A Woman Needs a Man like a Fish needs a Bicycle...

Oh, Man José.

I love riding my bike. I love working in a bike shop. I love taking steps to empower myself, and helping other women to see similar strength within themselves.

I hate hearing excuses not to ride. I hate the stories of women entering male-dominated establishments and getting poor service because of their gender or because they don't have the right knowledgebase. I hate seeing women on rides simply because they're out with their boyfriends and riding a certain type of bike simply because they didn't choose it themselves.

I hate seeing how male-dominated cycling is in this male-dominated city. There's a lot of love here for cycling, but the amount of women who feel free to enjoy it without influence is teeny. There's perhaps four* women in the Southbay under age 30 who regularly ride socially, perhaps 10 if you include 30somethings like me.

I love/hate it every time I see a little girl who gets so excited when she sees a confident woman on a bicycle, or a woman on a bicycle, period. It warms my heart to have that kind of impact, but women on bikes shouldn't be a big deal.

And then, once we get women to show up, there's the harassment. Not constantly, and not generally within the smaller groups. I've been in conversations that get too inquisitive, grabbed, and spanked. I've run from dance areas in anger because I don't want to have to deal with it. None of us should.

To take the cake, I've been remotely following the hubbub in the activist/cycling community in Portland dealing with a deplorable excuse of a human being** who turned himself into a "leader" and used his influence to silence people he'd abused. His behavior had been going on for years when someone finally stepped up and said something at the beginning of the month. Oh Portland, I love you, and while these assholes can pop up anywhere I never thought I'd see it. Perhaps I was too naive, perhaps too wishful in my thinking.

I'd like to start a dialogue with local women who have interest in cycling, whatever that looks like. What can we do to make both rides and roads safer spaces? What can we do to strengthen our numbers?

Some ideas I've been tossing around:

• Education: How to choose a bicycle, how to ride with traffic, how to make basic fixes, how to defend yourself and your friends, how to create a safer space.
• Dialogue: Regular informal get-togethers to discuss the issues keeping us off the road and what we can do about it.
• Rides!
• Presence: Create a network of women at rides and in daily life that can aid with both harassment and cycling issues.

What do you think?

* Based on personal experience, no formal study.
** Hart Noecker

New Bike Days!

My tread arrived yesterday and showed me just how much I have to learn.

I spent about four and a half hours in the shop, mostly waiting for the mechanics to answer questions or observing as they made adjustments. When left to my own devices, I checked the Big Blue Book, installed my saddle (an older WTB Speed She, removed from a bike I sold after realizing that it was Way Too Big), and pedals (Forté Campus). I'm going in again this afternoon to get some shoes and a new lock, install a rack, and bring home Ka-Zam Gigantor (who is currently languishing in the window with my trailer).

I've just realized that the Tread, with the stealth black paint and citrus (not quite yellow, not quite green, definitely neon) accents, is something of a BatBike. I'll have to cut some reflective stickers in appropriate shapes. And perhaps make some costumery to match....... And just like that, I can hardly think about writing anymore.

Pictures coming, I swear. But I have to do laundry and get groceries while I have time. Birthday is Saturday and I get an extra two (!!!!) days off, but I'm not counting on being responsible for anything at that time.

Not "New Bike Day" Yet....

I'd planned for today to be "New Bike Day" but apparently that's going to be next week. Oh well. I'll still have it built by my birthday the following weekend, which was my goal from the first place.

It's a Fuji Tread 1.1 Disc. My first brand-new bike as an adult, and my first bike with disc brakes, aluminum, or carbon fiber. It'll be my first bike that I'll be the first person to ride, as I'll be doing my own assembly. HEY GUYS, I'M GETTING A NEW BIKE! EEEEEEEEE!

When I started working in a shop last August, there was immediate envy. To tell the truth, as I was riding more through the summer (no job & the only free fun seems to be riding, so.....) and Ka-Zam Gigantor is showing his age. There's some work I need to do to match him up with my current riding ability.... besides needing quite a number of parts replaced from wear. I've been riding 47/22 with cruiser bars (and 27 lbs even though it's stripped down!) for the last few years and it's time to stop spinning quite so much.

Going from that gear ratio to having any selection at all is going to speed me up immensely, so having loads of speeds wasn't one of my concerns. I set a budget and a timeline, then began looking and asking. I love the look of Ridleys, but I wanted mounts to install racks for touring without having to use those little metal loops I've always used. The only other thing I worried about much was having drop bars. I'm planning on installing some bars with a 4° splay and I want to be able to move everything off the original bars but the tape. Bam.

I briefly flirted with the idea of getting a Charge Plug with Shimano Claris, but someone clued me into the employee ordering system. So I started looking at the various catalogs, found that ASI had updated theirs most recently, and settled on the Tread. Bam. It's even under my budget by enough that I was comfortable moving the timeline forward a couple of months. Happy birthday to me!

First opportunity I'm going to spend extra time at work doing the assembly, then at absolute minimum install a rack (which I've already tested with one of my panniers, natch) and a female-specific saddle. I'll be tweaking things around for the first few rides, and then Gigantor's going into retirement while I take my time repainting and rebuilding.

What can I say? I've got a lot to look forward to with this... doing some work, riding something brand new, and not worrying about breaking down too much... and then there's disc brakes. That'll be new too.

Lazygirl Eats

Lazygirl Eats Healthy and perhaps cheaply.

How do you eat good healthy food on a regular basis when you have limited time and budget? I love to eat out (I am going to do so much brunch the next time I visit family and friends in Portland) but that gets expensive fast.

I do all my shopping either on foot or by bicycle, so massive grocery runs are out of the question unless I get out my rickety old trailer (that I want to turn into an art project.... let's talk about this later).

