Howdy neighbors! My name is Sol and I’m from Shreveport Louisiana! I’ve been in Minneapolis Minnesota for about five years, and I took the long way to get here! I didn’t know how to ride a bike until I was in my early twenties in Colorado Springs Colorado, and I didn’t get into it as a lifestyle in a culture until I moved to Minneapolis Minnesota.

I’m considered very low level in everything concerning bikes, so I’m very happy to be in Minneapolis Minnesota with such a large welcoming cyclist! I’m also very grateful that the community here is so large that they are people who can identify problematic behavior, and don’t have any worries about breaking off into their own groups to be around the people that are better for them. Minneapolis is one of the few places that I’ve been to that is very in touch with mental and emotional health care, and it shows! There’s some people that will never get it, because they refuse to, but that is not the mainstream functioning ideology here.

Above is a picture of my lovely Constance! I learned a lot of what I know with my previous bike, which went unnamed. Unfortunately, that bike was stolen shortly after I moved to the house that I currently live in now. I doubt Constance will be my last bike, but I hope that many adventures are ahead of us!

My name is Amy, but most people call me Amy K (due to one of those eastern European last names that no one can pronounce). I’m a female identified cyclist who enjoys cooking meals from scratch, hanging out with puppies, assembling puzzles, taking photographs, and poking people with needles (yes, really, I’m a licensed acupuncturist).  My first bike memory is riding on the back of my mom’s 1970’s Raleigh 3 speed cruiser, and my most accomplished moment on a bike occurred at age 9 when I figured out how to ride no-handed in my large circular neighborhood streets (I was super stoked about it!).

I’ve been attending Grease Rag events since the first winter skill share at Sunrise Cyclery several years ago and am a regular attendee at Grease Rag-NE at Recovery Bikes. But alas, I have missed many awesome GR events over the last several years due to a rigorous graduate school schedule. Now that I’ve completed my degree and have the flexibility to devise my own schedule (one of the pros of owning your own business), I look forward to becoming a more active member of the Grease Rag community, including writing for the Grease Rag blog.

(That’s me at my first ever gravel race, Riot Grrravel – photo courtesy and credit to Kate Lockhart)

I’ve always been told: “Write what you know.”

Well, I know natural forms of healing. After being diagnosed with an autoimmune digestive disease at the age of 21, I found myself drastically underweight, malnourished, and with barely enough energy to get through each day, let alone ride a bike. While I give full credit to western medicine for bringing me back from the dead (more accurately a diet of only potato bread and applesauce), I slowly realized that the drugs that were miraculous for me when I was at my sickest were slowly doing their own damage to my body. It was at that point that I decided I had to take my health into my own hands: I drastically changed my diet, lifestyle, and attitude regarding my health and am proud to say that I am now three full years prescription drug free and have never felt healthier!

So, what does this have to do with my voice on the Grease Rag blog??

I plan on using this platform to share lots of health information that is geared specifically for female identified cyclists.

1. I want to replace the all the “fake food” that many cyclists bring on long rides (shot-blocks, energy bars, etc) with healthy snacks made with actual food that are just as easy to eat on two wheels! I am constantly brainstorming how to make my own version of popular processed foods. Earlier this summer I made my own version of Gatorade to stay hydrated during the Riot Grrravel race. Check out my recipe!

2. I plan on sharing several stretches and mobility exercises to help combat and prevent common aches and pains many female identified cyclists experience. And for those of you who are already dealing with pain, I’ll share some of the most effective ways to live pain-free.

3. After working in the health and body care section of the Wedge Co-op for five years, I have lots of strong opinions about the products we put in and on our bodies. Get ready for some recommendations on how to protect your skin, hair, and nether regions (!!) from all the wacky weather that Mother Nature throws at us Minnesotans.

Thanks for letting me introduce myself! If you’re interested in learning more about natural health or acupuncture, please visit my acupuncture blog.

Peloton Magazine’s Heidi Swift will be riding and writing from France as a member of the Rêve Women’s Team that is riding the entire route of the 2012 TDF on behalf of Bikes Belong. Here Heidi talks about her preparation, equipment and thoughts about the Tour de France.

Rêve 2012 | Heidi Swift introduces the Women’s Grand Tour Project from velodramatic on Vimeo.

