingerless gloves, all which would be great cycling accessories. However, the project I'm the most excited about, as of late, is a "welcome" gift for a very young cyclist-to-be. 

Little Atticus is about 3 months old, and his parents own and operate an amazing bike shop on San Francisco's heavily bicycled Market Street, Huckleberry Bikes. In addition to fitness/ performance cycling, Huckleberry Bikes has a special focus on bicycle commuting, and they stock a fierce assortment of ultra stylish cycling threads.

It's only fitting that Atticus should be outfitted in bikey threads as cool as those sold in mom and dad's shop.  With this in mind, I modified an easy top-down sweater pattern into a warm and toasty winter "track jacket."

 

The back (my favorite part!)

Pedaling and Paddling in Monterey

I spent the past week at Asilomar Conference Center near Monterey, CA attending the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE) summer study session.  This conference had a number of amazing speakers and workshops.  My personal favorite was Amory Lovins, president of the Rocky Mountain Institute, who gave a fantastic talk (with amazing graphics) about his vision for a market-led transformation to a post-oil energy economy (if this sort of thing interests you, you can check out a nearly identical TED Talk he recently gave).

The conference included a rigorous morning schedule, but afternoons were less structured and created space for some serious recreational opportunities. In  anticipation, I shipped Sylvie down ahead of time. My good buddy and teammate Ric was also in town for the conference, and had a bike, so we escaped Monday afternoon for some coastal exploration.

Summer Epic- Suntop

Our good friend Jeremy came up to visit from Oakland in late July, and Jeremy likes to ride bikes.  He likes to ride bikes so much, in fact, that he rode his bike the entire way to our wedding in Winthrop, WA from Seattle (the rest of us rode from Newhalem, which was rather epic all by itself).   His plans for this trip included a solo 200 mile effort from Seattle up to Vancouver, BC, then a second one from Seattle down to Portland.  Slacker.  To toughen him up, we thought we'd add a 20+ mile, 5,000 ft climb on dirt to the mix.  

We had a great crew of 7 assemble to tackle this IMBA designated Epic Ride.  Present were myself and Chad, Jeremy, Tye H, and team mates Jilly B, Theresa H, and Brian T (Chase came too, although we left Lexi to take a nice snooze in the truck, which we parked in the shade).  We had bikes spanning four decades in age.  Jeremy rode the grandaddy, a mid '80's rigid steel Stumpjumper, Theresa rocked an early '90's aluminium bike of unknown branding, and I rode my trusty late '90's steel hardtail, Rocky.  Chad and Tye broght us to 21st century with Chad's mid-2000's steel Soma and Tye's full suspension Trek of the same age. Jill and Brian had the newest, shiniest steeds in the mix, Brian on his sweet Intense (4 or 5 years old) and Jill riding her gorgeous Indy Fab 29'er, custom built last season.  

We camped the night before at the Greenwater, WA airstrip (just a bit north of Crystal Mountain, these trails are off of highway 410).  

The ladies looking so fresh and so clean pre-ride!

Unicorn Redemption (Part IV of Spokane Round and Round)

After a deliriously high lap 3, I slept hard for nearly three hours.  Apparently going without caffeine had been a great decision.  I woke up, stretched a bit, had some food and yes, coffee, then got ready.  I then made my way to the start line, where I signed in for my lap, then chatted for a bit with some friends from Bike Works in Seattle.  In hardly any time, TBD crossed the finish line on his final lap, going strong and looking great!



I headed out, dressed in full unicorn regalia to mark this final lap.  The unicorn first came out to play at the Magnuson Cyclocross race last fall, and I'm sad to report that she had less than stellar results.

Cookin in the Kettles at Whidbey Island

Sunday's race was blessed with the best weather, by far, in this mountain bike series.  The scenery was also superlative.  Jill and I warmed up in sunshine, taking in the views. 

More dirty fun- Soaring Eagle and Steilacoom

The West Side MTB races have been keeping me active all winter.  Races 2 and 3 were great muddy fun, and added great variety to the twisty turny thrillfest of Dash Point.

Race two went down at Soaring Eagle.  Jill and I were joined by one of my favorite bike buddies, Mr. Justin Calvo.

Amara Boursaw's great shots!

