Cyclo Femme - Guest Post by April Streeter

ride together - May 12, 2013

Last year was the first CycloFemme ride, on May 13, 2012. As soon as I heard that someone was organizing a 'national' ride for women I got interested. But I wondered what kind of ride it might be - lycra and toe-clips? Cyclocross sweat and mud? Pretty bikes and pretty outfits?

Well, it turned out it was all three and more. Sarai Snyder, CycloFemme's organizer, had the great idea not to try to prescribe a specific ride - instead she just wanted to facilitate getting everyone to plan and start rides on the same day. That was enough for me, and with help from a lot of friends, we did a Portland CycloFemme ride.

Sarai must have done something right (think excellent temporary tattoos, and in the case of Portland's ride, funky blue balloons with the sleek CycloFemme logo and the cake you see above) because 163 separate rides took place, in 14 countries.

Our ride in Portland was actually a trio of rides that came together for a one-mile parade. Women on Wheels riders showed up, Sorella Forte riders did a 30-mile ride to the ride, and a score of family riders from Kidical Mass helped make our parade on Sunday Parkways car-free streets fun and multi-culti friendly.

California currently is the state with the most rides registered for this year's May 12, 2013 ride. Strangely there's no San Francisco ride yet registered. When I co-organized last year's CycloFemme PDX ride I was a little anxious, and it WAS a little chaotic for me on the day of the ride. I forgot to enjoy the cake and I was so busy helping people with the temporary tattoos that I actually missed the ride, only watching as the beautiful bikes headed out in the May sunshine.

But the warm feeling of seeing so many women - and so many different types of riders - pull together for a bike ride that really just celebrates that women do bike - has had a positive lasting effect. So register a ride - even if it's just you and a friend.

(Contact me for tips for organizing - and thanks to Kristin for letting me guest post april.streeter@gmail.com)

bespoken bike commute

That moment you realize your commute to work is your favorite part of the day.



And a photo reflecting that I'm not alone.



BTW - I'm wearing my custom-made B. Spoke Tailor knickers and kitty cat knee socks!

downtime...

I wish I could clone myself, but alas, I am but one cyclist, one blogger, one filmmaker, and one hard worker all wrapped up into one body.

I've been stretched lately, and though I have a lot of ideas, I have little time.

I will be back to regular bike blogging soon, after I take a little snooze and make a full recovery.



Feels good doesn't it?





Stay tuned and don't forget about me.

why I ride a bike - reason #1 - it's good for the planet

There are so many reasons why I like to ride a bike as my principal form of transportation. And there's really no pecking order to my reasons; they are all equally important to me every time I put my butt in the saddle and start pedaling somewhere. So, because I was reminded just yesterday of one very important reason, I'm going to start this series with that very reason:

RIDING A BICYCLE IS GOOD FOR THE PLANET



Yesterday, I joined judy b. and approximately 1,000 protesters at the corner of Broadway & Divisadero to remind President Obama that the Keystone XL Pipeline is NO solution to our energy crisis and downright BAD for the environment. Plain and simple.



Just days after the horrific photos of the pipeline spill in Arkansas were released, I pedaled to the top of this hill in the chic neighborhood of Pacific Heights where Obama supporters paid $32,500 a plate for dinner at the Getty mansion. I felt a sense of pride that no petroleum products brought me to the protest against the controversial Keystone XL Pipeline. It was just me and my bicycle, and my own energy fueling my ride.



I know where my fuel comes from. It comes from the food that I eat and my own personal commitment to creating a better world for me, my community and future generations of humans, animals, plants and other forms of life.



By choosing to ride a bike instead of driving a car, you're creating fewer carbon emissions, and you're not using fossil fuels, whose production, distribution and consumption all contribute to the destruction of the environment. So do the right thing! Even if you start small! Start by making one trip per week by bike instead of using a car. Then make two trips per week by bike. You'll notice a few things - your gas bill will go down considerably, and you'll ride with pride in knowing that you are less dependent on dirty oil.

the BIKE effect

My friend Tamra in LA sent me this short film about one man's experience about how biking changed his life. Though he's building an electric bike, I think his sentiment of reconnecting with our surroundings is something we as cyclists all relate to, no matter what type of bike we ride and no matter where we ride it.

Enjoy and ride on.