Chicks that do charity events

Well you girls missed a great night at Rock 'n Road Cyclery Diva Night.  Karen, Pat and Theresa showed up of course, we heard there would be tacos and margaritas.  Not sure where Karen's head was but she wanted to meet for margaritas before hand.  I guess to get "event worthy"?

The Divas threw another great event.  There was a lot of women there many of whom brought gently used shoes to donate to the Soles 4 Souls organization.  We had tacos, chips and margaritas and met other women who loved to road and mountain bike ride.  After we got our goody bags we went into the store which was set up as a mini lecture hall. We wandered around looking at all Silent Auction items.  We were outbid on the "Girl's Night Out" Limo and dinner one but figured we need to put together our own Girl's night out since we can't ride in the evenings right now.

After a little socializing, we took our seats for the informative program.  A rep from Serfas was there demonstrating lights and offered a 30% discount for any lights purchased that night.  After that we heard from a Physical Therapist from Rausch PT and Sports Performance.  They feel it's really important to prevent injuries before they happen and to keep the core strong.  They also offer some Yoga and Pilates. 

The featured speaker was Pua Mata, a beautiful young woman from Hawaii who has been racing mountain bikes professionally since 2005 and has won 6 national titles in endurance racing.   She talked about how she got into riding and how she attacks each race.  Then she answered questions from the crowd.  She had a constant infectious smile and you could really tell she loved being on her bike.




The evening and silent auction was a fund raiser for 88 Bikes.  They showed a quick video on this great organization that provides bikes for underprivileged kids who other wise may never own a bike of their own.   More smiles on these kids that were so excited to get these bikes.  Each kid that gets a bike from this organization also gets a photo of the person who donated money for the bike.  (No Pat, you didn't have to buy one of the Specialized S works we were sitting by for them).  This evening we were hoping to have raised money for over 20 bikes (about $88 each).   So we posed for a huge group photo that will be put on a card with the donated bikes.

We should think about doing something in the spring when we meet for weekday rides. Maybe a spare coin jar where we can collect each week and at the end of Fall may have enough to donate a bike. Chicks collecting pennies...

When the formal program was over we were able to do a little shopping with a Diva Discount.  Karen bought a couple little Serfas lights and CO2 Cartridge kit so she doesn't have to be afraid of flats anymore.

We've really missed riding during the week.  Last weekend since Theresa was camping and Pat was in Arizona everyone was on their own.  Theresa rode with the old guys from her camping club on a little tour around Back Bay while Karen did the Shady Canyon loop.

This weekend we are planning Santiago Canyon on Sunday as long as the SantaAnas don't make it too hot.  Perhaps we will try a little side trip up Modjeska canyon?  Hope you can join us.

Chicks that ride inner city trails

Oh how we've missed our twice weekly rides.   We've been trying to get some miles on the weekend, but there is just something about that evening after work, de-stressing ride that can't be replaced.  We hear Becky has been doing spin classes and Theresa is trying to hit the pool but without the camaraderie of the chicks it's hard to get through the work day.

The group of us from Scantron decided perhaps there is still some light left before the time change to squeeze in a ride.  If we leave from the office instead of spending the precious time in the car fighting traffic getting to the park starting point, and if we leave on time.    Trouble is the office is right smack dab in middle of very busy streets in South Santa Ana, nothing like the Irvine streets with marked bike lanes.  

With inspiration from the Trek Breast Cancer Awareness ride from Two Wheels One Planet where the group rode through the Pizza place parking lot, we decided to attempt it.  The plan was take the short trip through the neighboring office parking lots, to the back side of Burger King and then go north on Holiday to Goetz where we met up with the off road bike trail paralleling the railroad tracks.  This should take us almost all the way to the familiar Santa Ana River Trail.

Since we were fighting impending darkness and wandering around some "iffy" neighborhoods we kept an eye on the time and decided upon a turnaround time no matter how far we got.  It's always an adventure on a chicks ride.

The first part of our ride was on a nicely paved path although some local residents were setting up camp for the night.  We also were treated to some interesting mural artwork, OK some call it graffiti.   Then the path turned into a morning glory lined pretty area backing up industrial buildings.   With each street crossing, we needed to push a button and wait for a cross light.  When we got to MacArthur the bike path rode along the sidewalk where we wound our way to the river trail. 

Parts of the trail along Alton was very rough and obviously hadn't been serviced in quite some time.  Several of us wished we had our more forgiving mountain bike tires, but we made good time and were able to get a 10 mile ride in.   As we got within 1/2 mile office, Stacy noticed a flat on the front tire.  We were in the local "camping" area and it seemed to be getting dark fast, so we didn't want her to attempt to walk it. 

