We’ve rounded up the five best saddles for plus size riders. From casual riding to touring to gravel racing, we’ve got a saddle for your needs!
I can’t ride my bike currently (thanks knee surgery) so I’m revisiting some of my favorite rides. First up is my solo trip in 2015 around Puget Sound.
Why in the world did I leave Seattle for Arkansas? Well, a million and a half reasons…
Read on for my Top 5 Favorite Things about Northwest Arkansas
One of the most common things I hear when people hear I’m a cyclist is “Oh I love bikes, but it hurts my butt too much.” And let me tell you, your pain is real. And valid! And there’s ways to make it better!
Honestly, no matter how much you love your bike saddle or how perfectly your bike fits, it’s never going to feel like a couch. In fact, it shouldn’t. But it also shouldn’t be painful, or cause pain after you get off your bike. Read on for tips and advice to make your bike ride less painful!
One of the most common questions I get is “How do I get started with bike camping?” After years of teaching beginners in person and taking many people on their first trip, I’ve realized in our new virtual world, I can share the knowledge far and wide!
I’m excited to announce that I’m offering virtual “Learn to Bike Camp Classes!”
Learn more about the classes and sign up here.
I never thought I’d date a non-cyclist. My life revolves around bikes - it just doesn’t make sense. But the heart does funny things and here I am, engaged to a man who hadn’t ridden a bike since childhood when we started dating three years ago!
We’re pretty cute, if I do say so myself
Needless to say, he definitely hadn’t been bike camping and all of our shared camping trips so far had involved the car and way too much stuff. Every time we loaded up the car and a cooler for a weekend, a little piece of my soul died, as I would so much rather be on a bike, even if that limits how far we could go or how much stuff we could take.
Turns out, I had been making a lot of assumptions…and a certain somebody would’ve loved to have been invited all along.
We fixed that last weekend with a quick overnighter to Fay Bainbridge Park. If you’ve been a long time reader, or found me through Google, you might remember my review of this park as “close to Seattle, but kind of like sleeping in a parking lot.” While I still hold true to all of that, my opinion of it has changed.
In my happy place, on the road with my bike.
For a beginner bike camper, or someone just looking to get away for the night, this spot is actually perfect. When I wrote the review previously, I never really took advantage of the beach that’s literally steps away from the hiker-biker sites and doing that changes everything about this campground. I’ve also found a much less hilly route (more on that later) which makes it a bit more enjoyable of a ride!
I helped JR pack for his first bike camping trip, emphasizing that each extra thing he brought meant more weight on the bike. He didn’t quite listen to everything I said and still insisted on bringing a hatchet to split wood, a full roll of duct tape, and work gloves, but he also didn’t complain once about the load he was carrying :)
After catching the 11:25 ferry on Saturday, we took a leisurely route to camp, stopping at both Blackbird Bakery and Bainbridge Brewing. I was glad we took the early ferry, as we got one of the last hiker-biker spots left at camp! Definitely a popular choice this weekend (and we were able to squeeze a few more groups into the area, while still being COVID-safe.)
Going to Fay Bainbridge also meant my sister and nephew got to hang out for a few hours! Liam brought his bike too so we did lots of loops of the parking lot, some beach exploring and of course roasted s’mores on the fire!
A bit crowded bike camping, but still plenty of space to be had
This is a great time to plug the Ride Spot website and app, which I’ve shared our route on. It’s a new venture from People for Bikes to help people discover safe, fun places to ride bikes. You can follow bike shops, ambassadors (hi!), and other industry folks who will share with you our favorite places to ride in cities all across the US. You can also share your own favorite rides as well!
We had absolutely picture perfect weather for our entire trip - 70s during the day and high 50s at night with no rain in sight. We woke up to clear skies on Sunday morning, drank our coffee on the beach and packed up for home.
JR checking out Frog Rock!
On our ferry ride back, JR was gracious enough to let me interview him. I thought it’d be a fun way to share his thoughts directly on how our trip went. Click through for a quick interview with him - I’m just learning about audio and while editing lost most of it, but enjoy a few seconds!!
So what’s his advice for a new bike camper? Well, I had great audio clip of it, but turns out I need to take his advice and learn from somebody who knows what they’re doing. His best advice is to go with somebody who has done it before and can show you the ropes.
A few things he mentioned included that he had no idea you could cook a pad thai so easily over a backpacking stove (or that a backpacking stove was so small), how small and lightweight gear can be and the importance of looking at elevation when deciding a route!
