tea party change

Tea party is Nov 8 not Nov 11

sorry

It's a Tea Party

Biker Chicks Tea (bring a friend)
Saturday November 11
2:00
Lincoln Tea Room, 28 W. Market St, West Chester (between Church and High St)
RSVP by 11/5 to maryjane.rogan@gmail.com

If we have 10 or more we will do a traditional tea. Otherwise we can order from the menu. See link below.

http://www.lincolnroomwestchester.com/index.php

Two rides up for this week

Come on ladies, sunshine is SUPPOSED to come back for later in the week, right now this weather sucks.

thursday oct 30, 10 am, meet at Shaws bridge, 25 miles, easy

saturday nov 1, 9:30 am NEW TIME, meet at Hot Foot, cue 161 38 miles, gorgeous ride, should be delightful with warmer temps

got sick

hey ladies

coming down with something, headache and sore throat, so I cannot make the ride tomorrow

maybe someone else can try and get a group together

sorry

hope the weather clears and we can get some rides in next week

libby

Ride up for Sunday Oct 26

ladies

will run a 30 mile ride tomorrow at 1 pm, start at Hot Foot, will come home the short cut way and avoid RT 842 

nice route and fairly flat

so if around, join me

NO ride saturday Oct 25

ride cancelled due to weather

If it is raining

if it is raining and or predicting rain, RIDE will not go

check blog early, will get a post up by 7 am unless it is raining, if so turn over and go back to sleep 

so far forecast is gloomy, Fall has certainly turned cold toooo soon

BIKE CLINIC Sunday Oct 26

BIKE CLINIC, you must email me if you are comimg, if no emails, NO clinic!

October 26 at my house 206 E Virginia Ave WC boro

If you want to learn to change a tire, come at 4:30 pm SHARP with your bike. I will teach you how to change a tire and how to clean your chain. Bring old Tshirts for cleaning chain.

If you want to learn how to fix a cable and or chain, come at 5:30 sharp and viktor of WCCC will give us lessons.

Posted below is what you need for chain and cable repair.

(If you buy a cable, make sure to tell the store the brand name of your derailleur. )

Here’s what anyone would need for chain repair, this is from Viktor:

 

1)       Chain tool (normal one or in a pinch the mini-tool ones)

2)       A master link or a chain pin (master link is much preferred)

3)       Patience

 

Here’s what you need for a cable repair:

 

1)       New cable (derailleur or brake – they are NOT the same, but all derailleur cables work for all derailleurs – front, back or brand and ditto for all brake cables work with all brakes (front/back or brand) to my knowledge.

2)       Hex key that fits the items you are fixing. I don’t recall the size – 5mm, most likely – to hold the cable in place

3)       Some knowledge of how to run the cable and then adjust what you are dealing with – derailleur/brake…

4)       More patience.

Safety First

Chicks

One of the B riders in the West Chester Cycling Club had an accident while riding, he is fine now, broken collarbone and bruises. He did say that he can now see the importance of carrying a cell phone.

SO LET ME AGAIN remind chicks what you should carry BEFORE riding.

1. charged cell phone with a contact called ICE (in case of emergency) and have a number in there of someone who will answer the phone when called while you are riding!!

2. ROAD ID, type that into google, buy a good road ID bracelet or ankle band

3. Carry your driver's license and or insurance card in you bike bag

4. Speaking of bike bags, GET ONE and put 2 spare tubes in it, get an inflation system that you can use, carry money as well in bag

5. Two water bottle holders and two water bottles. Always carry more than you think you will need, carry some type of snack as well.

6. Good pack for snacks, click here

7. Attend a bike clinic and learn how to change a tire.

Upcoming Events for Chicks

1. Wednesday Oct 22 7:00 pm Hot Foot Cycles is doing a professional bike fitting for Viktor Ohnjec, he is inviting any and all to come watch it and get some ideas about how your own bike fits  you. If you are riding and get lower back pain, shoulder pain or knee pain, you probably have a bike that does not fit you well. This clinic is YOUR ANSWER to that problem. It is FREE. Just go and watch and learn.

