Autumn | Bike Goddess

Seeing Red

Featured

Posted on October 29, 2022 by bikegoddess

Red is a great color for a bike or a car or a cape. I have wanted a red bike since I was grew out of my red tricycle. I’ve pined over red mixtes (Soma Buena Vista) and road bikes (Salsa Warbird) and even mountain bikes (I did have a Gary Fisher Tasajara) but what they possessed in color they lacked in other ways, or that’s what I tell myself. Hi, I’m Bike Goddess and I have an addiction to bikes. Thanks for being here.

Gosh, I still miss Tessa, my Gary Fisher! She was sassy!

When Bryan at the eBikeStore informed me in an email that the bike of my dreams might be available for a test ride, I bit. See if you can answer the questions:

George Clooney, Madonna, Donatella Versace and Sir Richard Branson all have homes on Lake _________. (Como)

When excited, a favorite greeting is a “High __________.” (Five)

Ferrari’s are often this color: __________. (Red)

When I got my first electric bike it was winter of 2015 and the bike was a Faraday Cortland with a belt drive. It had the 3 B’s. Belt drive. Beauty. Blissful. The third B I use to refer to the sounds a bike makes while you’re riding. I want my ride to be steath and I don’t want to hear the machine of the bike regardless of electric or not. The Como got a 4 out of 5 on the Bliss scale of noise. The battery is the quietest ever however there’s a sound the chain makes that’s a bit on the loud end when you’re coasting. My Cortland was my favorite and still holds a place in my heart. It’s baby blue with hints of opalescence so the color alone is iconic and difficult to name.

Why a belt drive? I took a belt drive bike for a test ride years ago but I let myself be swayed by popular opinion at the time and price. Popular opinion from the bike mechanics was that it was a fad and I should wait and see. The bike was expensive and just wanted to see what it was like. I was extremely impressed but I’d wait. Belt drives are stealth and maintence free. Imagine never dealing with chain grease or chain issues at all. I mean at all.

Lulu, the Cortland, has over 6,500 miles and she’s the only belt drive bike I’ve ever owned. She was my dream ride. Super cute and perfect for my 20 miles a day commute. I dolled her up with a few accessories and we got along famously for quite sometime. However the range of 22 miles round trip proved difficult for a few things just outside the range like riding into Portland and back. Two levels of boost such as boost and a little more boost was fine in 2015. She’s sublime and everything I wanted until I needed just a little more.

This was after I first got the Como. Original saddle and using the rack for panniers. I changed out the saddle and still a perfect commuter in 2022 with outstanding range. #ebikeanywhere

Isn’t that the way it goes. My second ebike is the one I ride now which is a Specialize Como 5 Turbo. I did call her Ella (Greek for come) but recently she’s become more of a Perri, as in Perry Como because it’s such a great name and when I had her in the bike shop for some annoying crooning and creaking, Perry became the obvious name choice. She has over 14,000 miles which means she’s taken the lead over any of my miles and my Kona mixte comes in at 13,000 as an analog bike. Both of these bikes fit me like designer jeans or like they were made especially for me. I can ride and ride and ride either bike without worry. All the adages come true with these two bikes. I can go the distance and wear whatever I want, kitted up or not, these bikes are my steelmates.

My Kona Mixte is such a sweetie. Best analog bike ever!

Basket situation on my 2019 Como 5. Not a frame mount, yet perfectly adequate.

The desire for a belt drive nags at me however. And the color. I don’t mind the midnight blue but I live in the Northwest and everything from November to May is midnight blue. I want color. I commute to and from work and most errands and generally I do everything and go everywhere on my bikes. Don’t I deserve it? Yeah, but do you really need it? Ugh! Life in my head is like the Devil and the Angel and I’d like to evict both of them.

Very soon I will test ride the new Como 5 in red with a belt drive. There’s a possibility that this bike can also be outfitted with a large basket in front that is frame mounted which is another feature from the Cortland that I adored. This will pose a big problem for me because I will want. I will pine. I will long for it. I will feel all the feels and I’ll need it like I need air. I will feel all the longings of all my days summed up in one object and I’ll be out of my right mind and become obsessed with having the thing I don’t really need but I want.

The answer to the questions above are: Como. Five and red. This is a review from Ebike Review and even though it’s the Como 3, you’ll get the basic idea. I don’t 100% love the look and the deep step through but I could see myself appreciating it in a few more years too.