Chopping Veggies for Pad Thai
If you’re curious about the pad thai, it’s my go-to camp recipe. I got it from Bikepacking.com and have modified it slightly. If you make it, let me know how it goes!
Ingredients
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
4 tablespoons crunchy peanut butter
1/2 teaspoon dried red chili peppers
1 package of rice noodles
1 shallot
2 cloves of garlic (or however much you want)
Green onions
A Lime
A can of protein (Tuna, Chicken, Tofu, whatever)
At home, mix the sugar, soy sauce, peanut butter and red pepper into a water proof container. I really like these squeeze tubes that can be refilled. Pack all the rest of the ingredients.
When you get to camp, boil your noodles until they’re soft (a couple of minutes.) While they’re going, chop up the rest of the veggies. Drain the noodles when they’re soft, mix in the sauce and veggies and squeeze some lime juice. Voila!
Summer 2020. Hard to believe it’s already almost August.
I’m leaving tomorrow for my first big bike trip of the season, which is definitely a bit strange for me. Normally by this point, I’ve got 3 or 4 camping trips under my belt, my packing routine is down pat and I’ve got a decent glove tan.
Thanks to COVID, I’ve been keeping it very local and not going on many big trips. Sure, I’ve gone on a couple of very close overnighters but most of my riding lately has been day rides in and around Seattle. And all of it has been with a face mask on.
Tomorrow I’m heading out for a bit of an adventure though! I’m teaming up with Kailey for a bikepacking trip from Corvallis, Oregon to the Oregon Coast. We’ll be joined by a film crew who will be helping us tell our story and share the joy we find in being fat women on bikes!
Shimano is providing the funding for the project, which means we got equipped with all new bike components, Pearl Izumi clothing, and Lazer helmets! I scored the sweetheart deal of the century and got a Velo Orange Piolet fork + frame, plus a bunch of rad Velo Orange components gifted to me as well, so I’ve got a brand new bike for this trip!!
For once I’m going to have a bike that is built for the intended trip I’m going on! Holy shit!
New Bike Day at Free Range Cycles!
Huge thanks to all those who came together to build up this bike, including my favorite local bike shop, Free Range Cycles in Seattle.
So, cool. More details to come on the trip, the film, and of course I’ll let you all know once it’s ready to be screened!
Until then, be safe, wear your masks and be safe!
That’s right! You can come see me live and in person! Kailey and I are taking our show on the road to the East Coast for three speaking engagements in the next few weeks! Here’s where you can catch us. No guarantees we’ll be in crop tops…but we’ll see.
The workshop will be held at Highline RxR (2010 Crystal Dr. Arlington, VA 22202) from 7:30PM to 9:30PM on Saturday, March 14th. Highline RxR is a short (.03 miles) walk from the Crystal City Metro Station, there is limited bike parking directly in front of Highline RxR and along Crystal Drive, and there is car parking along Crystal Drive and nearby streets. This event is taking place on Piscataway land. Register here.
The average clothing size of a woman in the US is now between a 16 and 18, and men average close to 200lbs. But do our bike clubs, transportation systems, and cycling communities reflect our size diverse populations? Fat cyclists Marley and Kailey ride bikes for transportation, adventure, and fun. And they're determined to get more fat people riding bikes too.Join Kailey and Marley for this workshop session on body size diversity in cycling and how we can all play a role in making our spaces more size inclusive.Attendees will be challenged to explore their own relationship to their body (regardless of size) and movement, and critically discuss how traditional cultural narratives in the American cycling world are often exclusionary to people in larger bodies. Together we will explore our experiences through guided writing, facilitated discussions, and a conversation about best practices for creating size inclusive bike communities.This session will also include real-world advice about equipment considerations for fat people when biking, gear recommendations, and fun stories about adventure cycling mishaps from the facilitators. Finally, the workshop will close with a discussion about existing size inclusive groups and the creation of an action plan to create size inclusivity in our own communities.*Important note: This session is not just for people in larger bodies. This is about connecting people with their body, and empathizing with people in different bodies as they share a common love of riding a bike. A big part of this work is done by people in thin bodies who create space for body size diversity.
Join WE Bike NYC for a FREE all-gender workshop on body size diversity in cycling led by fat cyclists Kailey Kornhauser and Marley Blonsky
p.s. We’ll also be hanging out in NYC and DC for a few days and are always up for cute hangs, good food, and fun bike rides!
p.p.s We’re also partnering up with Rad Power Bikes while we’re in DC who’s giving us Rad City Bikes to ride while we’re in town. Check out our (Marley and Kailey) for all the action!
