Monday, March 30, 2009

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Ladies Night Out, April 1st - this ain't no joke!

Join us as we host Ladies Night Out at Bike World on Douglas on Wednesday, April 1st!

Lyndsay Bradly, the Trek WSD Factory Rep, will be in Des Moines all afternoon offering test rides on Trek and Gary Fisher Women's Specific Design bikes! If you ever wondered what a super-light full carbon 16lb bike that fits felt like.... now's your chance! (or a sweet full suspension plush ride mtn bike!!) :)

Throughout the afternoon, we'll also be offering mini clinics on subjects like; roadside repair, nutrition and the athete, how to juggle your training with the family/work, Proper fit on a bicycle, Training programs to fit your schedule...

Clinics will be offered by: Dr. Tyler Molstre, Dave Ertle, Dave Mable, Jim White and more! Watch the Bike World blog for details and schedule of clinics.

Later in the evening, the real fun begins! From 7-9pm, come with all your lady friends for a wine and cheese gala, featuring wine from the Jasper Winery, a functional fashion show, a presentation by WSD Rep, Lyndsay Bradly, and information on the IOWA (Iowa Outdoor Women's Association) - and the chance to meet up with lots of great women who enjoy bicycling!

In addition to all that - we'll have information and representatives from events, races and organizations around the state so you can plan your year! For instance - the Flatland Multisport Series, Honey Creek Fall Cycling Festival, IOWA, Iowa Bicycle Coalition, MS 150, Greendays Criterium, Elkhart TT Series, RAGBRAI Charter.... and more!

This will be a great event - and we hope to see you there!

Thursday, March 5, 2009

New Pink Clothing Available!

Hurray! It's working! After you order - check this blog out: Bikeworldiowa.blogspot.com

Show your colors this spring and summer in the latest in pink! Tri-gear is now avialable and the prices are right! Custom team tops only $47 and the matching tri-shorts are only 49!

With this deal, the manufacturer has made custom long sleeved jerseys available as well - and for only $57!

We'll be placing another armwarmer order too - so clickity-click click!

To order, scroll down the right hand side of this here blog.

And, remember, the Honey Creek Fall Cycling Festival is only 8 months away!

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Monday, March 2, 2009

Sunday Gravel

We had a great gravel ride today from Lang's through Booneville and on to unknown territories. It was an invigorating 21 degrees outside, but the sun was shining and 15 or 16 people showed up to defy the lingering winter, including 7 women. Julie Sedore had a shiny new mountain bike-well, it was shiny when we started, and Julie Goodman made it out for her first gravel ride with the group.

The ride was uneventful through Booneville and everyone warmed up quickly. The roads were in great shape, as promised by Lang--guaranteed or he agreed to hand wash all of the bikes. Most of it was freshly graded and dry, but in addition to the expected hazards of ice, snow, and melting slop, parts of the route were heaped with new gravel. Being a newbie I followed the advice of not leaning too heavily over the front wheel (Lang) and to hang on loosely to the handlebars to let the bike guide a path through the gravel (old advice from Karras), and I managed to stay upright. The ride was cut short slightly when plans for riding the B road didn’t go as planned. Deep and rutted mud is even harder (and messier) to ride on than sand, I hear. (See pic below.)

The whole ride would have been lovely and perfect, except that Dee got a flat tire and a quick fix of air from the pit crew didn’t last long enough. We won’t even mention here how many times the tire had previously been patched, including just yesterday. Dee was a rock star though and kept riding on a completely flat tire and stayed ahead of me back to the Waveland Bar in Booneville. (I had a fabulous picture of the flat tire ride, but can’t seem to get it off my cell phone. None of the 20 or so USB-like cords we have laying around the house will fit my phone, but you can probably visualize the ride-slightly slow motion with Chariots of Fire playing in the background. FYI-If you’re ever stranded in Booneville with few funds, the bar has $1 draws.

Dee and I were thinking even with our combined tire changing skills, there weren’t enough hours left in the day to consider changing it. Kristin Reese was kind enough to venture back and pick us up. Thank you Kristin for the sag ride. Thank you Lang and everyone for your navigating skills and waiting at the corners for us. Thank you Duffy and Kim and Dee for coming back to pull me in after I dropped off, to down a Goo. (That cold air just burned through all my energy.) Most especially, thank you to Linda for hosting the sweaty, muddy bikers with delicious hot chocolate and cookies when the ride was over. It was a tough decision to leave my warm house for a cold ride, but so worth it in the end.



Muddy B road (Note: this picture is actually from Google images and is a road in Cambodia, but the real road looked a lot like this-only wetter.)



Karolyn