Ten Thoughts I had During my First Randonneuring Ride

The French are so fancy. They have a great word for everything. Instead of saying “Hey, let’s go on a really long bike ride for no good reason”, they say “Let’s go randonneuring.”  I’ve been wanting to try out this sport for a while and last Friday offered the perfect chance, a night start 100k, or a populaire.

The Night Start 100k hosted by the Seattle International Randonneurs ride started in Snohomish at 7pm and took place mainly on the Centennial Trail, offering a great opportunity for rando newbies to test out our legs in a non-intimidating, welcoming environment. I’m obviously alive to tell my tale and over the course of 100 kilometers had a lot of time to think. Here are some of the things that went through my head during my first randonneuring ride.

1.       1 kilometer didn’t take very long to ride. 100 of these won’t take very long at all. (This was probably 10 minutes into the ride.)

2.       Sleeping more than 4 hours the night before would’ve been a really good idea. I had grand plans of going to bed early, hydrating well, and starting the ride fresh, but that all got thrown out the window with Thursday’s Point83 ride. You’re only 29 once, right?

3.       I wonder what my tire pressure is at right now? Should it be higher?

4.       Gnats don’t taste like anything when they fly in your mouth at a high rate of speed. The people on Naked and Afraid™ should design a gnat trap and eat lots of those for protein. (I think this is when the sleep deprivation started to set in.

5.       Do you really need three bollards on each end of a rail trail? Seems like two is perfectly sufficient to keep motorized vehicles off, while not impeding cyclists.

6.       Math is really hard at 12:30 in the morning, you’ve been riding bikes for 5.5 hours and subsequently figuring out that you have 13 miles left to ride and not 7 is really defeating to your morale.

7.       Strava is unnecessary and counts way too slow. Turn it off and enjoy the ride. The checkpoint will be there regardless.

8.       My knee hurts when I’m clipped in. It’s probably time for a bike fit to have that looked at.

9.       Running over a slug makes an awful squishing noise.

10.   Maintaining a 9mph average speed over 62 miles is actually pretty easy, it’s just a matter of not stopping as much as I usually do. I think I might be able to get into this rando thing.

Dress for Success - Gwynnie Bee Review

Lots of folks assume that I work full time in the bike industry but I actually have a big kid, grown up adult job in the logistics industry. Since 2008, I've worked at the corporate headquarters of a huge logistics company in downtown Seattle, which is kind of amazing since I have a degree in Women Studies. I got stupid lucky when I graduated from UW, landed at a company that believed in me, and I've worked my way up into my current position since then!

My company requires a VERY strict dress code-including shirts and ties for men, and business professional for women. While not explicitly stated, this includes covering up visible tattoos and basically looking super-dooper professional at all times.

Compared to many of my friends who work at tech start-ups, Amazon, and other more relaxed companies, it can be a little frustrating to not be able to roll into work in cute black skinny jeans and an adorable shirt or sundress.

As just about any woman who has to dress up can tell you, it also gets really expensive, really fast. A dress suit can cost anywhere from $150-400, a skirt or dress can be upwards of $80, and even a nice shirt can be $50 up. This gets pricey fast, especially in a culture that doesn't value styles that can be worn year after year.

My laziness towards my work outfits reached an ultimate peak this past year, which I just started keeping all of my clothes at work. I've been known to have 3 blazers, 6 pairs of shoes, and 4 pairs of pants in my locker at work at all times. I would just bring a different shirt to work, throw it on and be ready to go. Functional and within the dress code? Yep! Cute, eh, not so much. 

That all changed recently when I discovered Gwynnie Bee. This service is stupid awesome, and I freaking love it. $99 a month for 3 items at a time. All of the items I've gotten have been adorable, perfectly suitable for work, and in really good shape. The shipping is really fast, so even though they say 3 items at a time, I had 15+ different outfits for April, and May is shaping up to be the same way.

They have a huge variety of clothing to select- from contemporary work outfits (blazers, dresses, shirts, skirts), to cocktail dresses, to super cute outfits I would wear on a date. The best thing is that ALL of the clothing fits! Their sizing runs from sizes 10-32 (for real!)- I'm a size 14 and have been able to find nearly everything I've wanted in my size.

Here's what I have lined up to be sent to me soon:

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Can you tell I'm really into dresses right now?

Don't mind the goofy face in this photo- I usually only take selfies when I'm on my bike. This was my favorite dress so far, paired with my own blazer, and I got more compliments than I ever have on any outfit at work. 

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The other great thing is that if you *really* love something, you can keep it and your card gets charged! So simple!

So, needless to say, I'm totally hooked on it. I hate shopping, but with this, I just pick out clothes on the internet, they get shipped to me, when I'm done with them, I put them in a bag and send them back. I don't even have to do laundry. And then they send me more. So easy.