Will this one have it all? The truth is I could be content with Perry Como as she is. There are many features I’ve dialed in on my 2019 Como. You know how it is. You fiddle and toy and tinker until it fits the way you want and does what you want it to do. I have the basket situation arranged so I use a Timbuk2 messenger bag to stash all my capes and clothes and accoutrement so basically the new Como will have to knock my cleats off. I wonder if it will.

Thanks for reading my musings on bikes and accessories. It is a bit of an addiction, but a good one. At least that’s what I tell myself. Right? What are your bike obsessions? Anything that’s a deal breaker?

Have a great day and get out there and ride!

Bike Goddess

Frightful Few Weeks

Featured

Posted on October 21, 2022 by bikegoddess

Not my skeletons but still a fightful few weeks!

Are they still on the lam? The local polic posted a photo of a white subaru and video of what appears to be some sort of pyrotechnics and then days and days of fire and smoke and evacuations. 18,000 acres burned. All because someone thought fireworks in a forest would be what? Fun? Stupid is and stupid does. I haven’t been on my bike since Monday, October 17th because the air quality numbers have been high enough to make me think I should brush up on my driving skills. At school students are inside for recess for four day. It has been yet another unprecedented week of chaos.

Smoking in restaurants was banned first in California in the 90s, but this isn’t smoking per se, it’s a forest fire. Firefighters worked tirelessly on the Nakia Creek fire which is near my school district. I live about 12 miles south and west, but it’s a fire…therefore the high winds and lack of rain means that lots of families were evacuated and the reverse 9-1-1 call made to many people I know. You may have seen news of the incident on the news but what you don’t see unless you too have been through it are the dire effects of all the smoke. It’s in my eyes, lungs and it feels gritty and gross. If I ever thought I could be a firefighter this week has eliminated that possibility.

Usually in the Green but several days of bad air makes you appreciate all the good air.

Two Mondays ago I commuted 11.6 miles in the morning but my husband picked me up because air quality was getting worse by the minute. Moving the needle of normal air quality from green to yellow to orange and red and before you know it you couldn’t see ahead much more than 3 feet. I commuted again on Friday, the 21st.

October 21st we finally had the first drops of rain.

Once the rain came it stayed and I’m happy it’s back even though I do complain about it. I admit that I prefer misty-moisty to burning embers, smoke, cinders and ash. However, somehow between the fires and mist I caught a cold. Not Covid, which is what everyone says now. “I got sick, but not Covid-sick.” I tested myself multiple times and I was negative for Covid but a cold caught me and regaled me with a sore throat, cough, massive headache and general malaise. I wish I could tell you that I stayed home, but I did not. I know, I know! Have I learned nothing? I know better but the educational system does not look kindly on taking time for oneself. It didn’t before the pandemic and it doesn’t now. I masked at school and took my DayQuil and pushed on through. Sometimes that’s the only option even when you know better.

What does this all mean? In the bike confessional, it means it has been two weeks since I’ve commuted my regular commute. Insert blood curdling scream here. I’d completed about 15 miles total which is disturbing and makes me long for the regular routine. I do this from time to time. I want a break from the routine, the grind, the day-today, but it’s never quite the break I want. I was thinking more along the lines of a vacation to a Greek island.

‘Tis the season of skeletons and pumpkins, monsters and ghouls however to me the scariest thing is not being able to ride my bike and be out there enjoying the scenery and breathing the clean air into my lungs and being happy to be alive. Here’s to health and happy trails and solid rain gear.

Keep riding dear readers and take care of yourself. Thanks for reading my blog. If you found some value in it please give it a Like and have a great day!

Bike Goddess

My Bike Ride is My Bliss

Aside

September was a blur of activity. My daily mileage was good but something was different. My school schedule has changed drastically. Now school starts a full hour later than it did last year and the subsequent 20 years of my career. I used to leave the house at 6am but now it’s 7ish. There’s traffic like I’ve never seen in all the years I’ve commuted to school by bike. Now there are four cars at the four way stop and there are trucks and motorcycles everywhere. Deliveries are being made and FedX or UPS trucks are everywhere, or that’s how it feels. The road is not my own every morning. I’ve tried four different routes to determine which one has the least amount of traffic. But where cars are few, school buses are in my lane. Yes, school buses in the bike lanes! I figure by the time I get to the end of October I won’t be as outraged by it all. Maybe by then I will have it figured out. I really should live in Copenhagen or Amsterdam.

The last day of the month and I wanted to go out for a moutain bike ride and catch some falling leaves. The air was heavy with fog and some drizzle but then it cleared up and I was shedding some layers. Another month of riding full speed ahead. Because despite the schedule changes and traffic, my bike rides are my zen. Plain and simple, it’s my bliss.

