Midnight Madness 2008

Similar to last year, I got all dressed up for the midnight ride in my business suit and pumps. I figure if I go to the office in bike clothes most every day, it's only natural for me to go to the bike ride in office clothes.

Changing only a couple things about my outfit and equipment from last year, I swap out to Crank Brothers pedals and cleats, using pontoon cleats to make walking easier, and carry a Timbuk2 messenger bag with a spare set of bike shoes just in case I find the pumps too painful.

Always a great time, Midnight Madness is the opportunity for San Diego cyclists to come out and ride bikes in the streets and generally be silly. It's like this ride was MADE for me.

My good buddy Steve was there too, all fuzzed up in the Cookie Monster outfit.

Popeye and Olive Oyl were there...
(those are spinach cans tied to the back of the bike)


...so was this loving couple

Dan and Steve and I go to Elephant and Castle for some food before the ride. We know we won't be getting off the ride till after 1:00 am.

For what it's worth, I don't know if Steve has done a ride in his Cookie Monster costume when he was completely sober. Just for good measure, we have a libation before the ride.

Before the ride begins, we make one last stop at the car, and there in the parking lot a girl recognizes me.

"Hey! You're here again this year!" she says cheerfully.
"Yeah! Um, I'm sorry, tell me your name?" I ask her, not recognizing her face.
"Oh, you don't know me. I saw your picture online. It's the first one that comes up when you google image search 'Midnight Madness,'" she tells me.

I'm dumbstruck. "You're kidding me."

"No, really. Wow! This is so cool! Can I take your picture?" She goes on to mention that she hopes my feet won't be hurting like the year before, and then I realize she read my Midnight Madness 2007 writeup.

Wow. This is the first person that I have no connection to, who has known who I am before actually meeting me. I should have got HER picture. I think her name was Melissa or Natalie, or something with three syllables.
Quick shoutout: Wherever you are girl, you gave me a huge smile! Thank you. Please shoot me an email if you see this.

Just before we leave the car, Steve looks up to see a girl passing by us walking her bike.

"Hey! I know you!" he calls out to her.

She hesitates, not quite knowing if the large furry bule guy is harmless or not. He sees her hesitation and laughs, "I'm Steve from UC Cyclery. I work on your bike."

She laughs and then recognizes him. She introduces herself, and when we find out that Meredith has come to ride by herself, we invite her to join us. The four of us head to the staging area.

Back at the staging area, it's pretty packed, but it's not exactly madness. The madness will start after the ride begins.



This is probably one of my favorite photos of the night. This little girl has probably been on a bike in some manner since long before she could even speak. Cycling is so natural for her, it's even a natural thing for her to put her own "baby" on the back. I love it.


Waiting for the start of the ride, I see a rather colorful couple, complete with an automatic soap bubble generator that blows bubbles into the breeze and causes a random man to stop in his tracks, sway slightly, blink, and mutter, "Woah." Woah indeed. They even have their own little disco ball.

Where do people find these things? But I suppose that could be said of my clip-in pumps.

Suddenly from the darkness, I hear my name called. I look to the direction of the sound to see a petite green fairy and a Mexican wrestler. I look at the man in the mask who evidently knows me; the only visible amount of his person that is not covered by a costume is a small space right around his eyeballs.

"Hi!" I greet him cheerily, "I have no idea who you are."

It's Peter from my Velodrome class. Cool! I know people.

The clock ticks down, and the ride begins. People are allowed through the gates in waves, so that there are not too many people jockeying for position at any one given moment.



Dan, Steve, Meredith, and I line up at the start, wait for our wave to shuffle to the front and we take off.

As we ride down Harbor Drive, I see more people I know: Jason who races for DeWalt Big Ring Racing, and Roger from Performance Bike Bonita.


A little further, we see Alison, who also races for DeWalt. We ride together and chat, making the loop around the top of Harbor Island when Allison gets a flat. She calls for her buddies who are carrying a spare tube and CO2. They hand her the supplies and I jump in to change her flat.