My First Win

This past Sunday I raced in my first second mountain bike race ever (the first one in high school).  My alarm went off at 5:45 am.  I hit the snooze button, still sore and sleepy from a hiking adventure the previous day, and fell back into a dream in which my mother (who lives in Spokane) was asking to use our bathroom.  The conscious part of my mind broke into our dialogue, tapped on my forehead, and whispered in my ear that perhaps I'd been snoozing too long.  I rolled over to check the clock, and it was 6:25.  Shit! Jill was scheduled to pick me up at 6:30 and that woman is never late.  I bolted out of bed in a panic, dove headfirst into my racing kit, ran downstairs and grabbed my bag, which luckily I had packed the night before.  Jill pulled into the driveway just as I was pulling my bike out of the basement.  I collapsed into the passenger seat and settled in to enjoy the comfort of the heated seats in the Subaru for the drive down to Dash Point State Park.
As we traveled south, I medicated with caffeine, to wake up, and Advil, to help my sore hips and legs loosen up. Warm up started off rather stiff and slow, but after about 20 minutes and I started to feel good- loose, relaxed, comfortable.  The course really suited my riding style- lots of ups and downs, plenty of turns and roots, on the technical side, but still nice and flowy. Excellent!

We headed back to the start line about 15 minutes before our start. That's when the nerves and self doubt started to settle in. I had no idea how this was going to go.  My heart sank a little bit when some Team Group Health ladies lined up.  These are ladies I really enjoy racing with, but they generally beat me in road and CX and I was intimidated by their arrival. I actively tried to push those thoughts out of my head and focused on the start. With a "ready, go!" we were off.  I stomped in to my pedals and took off down the incline, grabbing the hole shot.  I  expected someone to come flying around me at any minute, but no one did.  I flew over the first knoll and nearly over my handlebars as the trail dove to the right.  Somehow I recovered and sat back in the saddle, reminding myself to calm down and ride within my means.

A train of TGH and Cycle U ladies coming down the first descent (I snagged this shot from the TGH flickr stream).  

Stinky Spoke recap

Chad and I did the Stinky Spoke poker bike ride on Saturday.  An off-road but not technical ride, it is scheduled every year for what should be some of the worst weather of the year.  In terms of bad weather, this ride definitely did not  disappoint!

We started in a bit of rain, temps in the mid '30s.  About a 1/4 of a mile in was the dreaded Heart Attack Hill. You got a "medallion" (really a Redhook beer coaster) if you made it all the way up without stopping.

The dreaded Heart Attack Hill.  Lots of people walked.

A Suffering Unicorn

Saturday's CX race was on Halloween weekend, so of course I had to dress up.  I have always wanted to experience what it is to be a magical unicorn.  

Photo from the Seattle Times. 

While it was great fun to get all dressed up, and I definitely felt magical in some ways, my unicorn powers certainly did not propel me to the front of the pack.  The course wasn't my type of course- fast, flat, smooth, nothing technical except those stairs. I was instantly dropped by the roadies, suffering at the back of the race with only a butterfly to keep me company.

Photo by Bikehugger.

About two laps into the race, my left unicorn leg got caught in my rear deraileur, so I stopped and spent a good minute or two getting it untangled and ditching the leggings (thanks to my friend Dan who graciously caught them as lobbed them in his general direction).  The butterfly fluttering way ahead, I spent the rest of the course suffering alone, wishing I had the power in my legs a real unicorn surely would.  Although I wished for more magical results, there was some comfort in seeing Unicorn make the Seattle Times as well as Bikehugger's Sufferfaces.  

A Bicycle Baby Blanket

My close friends Brian and Gillian were recently blessed with a beautiful baby girl, Maia.  Maia's parents and have had many bicycle adventures together, so naturally a gift for their first baby had to have a bicycle theme!  I did a lot of searching for a pattern for a baby blanket with bikes, but I didn't find anything so I decided to design my own.  I came up with a block pattern, with a bicycle in the middle of each block:

Entiat Epic

Chad and I spent Labor Day Weekend exploring the  Entiat River area of the Wenatchee National Forest.  We camped along the North Fork of the Entiat River, then headed off early Sunday morning on a mountain bike / fly fishing/ hiking adventure.  We parked the car at the North Fork Entiat River trail and took off on our mountain bikes for about 6.5 miles, just to the edge of the Glacier Peak Wilderness.  We ditched our bikes and hiked up to Fern Lake (another steep 1.5 miles) where we spent the afternoon fishing, eating lunch, and lounging.  Below is a video of our adventures at the lake and our return trip to the car.  Apologies for the rookie video footage- this is my first attempt at a video, and also my camera broke part way through the day so I used some video footage from my cell phone video cam.

