Things Cyclists Love

During my RAGBRAI training, I've come to accept, and often love, the cycling culture. It's a group of people unlike any other, who have some surprising similarities within their diverse levels of commitment. Here are just a few I've become rather fond of as well:

Taco stands: I have been participating in the Twitter event “Bike School” with cyclists from all over the country. Inevitably tacos come up. We like soft shell, hard shell, beef, chicken, fish… I had a turkey taco today. If there’s a question a cyclist doesn’t know, they answer it with “Taco!”. It’s like in Sunday school when the kids don’t know the answer… they just answer Jesus. Most of the time they’re right.

In fact, one of my bike buddies Sam is the proud founder of Tacopocalypse: A Taco stand that will be making an appearance at the Downtown Farmers Market this summer.

Fancy beer and PBR: From my experience, bike snobs tend to be beer snobs. Beer snobs that like Pabst Blue Ribbon… I went to a meeting for my RAGBRAI team, Team Skunk, and when I arrived someone quickly informed me that the biggest issue we were covering in the meeting was, ‘Who’s going to get the beer, and what kind they should get’. Apparently last year there was a mix-up and someone bought bad beer, and the beer that was there had to be rationed.

Hats with tiny brims: I am still working on my T-Chart of the pros and cons of a hat with a tiny brim versus a hat with an average sized brim. If baseball caps are good enough for baseball players, why do cyclists need these special tiny brimmed hats? There’s nothing going on 45 degrees above the horizon that we need to be able to see without moving our heads… Tiny brims are irrelevant… But I want one SO BAD.

Spandex: There’s nothing like a helmet and a padded, spandex onesie to tell the world you’re a serious cyclist.

Get Lost

I mapped out a route Saturday for an hour-long 12 mile trail ride. I’ve been riding the stationary at about 12 mph, so I figured I could get it done if I really pushed it. I had to work at 1:00, so I headed out at 10:30 with plenty of time and plenty of sun.

I parked at a little park in Windsor Heights and jumped on the Des Moines trail system headed toward the Greenbelt Trail.

I rode up to Raccoon River Trail around Clive and I started to get nervous. I had stopped a few times to look at my map and make sure I was headed in the right direction, even taken a few wrong turns and had to double-back, and I knew I wasn’t riding 12mph around the curvy, crowded trails.

The trail finally pointed toward Douglas and I breathed a sigh of relief. I knew where Douglas was on a map. However, I parked at University and 69^th… I was at Douglas and 142^nd and it wasn’t getting any earlier!

I rode on Douglas for quite a while, passing 80/35 and giving an empathetic smile to a man with a “hungry” sign. I sure was hungry too, but I didn’t have anything to share and the water level in my bottle was dwindling.

Finally, the trail crossed over Douglas and left the road at Walter-Johnson Park. No sooner did I give a little fist pump than I realized the bridge was out. I did an about-face and headed back to Douglas.

The trail met back up by the Urbandale Library. I remember thinking to myself at one point in time, ‘I have no idea which way to go at this fork… I probably just picked the wrong direction.’ But I brushed it off and kept trucking. It was getting close to noon and I had to shower and get to work.

This photo shows the path I took in red, and the path I should have taken in green…

I wound up at Ashwood and Bryn Mawr. An intersection the GPS on my phone refused to acknowledge. I stopped for about 20 minutes turning my map around and around, trying to figure out which direction was north, and which was south, and wondering why this trail just ended

I rode up to 72^nd and realized I knew exactly where I was! But I still didn’t know if I was going north or south. I rode down a hill, got to Bucs arena but thought I should have gotten to University… So I figured I went the wrong way. Turned around, rode up to Douglas. Upon reaching Douglas, I contemplated calling my mom and crying. I was flustered, making bad decisions, it was 12:55, I had 5 minutes to shower and get to work, and I had just ridden down and up a huge hill for no reason.

But I pulled myself together, rode down 70^th, knowing I was just one block west of my destination, and headed in the right direction.

I passed a DQ, swearing that if I had time I would have stopped there. Finally back to my car, I rushed home and showered and got into work 45 minutes late. Thankfully my weekend work schedule is VERY flexible… plus I was there ‘till after midnight anyway.

So that was my 18 mile, 2 ½ hour initiation into “long rides”. My little 6 mile downtown-Grays Lake loop paled in comparison to this adventure. Yes, I’m calling it an ‘adventure’… it sounds much better than a ‘disaster’.

I am also adding this little gem for your viewing pleasure. I had a jacket on that I had rolled up to about ¾ length. My SPF clearly only lasted about an hour of that ride.

Is This Heaven? No, it's Iowa.

This is my RAGBRAI training blog. Follow me as I get to know the trails of Iowa, put in some saddle time on county roads and get to know other cycling aficionados. Check me out on Twitter at @alisa_who.

After graduating from Iowa State, I moved away to Chicago for almost two years. I lived a few exits away from what they called the Loop in downtown Chicago. The loop is the home of most of those skyscrapers in the beautiful Chicago skyline.

I always got a fuzzy feeling when I was driving into the city. I would look at the skyline and have to pinch myself. I remember a few times saying, out loud in my car, “I can’t believe I live here”.

