Some more RTCC 2012 shots …. this time courtesy of photographer Ron Sombilion – check out his gallery of the event here.
Ron captured me as I arrived at the finish line, and later when my friends doused me with champagne. A great moment!!
Copyright: Ron Sombilon
Copyright: Ron Sombilon
Copyright: Ron Sombilon
Copyright: Ron Sombilon
Copyright: Ron Sombilon
Copyright: Ron Sombilon
I distinctly remember Edwin Santiago taking photos during the Ride to Conquer Cancer 2012. He took some spectacular shots!!
I love the ones he took of me – don’t really have any ‘in action’ cycling shots of myself besides these.
Copyright: Edwin Santiago
This is on Day 2 – it’s nice and dry and I have started so late but I am so happy 🙂
Copyright: Edwin Santiago
I often heard the “Follow the Pink Tutu” battle cry. These 2 riders liked my speed and were following me, but you can almost see my back wheel’s flat tire! We parted ways when I realized I had a flat and needed help.
Copyright: Edwin Santiago
Great shot 🙂 Love the movement in my garments. On tippy toes like ballerinas (although this is such bad technique!!)
If you’d like to see more images from the Ride to Conquer Cancer 2012 – check out Edwin’s portfolio from the event here. Beautiful work Edwin!!
It has taken me an entire week to upload my RTCC 2012 video – but it is finally here!! I choose early 80s disco/soul music because it reminds me of my mom – she was diagnosed with breast cancer only a few weeks before the ride and we both love that style of music.
I wore my pink tutu the entire time I was on my bike and it was a huge hit – a lot of riders were complimenting me on it and asking me why I was wearing it – for my mom!! A few days after the ride my mom went to hospital for her mastectomy. The surgery was a success and she is back at home recuperating.
Thank you to all my friends, family, angels and saints who prayed for her 🙂
The entire RTCC experience was just amazing and I HIGHLY encourage anyone in British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario or Quebec to sign up!
I was so scared that I’d fail but I have the best friends & family who supported me all the way – with donations, encouragement, training, etc!!
So here is my video – I hope you like it!!
I will be creating another post with the “lessons learned” for anyone who is thinking about doing this ride in the future. It’s always a good idea to speak to someone who has already done the ride to get the low-down on what to expect!!
Over the past couple of weeks I’ve been thinking a lot about my mom who was recently diagnosed with Breast Cancer….
Keeping tabs on how she’s doing , thinking of HOW exactly I can be of any help to her (and my dad) since I live so far away from home, and searching for a way to SHOW my support.
Since I am cycling to Seattle to raise awareness for Cancer Research on June 16th, I thought it would be AMAZING if I could personalise my bike/ cycling gear for her! And then send her photos of the event.
But what should I do??!  A photo of her attached to my helmet or jacket, or a pink ribbon on my cuff/ chest, or pink ribbons in my pigtails, or sowing the word MOM with red yarn red on my jersey sleeve…. I turned over a lot of different ideas in my head.
I wanted something BIGGER and BETTER and BOLDER – because she deserves it!!
The final result – tres magnifique. I hope my mom likes it!!
So I was super excited when I got home after my Saturday training ride & the idea popped into my head – I could wear a PINK Ballerina style tutu!!! EUREKA!!!
Inspired and energized by my sudden Eureka moment I pounced on my bed & powered up my Macbook to do some quick research.  Primarily I was interested in discovering how much adult tutus cost and where I can find a nearby dance-specific  retailer or online store that can ship product to my door in under a week…
Here’s what I discovered:
ONE: An inspiring & creative initiative by photographer bob Carey – The Tutu Project. Bob’s wife has battled Breast Cancer, so he takes photos of himself wearing a tutu to raise awareness. He’s also published a book of these images – with proceeds going directly towards Breast Cancer organizations including Cancer Care and the Beth Israel Dept of Integrative Medicine Fund. The following is my favourite image of his.
TWO: That once again YouTube saves the day! I don’t need to BUY a tutu ….. I can go ahead and MAKE one! It’s super simple!
I watched this helpful video, took down some notes, stashed an inch tape in my purse, and quickly made my way to Dress Sew on West Hastings Street to buy fabric & ribbon.