Once Alison's flat is changed, we continue on the route. From here on out, it is pretty quiet, but we see plenty of interesting people. Like this girl, who gave new meaning to the term "tail light."


And the "Is-this-Midnight-Madness?-This-is-SPARTA!!" guy...



I thought this fixie guy looked cool with his attention to detail in the little monkey wrench hanging off his belt and his bowling shoes...


Who knew he was also a Mexican wrestler!!


We get to end of Rosecrans where the course turns onto San Diego Ave at Old Town. We only go a couple blocks before we come upon the favorite refreshment stop...

It was remarkable to me how many bikes were parked along the side of the street. It reminded me of the Saturday morning road ride near Solana Beach and the bikes parked outside the Java Depot!


We finish the ride, turning into downtown at about 1am, just as people are stumbling out of bars. It makes for something of an advanced obstacle course, as you never know when some random person will stagger into your path. A woman struggling to stay atop her stiletto heels calls out to us in a drunken bravado, "Hey! Bicyclers! Show us your boobs! And your junk! And your..." As she thinks about what else she'd like to see, I call to her, "Um, you should get out more!" as the crowd chuckles and we glide past her in a swirl of color.

It's moments like these my husband would remind me that smart alec-y comments often get people seriously killed, and I would do best just to ride, smile, and nod.

Before the end of the night, I see Ryan and Gilbert from my Velodrome class. It shouldn't surprise me that a lot of the Velodrome folks are out here. We should all plan to ride together next year, or at least take a headcount of who to look for.

So the twenty miles in pumps wasn't as painful as I remembered, perhaps because I didn't walk so much in the shoes earlier in the evening. All of us who rode had a great time and were glad we came. Before the end of the night, we're talking about costumes for next year!

Steve (Cookie Monster) admiring my fancy cleated pumps.

Spot Brand 29-er bike

There are few things as exciting as building up a new bike, especially one that you've been waiting and waiting to build. The journey to my first ride on my own Spot Brand Longboard 29-er begins about eight months before, when I first rode the Longboard belt-drive bike at the Interbike dirt demo in Boulder City, NV.

I love the way it handles and corners. I fall in love with the belt-drive, which translates to instant engagement and propulsion forward with the slightest pedal stroke. The belt-drive is beautiful in its simplicity. In the months to come I will go back and forth arguing with myself about whether I should go belt-drive or geared bike.


I am impressed with the ride quality, handling capability, the fact that it is high-quality steel, and importantly, because the size small actually fits me. I just barely reach the sign at the 29-er amusement park that says you must be at least this tall to ride the ride. At 5'5" and female, my torso makes me too small for most 29-ers. By virtue of the larger wheels, the top tube lengths and standover heights are larger than they are for most bikes. The Spot Longboard 29-er has a shorter toptube and lower standover height than many other bikes in its class.


I ride the Spot Longboard first thing on Monday morning at the Interbike dirt demo, and then am repeatedly drawn back to their booth to ask questions and pet the bikes. I meet the company president, learn more about them as a company, and like everything I see.

Back in San Diego, I continue to think about this bike, corresponding with Jen from Spot for three months before finally deciding to get one. In late January I contact Spot Bikes and order my bike. The small Longboard is not even in production yet, and it's looking like demand is greater than anticipated. Although I'll have to wait an anticipated 6-10 weeks, I will get one of the first ones off the line. Jen tells me the first frames should be back from weld by March. I decide to go with the geared bike, since I struggle with hills as it is, and I don't need calves that frighten people. I make my first payment and giggle inwardly in anticipation.


I choose the blue color scheme instead of the green, and decide I will build this bike up with red accents: red Chris King headset, red Hadley hubs, and red spoke nipples on Stan's Flow rims. In mid-March, Jen contacts me to say that they are experiencing unexpected delays. This is their first year of production on this bike, so I am not surprised. I've seen things from a manufacturer's standpoint, and know how often delays take place for any number of reasons.