I moved to New Orleans and had a similar feeling, looking at Jackson Square, taking part in Mardi Gras… I wondered, “What kind of person gets to live like this?”

Well, today I had that feeling. I woke up and put on the spandex, threw my wheels over my shoulder and walked them down the stairs. I got on my bike, just like every other ride, and headed down the hill. I rode down Locust past the Y, along the lake, past Principle Park. I turned a corner to cross the river, and BAM! There it was!

It wasn’t the Chicago skyline… It was the Des Moines skyline. And, while not quite as grandeur, this skyline slowed me down a little bit. I looked around and saw people fishing off the bridge, I rode down a quiet street, I said “good morning” to every single passerby, even when I got to Grey’s Lake and it was a little ridiculous saying hello to EVERYONE.

My ride turned into a homecoming. I was back home for this season in my life, and Iowa was welcoming me with open arms. Nowhere else in the world could I be training for this ride quite like I will here. And RAGBRAI is unique to Iowa. Not only is it only held here in Iowa, it showcases the best about Iowa.

This cycling niche I’ve fallen into defines Iowa and there’s nothing to complain about when I’m on a bike. Outsiders don’t always understand, but I live in Iowa, and I’m pretty lucky.

What is it about Iowa that makes your heart skip a beat? And can I give a little shout-out to Mother Nature for this little slice of heaven pie in the shape of an 84 degree day?

DEADLINE! DEADLINE!

The deadline to register for a full week of RAGBRAI is tomorrow (Friday). If you’re just riding part of the week, you have till June, but if you’re going to spend the time training, you might as well do the whole deed.

It’s not a bad price for a week’s vacation… but you might need another week to rest and get back into your skinny jeans (spandex only on the ride).

• Week-long Rider ~ $150
• Week-long Non-Rider ~ $35
• Daily Wristbands ~ $25 a day

Only 8,500 week-long riders and 1,500 daily riders are technically allowed to ride. If the entries exceed the number of riders allowed, a lottery will take place. That’s when it’s good to be part of a team, because if one person in the team gets chosen in the lottery, the whole team goes.

Getting ready for #30daysofbiking. I think I’ve persuaded at least one co-worker to take the challenge. We’re eyeing Wednesday as a good warm-weather ride for the week.

Get out there and bike!

Tweets, Twitter, Tweetchat and Hashtags.

Tweeting and writing this blog during my road to RAGBRAI has opened me up to all kinds of great social groups. The Mullet’s to Mars ride resulted in a handful of really entertaining twitterers and a few fun Facebook friends and through my followers on Twitter I’ve discovered some really great activities to take part in.

So, I was sitting at my desk, tweeting about biking, minding my own business, and I fall into this Tweetchat. Follow a few links and I find myself signing up to bike every day in April… Sometimes I sign up for things like 30 Days of Biking and RAGBRAI and later think to myself, who do I think I am?

Well, here’s the deal. According to their website: http://30daysofbiking.com The only rule for 30 Days of Biking is that you bike every day for all 30 days in April—around the block, to work, 20 mile workout, whatever suits you—then you share your adventures online. Tweet it, tell your Facebook friends, write a blog, call your mom… Whatever suits your fancy, tell the world about your adventure during 30 Days of Biking.

It’s the second year of the adventure and people seem to already be excited about it. I heard about it on #bikeschool. If you don’t know what’s up with the #, let me give you a tutorial on #hashtags.

Hashtag is a social media term that Twitter followers uses to categorize tweets and make them easier to search. #Bikeschool uses a hashtag to create a chatroom-type atmosphere in TweetChat with a few chosen people asking the questions, and everyone else answering using the hashtag: #bikeschool.

The chatroom updates at http://tweetchat.com/room/bikeschool and automatically refreshes the page with tweets that you and others have hashtagged.

Like #bikeschool, 30 Days of Biking will use a tweetchat to organize the tweets of participants using the hashtag #30daysofbiking.

If none of that makes sense to you, don’t fret. 30 Days of Biking can be done by anyone anywhere with or without complex twitter understanding, a twitter account, or even a computer! If you do, in fact, have a computer, go to http://30daysofbiking.com/bike/register and register with me, under the team name WHO Riders (there’s a space to enter it at the bottom). It’s just a little physical activity and some camaraderie. Now where’s Jeriann, I want to make sure it’s gonna be warm in April.

Commencing Commuting

I like to commute for a few reasons: first of all, it takes just as much time to ride down the block as it does to walk to my jeep, drive to work, park in the back of the lot and walk in. Second, I fill up my tank less. Sometimes my Jeep sits in the same spot for a few days. I know it’ll be that many more days I can drive without filling up the tank. Lastly, and regrettably the least of my worries, my carbon footprint.

I realize I should be more concerned about the earth than I am. I bring my own bags to the store, I drink my h2o out of a Camelbak water bottle… But I don’t think about recycling as much as I should, I don’t have a separate bin for my cans and bottles and I toss the plastic cups after I’m done with my chai.

