It’s such a helpless feeling: you know there is a crime going on and you are powerless to stop it. That’s exactly how I felt when I overheard two unkempt young men talking on the pay phone as I was getting money out of an ATM at our city’s downtown library square. The men were negotiating the sale of “a really nice Specialized bike” for the low, low price of $50, and pleading with the guy on the other end to “get down here now” to pick up the bike. I quickly called security who watched the guys leave the building, had me fill out a report, and then told me there was nothing they could do about it. Why? Simply because there would be no proof the bike was not theirs to sell. Are you kidding, me?!  Read more…

How It All Began

As Lydia romped and played on the beach, her parents Gary and Kit watched over her and contemplated her future. It was 2001, the year Lance Armstrong would win the Tour for the third time, and Gary, who was an avid cyclist, wondered where the female athletic role models were for his young daughter. What if he could create an all-women cycling team and run it like the most professional men’s cycling teams of Europe? Men had an advantage in cycling for decades with well-funded teams, and he reasoned, if a female cycling team had the same resources, might they have the same success? Read more…

Need a Spring Break? You can find a great little get-away cycling adventure for you and your girlfriends in the beautiful red rock country of St. George, Utah. A new women’s-only century ride, Spokes for Hope, will debut on Saturday, April 10, 2010. Margaret Gibson was inspired by the Little Red Riding Hood Ride that was held 400 miles to the north and thought: Why not start one in her own town?

With a name like Spokes for Hope, you might expect that it is a charity ride and you would be right. All proceeds will go to the Dove Center which is a domestic violence shelter for women and children. Margaret has carefully planned scenic routes in quiet areas that will to appeal to cyclists of all types: for the novice rider, there is a 30-mile completely flat city-loop route as well as the century ride which offers some hills and two in-between routes of 50-miles and 70-miles. The aid stations are referred to as “spa” stops. St. George is barely over 100 miles from Las Vegas, and you can expect similar weather (70-degree temps). You can pack your sleeveless jerseys for the sunny afternoon and a bolero or arm warmers for the cool feel of a desert morning.

I asked Margaret why she started the Spokes for Hope Women’s Ride and her answer was simple: “I ride with guys all the time and I’m tired of it.”

It’s true there is an innate desire within many of us women to ride simply for pleasure and to connect with other women, make friends, and have that bond of sisterhood—even on a bike. I have seen rules posted for one particular macho co-ed ride in which a team captain wrote: If you break these rules, “I will  punch you in the forehead…hard!” Nice!

No, that can be very intimidating, even if it is an idle threat. If you are a new cyclist and a woman, you will find a warm and supportive environment for your first ride in a women’s only-event. Other women’s rides around the country are listed on Cycle and Style’s Women’s Rides page. I’d love to hear about more women’s rides from our readers and will soon post a page of women’s triathlons as well.

When I first saw these shoes I was certain they were going to be pretty uncomfortable. They seemed stiff and rigid. Then I slipped my feet into them and started to go about my day.  They were so comfy! They didn’t need any break in time, a definite plus in the shoe department.

These shoes are also true to size, I am a solid 8 1/2 and they fit like a glove.  The shoe is made up of leather and canvas. The inner side of the shoe (the side facing your bicycle) is made from leather. This gives a nice supple feel that protects your foot. The outer side is made of canvas and is so breathable, which means, no sweaty feet.

The sole of the shoe is sturdy but is flexible enough to be able to have a good grip on the pedal. And gives your foot great support with just the right amount of cush.  The toe is covered in rubber that gives your tootsies all the protection you need. As I found out when I stubbed my toe on the sidewalk last week.

The shoe is so cute and has a fun spring and summer look to it.  I love just wearing them around even when not on a bike. My only suggestion is that they make more colors available – I would buy a few more pair.

By Elizabeth O. Hurst

Outlier listens to women. Since the New York-based clothing designer started making fashionable, livable trousers for men who bike in the city, Outlier has been inundated with requests from women wanting a female-specific version of their pant. Outlier’s response? The Daily Women Riding Pant. Founders and designers Tyler and Abe (interviewed by Cycle and Style last year) created a pant that makes you wish it took longer to arrive at your destination, but excited about how you’ll look and feel when you get there.

