Can Pictures Explain?

I take a lot of pictures of myself, my bike and the Walla Wallan landscape. It is as if I take enough photos of the three-- eventually they will meld into one spectacular vision that will explain it all. Explain the winds, the wheat. Explain scraping salt off your cheek and a Snickers bar that's really far away. If I take enough pictures, will it explain the curiosity, the constant framing of compositions and the rhythm of power lines? I take a picture when my blood is rushing, not from the trap of a steel teleporter. When you're standing out there, bike lain askew, pockets bursting with all your provisions-- when you're standing out there and one itty bitty tiny cloud goes--

 AH HA! Neener, neener, neener!

It's funnier. It feels more important. Or I am more aware. Than if I had clicked open a car door.

So when I see photographers out in the wheat fields, only steps from their sense-numbing vehicles-- I feel like they're cheating.

I feel like we're not even looking at the same wheat.

On my bicycle-- everything I visit is a friend. A familiar face. A conversational pal. 

And we like to chat often.

12/27, 12/28?

Does anyone have a Shimano 10-speed 12/27 or 12/28 cassette that a Whitman cyclist could borrow for Collegiate Nationals?

The road race is VERY steep and every tooth will make a difference!

Thanks!

See a hazard to cyclists? CALL! RIGHT AWAY!

If ever you are out riding your bicycle and you come across a serious road hazard to cyclists, call your local Public Works or (they sometimes transfer you to) Street Division.

WW Public Works

(509) 527-4463

WW Street Division

(509) 527-4363

I just happened to be out riding around town one day

APRIL 9, 2009

when I came across several BIG piles of gravel that were spilling out of some big potholes. Wow. If you didn't see one of these coming-- and you hit it-- you would most likely CRASH. You could even crash into traffic, which could cost you your life if you had unfortunate timing. Or, in another scenario-- you might see the gravel at the last minute and swerve violently into traffic, possibly colliding with a motor vehicle.

Basically-- this area is very unsafe for cyclists!

So, like a good citizen, I called our local Public Works and reported the problem. I was told, "We'll send someone to take a look at it."

Well, on April 24, 2009 it was still there!

So I called again.

To view this video with CLOSED CAPTIONING, click HERE, then click on the triangle in bottom right corner, then click CC.

If you think that this problem should be fixed RIGHT AWAY, please CALL:

WW Public Works

(509) 527-4463

WW Street Division

(509) 527-4363

Thanks.

Commuter Panniers for Sale!

Here are some great NEVER BEEN USED commuter/light touring panniers for sale! I plan on using Trek panniers for this summer's tour.

For information straight from the brand, click HERE. These are a pair of "Transit Tour" and "Transit Cycle" panniers. They retail at $90 and $75 (for the pair) respectively. 

LEFT: Transit Cycle, 2200 cubic inches, great front or rear pannier.

RIGHT: Transit Tour, 3100 cubic inches, great rear pannier.

In background: each pannier comes with a yellow rain cover!

Here is the convenient attachment system! The levers ratchet open and close. This is BEEFY and HARD plastic, not just any plastic. The 'bungee' isn't too stretchy (a good thing?), but could easily be replaced with whatever you like.

The Transit Cycle with rain cover on.

The Transit Tour from the side. Both bags have a reflective tab/webbing to mount a bike light. Both bags feature reflective piping as well.

The Transit Cycle from the side.

Transit Cycle retails for $75. Yours for $60! *pair only.

Transit Tour retails for $90. Yours for $75! *pair only.

OR, buy both pairs for $125! 

I would prefer to sell these locally, but please contact me at jensenrs (at) gmail (dot) com if you are interested in having them shipped.

The Lovely Trek WOMEN WHO RIDE

Okay, I have to admit-- my biggest fear before going to Wisconsin was that I wasn't going to be as ridiculously cool as the other ladies and I would respond by being unusually shy or intimidated. I'm often THE most enthusiastic bike nut in a group, so what would it be like to be with 4 other nuts? Well, I did discover that every lady is absolutely amazing, inspiring but-- most importantly, approachable. I hope we cross paths again. I'd love to spend more time with these gals.