I think a few things could be improved, specifically with their ecological impact. Each garment comes shipped in a cardboard box and wrapped in purple tissue paper. I can understand the first box being packaged with way, but subsequent boxes could be shipped in the blue poly bags that they have you return items in. I understand that the cardboard boxes are recyclable, but with 7-10 shipments arriving per month, this feels pretty wasteful.

Each garment also comes with an individual cardboard hangtag that says "Wash on gentle cycle" that has been safety pinned on. With the freedom to keep each garment as long as you like, I understand why they've included these instructions, but do they really need to be on each garment? Unless you take the time to separate the safety pin, ribbon, and cardboard, this little hangtag is not going to be successfully recycled.

Gwynnie Bee does make a good faith effort to encourage bulk returns, only including 2 return envelopes for every 3 items they ship you, which I applaud them for.

Overall, I really enjoy this service and it's drastically reduced my shopping habits. 

If you want to try a month for free, use this link: http://goo.gl/lT7MSD . 

Black Dog Days

Have you ever been in a deep funk in your life where you feel like you’re just going through the motions of daily life? Every day is the same- wake up, go to work, go home, maybe ride your bike, go to bed. The feeling like you’re living for the weekend, and your weekdays are punctuated by random bursts of excitement like going to Starbucks for coffee? Oh wait, no? Ok, yeah, me neither.

Truthfully though, I’ve struggled with depression most of my life, and since I’ve been able to recognize what it for what it is, controlling it has become much more manageable. I have a phenomenal primary care doctor who I trust deeply, wonderful health insurance (hello $3.00/month Prozac!), and a great therapist!

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Even with this level of mental health management, there are still some days where it’s a struggle to get out of bed. Everyday feels like groundhog day. Wake up, work, look at the internet, go home. Repeat.

So it’s been super exciting to finally feel like I’m taking my life in my own hands again and steering it in a direction that I want it to go. I have a number of really exciting things lined up on the horizon (and concurrently happening) to look forward to, and let me tell you, when you’re depressed, having something to look forward to is seriously the BEST THING IN THE WORLD!!!

In no particular order, here is what I’m currently excited about:

·         My mom is an internet sensation!

·         My S24O article published in the Cascade Courier

·         Took my fenders and back rack off my bike to turn it into a bikepacking bike, and realized that a Revelate Tangle Frame bag fits! Bikepacking here I come!!

·         Speaking of, got invited to join the women of Komorebi Bicycling Team on a trip! I’ve looked to them for inspiration since I learned of them, and to be invited on a trip is blowing my mind!

·         I booked a trip to Anchorage for Memorial Day weekend. Going by myself to backpack and camp Chugach State Park near Anchorage. The stoke is high.

·         Lots of Point83 trips coming up- Ben Country (1 year anniversary of all this bike camping craziness), Clam Slam, Girls of Summer, and so much more!

I’m also helping put on an Intro to Bike Camping Class with Swift Industries, and going to be leading The Bikery’s Swift Campout with possibly 40 people. (I'm also really proud of this image I created for the class- I'm totally not a designer, but we've gotten really good feedback!)

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So many things happening. No time to be depressed! If only it worked that way.

We All Start Somewhere

This weekend was a perfectly normal weekend for me-since Thursday I've logged around 90 miles on my bike. Nothing too crazy, no camping trips, no big group rides, in fact, I don't think any of my rides were over 30 miles. Just lovely, sunny day bike riding with friends.

Today's ramble was with a friend from college who is brand new to biking. She just bought a used bicycle and it's been fun to take a step back in time with her to when I was new to this whole world of biking. Together we rode from Eastlake to Capitol Hill to Lake Washington and then back through the Arboretum. 

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Exploring the bike routes of Seattle with Amara

Now that #bikeeverywhere month has started, riding with Amara was a great reminder that we all start somewhere as cyclists. It felt so good to slow down a bit, chat as we rode up hills and through the neighborhoods. Our leisurely pace allowed me to explain tricks that I find helpful when biking in traffic (such as avoiding the door zone), how I assert myself for making left turns, and how to trigger the lights using the bike sensor.

Riding together, it made me wish that I would have had a bike mentor when I was learning the ropes. I will always remember when I got my first bike with Presta tire valves and trying in vain to air up the tires. Nobody at the bike shop I had bought the bike from took the time to explain this basic step to me and for the life of me, I could not figure it out. (I wasn't opening the valve- just putting it on the pump. Ha!) I took my bike into 20/20 Cycles and thankfully wasn't laughed out the shop as they showed me how my bike tires worked. 

I am so looking forward to riding more with Amara and hopefully more friends, as they too discover the fun of life on two wheels!