The month passes, and she contacts me again, keeping me apprised of the progress and letting me know what to expect. She apologizes for further delays, this time because the larger frames went to weld before the smaller frames. I jokingly tell her they can make it up to me by stamping my name into the bottom bracket. Jen laughs at the idea, and admits she's never heard of anyone doing that. To my astonishment, she says she thinks she can make that happen. I hold my breath and tell her, "No way. That would totally rock!"

Meanwhile, I'm busy amassing parts so I can build this bike. I order my headset from Chris King, and hubs from Hadley, and match them up with DT Swiss RWS ratchet thru-bolt skewers.


At the end of February, my mechanic buddy Steve notices that someone online is looking for a set of blue RaceFace cranks, which I happen to have in my garage. They came off my very first DH bike, a Turner RFX, that is now built up as my XC bike. I contact the guy, who tells me he'll trade me his set of XT cranks with 2 rings and a bash guard for my Race Face cranks. Wow. Just wow.

It's now the last week of March, and I'm at the series finale race for the Southridge downhill series. Donny Jackson always has a great raffle at the series ender, and this time is no exception. Although I did not take first place on the hill that day, I would like to thank Shimano for the XT brakes I won at the raffle. You have no idea how happy this makes me (and my mechanic).

The weeks pass, and I wait for my frame, getting regular updates from Jen at Spot. Things continue to fall into place.

At the end of May, I get an email from Jen saying that my bike is at paint and should be ready soon. The amount of paint on the frame will obscure the name "DREXLER" that is stamped in the bottom bracket, but we will all know it is there.

On July 11, 2008, I hear the FedEx truck pull up to my house, and I literally spring from my chair and bound out the door. Mr. FedEx is at the back of the truck pulling out a box as I bounce on my toes beside the open door. He looks up to see me and laughs. I suppose he's not used to seeing grown people bouncing up and down and clapping like a kid on Christmas Day.


I slowly pull out the frame, wanting the moment to last. It's been almost 7 months since I decided to order this bike, and it's totally worth the wait.

Over at Steve's house, we begin assembling the bike.


The finished bike.

My mechanic Steve and I go for a ride in Rose Canyon.


I begin getting to know the bike, and know I made a great choice.

Many thanks go to Jen Gersbach at Spot for all her help and many updates, and to the guys at weld who stamped "DREXLER" into the bottom bracket. Thanks go to Mom and Dad for giving me the frame as a birthday present and helping me make up for lost "play" time all those years I was a serious child. You're the best! Thank you's are in order to Suzanne at Hadley for all the help with the hubs, to Jim at Shimano for taking care of the racers at Fontana, to Bill who traded crank sets with me, to Mike at Stan's for taking care of us at the shop, to Paul at DT Swiss who spent time with me on the phone giving me advice about hubs and skewers, and a big thanks to Ron for lacing up my beautiful wheels. Huge big thanks go to my mechanic and good buddy Steve who advised me on parts and helped me put the bike together.


I'm a very happy girl.

A Clean Bike is a Happy Bike: The Maintenance Clinic!

I'm happy to report that our recent Luna Chix Bike Care Clinic "A Clean Bike is a Happy Bike," was a great success. This is probably only remarkable on a personal level, because none of the women I was teaching really know my history. It was only three short years ago when I was still fumbling through my own bicycle maintenance and repair, and would never have dreamed of conducting a clinic on my own.

It was January, 2005. With my bike in the repair stand, the Big Book of Bicycle Maintenance open on top of the washing machine and a large tool in my hand, I carefully read the steps for removing the crank arms. The little picture in the book didn't look like what I saw in front of me in the bike stand. After re-reading, and still not getting it, I sighed and looked at my watch. It was already 9:30pm. I paced back and forth, then decided to call Greg, my mechanic.

I apologized for calling a bit late, then described the situation to him and asked, "So, do I need a special tool to remove the crank arms?"