My Visit to TREK!

Why haven't I been posting for a week? I'VE BEEN IN WISCONSIN!

I wrote earlier that I had been selected as one of five TREK Women Who Ride. Being a WWR means that not only do I get a BEAUTIFUL, FAST and SMOoooOTH new bike and other fabulous gear from Trek-- but I also get to share my experiences on a blog that has a fairly large audience and help get more women on bikes. 

Getting people, particularly women,

on bikes is a primary life goal of mine--

and now Trek has a wonderful program

that I will be able to utilize

to further realize this goal.

THANK YOU, TREK!!

And before you ask-- the new WWR aren't yet posted on the Trek website. Check again in a week or two.

What did we do in Wisconsin? WELL. Let me tell you.

We got all sorts of cool WOMEN'S CYCLING GEAR!



We got FITTED to our amazing BICYCLES!




We LEARNED about all sorts of things.

Here's Heather talking about

how women's bikes are different!

We got to RIDE

with a bunch of COOL WOMEN that work at TREK!

Oh, and there was a PHOTO SHOOT, some tasty DINNERS, the most amazing cafeteria, a factory TOUR, lots of chatting and meeting all the wonderful women that work at Trek!

Tour of Walla Walla Race Report

Two of my junior cyclists line up for their first night criterium!

Tour of Walla Walla

Race Report

• Time Trial: I had a smooth time trial and went as fast as this year's training would let me go. Somehow, without high race fitness, I am finding it hard to really make myself REALLY suffer on the bike. I put in a good effort, though-- 26th out of 45, which felt about right. 
• Criterium: Survival mode. I have not been in a criterium for TWO YEARS. When zooming around 8 corners with 70 women, sometimes accidents happen and I didn't want to be in any of them! I rode comfortably in the first chase group, but had no legs to be aggressive.
• Road Race: oh, boy. My "power to weight ratio" isn't doing so great these days. I've lost muscle mass AND gained weight. Yikes! In college I had placed 13th in the road race out of the 1/2/3's.. this year, I got dropped the first time up the big hill. With no chance of catching the group, I rode home with two lovely ladies and then had a pulled porked sandwich at the local brewery followed by a Coca Cola. (And I don't usually drink soda!) But oh, it felt so good!

Best Parts of the Tour

• Hearing my name cheered by both Whitman students AND locals
• Hearing people recognize and cheer the Community Center for Youth

Welcome, Tour of Walla Walla!

It begins.

The Idaho Stop Law, Coming to Oregon

The "Idaho Stop Law," in a nutshell, allows bicyclists to legally treat stop signs as yield signs. This law is currently being proposed in Oregon.

Here's a pro-Idaho Stop Law video that explains the pro-law position very well. What do you think?


Bicycles, Rolling Stops, and the Idaho Stop from Spencer Boomhower on Vimeo.

As a disclaimer, I am posting this video only as a point of education and discussion-- not as a display of my personal opinion.

Local Saturday Ride Gone Speedy

The Saturday Hailstone Ride was so full of attacks this morning (HA! Last time these farts think that flat = easy!)-- I hardly had time to take photos.

Until the Whitman Women turned off for an extra helping..

What's in your iPhoto?

When I scroll through my iPhoto I see,

bikes bikes bikes, and people on bikes bikes bikes, and photos taken from bikes bikes bikes!

:)

Another Ride With the Boys

Coaching the Community Center for Youth Junior Cycling Team is the best job EVER.

I love riding with my juniors.

And soon-- we hope to be expanding into middle school!! (We're currently a high school team.)

For the full post, including a video of our most recent "Slow Races" and more, visit the TEAM BLOG!

Loading the Xtracycle

This is an Xtracycle.