There were a lot of different shades of pink tulle – hot pink, dark almost purple pink , pale almost white pink, etc. In the end (thanks to a suggestion from a guy who was buying material for his wizard costume), I settled on a dusty rose pink tulle + a sparkly baby pink organza that IÂ planned to use as an accent throughout the tutu (makes it more magical when you add some sparkle!)…
The method I used is exactly as was described in the video. I measured 25″ for the length of my tutu strips (folded in half that equates to a 12.5″ long tutu) – which is perfect for riding a bike. Not too long (don’t want it to get all snagged on my back wheel) – not too short (so it still looks like a skirt and not a fuzzy belt).
I worked on this till 3am during one of this week’s evenings, and then finalized it the following day … thank heavens for caffeine!
Nothing better than crafts after midnight!!
The reasons why I think a handmade pink tutu is the PERFECT tribute for my mom:
1. Pink – The symbolic colour for Breast Cancer. I like Pink. Pink tutus look pretty. An orange tutu would look nice too BUT A PINK ONE IS JUST PRETTIER! Period!
2. Size & Visibility –  I will definitely be noticable in my tutu. You’d easily miss a small ribbon, or sown-in MOM on my jersey – but you cannot miss my tutu!
3. Handmade – My mom made me a couple of skirts when I was younger. So I am honouring her skill, care and talent with my own creation for her. It’s like we share the same skill/talent – and I think that’ll be nice for her to see.
4. Childhood memories – My mom dreams of me as a kid whenever I feature in her dreams, and when I was little I had a pink ballerina themed room – so it fits the bill.
The sparkly ‘highlights’ – are so pretty 🙂
I am so happy with the result. I CANNOT wait to wear this on the ride PROUDLY showing my mom I am thinking of her – and if it’s not too spoilt from all the rain and mud, I will frame it and hang it in my room as a keepsake.
When I was making it I thought this is even better AND bigger than wearing a pink ribbon because the strips of material folded and tied and half resemble the typical pink ribbon symbol – and I have scores & scores of them. It’s a pink ribbon multiplier effect!
XOXOXOXOX LOVE YOU SO MUCH MOM!!!!! XOXOXOXOX
Yesterday I popped into MEC after work  to do some rain-gear shopping ahead of my EPIC Ride to Conquer Cancer 2012 event.
As mentioned in an earlier post – I have been keeping a close eye on the weather and I am sad to say dreadful June-uary has struck again. It will be raining on both days! NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!
But seriously…. it always rains a lot in June. It’s to be expected. I’d HIGHLY reccomend the RTCC organizers to consider moving the BC ride to July in upcoming years. Â
So this is what I bought!
From all the water resistant (NOT 100% proof!) jackets I tried on – this one was the clear winner. The material felt the best. It has a little pouch to stuff the jacket into – so it folds down into nothing.
I like the super shiny interior that leads me to believe it is the most resistant to penetrating water from the jackets I tried. I also like the Italian- tailoring. Molto bello! Â
What I wasn’t super keen on was that it is BLACK – and kinda reminded me of a garbage bag. Having said that – when I was trying it on my pink tutu later that evening, I have to say they looked pretty good together!! The black & pink colour combo always works well on me…. am a girly rocker-chick at heart.
These are some decidedly unsexy shoe covers but they are CHEAP and that makes me happy because I doubt I will use them very often. In the future, if it is raining hard enough for me to need them I likely will do a rain check on outdoor cycling for the day!
Since the flap that comes down under the toe is partially hiding my cleat I will need to snip a U shaped hole in them so that I can clip in and out of my pedals with ease. All in all though – I am happy to have found these AND in my size. There were hordes of ppl looking at shoe covers at MEC when I was there – buying them for the RTCC 2012 no doubt!!
So originally I wasn’t thinking of getting pants as well….
BUT when I peeled off my Castelli Cycling Pants on Monday evening after a good soaking from Dragon Boating practise, Â I realised how water absorbent those pants really are, and decided some waterproof bottoms are a non-negotiable for me!
These pants are AWESOME. I put them on and decided I wanted them within 2 seconds. Great buy!
2Â x MEC Mountain Logo Scotchlite Leg Bands $3.75 each
I bought two of these to firmly hold down my water resistant pants so that they do not snag on the chain (as has happened in the past with another pair of pants I own). I like their funky late 80s/ early 90s lightening bolt design.
Sadly I destroyed my VanFondo bottle in the dishwasher…. so I bought a cheap and cheerful bright blue one to go with my super-blue bike. Perfect match!