2. Bike Maintenance Clinic- date and time to be announced, clinic will focus on 3 things and have 3 stations, tire changing, chain maintenance at one station, chain repair at another and how to fix a broken cable at another. More details to come. We were out yesterday and had a chick suffer a broken cable, and I have been out riding and had someone have a broken chain. So we need to raise the bar in our ability to take care of oursevles on the road.

3. Saturday morning Biker Chick Ride, October 26, meet at Betzwood Bridge Parking lot at 8:30 am. We will bike all they way around the Art Museum. This ride is very fun, MLK Drive and Kelly Drive are closed to cars, so it is fun fun fun to bike on the roads and not have to worry about cars. Only road biking with cars will be in Manyunk. WILL STOP on the way back at the Couch Tomato for rest and snacks. This ride is taking the place of the usual Saturday morning ride from Hot Foot.

Directions to Betzwood, take Rt 202 north to the RT 422 west exit, take rt 422 to the Trooper Exit, bear left and keep going left even though it looks like you cannot go left.

Follow the road around to the parking lot, you will see lots of parked cars, so GET there EARLY or we will leave without you. Meet at the bathroom. Red brick building. Leave at 8:45 am SHARP.

Get  your fanny out of bed next saturday and come bike. FIND the time. Get a babysitter if you have too, get hubby to take the kids, whatever it takes, COME BIKE.

Ride start times

All rides on Saturday morning with the West Chester Cycling Club take off at 8:40 am, if you are not a club member, get there earlier as you have to sign a waiver form kept at Hot Foot Cycles.

SOON though start times will change as it gets colder and colder. So always check WCCC ride page or this blog for ride time updates.

what to wear in the in between weather

ladies

biking in this inbetween weather can be tricky

suggest good arm warmers and leg warmers

suggest wearing several layers of a good base layer

long pants are also nice, I went out this morning and had 3 tops on, windstopper arm warmers and long pants

it was a perfect outfit, never cold and never too hot

so come out tomorrow, two good options for ALL LEVELS

slower easier 30 mile ride

or faster longer 44 mile ride

cannot say that there is not something for everyone

libby

this is what biking means to me

Cyclists are often accused of taking the sport too seriously, expensive equipment, heart rate monitors,  cadence monitors and the list goes on and on, 

I took this right off my son's blog....

Have fun with your triathlon training and racing and biking!

At the 2008 AVDA 5K run/walk in Delray Beach on October 11, 2008, there was a mixture of weekend warriors, dedicated athletes, and high school kids. The high school kids appeared to be part of a fund raising activity... maybe something through their school to raise money for the ADVA.

It was cool to see the kids run the race. They did a few things that I noticed.

They ran in groups and talked with eachother.

They laughed and joked during the race.

Jokingly, they trash talked one another.

They encouraged their friends to run faster.

They smiled!

What a stark contrast to many of the overly serious local triathletes that show up to these races. While I certainly encourage approaching your training with seriousness, I really dislike triathletes that take themselves too seriously.

These are the guys and ladies who don't wave when they pass you on the bike. The people that run with an ipod, GPS monitor, watch, and heart rate monitor, and they check them every 5 seconds. The triathletes that ride with their $2000 Zipp wheels for a saturday recovery ride. The triathletes that wear a full body racing suit and facemask style goggles to the masters swim practice. Basically, the triathletes who race with their face crumpled into a grimace instead of shining with a smile.

Have fun! Talk with your buddies during a race. Trash talk them, laugh, run in a group. You're slow anyway, so why not run the race with your buddy who's coming in 30 seconds slower than you?