And this is how it works:

An Xtracycle can attach to just about any bike. It's wonderful for carrying loads because the Xtracycle lengthens your wheel base which makes your bike a LOT more stable! As a result, you can load it lopsided (25 pound bag of onions on one side? No problem!) or just load it UP (130 lb buddy? No problem!). Plus, the long bag with cinching straps and large surface area of the wood "snap deck" are GREAT at accommodating awkward loads that couldn't even dream of fitting into panniers!

Just Another Pleasant Commute

Dressed for work,

dressed to ride.

Dressed for ride,

Dressed to work.

No Gatorade here, just french press coffee and low pulp OJ.

The shoes that I feel like wearing today are bike shoes.

The shoes that I feel like wearing tomorrow are bike shoes.

All my shoes are bike shoes.

Purse, lunch and a lawn chair.

Brownie in the lunch. Book in the purse. Butt in the lawn chair.

My bike has a loud mouth.

Can we turn right?

Michael: Can we take this right turn up here?

RJ: Why?

Michael: Well, because we haven't been out for very long and I want to ride longer.

:) I raised 'em good.

Full post, including a short video, is available at: bikeryracing.blogspot.com

Spring Slapped Me

Spring slapped me in the face.

All measuring devices read 70 degrees;

it may as well been 85 for the way my body felt.


I have found a spot that I like for laying.


Having taught my body to shrug at freezing temperatures,

I now teach my body to

cool off.

Home grown air conditioning.

Sweat pores.

Chit chat dissolves on the climb.

From my entry over on the CCY Junior Cycling Team blog:

Orchards, grapes in rows. Pruned neat.
Lower Dry Creek Road rolling up.
Caution over old rail tracks.
Shed extraneous layers, heat.
Hello, miniature ponies!
Tunnel: aWOOO!!
Chit chat dissolves on the climb.
Water break in Weston, Snickers bar sublime.
Chug up old Tollgate highway.
Inhale the view.
Blast back down banked corners.
Sprint for play.
Detour onto Blue Mtn. Sta. Rd.
Crackle gravel.
Butt behind the saddle.
Coast home.










To see the full entry, including the video, clickHERE.

Now I HAVE to do this race!

Okay, take all the things I like about racing bikes--

racing day after day; challenging, beautiful and brutal terrain; teamwork-- more specifically, team time trialling; the grind; burning a bottomless hole in your stomach; making your poo turn to mush; oh, and zebras.

and voila, the Absa Cape Epic off-road stage race!



So I check out this year's results, right? Three hundred eleven men's teams and..

ELEVEN women's teams??!!! Zero American women teams. Okay, to be fair-- there were 58 "mixed" (co-ed) teams. But still, 311 vs. ELEVEN??!!! Geez, now I HAVE to do this race!!

Here's the team time trial prologue!!:

Hey, Valaas-- this would be good summer training, right? And you haven't been to South Africa yet! (I don't think..)

M-- I KNOW this race appeals to you! And it's only a week, so you can still get a job!

Take a seat! : a tandem tour

Check this out!

While completing any long distance bicycle tour is worthy of raising a glass to, it is becoming harder and harder to be unique. Yes, everyone's tour, no matter how small or grand, will be unique to that person! But I mean unique in the sense of being different and more interesting than previous endeavors in order to grab headlines. People have ridden up, down, across, around the U.S., both Americas, the snows of Alaska and even politically unstable regions of Africa. To be clear, no, mom, I have no interest in riding through the Congo! 

Anyhow, that leaves us to the question: if you want to be unique, what's left to do? Well, check out THIS GUY, Dominic Gill, who rode from Alaska to the southern tip of South America, on a tandem. Oh, and the passengers on his tandem are random people he met along the way. HOW AWESOME IS THAT??! His effort is raising money for Hope and Homes for Children and now at the conclusion of his journey, he is editing footage together for a terrific documentary, Dommy No Mates. You can see a trailer of the documentary on the Take a Seat homepage; just wait for it to load.

A bit of fun on April Fool's Day!