Happy Fall!
Happy October!
Get out there and ride! You’ll love it, but be safe!

Bike Goddess

Advice: The Goddess Is In

Aside

I felt like Lucy from Peanuts today. Ever have those days when you can’t help yourself from sharing your wisdom? Those days when you’re possessed by the need to shower others with what you’ve learned from years of doing it your way? The last few days have been like that for me.

I rode my bike to the chiropractor the other day. I park my bike at the front by the desk. For whatever reason I took a pic while I was waiting because I thought the light was exceptional and it was Car Free Day and I was in fact car free! While I was getting some realigning of my own my bike attracted some of the folks waiting for their appointments. As I followed my doc out to the reception area there were three people hovering over my bike.

One woman in her early 70s was intrigued by the color and how the racks “looked like they were made to go with the bike.” I explained that they were! She thought my bike was “very pretty” and wondered about the apparatus on the handlebars. What goes in there?

Version 2

“My phone!” I tell her. ”

Oh, well, I’d like one of those for my golf cart,” she exclaims. Where did I get that?

Then another woman asked about that silver thing. She pointed at it as though she thought she knew but then decided she’d see if I knew the answer. “This is a Faraday bike,” I explained, “and there’s motor up front in the wheel and that silver thing is the controller. It’s where I turn on the bike and lights.”

“This is an electric bike?” Overcome by astonishment. There were Ohhh’s and Ahhh’s and then the Golf Cart lady announced that this was a “cheater bike” and I thought I was going to have to take her down, but I composed myself and said, “Then a golf cart is cheating too.” I was not going to let Golf cart lady off the hook. “Shouldn’t you be walking from hole to hole. Why use a golf cart? With your logic, cars are the ultimate cheat.” Two more people came over and asked whether it was like a scooter. “Oh, no. A scooter takes gas and this is a bike first and foremost. I don’t have to be electric with it, but I have the option when I need a boost up a hill or I need to get someplace at 18mph instead of 12.

“Hills? We don’t have hills!” Golf cart lady said.

“You probably don’t feel them in your car or cart.” I challenged. She was a kick!

“This is a pedal assist.” I explained. “It doesn’t move unless I move. It provides a lovely little boost which helps me get to work faster in the morning and means I don’t have to ride the bus or drive a car”

Golf cart lady was not sure what to make out of me and my bike, “Is that wood? Wood is pretty but impractical for our weather.”

I admitted that I was skeptical at first but I rode all spring and found that the bike stays very clean and the bamboo is low maintenance. There was some nodding and raised eyebrows. All in all, I think I could have convinced them to take a test ride if I’d been in a bike shop instead of a chiropractor’s office.

Golf cart lady wanted the details about the phone holder for her golf cart and told me to be careful out there.

The second advice encounter happened at the bike shop today when a young woman was looking at bike gear. I was waiting for my bike to get some new fenders and I was checking my phone messages. I was sitting on a bench by the shoes and she sat down with an array of overshoe covers. She had a half dozen out and tried them on and took them off. After about 10 minutes I couldn’t help myself. “Have you tried these before?” I probed. She explained she needed something but wasn’t sure what to try. Suddenly I’m pontificating about how I’ve tried them all. I love anything Gore when it comes to a jacket but I have not has much success with the overshoes. I liked the neoprene, but weirdly they aren’t that waterproof in our Northwest rain. I like the grippy quality of the soles but they weren’t waterproof on my commutes.

I found myself leaning in and I told her I wear Sorel boots with a good rain pant and that does the trick. If I was going to do anything different, I’d just buy another pair or waterproof Sorel boots or something similar. I’ve heard Bogs are amazing, but I don’t have personal experience with them.

“What about your helmet? Do you wear one of these?” she asks holding up those helmet shells. I shook my head no. I have a brim on my helmet and I wear often put a beanie over the helmet. I layer my head so I have a lighter beanie over my hair and another over the helmet. It’s amazing and toasty. The rain doesn’t roll down my neck or jacket. Even if it does get wet, it’s usually dried out by morning. I could pop it in the dryer, but I don’t recall doing that at all last winter.

Theses are my two winter looks. The one on the right works beautifully in the rain too!

Early fall. Warm & protected.

Doubled up. Cap on hair and cap on helmet.

Riding though all the seasons is challenging. Everyone has to find what works for them, however, sometimes people who are out in the elements all the time are more helpful in the advice department. I spent some time going through all my gear and I feel ready for another season of riding.

What about you? What advice do you have about gear or riding though the seasons?

Until next time, get out there and ride.

Happy Autumn!

Bike Goddess