Six women, from different cycling backgrounds, will be riding the Tour de France route from Liège to Paris (3479 km!) from July 2 through July 21 with the Rêve Women’s Project.  Rêve is a company that takes a team of 15 riders on the tour route every year, and this year they’ve partnered with Bikes Belong, a non-profit cycling advocacy organization composed of a national coalition of bicycle retailers and suppliers committed to “making bicycling in the U.S. safer and better,” and six amazing female cyclists.

From the Rêve website:

In what we believe will be a first for women’s cycling, a team of six amateur women will take on the ultimate road cycling challenge of a complete grand tour. Starting in Liège one day ahead of the pro peloton our riders will complete the entire parcours of the 2012 Tour de France arriving in Paris on the 21st of July. In the process they’ll prove to themselves, other female cyclists, and women thinking about taking up the sport, that any bicycle dream is possible.

In true Rêve fashion they’ll stay in the same spartan hotels and endure the unrelenting grind of daily transfers that define the annual three-week test of heart, mind and legs.

I’m inspired by these women.  I like what they are trying to do!  I’m following Heidi Swift’s dispatches to peloton magazine, and in her latest article, “Not Picture Perfect,” she talks about cobbling together their team.

Teams are built on shared experience. Teams are founded on trust that is created and nurtured over time, through training or togetherness. A team is more than six women stuffed into the same spandex superhero outfit.

We’re learning to work together slowly. We’re not forcing it. We’re meshing the riding styles (and personalities!) of a randonneur with a crit racer with a pro triathlete. You think that’s easy? It’s not. But we’re making it happen.

We are making this up as we go. And we are doing the best we can.  Every day, it’s a little bit better. We’re having hard conversations and making strategic decisions. It was rocky at first and it’s getting sorted out.

Swift’s writing is descriptive, motivating, and highly personal.  I’m really appreciating her voice.  Even if you’re not into le Tour, you might want to check out this team of women.

Jonathan Maus of BikePortland has an interview with Heidi Swift where he asks, “Besides the fundraising for Bikes Belong, how do you think the ride (and accompanying media coverage) will help women’s cycling in the U.S.#8221;  Swift answers,

To be honest, I think that this is an interesting challenge regardless of gender and I think that’s what makes it powerful. If we continue and drive the ongoing national discussion about women on bikes (and I expect we will) by providing one more point of visibility and a story that is compelling, all the better.

That said, I think this project will really resonate with women. In the summer of 2010 I did a lot of solo touring. I rode all around Central and Eastern Oregon and then rode up to Canada past Whistler. I camped for most of that trip and spent very long days on the road by myself. I was lucky enough to be able to write a few columns for the Oregonian about it and the response really shocked me: women of every age and background contacted me about the adventure with questions or personal stories about things they’d always wanted to do but had put off for various reasons. I corresponded with women about what it’s like to ride alone, how to prepare physically and financially and the realities of being safe in the world.

What struck me most about that trip, those stories and those interactions was that the appeal was pretty universal – some of the women actually wanted to do a solo bike tour but some of them wanted to fly planes or simply take a long roadtrip in a car. Regardless, the more universal idea of planning and then actually doing some big “life dream” type adventure really resonated. I think similar principles will apply here. Also, I know that for me personally, when I see someone doing something really challenging, it always inspires me to question my own assumptions about what I’m capable of.

I can relate to challenging your own assumptions and allowing yourself to reach your full potential.  Is it fear that holds us back?  Is it self-doubt?  Either way, having role models and seeing other women conquering an epic life dream is inspiring, and makes me want to do something big.

Best of luck, Team!

By Charlotte

Dear GreaseRag,

I am happy to present to you my new blog – Woman on a Wheel. In this next year I will be travelling around the world to study and work with women’s bike movements in Ecuador, China, Indonesia, Hungary, Sierra Leone, and Guatemala (!!!!). I’m interested in seeing how women are personally, politically, and economically empowered through being involved with women’s bike projects – I know that I feel empowered through being involved with these movements, and I want to see what that is like in different places around the world.

And what better way to share this experience than to blog about it.  I’ll be posting photos, writting about my travels, and also posting a series of short videos.  While I am in each place I will be asking women I meet to go for a bike ride with a helmet camera to film what a typical ride is like for them. I will then interview them about what inspires them about biking, and have the interviews be the audio of the video.  The first video is of me biking around St. Paul/Minneapolis which is where this whole journey begins.

Hope you enjoy it!

