Liv Events pb Cycle Works

Thanks to all the ladies that came bike packing this weekend! You made the Liv Autumn Harvest one to remember. I'm proud of each of you for stepping outside your comfort zone and trying something new! Already looking forward to our next adventure!

For those of you that don't follow the gravel scene, there was a race on Saturday called Gravel Worlds. Its 150 miles of "not so flat" NE gravel. I caught up with a few of the ladies out there and asked them to share their thoughts. All of them were inspiring to me because it takes courage to get out and ride something so challenging. Each one of these ladies stepped out of their comfort zone and pushed themselves to limits they didn't know they had. Because of that, they are all winners! You can read what they had to say here: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1pmIlDmxmRnSfjTe9fzwz1Vst8gSlCb3V

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Announcing this weeks featured rider…Sarah Knight!!!

Like most of us, Sarah rode bikes as a child but quit riding in her teenage years. School, activities, and life in general steered her to utilize four wheels as her primary mode of transportation. Bikes were all but forgotten until college when Sarah bought a bike to get around campus at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Sarah’s re-discovery of the bike led to short rides around town on the paved trails and occasional longer rides on the unpaved trails. These rides fed Sarah’s need for adventure, but didn’t eliminate her need for a car. It wasn’t until grad school in Urbana Illinois that Sarah shifted gears and began a car-free lifestyle. She easily traversed the bike friendly campus and began quenching her thirst for adventure by exploring the country roads beyond the city. It was through these back road excursions that Sarah discovered the power of the bike to bring genuine happiness to a person. She has been taking her daily dose of vitamin B (bicycle) ever since!

While Sarah does own a car today, her bikes (five of them) serve as her primary means of transportation. Sarah commutes by bike daily, rain or shine, and finds herself discovering new bike routes every weekend. She’s graduated from riding paved trails to road and gravel rides and has even explored single track thanks to the encouragement of friends she has made within Lincoln’s cycling community. Sarah claims to not be competitive but she is determined and driven to push herself through even the most challenging of rides, which has landed her on the podium at local events on more than one occasion!

Sarah’s nominators find her cycling prowess admirable not because of her adventurous nature or the speed at which she rides, but because she continues to ride. Sarah was hit by a car and seriously injured while commuting to work on her bike. After a long recovery and a futile fight against antiquated laws, most people would have given up cycling, but not Sarah. Instead she chose to live by choice, not by chance. After being hit, Sarah made the bike her sole means of transportation. Sarah also became a cycling advocate and joined BicycLincoln. As a BicycLincoln board member, Sarah has chosen to fight for changes that help eliminate the excuses drivers can make to alienate cyclists. In advocating for cyclists, Sarah is not only making the streets of Lincoln safer for all cyclists, but also ensuring that others get the chance to discover the genuine happiness that biking brings to a person.

You can read more about Sarah and how she bikes through life on her own terms here: https://drive.google.com/open?id=14QvVxGxXsrh3UvjFPgxA8BtLbSielGCm

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28.8 mi Cyclocross Cycling Route on Strava

Hi All! Last summer we had great turnouts for our Beginner Gravel Ride, but this summer I'm a little too busy to lead this ride each week. So I'm joining up with LNK Gravel Rides to co-lead the beginner group.

Join us every Thursday, for the rest of the summer, at the Jamaica trail head behind Good Life Fitness. There will be a different host each week leading the Beginner Group. There will also be a faster paced group if you feel like a more spirited ride! Both groups leave at 6pm sharp, so arrive a few minutes early to find the right group.

I'll be leading this Thursday, so come join me!! Check out the LNK Gravel Rides page for route info and updates. https://www.facebook.com/lnkgravel/

Announcing this week’s featured rider…Ruby Tillinghast!!!

At just six years old, Ruby is our youngest Featured Rider to date! Ruby’s parents, Jill and Matt, describe her as big hearted, ambitious, full of adventure, spunky and a little shy. She loves going on school field trips, hanging out with her friends and of course riding her bike!

Ruby was our youngest DEVO athlete last year. Lincoln DEVO (https://www.facebook.com/LincolnDEVO/) is a youth mountain bike skills summer camp. Ruby showed up fresh off training wheels to celebrate her 5th birthday at the first DEVO practice of the season. Smile beaming, bike gleaming, Ruby tackled every obstacle with the bravery and tenacity of someone twice her age. Her joyful, radiant, and oh so determined personality immediately won the heart of every DEVO coach, as well as all the other athletes participating that summer!