Saturday Ride and Sunday Ride

Saturday

TWO OPTIONS

1. cue #31 Ellen Zadoff will lead this ride, 44 miles, moderately hilly to rolling. Beautiful cue, pace at 12.5

2. Ride with Libby, NEWBIE RIDE, CUE #140, it does the same first 20 miles as cue #31, but this cue will come down RT 926, turn left on Tanguy and head home on Westtown Road into the boro. Total miles=30. Pace determined by who shows up. So any one looking to ride on Tar and Chip FREE roads, come on out. There is a WaWa at mile 10 if anyone needs to stop and rest.

Sunday

Ride the Schuylkill River Trail, meet at Betzwood at 9 am. If anyone is going to this ride, EMAIL ME as I need a ride to the trail. I have no car this Sunday. I can take both wheels off my bike to squeze into a SUV.

Sunday's ride will include a food stop in Manyunk at the Couch Tomato.

This ride is about 32 miles

Wednesday morning ride Oct 15

Ellen and I are doing  an approx 40 mile ride leaving at 9:30 am, pace will be 12.5 mph average

For road bikes only, email me if interested in joining us. Doing the 25 mile course of the Dog Daze ride but since we will leave from Ellen's house in the boro it will add about 12 or so miles to the course.

So if looking for a little challenge, come on out.

Libby

Great ride

Saturday's ride was terrific, the weather was sooooo nice. Two newbie chicks paired up and rode together and the rest of us ran a rather fast paced ride about 38  miles. Even with the change in the cue, I still clocked in 38 miles.

Embedded a cool video made by Steve P of WCCC. He wore a helmet cam.

Such fun, I got to get a helmet cam!!

WCCC Sunday Show-n-Go from Steve Petchon on Vimeo.

Fabo ride this morning

Ladies

Had a brand new Biker Chick this morning, Cassandra, a great lady and good rider.She recently did the Live Strong ride in honor of her sister who is right now undergoing cancer treatment.

She said biking has kept her sane.  We did 23 miles and it was beeeaaaauuuutiful today. Saw lots of riders on the road as well.

So hats off to our new Chick, not only did she get on her bike and ride, but she did very well.

Lets get you ladies off of your duffs and come biking this Saturday morning. The ride is about 34 miles from the boro or 24 from Shaws Bridge.

So what is your excuse??

thursday morning ride

i will head down this morning, but if the roads are wet, NO biking, cuz wet roads always mean a flat tire for me, and i just got these new tires,

but i will be there at 10 am and will check out the roads, now if it starts raining prior to 10, i will not be there

libby

Saturday's ride

cue #161

There is some type of road construction on Mortonville Rd, we will change the cue slightly to accommodate this obstacle. Stay on Strasburg at mile 21 we will stay on Strasburg and then turn left at Brandywine Creek Road.

This will shorten the ride as well. Hope to see some new chicks out, as the pace will be easy too.

New bike tires by Continental

I got several flat tires this summer  and had numerous holes in my tires like the one above.

I got a flat on the Seagull Century as well. Someone recommended the Continental  Ultra Gator Skins, found them on Performance's website and they were on sale for $34 each and got $5 knocked off with a coupon on the website.

Just wanted to add as well, one of the reasons I have gotten so many flats is that I AM RIDING!!!! If  you  have never gotten a flat, you should be riding more. Or else you got the best tires ever.

Who knows but I spent a while getting those new tires on my bike. It took 8 hands to stretch them over my rims, had to get my dogs to help!

Woof woof, we did it.

SUNDAY October 19 9:00 am

Ride the Schyulkill River Trail with Biker Chicks, meet at Betzwood Bridge Park entrance, ride to Manyunk, lunch or snack at the Couch Tomato and head home. We will not use the Tow Path in Manyunk but bike on the roads. Tow Path is a sure fire flat tire. We will meet at the bathrooms at the Betzwood Park.

This ride is about 32 miles. Heavy mountain bikes are not recommended. Either a cross bike or road bike is best. If you are serious about riding you will need to think about getting a good bike. Biker Chicks is not just a recreational biking group but women looking to improve their biking. Goal is to ride road bikes and to do lots of riding.