He spoke calmly and deliberately, "Laura, I want you to put down the wrench and step away from the bike."

"But," I protested, "I think I have it here!"

"Laura," he said with a slight chuckle, "I promise you, I will do this first thing in the morning. Just, please, let me do it."

I sighed, "OK."

Fast forward three and a half years, and here I am in front of a group of women teaching them how to identify parts of their bike, what to look for in terms of wear, how best to clean their bikes, and answering their questions about general maintenance issues. I want to call Greg and tell him that I never gave up and that although I still require supervision, I can now pull and install cranks, adjust my derailleurs, and teach anyone how to change a flat tire.

When I thought about doing a Bike Care Clinic for Team LUNA Chix as a fund raiser for the Breast Cancer Fund, I went to B&L Bikes, a local bike shop that has been really supportive of Team LUNA Chix in the past. Scott at B&L was happy to give us space and host the clinic. I asked what cleaning products they used there in the shop, since many of the girls coming to the clinic would then have their bikes serviced at B&L. He said they like Muc-Off for a cleaner, and Dumonde Tech for a lubricant. I purchased both to try them out, then contacted both companies to see if they would be interested in supporting our clinic. Everyone was eager to be a part of it, and readily sent us samples and information.

Actually, the Muc-Off people didn't have individual samples; they sent me several bottles of product and lots of stickers. I went to Target and got little sample spray bottles and a funnel, and created my own little sample give-aways of the product. They came out great!

Everyone who attended the clinic got a goodie bag with sample product as well as a mat (doormat) for her to place the handlebars of her bike on when she's cleaning it. This is what the goodie bags looked like:


The day of the clinic, we met at 7:30am at the Solana Beach train station for a ride beforehand.





Our ride up the coast toward Carlsbad was mild and lightly cloudy as the marine layer kept the sun from beating down on us.


When we returned to Solana Beach and got to the shop, our team leader Rhonda had already set up a tent and chairs. I was a bit nervous about things going smoothly, but already things were going smoothly!

I had intended it to be a "hands-on" clinic in which all the girls would clean their own bikes, but it seemed everyone preferred to sit and relax.

I pulled out the doormats I had got for the girls to rest their handlebars on, arranged the Muc-Off bike cleaner and Dumonde Tech lube in a readily accessible display, looked around for the bike with the dirtiest drivetrain, and proceeded to explain how to clean and lube a bike.

I started by talking about the parts of the drivetrain, the importance of knowing your equipment and not being intimidated by it, and how to know when you should clean or lube your chain.

I talked to them about chain stretch and checking your chain for wear.

After thoroughly scrubbing the chain, I showed them how to clean their wheels and cassette. I have a handy bucket (thank you, Mittens) that I use to carry my brushes. It can also hold water for rinsing the detergent off my bike and components.

By the time I got ready to apply the lubricant, the girls were refreshed and motivated to clean their own bikes. They pulled out their mats and got to work.



We talked about only applying the lube to the chain, and the importance of not over-lubricating.

It was a great clinic, and everyone was happy to learn and participate. I felt especially happy that I could actually pull it all together and answer almost all the questions that were asked.

Special thanks go to my mechanics/teachers over the past few years: Chad, Greg, Ryan, Ron, Steve R and Steve K. Thanks for believing in me and teaching me.

Thanks to B&L Bike and Sport Solana Beach for hosting our "A Clean Bike is a Happy Bike" Clinic and Breast Cancer Fund fundraiser. You can donate to the Breast Cancer Fund any time by clicking on the link to their homepage.

A shout-out and big thanks go to Kenny Souza, our San Diego Clif Bar rep, who provided us with some great swag and prizes. In case there's any confusion, Clif and LUNA are the same company.

Big thanks go to Muc-Off bike cleaner and Dumonde Tech Racing Oils Bike Lubricant. Ask for them at your bike shop. If they don't have them, ask if they can get them.