Like most six year olds, Ruby has boundless energy, mountains of imagination, and the most heart melting smile you’ll ever see. Unlike most six year olds, Ruby has never been in a bounce house, has to be extremely careful with what she can eat, and has spent much of her young life in and out of hospitals fighting a rare blood disorder called Idiopathic Thrombocytopenia Purpura (ITP).

ITP is characterized by low platelet levels, which results in reduced clotting of the blood. This can lead to spontaneous bleeding from the mouth, nose, or skin abrasions and in serious situations can result in a brain bleed, stroke, or death. At 16 months old Ruby was diagnosed with chronic ITP, which is both uncommon in children and has no cure. Despite this diagnosis, Ruby and her parents have chosen NOT to let ITP define them. Rather they proceed with caution and often modify normal activities to allow Ruby to be able to participate safely. You can learn more about Ruby and her battle with ITP here: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1w--bSWw88IHmB9XqDKHlt0hBY6Ra1uCC

Also check out this video interview of Ruby's parents talking about ITP:
https://youtu.be/f0o00JePTPk

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Announcing this week’s featured rider…Doreen Bowles!!!

My first impression of Doreen was that her personality lights up the room or the side of the road, which is where I first met her. I came upon Doreen & her friend Robin trying to fix a flat on the side of highway 33. I was riding to meet my mom and she had actually stopped to help them first. I arrived as they were finishing up and only helped them inflate the tire, but Doreen claims I saved them! She was new to riding and frustrated with the flat ordeal but had such a jovial attitude that we were all laughing on the side of the road! Doreen offered to buy me a new CO2 cartridge and I invited her and Robin to join me on a weekly group ride. Despite some trepidation about being slow, they both showed up the following week and kept coming the rest of the summer! Often times our group was small, giving me the opportunity to get to know each rider and Doreen’s enthusiasm and charisma definitely made those group rides something to remember!!

As I moved into riding more gravel I didn’t see Doreen as much but I’d run into her at the bike shop and she’d mention riding Tour de Nebraska (TDN), which she’s done five times now, or riding up Vail pass in Colorado, or setting out on a multi-day bike tour across Iowa. I kept thinking how awesome it was that she stepped outside her comfort zone and continued to challenge herself by trying new distances and events. Her husband Steve nominated her for that very reason.

“Doreen started out saying she would only ride the bike path, never clip in and had no need for a bike other than a comfort bike. She now has a road, gravel and fat bike! Now she rides more than me, is taking up gravel riding and wants to try bike camping! Prior to TDN she had never tent camped before. So proud of my wife!”

Doreen is now retired from a career as a Cardiac Device Specialist at Bryan Heart. She has chosen to spend her retirement living life to the fullest. This means continually seeking out newer, deeper, life-changing experiences and using those experiences as a means for personal growth, even if it means pushing beyond her boundaries both mentally and physically.

Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “The purpose of life, after all, is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience.” Each time Doreen sets out on a bike ride she is seeking out those richer experiences that can only be found by pushing fear out of the way. Doreen’s passion for biking is truly a reflection of how she lives her life to the fullest.

Doreen is also rescue dog rehabilitator, a Great Plains Bicycle Club board member, loves to travel and spent her 60th birthday riding her bike in Australia! You can read more about Doreen’s pursuit of richer experiences here: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1_FNfk0t2SiNpyM5bUKIa-cp-PUbvXNCs

A few photos from last night. Thanks to all the ladies that came out! And thanks to our presenters Tammy, Valerie, and Tamara! You ladies rocked it!! And thanks to our volunteers Pam, Shelby, Michelle, and Susan, who kept things running smoothing, including the margarita blender!!

Hey Ladies!! Our next event is next Thursday!! Come join us for margaritas as we learn about basic bike maintenance. May 10th, 7pm at Cycle Works. Sign up with the link below so we know how many people to expect.

Maintenance & Margaritas Learn how to do basic bike maintenance, fix a flat and replace your bar tape. Pedal our blender bike to mix your own drink or enjoy a pre-made drink on us! This is a free event for ladies only! Bring your friends! Lots of info, fun and yes swag!

Liv Ambassador, Cycle Works Team rider, and all round RADTASTIC lady, Janna Vavra, ONLY women’s finisher of TIv14!!!
Congrats!!

A huge congratulations to Janna from Lincoln who won Trans Iowa!!

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First and only women’s finisher from the largest TI women’s field ever. Janna Vavra.