bicycles and travel

I try my best not to lust after such things like bags, clothes, etc. But every once and awhile, I cannot help myself... http://www.onelanguagelabel.com/product/bicycle-indiv.html

Cancer Sucks week

The gang at Relay for Life...and posing appropriately with our new bikes! Craig and I proudly doned the spandex shorts as we pedaled into the night, along with the rest of the team, on some trainers that we attached to our bikes. And we couldn't have asked for better weather!

I'm going to take this opportunity to solicit the 4K and my urgency to raise mucho dollars in less than TWO WEEKS! If anybody is interested (**every bit helps...$1? $5? $500?) If you'd like, I will drive/ride to your house PERSONALLY and pick up your donation for you. Think about it, door-to-door service, and you get a friendly visit from me as an added bonus. How can you resist?

STEP BY STEP!
1. www.4kforcancer.org
2. click on "2009 Donation Homepage" link
3. click on "Jacqueline Sofia" on the side bar to the left
4. you'll then come upon my rider bio page (woot!)
5. click the "Donate Here" link in the top left-hand corner
6. Paypal that bad boy and you're set to go!

Big thank yous to all who have already donated, as well :) You know who you are, and I wouldn't be able to make this journey without you.
all the love.

wake up and go.

It's Your Ride from Cinecycle on Vimeo

city cycling gems.

NEW FIND! Okay, it's not really new, and it wasn't my find...I had intended to visit this place a long time ago, last semester when I was first told about it. With school etcetera, I had never gotten the opportunity to venture out. However, a combination of Shar's persuasiveness and the absolutely gorgeous weather got me to ride my bike down to the Arts district (which really just consists of couple blocks located north of the train station) to check out The Velocipede Bike Project! Velocipede is a "collectively run non-profit dedicated to helping people use bicycles as transportation." Cute, right?! It is very cool, actually. Shar was having trouble with her gears, so after getting dinner at Sophi's Crepes, we popped over to the other side of the street. Right on West Lanvale Street, there's a door propped open and you can spot a couple bikes locked to a signpost outside.

The very cool thing about this place is that everybody is helping each other. When you walk inside, there's someone at the door to direct you to a person who will actually teach you how to fix your bike! There are some basic rules to the shop, as follows (from what I could gather...)

A. You can pay a one-time user fee of $5-$10 (depending on the work you need done)

B. You can pay a monthly fee, allotting you as much work on your bike as you need within the month, for $30

C. For every hour you spend getting your bike worked on, you can trade three hours of volunteering at the shop! (This is my favorite option...and if I had the time I'd definitely get on that)

Shar chose to pay a one-time fee, which is really inexpensive if you realize how much another bike shop would cost you (a tune-up usually goes for ~$30. If you need to replace/fix something, it can cost a lot more, though!)

(Shar and Noah (employee) checkin' out her gears...in the very literal sense.)

If you want to check out more, you can visit their website: www.velocipedebikeproject.org

Get Creative.

I haven't even graduated yet, I haven't had the opportunity to feel the full weight of the economic crisis as a completely independent adult, and I am already scrounging for money. Fundraising has proved more difficult than I thought. Last week I spent spring break handing out pamphlets trying to convince people that they were the next person to cure cancer if they gave me a few dollars. Instead, every bike shop and their mother is barely making it with the economic downturn.
I have had some very generous donors...actually, all of my donors are generous considering the circumstances! However, it's time to turn up the heat. I've never been one to be comfortable asking for money. When I was in grade school, I was always the kid who would have her entire family listed next to several different kinds of wrapping paper for the school fundraiser. This time it's different, of course. I'm not trying to raise $50 in order to be eligible for a glow in the dark slinky. I'm raising this money for a cause much greater than myself. Hence, I'm going to put aside my reservations and power forward.
Some people have had some great ideas, too! One person suggested providing return envelopes with letters for people to submit their donation. Another one, which is a bit more extravagant, is to email someone famous with the same nationality as you. You know, tap into that whole, "support the (enter your nationality) community!" mentality.
One girl emailed Ellen Degeneres. I'm rooting for her to get a call back in a few days.

"Hey Oprah! It's Jacqueline Sofia. Great- So that was $50,000 you said?"

Pedaling.

On wednesday I managed to pedal to my little heart's content all the way from Doylestown, PA to Frenchtown, NJ. The ride turned out to be about 35 miles. Okay, it was 34.8 miles (damn you bicycle odometers and your exactness). Nonetheless, it was a gorgeous day with no reason to complain. On the sunday before, my dad brought me on a shorter ride through the backgrounds around our town. However, along River Road, we hit a detour due to some unknown circumstances down the road. Without knowing what my dad was getting me into, I followed him bindly up the detour route. I don't remember the name road. I do remember, however, the hill that legitimately kicked my amateur cycling butt. Fortunately, my dad gave me some good advice in order to power up those nasty hills; he told me to grasp the bars directly in front of me in order to open up my chest and allow for more oxygen as I got in a rhythm going up. Believe it or not, it worked.

I'm slowly learning the technique that's involved. Strength is definitely an important aspect of this sport, but technique and experience is just as crucial. For instance, riding a bike doesn't afford you the time to prepare for anything like running does. When you're running (at least when I'm running) you're going at a slow enough pace to see well ahead of you when the car is pulling out of the driveway. As I found out on wednesday, this is not so while you're whizzing along on two wheels. Luckily, my dad was in front of me and his rapid swirve caught my eye to be alert.

I'll have to make another trip up to Frenchtown and take some pictures before I leave to go back to Baltimore. There are some of the most scenic views along River Road as you ride next to the Delaware Raritan Canal. There's even a covered bridge that is one of only a few left in the entire state! The town itself is very historic looking, with old clapboard row houses that are now inhabited by little boutiques and coffee shops (one of which we popped into and had a pretty good cup of coffee). While we were stopped, we ran into a petite woman in the coffee shop who was also mid-ride. She looked pretty legit in her cycling gear, and I figured she herself was an avid cyclist. After she left, we stayed around and sipped our coffee for another 10 or 15 minutes. When I came out of the shop, this other guy with his bike was talking with my dad. My dad seemed slightly uncomfortable with the scenario, so I wanted to figure out what they were talking about. Apparently, the gentlemen (couldn't have been over 30 or 35 years old) was having issues with his seat. Yes, the seat was giving him problems and not boding well for his...well...yeah. I could tell my dad didn't know quite what to say to the man. He was trying to be very professional about it, but in the end enough awkward silences led us to finally get back on our bikes and head home.

As we rode up a long stretch of road, I noticed another cyclist in the distance...it was the woman from the coffee shop. We were gaining on her. It felt kind of good. I'm not a very competitive person, but when we passed her, I felt a little jolt in my cadence.

Now that I've completed my first outdoor 35 mile ride (rounding up is allowed in this case) I'm feeling a confidence boost. To top it off, I got an email from one of my high school classmates the other day. After sending out mass emails to my high school class, friends, family, etc. (apologies for spamming) about the 4K, she emailed me to let me know that her sister had taken a cycling trip from San Francisco to Philly a couple years back! She has her own web journal...you should definitely check it out. It's slightly addicting. There are some pretty wild pictures and people that she documents, as well. http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/?o=3Tzut&doc_id=1555&v=TP

Even I Can Do this Math.

My dear friend, Shar, told me about this organization after I mentioned 88Bikes to her. The best part is that they have these nifty little diagrams that show you just how efficient and generally fabulous bicycles really are! The organization is World Bicycle Relief and they empower individuals all over the world to meet their everyday needs by supplying them with bicycles.

You can find more information at: http://www.worldbicyclerelief.org/