There's a Vietnamese market down the street from my house, so it's my go-to for fresh veggies, canned goods chow mein, noodles, and tofu. Since there's several brands of tofu at the same price, I specifically purchase the brand labeled no GMO.

There's a Whole Foods in the same complex as the bike shop I spend many of my waking hours at, but they don't have much in the way of vegan ready-to-eat foods and that stuff gets expensive fast. But their bulk bins are decent, the grapefruit juice is reasonably priced, I can find things like vegan cheese, nooch, and Bragg Liquid Aminos. Plus vegan gummy stars.

There's a Trader Joes down the street from work; I don't like how much packaging they use, but it's great for a lunch run for work. I typically go on Saturdays and stock my locker with bananas, soda made with cane sugar, and shelf-safe items that can be kept for a few days (usually some variation of canned dolmas, indian food, soups, or microwavable noodle dishes... I buy one fresh item for that day, and allow one freshly-made lunch a week).

On my days off, I'll walk to Grocery Outlet and check things out there, which means hummus and pita, dairy-free milks, random vegan and organic products, and too many snacks.  Too many snacks.

Resolutions/Revolutions/Revelations

I'm a believer that the revolutions begin on the inside and grow out.

I love developing healthy habits and sharing my enjoyment of them with others.... I've been vegetarian now for 16 years (though I had 16 more of vegetable enjoyment, thanks Mom!) and a consistent bicyclist for 13. A consistent reader ever since I finally understood how the letters worked together (it felt like it took forever, I wanted to read so badly, I would even tell myself what I remembered of the stories as I turned the pages of my favorite books desperate for the moment it would click). I've been grateful for the opportunities I've had to share these great loves with other individuals; helping friends with parts and routes, sharing meals, lending and trading books (and even attempting at one point to teach one of my cats to read....).

So here's my current list of what I want to cultivate this year:

• 6000 miles of bike miles. I've just ordered a new bike (eeeeee!), purchased a cycle computer, and am ready to track. I already commute by bike, ride with friends, and use it for errands; but I want to ride MORE.
• Write daily. Hello!
• Begin practicing music regularly, and go to an open mic once a month.
• Stretch, if not daily, 3 times a week.
• Plan and lead three themed rides here in San Jose.
• Share a meal at least once a week.
• Practice art on some level every day.
• Fruit. I am the worst at fruit. Eat more of it. Juice doesn't count as anything but delicious.
• Work through my simple sewing projects and work on building skills to replace zippers so I can wear those three dresses again.

And a bunch of babble about cleaning and organizing and stuff. But the above are the big ones.

Bionic animals

OMG Facts - Animals whose lives were changed by Bionic Science

Science, not so much. Ingenuity and creative process, hells yes!

First off, science is a process. All these things were created by inventions of various sorts that underwent a more-or-less scientific process.

• Idea (Hypothesis)
• Experiment proposal
• Testing
• Reflecting (these three steps can be repeated over and over for years)
• Report findings in a peer-reviewed journal.

I doubt very much that Septimus' wheels went in for peer review.

That said, yay cute animals and yay veterinarians and compassionate pet owners! Fuji's tail is a work of art, and Beauty's beak probably took a few tries to get right. The various harnesses and mounting techniques are wonderful and I love how people have made things to help the animals. Perhaps jugaad or jury-rigging?

MNN - 7 Cultural Concepts we don't have in the US

On information

There's another go-round on Facebook where people are posting a bunch of legal babble regarding the rights of that particular corporate entity and those who own it in regard to information used on it.

If you don't want your information being used to improve advertising, don't give it to them.

There are alternatives to Facebook. Various dedicated social media sites. Twitter. Tumblr. Others. You can even go the old-fashioned route of purchasing a domain, acquiring hosting, learning to code, and establishing your presence on the internet under your own control. Think about it.

For clarity: I do realize that blogger/blogspot are owned by google. This isn't an endpoint, but a leaping-off point. I do want to eventually have this blog as much under my control as possible, but not having the resources at the moment shouldn't keep me from this creative process.

5am Tuesday morning

Why am I awake?

I've been up for an hour already.... though I did go to bed not long after 9. Hello wonky sleep schedule, hello. Decided to create this blog rather than dink around on my phone thinking about how less bored I would be if I were making something..... TADA!

With so many topics so dear or dread to my heart, where do I begin........

Perhaps by listing subjects.

Bicycles, walking, liveable cities, good books, storytelling, coffee, knitting, crochet, what I was thinking when I set up my room without a deskish thing, Portland, San Jose, trees, awesome people I have connected with on various channels, feminism, humanism, veganism, chickens, cats, organization and design, games, language, creating connections. Conscious and sustainable living.

Ok, ok, ok, go.

Good morning and welcome!

"The time has come," the Walrus said,"To talk of many things:Of shoes--and ships--and sealing-wax--Of cabbages--and kings--And why the sea is boiling hot--And whether pigs have wings." 

--From Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There, by Lewis Carroll

We're a few days into 2015 and I have been ruminating (what a wonderful word, ruminate) on social media and internet presence for quite some time. And thus, it's the right moment to create a certain schism with facebook (which is an ok medium for being free but isn't exactly what I want) and start posting more of my thoughts elsewhere (and I do realize that blogger is owned by google, but if I keep going down these tangents I will never write anything. My intent is to eventually purchase domain and hosting and move to the wordpress platform). And so. New blog.

The purpose of this blog is to get me to write more, and thus write better. I'm not planning on restricting myself on subject, though I do have a personal bias. Anything I post here is for the whole world to see, whether or not it is seen. I do have a variety of natural focii, as do we all. These may include transportation, human rights, fiber arts, personal issues, and anything else I find particularly relevant. Perhaps I'll even find a way to write poetry and fiction again, after taking many years off.

We shall see.