Category — Just Riding Along

Women’s Bike Talk used to the official website of the Missing Link Coaching Systems/ Specialized Women’s Cycling team.  However, since that team has officially come to an end, we are now moving forward with new beginnings for Women’s Bike Talk.

While we will no longer be a team website, we will have some exciting new developments for women’s cycling that we will bring to you in the next few months.  Please be patient with us as we make some changes, because these exciting developments will take some time to come to fruition.  Nonetheless, you can rest assured that Women’s Bike Talk will continue to be a great resource for women’s cycling.  We will keep you posted as we move forward!  Meanwhile, thanks for reading and stay tuned!

Thanks from the crew at Women’s Bike Talk!

And Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year!

If you think about it, cycling offers something for everyone – you can ride when you’re young and you can ride when you’re old.  There’s BMX, touring, road riding/racing and within that there’s road races, criteriums, time trials, track. Then there’s mountain biking that has cross country, downhill, short track.  I’m leaving a lot of variations out, but the point I want to make is that it’s so great to be part of a sport that accommodates different strengths, interests, ages, and stages of life.

I guess it’s on my mind because at this point in my life I’m only able to manage doing criteriums. It’s not that I’ll never do another stage race, it’s just that’s all I have the time and energy for at this point in my life.  (Ok, let me be completely honest here, it’s mostly the energy part that’s lacking.  My child is supercharged and I’m not.)   I don’t even really fret about it any more because the really cool thing is that I can still race AND I’m getting to share my favorite sport with my son.

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Early last January, I decided to kick off my multi-sport season with a half-marathon. At first I was thinking I’d run a marathon, but then I thought, “Do I really want to spend the cold months of January, February, and March doing 2-3 hour runs?” I wisely decided I would enjoy the snowboard season and opted for the shorter, faster option of the half. Thus, last weekend Francis and I met his siblings in Portland and drove the scenic two-hours to the cute little town of Eugene. This town is hooked on running and as many people may know, the track stadium proudly honors the infamous Olympian Steve Prefontaine.

The race began on Sunday, May 1st, at 7 a.m. It was a beautiful day with sunny skies and temps in the mid-forties. I may be from Colorado, but I was one of the only runners wearing cropped pants and long sleeves- everyone else was decked out in singlets and shorts! I started the race towards the front of the 9,000 crowd of runners and comfortably settled in to a sub-seven minute per mile pace (one cool thing about running races- they allow headphones so I was rockin’ out). I felt pretty decent until roughly mile 9 when a large hill sent my legs into “lead-mode.” Luckily, I was able to recover and push through, finishing the 13.1 miles in 1:32 (7:06 per mile average). Overall, it was a phenomenal day. That being said, I can’t wait to race my bike!

Today is the Phoenix Rock & Roll Marathon… no, thankfully, I’m not running. But my apartment’s balcony is prime real estate for watching and my dogs and I are perched nicely above the street below. It’s now about 8:30 and the first group of runners has already managed a significant gap on the nearest chase group, but there is a somewhat steady stream of runners following – man, these guys are fast!

And there goes the first lady runner – it’s sweet because it looks like she has the same magenta RecoverySocks that I have Btw, they’re awesome! [Read more →]

It’s that time of year when I spend more time on my bike than I would like (i.e. base miles). If you know me, you know I like to sprint and that’s about it. I suffer through an hour-long crit just waiting for the last 3 laps. It’s a great training day if I’m out for an hour and a half (or two), have nearly vomited a few times, have gone so hard I can’t think clearly enough to remember how many efforts I’ve done, and am so blown up I can barely make it home. Gets me excited for the season just thinking about it!!!

On the other hand, endurance isn’t really something that comes easy to me. I can’t think of anything worse than spending more than 3 or 4 hours riding. I don’t know why, it just is what it is! The good thing is, I’m at a place in my life where I have a pretty good handle on what I’m good at and what I’m not good at and I’m ok with it. Weaknesses can be improved, it just takes work.

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So the road world championships are in Denmark in 2011, and the city of Copenhagen is promoting their bike love all around the world. Looks like a great place for a bike race…or just to ride a bike anytime. Enjoy.

Via Copenhagenize.

Most mornings I wake-up excited to get to spend another day in the saddle, and without fail, within a few hours the excitement is shattered when I land behind my desk. The endorphins that were once pumping through my body wane, and are hastily replaced by caffeine as focus is shifted to the matters at hand. I miss the taste of a solid ride, the salty crust baked onto my helmet straps after descending Lemmon, the sweet taste of my recovery Fluid and knowing I deserved every second of the nap that is about to consume my entire afternoon. I guess it’s no secret what I do on the weekend

This past week however, and increasingly in the past few months, I have been on the road for work – which has been AWESOME! Give me a laptop and an air-card and call me productivity! What sane cyclist wants to be in Phoenix in the summer anyways?

I returned today from Temecula, and while I don’t think its quite Napa, the riding was awesome and the weather was spectacular – 95 and sunny! The roads were rolling to downright mountainous, there was little traffic in the rural regions and best of all, there was SHADE!

I had never heard anything good about the Inland Empire but I am sold on the plethora of excellent riding!

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Ok, I know the famous “Bicycle” song by Queen is a little bit cheesy, but you have to admit, the bicycle flash mob in a train station in Brussels (in the video below) is pretty cool! I couldn’t help but share… Enjoy!

Via Cyclelicio.us

We get stopped every time we are out with Owen on his bike. People are amazed that a kid so young can ride without training wheels and have a lot of questions. I decided a post on the web could help some of you out there who want to get your kids into riding and are looking for ways to get started. Here’s what worked for us…

We started Owen on the Specialized Kid’s Hotwalk.

He got his balance bike when he was 2 1/2. It took about a week to convince him to get on it, but once he did it only took a couple of days for him to get the hang of it. He was cruising around the neighborhood with his feet high in the air, jumping curbs, and going off road in no time!

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I’m not a mother yet, and I don’t expect I will be for quite some time. I can barely take care of myself sometimes! However, I am always so incredibly impressed by women who are able to ride and be mothers at the same time. It’s often hard to find the time to train and race when the little ones need you by their side night and day, so major props to the moms who get out there and make it happen! Mary, for example, gets tough by training as she pulls her son Owen along in a bike trailer. No wonder Mary wins so many sprints… Ruth and Heidi are also mothers, and they routinely kick my butt on the bike!

Anyways, I have family cycling on the mind because one of our sponsors – Bike Shop Hub – recently opened a new online store dedicated entirely to family cycling and child transportation by bike. The shop is called Bike Kid Shop, and its got a great assortment of bike child trailers by Burley Trailers, Chariot Carriers, and Croozer Trailers, as well as family cycling gear from Xtracycle, for the little ones in your family. While the store is focused on bike trailers at the moment, it will soon expand to include helmets, glider bikes, and all kinds of other great gear for family cycling. Take a look at their great “Bike Gear Combo Deals” on trailer like the Chariot Cougar, Chariot Cheetah, Burley Bee, Burley Encore and Burely d’Lite. They also have a really great closeout on the Burley Solo ST for only $339!

It’s great to see that the idea of family cycling is really taking off! I definitely plan to keep on riding for many years after I “retire” from the whole racing gig. So it’s really cool to see what kinds of options are out there for family cycling. Because after all, kids on bikes are so much fun!