So when I read this little stat in my Women’s Health mag, I was most excited about a little cash-ola in my pocket…

“Biking Benefits: Swapping four wheels for two can shrink your waistline and your carbon footprint. To see how much, go to youcanbikethere.com and plug in your numbers and the site will crunch them. A 144-Pound woman who bikes seven miles at 10 to 12 miles per hour burns 224 calories, saves around $3 in fuel, and spares the earth 6.8 pounds of toxic emissions.”

Now, I plugged in my stats on youcanbikethere.com, knowing full well I lived about .06 miles from work… Actually, .32 to be exact. But I was pleasantly surprised with the results of my round-trip commute.

“You have burned 33.92 calories. You have saved $0.43 by not driving. You have saved the earth 0.8 lbs of toxic emissions.”

My 5k 2-way commute to the Y was downright astounding!

“You have burned 166.95 calories (not to mention the cals blasted AT the gym). You have saved $2.10 by not driving (and $0.50 by not parking in the lot). You have saved the earth 3.8 lbs of toxic emissions."

Now, I hate it when people do the whole- you can save $1.2 billion over the course of 360 years! But, (stay with me here) if I biked to the gym 3 days a week for the fairly reliable warm Iowa months of June, July and August, AND biked to work on those same three days, I’d save $100 this summer! And save the earth 180 lbs of toxic emissions. Now I don’t know how they weigh emissions… but that sounds like quite a bit of emissions!

All that said, the number one reason I like to hop on the bike and ride wherever I can manage, is that my rear end needs to get used to this saddle if I’m going to have any hope of finishing RAGBRAI with a smile. The more time you can sit on your bike, the better you are. Padded bike shorts work wonders, but after a full day on a bike, those who have put in the time are hitting the beer tents, not searching for a bag of peas in the frozen section at Hy-Vee.

Speed Bump

It’s the first warm days of spring and I’ve hit riders block… I have no desire to swim or run for my tri training, and I have little desire to jump in the saddle.

I spent the last 3 months dreaming of these 60 degree days, plotting my paths, building my, now massive, quads in preparation for 20 mile rides, and I’m just not interested.

I’ll tell you why I think this is. I have a few ideas;

1. I live on the 4^th floor of a walk-up on the top of a hill. If I want to ride, I throw my bike on my shoulder and walk it down 4 flights of steps. Not so bad, but when I get back, I first have to climb a half mile hill on the girl, and then throw her over my shoulder, fight the heavy front doors to my apartment, and haul her back up 4 flights. Just the idea of it makes me grumpy.

2. I just don’t like being a nuisance. I’m not that biker that flies through intersections on a red without looking, I check my shoulder to see if anyone’s behind me before making any lane changes… I’m a considerate traffic participant.

That being said, I get a little anxious riding on open roads. I love riding trails where everyone is high-fiving and enjoying the outdoors… but I almost ran into a car today who didn’t use a turning signal, I ride so close to the parked cars because I’m trying to give the drivers a full lane that I’m afraid I’m going to clip a mirror. When I do make it out to the open road, I have anxieties about what the drivers are thinking of me, if they will give me a full lane when they pass and if they’ll give themselves enough time to get back over before the oncoming traffic comes.

3. I love riding with friends. I like having some company and a little encouragement on the high hills and head winds. However, my last 3 friendly rides have gone like this; Mullet’s to Mars- My friend Krista likes to bike, but she hasn’t been hitting the gym like I have preparing. She likes to leisurely stroll on her big bulky cruiser, I wanted to be the first one at every stop, leading the pack. I heard one guy say to another, “you don’t get to be the fast one” as they sped past us. I want to be the fast one! I should note though, I had a BLAST, and I love my dear friend Krista. We actually went on a walk the next day and pushed each other up a big hill west on Grand. We just aren’t in the same cycling mindset. The second ride began with my friend Kevin coming to borrow one of my bikes. We carried them both down the 4 flights and jumped on… And then my back tire locked up! The alloy quick releases just aren’t doing their job. I since got it fixed, but I’m not convinced I won’t switch to steel before RAGBRAI. Finally the latest buddy ride I went on was with my friend Rebekah. I went on a ride with her last year and she kicked by butt. I hadn’t been riding at all, and she was on her sporty road bike, and I was on my then 100% mountain bike. That said, I was sucking air on our totally flat trip past Napier over by Ames. It wasn’t a good ride, and I felt like the fat kid who can’t walk up a full flight of steps. This time I was confident. She’s been running and I’ve been biking, I thought at least I could keep up… and I did for the first leg. Downhill and with the wind. Then we stopped to check the time and it was clear she was down for more and I was ready to turn around. We turned around, because I get what I want, and with the wind in my face and the seemingly hillier terrain, she kicked my rear all the way back to Ames. We got done and I was sure we had gone 20 miles… nope. 10. Good 10 mile ride Alisa… Get ready for 6 more of those EVERY DAY for a week.

The idea of training for RAGBRAI and a triathlon has gotten daunting. I’m scared to run, I don’t enjoy swimming anymore. I don’t want to stop loving my bike.

I hate to say it, but I’m considering dropping the triathlon to focus on RAGBRAI. If you have time, leave me an encouraging note or send me some advice. Leave it here or, as always, I’m tweeting my progress on @alisa_who.