by Vanessa McCracken
After a brutally hot and smoky summer, I am very much looking forward to beautiful fall bike rides!
Here are some of my suggestions for staying safe and comfortable out there:
{ 0 comments }
bikes
by Vanessa McCracken
May is Bike Month! Sure, for people who live and breathe bicycles like I do, every month is Bike Month. But May is special!
{ 0 comments }
by Vanessa McCracken
Everyone, go grab your new 2018 calendars and highlight these two dates: March 3 and April 7. Two of my absolute favorite, cannot-miss events happen on these two days, and I really want you to do them this year, too!
{ 0 comments }
by Vanessa McCracken
Did you feel a spark two weekends ago, a sudden surge in energy that came out of nowhere? The Best Buddies Central Valley team participated in the Best Buddies Challenge Weekend at Hearst Castle, September 8-9. The experience was positively electric, so electric that I bet everyone back home in the Valley could feel the buzz! Seventy riders represented our beautiful Central Valley at one of Best Buddies’ largest fundraising events, and we made our presence felt.
{ 1 comment }
by Vanessa McCracken
I tore my Achilles tendon in early May, which means I’ve been off the bike for a few months now. When people find out, they invariably ask, “Oh, do you miss riding?” Yes, of course I do! But luckily, my bike has taught me a few lessons over the years, and I think I’m handling the situation pretty well.
{ 3 comments }
by Vanessa McCracken
Happy Summer! After the unusually rainy start to 2017, many of you are probably just now pulling your bikes out of the garage for the first time this year. Whether you’re getting your bikes ready for neighborhood bike rides, camping trips, or to escape the heat and ride the trails in Central Coast, I have a few recommendations to help you have the safest, most enjoyable experience possible.
{ 0 comments }
by Vanessa McCracken
“I, Vanessa, swear to invest my energy, strength, and passion to inspire one more woman to ride a bike. I believe in the power of the pedal for positive social change; for building a healthier, happier, smarter world. I pledge to be an ambassador of the bicycle; to HONOR the past; CELEBRATE the present; EMPOWER the future of women in cycling. I promise to start the revolution; to live the change I want to see; to rally another to ride with me.”
{ 0 comments }
by Vanessa McCracken
Ride the blossoms and soak up some of the prettiest scenery the Central Valley has to offer at the upcoming 28th Annual Reedley Lions Club Blossom Bike Ride on Saturday, March 4!
{ 0 comments }
by Vanessa McCracken
It’s fall, and you know what that means: pretty much overnight, we go from complaining about the relentless Central Valley summer heat to complaining that we’re cold. This is especially true if you’re out riding bikes! One day, you’re wondering if this is the year that 100-degree days just stick around forever, the next, you’re shivering and complaining to your riding partners that you’re freezing. I am not making this up. It happened last weekend.
{ 0 comments }
by Vanessa McCracken
—Your staff is amazing! Thanks for the great service!
—We had so much fun on the bike ride you organized! We can’t wait to go on another one!
We love hearing comments like these from our customers, and we consider ourselves pretty lucky that we get to hear them pretty regularly. Since opening our first bike shop in 2002, we have worked hard to do and be our best. We are constantly evolving, continuously educating ourselves, and improving our business.
{ 0 comments }
by Vanessa McCracken
Because of what I do, people tend to bend my ear with their complaints about cars and cyclists. Cyclists tell me about the impatient, aggressive drivers they encounter, and drivers just love to complain about rude, clueless cyclists. (Lucky me gets to hear it from both sides!) Listening to these complaints, though, I am always struck by how seldom I have encountered a similar incident. I am out on my bike a lot.
{ 0 comments }
by Vanessa McCracken
My dad, who has no history of heart or cholesterol problems, had a quintuple bypass this past March. My dad, the healthiest guy I know, the man I tease for his almost neurotic obsession with eating well and exercising to ward off Alzheimer’s disease — which runs in our family — had to have open-heart surgery. He was walking on the treadmill, as he does for 90-120 minutes a day, 6-7 days a week, when he experienced some chest pain, and the next thing you know he has five major blockages, three over 90%, that have to be bypassed. None of us could understand how or why this happened.
{ 0 comments }
by Vanessa McCracken
Our Reedley bike shop was broken into in early February. The thief smashed a window and grabbed the $2,000 bike we had on display, and ran. Moments like this rip my heart out. In less than a minute, this person cost me thousands of dollars (windows aren’t cheap), and thousands of tears. Anyone who is self-employed knows how hard it is to run a healthy, viable business.
{ 0 comments }
by Sandra Murphy
& Duffy Brown
& Duffy Brown
In this our Earth Day issue we are featuring e-books and books that somehow tie in to Earth Day. What could be more Earth friendly than bicycling, so this week we have a review & giveaway of Braking for Bodies by Duffy Brown, along with an interesting biking and Earth Day related guest post from Duffy. Details at the end of this post on how to enter to win a copy of Braking for Bodies, along with a link to purchase the book where a portion goes to help support KRL & an indie bookstore.
{ 23 comments }