Theresa pulled off the wheel, found a thorn in the tire and changed the tube while everyone else checked their tires for thorns since we had all ridden along the same path.  Karen paid close attention so she could do her own flat change next time.   We returned to the office before dark and were off in our cars almost about the time we normally leave work for the day.    Shall we try it again next week?

Chicks that ride organized events

With the dawning of fall our rides are limited to weekends and on Saturday, October 8th, the Chicks found a fabulous event.   Trek Bicycles put on a Breast Cancer Awareness ride and we decided to sign up for the one hosted by Two Wheels One Planet  (TWOP). For several reasons, it's a great local bike shop and any time one of us have been in one of two stores it's been a fantastic experience.   If you are female and want to get good advise on buying a bike or equipment, this is the place to go.

Stacy ended up with a sore back and stayed home but all other chicks were ready to ride.  Chris provided pink curling ribbon to wear on our helmets. We met at a local shopping center and rode over to the ride start.  We had originally planned to meet for breakfast but the shop had bagels, juice and coffee to fuel us before our ride.   We signed a simple waiver, received our awesome t-shirts and stuffed goody bag.   Everything was well organized and the store estimated about 80 riders.  There was information on early detection of breast cancer, a Leukemia Team in Training bake sale and another vendor with samples of probiotic drink mix.  Pat and Theresa rode our goody bags back over to the cars with plenty of time before the ride start.

All of the riders were encouraging and friendly.  There was also quite a representation from male riders.  A 10 mile and 25 mile ride were planned.  Hard to imagine that most of chicks that started riding in March could ever imagine doing a 25 mile ride, but now that's a short ride for us.  The 10 milers started out first and then the breast cancer riders moved to the front for the start of the 25 mile ride.   TWOP had volunteers riding among the riders to help guide on the route and be around if anyone had any mechanicals.   (And to raise Becky's seat again, I think we need to tighten that seat bolt, it seems to keep slipping.) 

We each had card stock "Breast Cancer Awareness Ride" signs on the front of our bikes.  Motorists really noticed them and yielded to us as a group as we travelled up Tustin Avenue.   The ride up Tustin and across Santiago was a great easy warm up about 10 miles per hour.  Then we hit our familiar river trail along Back Bay with a small headwind.  Karen and Theresa took off with the front group.  It sure didn't seem that Karen hadn't ridden in three weeks.  Just look at her go on that new Raliegh Road Bike.  She is totally comfortable in her new pedals and shoes.  Theresa kept forgetting to take it easy since she had a 1/2 marathon to run on Sunday.

It was a beautiful clear day for a ride; you could see the foothills. After rounding the top end of back bay we circled around at Jamboree under the trail and rode up the San Diego Creek River trail toward our normal Chicks starting point at Col. Barber Memorial Marine Park.  We continued on the bike trail just south of Barranca and took it all the way to Jeffrey. A short stint along the sidewalk on Jeffrey brought us to the bike trail again and we had a great smooth ride all the way to Alton Parkway.  It was a little tough getting Karen to not turn off at San Canyon to TiaJuannas for margaritas, but Theresa reminded her that TWOP had beer for after our ride.  There were ducks bobbing along in the river as we rode along.

Could this be?  It seemed like there were no hills.  We went Laguna Canyon toward Quail Hill and hit the bike trail again just past San Canyon.  Karen thought maybe we were going to go up Shady Canyon.  No coyotes on this trip like we sometimes see on the riverbed. All the riders were very courteous and respectful which made for a very pleasant ride.  



Karen with a group of riders coming back on the River Trail for the home stretch

 We rejoined the San Diego Creek trail again as we headed back to the shop.  Chris was back sooner than Theresa could get her camera out to take a photo and then Suzanne breezed in pretty close behind.  We got some Sandwiches, chips and soda and then Becky and Pat rode in.   I heard that Pat was to use coughing power to keep her bike moving forward.  



Pat and Becky finishing the last mile.



The festivities continued with raffle prizes almost for everyone it seemed.   Ask Karen about hers. We spent a few moments visiting the inside of the shop and looking at the great selection of bikes and accessories they carry.  They were offering a 15% discount on purchases during the event. Chris picked up a cute pair of socks.  This event was well organized, a lot of fun and raised a little money for a good cause as well as increasing awareness for a critical disease.  We will plan to do it again next year and invite some more chicks (and maybe some husbands and children).