The Perfect Fit

Hands down, the Daily Riding Pant fits me better than most in my closet. I’m six feet tall and a size six by most designer’s measurements except in inseam and hip width. Outlier makes the Daily Riding Pant in a true size six (comes in 0-10) that completely covers my ankles and fastens around my hips without even trying hard. The pant’s Schoeller Dryskin Extreme + Nanosphere fabric (80 percent nylon, 10 percent polyester, 10 percent elastane) makes the legs fit snugly without giving everything away like spandex pants might. The fabric also keeps me comfortably warm in Utah’s sub-45 degree weather. Read more…

If you are a cyclist you don’t want to be invisible, day or night. We want to be seen by the motorists we share the road with. Simply put, being seen is being safe. Smart cyclists put high quality lights on their bikes to be seen from the front and from the rear in darkening light conditions. Cyclists often wear bright reflective vests or jackets to increase their visibility.

Read more…

“You’re not disabled by the disabilities you have, you are able by the abilities you have.”

Oscar Pistorius

If you had seen nine-year old Sarah Reinertsen on her pretty blue Schwinn with a banana seat, you wouldn’t have guessed you were looking at a future Ironman record breaker. She was just learning how to keep the bike balanced while riding down the street as her father let go of the back of her bike. Two years earlier, she had her left leg amputated above the knee and now she wore a prosthetic leg that she nicknamed her “Barbie leg.” It was bad enough trying to keep her left foot on the pedal with the toe strap, but keeping the momentum going with just her right leg was frustrating. It was especially humiliating for her when she couldn’t keep up with the younger kids on a slightly sloped road and she decided she couldn’t live with that disgrace. It would be a long time before she got back on another bike. Read more…

There is so much more to Sarah’s story than I could possibly cover here so I recommend her book highly for those who really want the true detailed back story of her life. She gives you her story with its highs and lows, and an unsparing look at the adversity she went through. She had the family support to push her into athletics rather than keep her on the sidelines, and they were there to support her rigorous athletic schedule with lots of travel. But her family life was not an easy one and the upheaval at home compounded the other stresses she went through in her teen years. She had set-backs, dealt with insecurities about her body and made some youthful mistakes. In spite of that, she was an achiever.

I teasingly told Sarah that I thought she had a lot in common with Buffy the Vampire Slayer. She’s a petite, very feminine blonde who might look misleadingly vulnerable. But Sarah is surprisingly strong, physically fit, mentally tough and has that undying willpower to do whatever it takes. Like Buffy Summers, she also has had a good team of people around her to give her the support she needed to accomplish her goals. She is the girl that no one might have expected to become so extraordinary.

If you’ve done so much as a 5K or sprint triathlon yourself, you’ll be fascinated with her descriptions of her training and her particular take on athletic endeavors coming at it with a disability. If you need inspiration to do your very first triathlon, century ride or road race, Sarah will be your muse. For those who have had a life-changing experience that has resulted in some type of disability, I think you’ll find some encouragement with Sarah’s book.

Catch Her if You Can

She’s petite, quick to smile, and full of energy. In spite of a knee replacement, some arthritis issues and a recent 86^th birthday, Alice keeps up a schedule that would make Jack LaLanne proud. She begins her mornings by carefully working on her knee, putting it through a little physical therapy to aid its recovery from the surgery, then she climbs stairs—a full sixteen flights before breakfast. Retirement wasn’t a state that suited Alice, so she is working full time, and saves her big workouts for the weekends. What does an octogenarian Weekend Warrior do? During the winter, she takes her mountain bike and rides it as she does laps in her apartment building’s two-story parking garage; she’s calculated it is a full ½ mile one way. Read more…

“The couple that exercises together stays together.” (The Schofield mantra)

For Jon and Leslie Schofield, their romance began on bicycles. “Our first date was a mountain bike ride,” Leslie remembers. It was on the mountain trails of Robert Redford’s Sundance Resort in Utah. The active life was part of who they were as individuals and as a couple. Mountain biking and running together was part of their courtship and something they continued to do together after they got married.

A marriage evolves and theirs was no different. Children came along and they juggled his full-time job, her part time job, and childcare responsibilities with their urge to continue a physically active life. So they divided things neatly to allow each to work out while the other watched the children. Leslie drew the Monday, Wednesday, and Friday schedule and Jon had the other half of the week. Leslie’s bike spent more time in the garage as she put in her early morning time running. Jon ran and mountain biked and then he got a road bike and immersed himself in local competitive cycling with criteriums, long endurance races and triathlons.

Read more…