Some Edibles Lately

It's been awhile since I've posted any updates on the garden.  While my work has leveled off out there for this growing season, the fruits of the plants' labor are just coming into their prime.  Here are some lovelies doing their ripening thing:

Mountain Bike Gran Fondo at the Pass- an epic day of riding

A few weeks ago I took a last minute trip East to embark on a mountain bike adventure with my dad- an organized mountain bike Gran Fondo, or "great distance" ride.  A celebrated ride format in Europe, the Gran Fondo is just catching on over here across the pond.  This particular Gran Fondo, organized by Bicycle Sales and Service , a North Idaho bike shop, offered a number of distance options- 10 miles, 17, miles, 35 and 50- to explore the trails at 4th of July Pass, just east of Coeur d' Alene.   Dad had called me a week prior to ask if I was interested.  I said maybe, let him know I'd get back to him, but he called three days later to let me know he had signed us both up for the 35 mile option.  I had no choice but to hoof it over the mountains to join him, or face serious shaming.   

Chad and I left Seattle at about 7:30 on Friday night, putting us in to Spokane about midnight.  A night cap with buddies resulted in my staying up until about 1:30 am, leaving just four hours of sleep before dragging myself out of bed time to make it out to my dad's and meet him before the start of the race.  Eesh. I'm definitely getting too old to do long endurance rides on that short of sleep.   

We rolled into the parking lot at the top of Fourth of July Pass at about 8:15 am, which gave us plenty of time to register, eat and stretch before the official start of the ride.

A bit of a festive feel greeting us at the starting line

Dad getting his stretch on- he's gotta keep that 'ol back of his limber.

We took off for our first lap, a 10 mile warm up loop to the south of I-90, with some up and down rollers but nothing too crazy.  There were about 25 other riders opting for this distance and we left the start together then settled into our own pace.  I was amazed at the diversity- a rage of ages and lots of women represented, which was something you don't always see at mountain bike events. 

Some ladies of team REP getting ready to ride (photo borrowed from the event album).

Buck Mountain trail ride (and a crazy coyote encounter)

We recently headed to the Methow to celebrate our friends' Morgan and Casey's wedding at Spring Creek Ranch, the same amazing venue where Chad and I got hitched. We rolled into town early Saturday morning and set up camp at Buck Lake Campground, a beautiful quiet spot about 14 miles northeast of Winthrop.

After the tent was assembled and air mattresses/ sleeping bags rolled out, we still had a few hours before the wedding.  We set off to explore Buck Mountain Loop, one of the more famed Methow Valley mountain bike rides in the area, heading out along a forest service road which followed the edge of Buck Lake.  

On Pedals and Petals

Lately I've been spending a lot of time in the garden, which has led me to dream up all kinds of gardening-related topics to write about. Every spring I get overtaken by this huge urge to get out in the dirt, pull some weeds, plant some seeds, and celebrate growth in my backyard. My sense of urgency to get my hands dirty is driven by the first emergence of the sunshine, the long daylight hours and by a deep desire to get seeds planted so I can enjoy the fruits of my labor during the lazy days of summer. These past two years I've struggled with how to balance my love of gardening with my love of riding bikes... especially during the springtime, when both pursuits require a high level of commitment in terms of time and money. Anyhow, as I continue to struggle with balancing these pastimes, I'm planning to chronicle my adventures in both cycling and gardening here.

I've been thinking about the similarities between riding bikes and gardening ever since asked this question by my friend Muuqi, as a part of an interview he did awhile back for his blog, Life Cycles (great blog, check it out!). Basically, it comes down to two main themes-  observation and investment.   Both acts- riding bikes and gardening- give you an opportunity to have a more intimate interaction with your natural surroundings than say, sitting on the couch or driving in a car.  These interactions help you develop keen observation skills, which I think makes you a better citizen of the world, or at least a more interesting person.  On investment- there is immediate satisfaction, from weeding a plot of land or building a trellis, or from sweeping around a perfect corner on a mountain bike, or reaching the top of a tough climb. There are also longer term rewards.  In the garden, you pick ripe fruit,  cut fresh greens, you savor the literal fruits of your labors.  Similarly, on the bike, you harvest a sense of growing strength and speed after investing in repeated workouts on the bike. 

Fruits of last  year's labors- giant lettuces