Category Archives: girls riding

there’s a claire in there

Posted on by
Reply

I have always considered Claire to be forward thinking – obviously this is why she has had a Brompton since 2009 and I am just dillydallying around the edges with the Bike Formerly Known As.

I have also always considered Claire to be intelligent, socially minded, ethically driven and just freaking good fun. A former teamster at the NGO formerly known as, I have had the pleasure of Claire’s sharp insight and bright laugh for a number of years. Passionate about women’s rights, about sustainability, about people, I have always considered Claire to be an asset to any project, any dinner table, any bar stool.

Then Claire moved to Sydney and I thought she was nuts.

Luckily, she has a chance to redeem herself as yet another itinerant, irregular, unregulated, out of the box guest blogger (this is what I am calling the process by which I give her an author log in and then I’m not sure what happens next).

It’s like naming your Tour de France team and thinking, hey, was I meant to give everyone a t-shirt or something? And like, does anyone have a map of France?

tour de francesca

Posted on by
Reply

Each year, some little time before the Tour de France, the various teams announce who amongst their amazing stable of riders will be riding the big one. The best known and most prestigious of all the grand tours. The Tour. The one even the people at the water cooler will know. And if you are in Australia post-Cadel, they will know even more so now. There is fan fare, commiserations and anticipation. It’s a big freaking deal. If you liked lycra and riding, you might in fact care. What this looks like is a nice little list, plus some inspiring comments from the Tour Director about how wonderful all the riders are, how difficult it was to select them, how great it is that they have [insert: battlehorse/superdomestique/guy from little known country who seems mysterious and mean/likeable lead out guy/princey prancey sprint dude/hero/other guy in lycra] and they are sure that this will be an amazing Tour for the [insert brand] team.

Although I very much enjoy the Tour de France, in a kind of twisted, sleep-deprived way, I have a terrible memory for teams and riders and stage results and pretty much get into it in the same way that I have a lot of novelty hobbies: I’m not sure why I like it, I just do.

Like the ukulele. I heart the ukulele.

This is a similarly big deal*, at least for me.

Because I would like to introduce to you the first of the Helmets are Hot guest bloggers: Zoe.

You have met Zoe before, probably, because she is a friend, who lends me bikes, and sponsors teams, and is a general all-round amazing person to me. She also rides a bike. She works with some bike related accessories and has a penchant for organising the odd womens ride/alley cat/event/stormtrooper dance off.

This is Zoe.

I am not sure what she will write about, or how often she will do it. I have not asked any specific questions or given her terribly many directions, but I am interested in hearing what she has to say.

Because that is, pretty much, the hobby I am most interested in, understanding other people, meeting them, getting to know them, sharing stories and having a good time. It’s International Women’s Day so it seems only fitting to start the stories off right, with a warm introduction, a collegial spirit, a request for open ears and open minds, a discursive/relationship-based focus and a bit of female visibility.

And some token purple font.

Zoe is a woman who rides a bike. Because she said yes, she can be the first rider in the Indicator Species team. Sponsored by no one, but open to bribes and offers of vegan chocolate. Please make her feel welcome.

*Big as the ukulele, not the Tour de France.

listen up, sweetpea

Posted on by
Reply

The world is bright and light (forced face of smiling happy). Listen to this song if you’re faking it to making it like me.

Or watch this video if you feel like a bit of sweetpea inspiration via Briz Treadley.

Or maybe think about the fact that coming out was not as hard as I ever thought it would be. In fact, more than a few nice ones of you got in touch to say you was a feminist cyclist thingy whatsit too. Thanks heaps folks. I’m glad you want more women to ride more too.

I’ve always been interested in the various theories around the gender gap in cycling. Is it safety, is it convenience, is it the inequality of time and resources? I’m curious about whether or not women really are the indicator species of cycling.

I’m not pretending to want to answer these questions definitively here, but I would like to talk to a few more of you about it. In no particular order and with no particular speed, over the next little while I’m going to be asking a few women of cycling type persuasion to come on board as guest bloggers.

I’ll also be featuring a few little posts on some of the women on wheels that inspire me, perhaps a bit of a pay it forward for the lovely Barb of Bike Style Spokane who always so generously tweets my posts.

If you are lady cyclist and you think you might have something to say about that situation, and you would like to be a guest blogger, maybe get in touch. Roadie, commuter, athlete, mother, to the shops and backer, I don’t much mind. I’m keen to know more about your experiences as a cyclist, what you see from the road. Swearing is allowed, but try to keep it reasonable…. other ground rules are just basically courtesy, but we can talk about them offline, eh?

Get in touch via helmetsarehot at gmail dot com.

coming out of the closet

Posted on by
2

In many ways, the act of coming out is both of vital importance and utterly meaningless. I mean, it’s a metaphor and as such you never really complete it as an act. It’s just not possible. You have to come out to people in different, small, layered ways over and over again in your life. You never quite nail the explanation for who you are, because people were not meant to be explained in easy, pithy statements. They were meant to be slowly understood for who they are and respected for their unique qualities.

The world gets busy though, and so we reduce and stereotype and assume and the idea of “coming out”, of acknowledging who you are and who/what/how you love is something some of us have to do from time to time. And if you yourself haven’t done it before, and it is something you’re in fact wanting to do, it can be an all consuming thought and task. Particularly in the lead up.

So it is for me.

I have been meaning to come out to you for ages. I’ve let it stew in my mind and I’ve let it make me feel crappy and ashamed about my honesty with you. I mean, in one sense I’m out just fine enough. If you know me and you have dated me or are dating me or want to date me, then you’ll know that I am out and proud in whatever way I define it. So that’s not what I’m talking about here.

In another sense, I don’t really have to come out as Helmet Lady, as an alter-ego meme person thing. I mean, I kind of assumed if you were reading here, you understood it, yet people ask all the time, “what’s with the helmet blog?” It’s not a fetish. And although I sometimes play dress ups with helmets, I actually only own one of them. But I have been meaning to let you know that I am both entirely serious about helmets, and prepared to acknowledge that not everyone agrees with me. Sorry I haven’t explained it earlier.

Naturally, it goes without saying that I am open to information about helmet wearing, about helmet laws and about your thoughts on the matter. It’s just not my whole life, okay?

Like my other closets, this last one is probably totally unnecessary. I mean, you know it, don’t you, that I’m a feminist cyclist?

Might seem a bit strange, eh, but I am.

Anyway, more of that to come in the next few days, because here at the casa del lid, we are coming out.

Don’t worry, it won’t be half as scary for you as it is for me. It’s always the way.

(ps if you get all stressed out, this video should calm you right down.)