2013 Riding Season has begun!

Spring Formal, May 1st

Diva for the Day - Diane Carson - leads a pack of Divas out of the ice-filled tunnel near Elderberry Park

Bev and Bonnie take a break to enjoy the view of downtown from the Coastal Trail



Princess Kristin in her bear costume

Bike For Women, May 5th

Divas at the Bike for Women

Wednesday Ride, May 8th

Leaders Jo-Ann and Corinne try to get the Divas to pay attention!  Look -- the sun was shining!

Bear Aware Clinic, May 13th

Michele, Rose, and instructor Yvette practice with inert bear spray canisters

too busy (or injured) to blog

An observant Diva who's out of town and yearning for biking in Alaska was visiting the blog and noticed that we're a little behind.  Way behind!  The usual contributors to the blog - now known as the Shoulder Sisters - haven't been riding, so we don't have photos to post unless an able-armed Diva sends them to us.

So here are some highlights of Diva events in the last two months.  Thanks to Lori for the nudge and the photos of Trails Day.  Divas -- send some photos for us to post!

SPRING FORMAL

This annual event had all the usual pomp-and-circumstance-and-pagentry.

Lori, last year's Queen, complete with wings

Kristin, this year's queen, also with wings.

Katherine was crowned Princess, by last year's court, Kari and Lori

Michelle received the Sweetest Ride award for her bike decorations.

BEAR AWARE CLINIC

For the 2nd year, Yvette Gilles from USGS taught us how to be safe with bears and how to use bear spray.

Linda won the best-dressed category for bear spray application.  In the background, Kristin demonstrates the active stance.

NATIONAL TRAILS DAY

Several Divas helped on the new singletrack trails at Kincaid Park.

Lori, Gloria, and Bonnie

Lori, Gloria, and Katherine at the junk car

Maggi and Lori

bear aware 2: bike-mounted bear spray

After the terrible bear attacks on bikers and runners a few years ago, I started carrying bear spray in my bottle cage. The method that works for me is placing a spray bottle and holster in the cage and strapping the holster to the tube. A beer koozy might also work to hold a spray can, especially one in a holster, in the cage without a strap.

Wendy uses a water bottle to hold her bear spray. We'll try to get photos of that option, too.

Ride with confidence on the trails this summer! And be smart about where you ride.

let's hit the dirt!

Thirty Divas turned out on a beautiful evening for our first taste of the dirt trails this season. Maggi, Lori, and Wendy offered to lead three different rides to cover everyone's wants and spring fitness level. Maggi planned to take a slower pace with some hills, and Wendy wanted to check out Speedway and some "experimental singletrack." I decided to follow Lori, who planned a route with hills and singletrack.

From Smokejumper trailhead we rode Moose Track and Salmon Run to the Tour trail. We soon turned off onto Rover's Run; we didn't see a bear the entire length but I kept ringing my bell and checking that my bear spray was tight in the bottle cage. Lori stopped at the end of Rover's by the creek to cover some hill climbing technique.


We found our way to the Ridge Loop and turned off it at Black Bear. Then left on Moose Meadow and another left on Viewpoint Trail, up the radio tower hill, and down the long hill to Coyote. At that intersection we found a guy biker with a flat but no tools or tubes. Divas came through and loaned him everything he needed to get back to his car. We chatted while he changed his tire.

We are off to a great season! I hope the weather continues to make it so easy.

mud, bugs and bears*

After a rainy Tuesday, the Wednesday ride was bound to be muddy.

The large gang of Divas divided into two smaller groups. I rode with Lori's group which took up a steady, brisk pace to keep us warm as we made a loop around the Campbell Tract, then to Hillside and the rooty, muddy descent which is Black Bear Trail. We fended off the mid-summer mosquitoes where ever we took breaks, but we didn't take many breaks...

the photo taken a week ago on Rover's Run.

Early on, a couple people suggested that we not ride Rover's Run (aka Mellen's Way). Hadn't we heard about the photo? Uh, no... While our group opted to not take that particular trail, the second group, led by Katherine, rode the lower portion of the trail. Guess they didn't worry about (or even see) the photo and story that had appeared that day in the online version of the Daily News that said people should avoid the trail. (The publicity may explain the guy at the trailhead with a pistol on his hip.)

Well, a group of 8 or so women whooping it up as they splash through the mud puddles will probably cause any sensible bear to make a hasty get-away, leading her cubs along to safety. Is it any surprise that no bears were spotted? Diva legs, arms and faces, however, were spotted, streaked and splashed with mud! I guess it really is late July.

Lori's group at the intersection of Black Bear & Moose Meadow trails.
No bears here!.

*This story has a small revision because I don't want to imply that people saw the story in the online version of the newspaper and carelessly rode the trail anyway. Most of us (including the poster) had not seen the story until after the ride.

posted by Rose