So that is my shopping haul from MEC ahead of the big weekend. If you are doing the ride and do not have any rain-gear… YOU”RE A FOOL!!!
So… it looks ike we are in for some rain. Maybe not a lot (thank god!!) but it certainly looks wetter in Washington.
Not sure which site is more accurate – KOMO or King 5…. I selected Global TV BC for Vancouver’s weather forecast, because CTV use The Weather Network, and they are rubbish at predicting the weather!!
On Saturday June 2, 2012 my friends and I went for a cycling trip down to White Rock – a city literally a stone’s throw from the US border.
We prayed AND prayed for a clear day all week – and our prayers were answered! Although the skies were heavy with rain when we started – the clouds held out for as long as they could as we escaped Vancouver and Richmond to reach our sunny destination. 🙂
Some facts:
Local pilots refer to White Rocks as ‘the hole in the sky’ – since the city is often bright and sunny while the rest of the Lower Mainland is covered by a thick blanket of grey clouds.
The city is named for a distinctive large white boulder on its beach near the promenade, a glacial erratic that migrated south during the last glaciation. 19th-century sailors used it as a beacon.
One Native Indian legend claims that the gigantic rock marks the landing spot of a stone that was thrown across Georgia Straight  (i.e. the area with the killer whale fin)  by a young Indian chief in order to determine where his bride & he would move from Vancouver Island. Isn’t that cute? I like it!
Below is a play-by-play outline of the route we took…
By the time we reached Delta (which is beautiful BTW)… we felt like this trip was NEVER ENDING!! haha Man is White Rock ever far!
I’d love to explore more of the Southern Lower Mainland… one of my favourite parts of this trip was the Mud Bay area between Delta and White Rock.
That’s Jason panting… he was so tired from keeping us with us girls!!! ;p
There is nothing better than an ice-cold beer after a lonnnnng bike ride!!
And finally, the moment we’ve all been waiting for… here’s the video I did about this ride. I was inspired by the vintage 1974 bike ride I had seen earlier that week – so I decided to give this video a vintage-feel. Hope you like it!
I went on a long ride out to White Rock yesterday and I did a number on my right hip flexor.
That hip joint likes to pop when I do yoga so I know it’s a bit of a tender/ problematic area… but I can’t really pinpoint what I did wrong yesterday to cause all that pain.
Some causes are – overworking, not stretching, jumping into strenuous activity too quickly without proper warm up, aggressive kicking motion, hill training, stopping and starting physical activity abruptly, etc, etc.
The pain was enough for me to go to Shopper’s Drugmart at 12:45am to buy this KT Tape that I had read helps with sports injuries. I also iced it, and applied ICY HOT on it.
The instructional video I found:
I was so happy to find a blog post on their site – dated 2 weeks ago – that said the tape is available in Shopper’s Canada-wide.
Since the Shopper’s next to my place is open 24/7 I hobbled over there pronto!
It’s been less than 24 hours since I applied the tape and I can feel the pain going away slowly, slowly.
I’m bringing my KT tape roll with me on the Ride to Conquer Cancer for sure!
TravelSmart and Hub (previously VACC) are organizing a 2012 Bike to Work Week Video Contest.
Participants are asked to share a cycling tip for a chance to win a  $500 MEC gift card!
YES PLEASE!!!! I need to buy a bunch of stuff – tires, rain gear, etc before the ride and I would love a gift card!
So here’s my video entry…. talking about snacks!! haha
It’s a random draw, so no brownie points for originality…. but I figured it would be different to all the other entries… or at least I hope it will!
Choooooo chooooooo!!!!
Just booked my one-way ticket from Seattle to Vancouver with Amtrak Cascades! The last time I caught this train was on my 27th birthday, when I went for a mini break to Seattle.
I remember I was so excited to visit Seattle that time and nervous that I’d miss my train that i didn’t bother to sleep the night before!!
This time around I will cycling to the city – hence the one way ticket back! And the ride back departs at 6:50pm so plenty of time to catch some ZZZZZs.
My friends Eka & Ed will be on the train with me as they’re heading down to Seattle to support my accomplishment at the finish line. 🙂
The journey by train is spectacular – it’s right on the coast, so you see the most amazing scenary as you stretch back in your seat. Also – it has free wi-fi and a cafe to order food/ drinks from. WAY MORE comfortable and relaxing than catching a Grey Hound bus!
Ready Set Pedal 