This is the 3rd newbie ride posted this month, so I want to see some new faces. 

WE MADE IT, newbie rides at bottom of post

Ladies

Ellen and I and Eileen and her hubby Ron all completed the 100 miles and came in by 4:30 pm. We started at 7 am and took every rest stop which were placed at every 20 miles.

The day was beyond beautiful, no wind and cool. Over 6000 riders were all on the roads and having fun. I saw riders of all types and ages. Lots of ladies on the road as well. All riders were courteous and obeyed good riding rules.

Unfortunately I have few pics as my camera got so dirty you cannot see what I was photographing. Got a few pics and Eileen sent me some from her phone. My hands got quite dirty as I had a flat and then stepped onto a Power Bar and had to get it out of my cleat. So my hands were sticky and black.

So my camera lens was covered in gunk! oh well

But we had a blast, I AM DEFINITELY planning on doing this ride again next  year. So I am throwing down the challenge now. I would love to see lots of chicks at this ride. It is beyond fun and not that hard to do. It is as flat as a pancake. There are rest stops every 20 miles. We just biked 20 miles, then stopped. Biked another 20 miles and stopped. So that made the ride very doable. This was Ellen's mindset and trust me, it helped greatly.

The food at the rest stops was not so good.  Will be better prepared next year.There is a place to buy lunch at the lunch stop but Ellen and I did not find it. Ron and Eileen did. Again, live and learn.

But for two newbies to  century riding, Ellen and I, did spectacular. We averaged near 14 mph for the 100 miles.

Not sure how Ellen is this Sunday morning, but I woke and felt fine and took my dogs for an hour walk. I did make a critical mistake at the ride and did not drink enough water. Will not make that mistake again.

SO LADIES, join me next year. It is really fun. Make it a goal for your cycling season next year. All you ladies sitting at home afraid to bike, all I got to say is  " why"??

Why are you afraid to bike. I am an old lady, nearing 60. If I can do it, anyone can. There are tons of ladies out there in Chester County, afraid to join the Biker Chicks, afraid we are too fast, afraid they cannot do it. If  you never bike with us, you are missing one fine time.

Thanks Ellen and Eileen and Ron for joining  me on this fun event. 

Thursday morning ride, Oct 9 10 am, posted below is for NEWBIES as well as a recovery ride for me. Meet at Shaws Bridge, get your fanny on your bike and come. We will do about 25 miles or less depending on who shows up and how I feel on Thursday.

Saturday's ride October 11 8:40 am is also changed. We will do cue# 161

This ride is 38 miles and we can pick up folks at Shaws Bridge and then the ride is about 28 miles.  Please come out. Please try to ride your bike.

Rides for week of Oct 5

Recovery ride - Thursday Oct 9, meet at Shaws Bridge Park at 10 am 25 miles, very slow and easy, this would be a good chance for newbies to come out and ride. So if you have been delaying trying to ride with the Chicks, thinking we are too fast for you, COME ON OUT NOW! NO MORE EXCUSES.

Saturday morning ride, 8:40 am This ride is changed, see post above.  Leave a comment in the comment section if you are planning on being at Shaws Bridge Park (this is a live link, click it for directions to Shaws Bridge).

USE the comment link below to let me know if you will be waiting at Shaws Bridge Park.

to leave messages for other chicks

to leave messages for chicks, you must use the comments section at the end of the posts, if you hit reply to the email message alerting you to  a new post

only I get the email, 

so use the comments section if you wish to talk to other chicks,

thanks

lib

3 chicks make the 75 mile MS ride to the shore

Charlene Underwood, Alexis Swinehart and Carol Woolford all biked at least 75 miles in one day to raise money for Multiple Sclerosis. A job well done and we are all proud of these ladies.

Hats off to a job well done!