By Charlotte

Introducing the Solidago Riders! a group of five amazing women biking around the Great Lakes to raise money and awareness about environmental activism. I am super excited to introduce these ladies because they are five friends of mine from Macalester who are organizing an awesome trip for a great cause.  The Solidago Riders are comprised of Jacqueline Kutvirt, Rose Holdorf, Ainsley Judge, Robin Major, and Tressa Versteeg.

The ladies will take off in late July to circle the great lakes.  While they ride they are raising money for Grand Aspirations, a local non-profit working on issues of climate change and environmental justice.  As they ride they are also going to be documenting what youth around the lakes are doing to combat climate change in their local communities.

“Solidago” comes from “a solidago, commonly known as a golden rod, is a great flower that grows in the Great Lakes Region. More than that, we like how solidago reminds us of solidarity and of going places.”

IT GETS EVEN BETTER! You can support the Solidago Riders and also go to an AWESOME music/arts festival at the same time! Solidago Bombago will be a music and arts festival in Somerset, Wisconsin on June 25th and June 26th.  Tickets are $25 if you ride and $30 if you drive.  There will be a group ride leaving from St. Paul to the festival site. The ticket includes entrance to the festival, camping the night of the 25th, and dinner. There will also be a rad skill share!

Please check out their website, show them some support, and go to Solidago Bombago if you can! Awesome women doing awesome things on bikes.

By Jen

I recently came across another awesome WTF bike blog. Sam writes at Brown Girl in the Lane from her car-free life in San Diego. She recently mentioned her miles per burrito stats–clearly the best way to think about fueling your ride–and a ride in Tijuana, Mexico with Paseo de Todos. (Her partner Fred also blogs about bikes and he’s pretty cool too.)

Draw your attention to the MPB sticker on the top tube.

[Image of the rear half of a bike, viewed from above. The seat is covered in a white grocery bag. The frame is dark green, but largely covered in stickers (the only one clearly visible says 53 miles per burrito). The bike has a silver fender on the rear wheel and a black rack.]

In many cities, it is already Bike/Walk Week. (Twin Cities Bike/Walk Week is coming up June 4-12, 2011.) Sam is an experienced bike commuter but she gives a nice perspective on what it’s like to commute by bike for the first few times: stressful, harrowing, and very sweaty. You get strange looks (been there) and angry drivers and pedestrians (been there too). Infrastructure is not always designed in your favor.

Ah…I see you’ve been patiently waiting at this intersection for the light to change. We do not believe in timed lights in this city. Many cyclists will tell you that you need to place your your bicycle in such a way that the North Star and the Sun are both in alignment and you also need to do the hokey pokey and turn yourself around before the light will change.

But she sums it up the best way, explaining the unexplicable of why we bike everywhere.

You will learn to ride more and more and more. And it will be very hard to explain or even rationalize why you ride so much. But you will. And it will be the most blissful state of existence you will ever know. And you desperately want others to experience this too, but it is hard to explain or convince anyone else to do it. So you do it alone, every day. Just you and your bicycle.

I’ve written a few posts for Grease Rag at this point and I think I’m going to stick around for a while. So an introduction is in order. The name’s Jen. My info has been aggregated into the demographics post, which tells you very little that’s specifically about me, and I now have a rider profile. I’m pretty new to the Twin Cities and loving it here. I geek out about bikes, science, infrastructure, photography, cooking,  and all things crafty. Expect an assortment of posts on all of those things, including the occasional recipe recap after a Grease Rag wrench night. I’ve also written about bicycle poetry and the sounds I’ve heard while riding this winter. I enjoy the challenge of making vegan baked goods (which isn’t that challenging, especially with a good book!) and of allergen-free baking. Let me know if you’re coming to a work night and have a specific need or request!

I currently have four bikes and I love them all. Most recently I’ve been transitioning from my winter bike to my summer commuter, Gladys. Gladys needs constant care, facilitated by Grease Rag, so I’ve been switching between the two as the mood strikes me. More on Gladys’ origins, upkeep, and namesake, later.

Here’s a picture of Gladys looking regal in front of Minnehaha Falls a few weeks ago.

Gladys is a blue road bike with a black seat, handlebars, and tires. She has a rack for carrying panniers over her rear wheel. In this picture she is leaning up against a stone wall and fills the foreground, with light glinting off of her brakes and saddle. Minnehaha Falls is in the background. The waterfall is partially frozen and covered in white ice. There are brown rocks to the left of the waterfall with a cap of snow on the top.