Candy Cranks

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Name: Nova

Nickname: Novabird, Bird, Sir

Star sign/Blood type: Cancer/O-negative

Birthday: June 24

Current city: Seattle

What’s the bike scene like in Seattle for females?
It’s pretty awesome, almost all of my close friendships here originated from acquaintances in the bike community, and nearly all of my friends ride. We have a few predominantly female rides (Menstrual Mondays, etc), alleycats that are specifically put on for women by women, and a whole host of awesome DIY spaces as well as businesses that cater to women, like the Bikery and Mobius Cycle, where the rad Niki Hurley plies her trades of expert wrenching AND beautiful photography. There’s still a lot of male domination at events/in attitudes, but I think the cycling community has become increasingly diverse over the years, and there’s less “bro-ness”, and more awesome all around, from freak bikes to polo to fixed freestyling and beyond. During the summer there are usually multiple cycling events going on any given day of the week, a little bit of something for everyone.

What’s your favourite ride right now?
Tomatilla the fixte mixte, a 1980s Bianchi sport-touring model powdercoated shimmery green by its previous owner and given new life as my “old skool meets newly skooled” city bike. Flipped 3-speed bars, an extra-tall stem, and clipless pedals–that’s my girl!

Where’s your favourite place to ride?
In the city, I love riding at night–it feels like I own the streets. But I especially love climbing Cheasty Boulevard after spinning hard down MLK–even in the blinding rain. It’s a shallow winding road thru the greenbelt, and usually pretty abandoned by car traffic after 10. Seattle is full of hills, so you might as well take the most scenic climbs and enjoy them.

When I’m able to get out of the city, I love biking in the San Juan Islands. I’m really looking forwards to getting back out there later this year and spending some time at Doe Bay soaking in the stone tubs after climbing a bunch of hills.

Favourite riding outfit: Keen Springwaters, kneesocks, cut-off leggings, wool skirt, and a sleeveless t-shirt. If it’s cold, I’m probably wearing one of my handknitted sweaters and handwarmers. I love wool, and I make a lot of my woolly garments.

Favourite food: Pambazos, banh mi, etc. I love Mexican and Vietnamese food a lot, but anything spicy whets my appetite.

Favourite books:Godspeed, Written on the Body, New Poems 1968-1970 (Neruda)

What makes you laugh?Bad jokes. Old men in Belltown trying to hit on me while I’m riding. Being faster than squiddy dudes expect–beating them at hillclimbs!

What makes you angry?Ignorance, dangerously unaware drivers, city politics.

What are you listening to on your I-pod?Don’t have one. On my mp3 player it’s a lot of: Howlin Wolf, Girl Talk, Elliott Smith, Explosions in the Sky, Jessie Mae Hemphill.

Do you have any pets? Just my housemates oh, and our two cats: Alice and Minerva.

Name: Aprilia Apsari

Nickname: Sari

Star sign/Blood type: Aries / B

Birthday: April 18th 1981

Current city: Jakarta

What’s the bike scene like in Jakarta for females?
Jakarta traffics are bad as hell, traffic jam almost all the way, and riding bicycles is just one way to avoid them, for few people it has been a part of their daily commute. Every bodies out down town for jogging or riding their favourite bicycles of course in Sunday morning, there’s antiques bikes, low rider, beach cruiser, chopper, custom bikes, road bikes, mountain bikes, track bikes, bmx and fixed gear etc. Female fixie riders here are quite less than the guys, but day by day we see them keep coming

What’s your favourite ride right now? My yellow Suntour fixed gear with shocking pink trispoke front rims.

Where’s your favourite place to ride?
Everywhere around Jakarta, sometimes just hang in some park and practice some tricks or having a good time culinary tour, so many good food stall and coffee shops spread around here so I have not complete my culinary journey, i think I never will… I haven’t ride out of town yet, I really hope soon I’ll travel Bali or around Java.

Favourite riding outfit: 100% cotton t-shirt for sure cause is pretty hot in here , a short pants and a pair of sneakers

Favourite food: seafood!

Favourite movie: Romance such as In The Mood For Love, Classic or Musical such as Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Funny Face, I love all Ghibli’s animated Movie and everything funny & entertaining.

Favourite book: All Cook books

What makes you laugh? Funny jokes

What makes you angry? A very bad soap opera

What are you listening to on your I-pod? M.I.A – Galang

Do you have any pets? no, but my roommate has a Terrier.. is that count?

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A really stupid thing happened to me!

My chain jumped off the cog when i tried to stop, there was a huge lorry passing on the road . i was going to stop at the junction but because  the chain jumped i ended up heading straight into this Articulated Lorry! There was nowhere to go because the truck was so long, I remember hoping it would speed up so that i could dive under after the last set of wheels  ..it didnt .. I flew into it at the rear wheel’s,,  managed to push my head and torso away but the last wheel went over my foot and ankle!

I thought  No way ! that truck is soo big  i’ll probably have to have my foot amputated or something . I was taken to hospital and x-rayed but nothing was broken ..  a bit squashed and tissue damage  so they gave me crutches and a cast which i had on for a week,  it was painful for another 2 weeks but i could use it an by the 3rd week i could ride my bike again which was amazing because i thought i was gonna be crippled all summer. I was very lucky!

I later realised that my shoe had saved my foot ,  there is a huge crack across the solid nylon/ plastic  sole which took the force instead of my bones , and the strong suede  material held my foot together so that it didnt get all twisted and mashed. I think that if i had been wearing regular trainers that day i wouldnt have much of a foot left.

Thanks to Specialized for making this  tough  shoe it was the Womens Riata Mtnbike shoe they are seriously good!

The Yellow line is where the crack is .

By the way ! the reason my chain jumped off my cog was because my wheel had been kicked in and was warped ,  I wouldnt advise riding a fixie with a bent rear wheel and no brakes , deadly combo!

I had some gorey pictures of my foot but lost the memory card : (

Name: Ilana Nimz

Nickname: Nimz/Nimzi

Birthday: 12-12-1988

Current city: Honolulu, Hawaii

What’s the bike scene like in Honolulu for females?
Unfortunately, biking in Honolulu is often bloody nightmare. Drivers don’t usually enjoy sharing the road, potholes are numerous, and traffic is terrible, so cycling can be very stressful and intimidating. Because of these reasons, not many females commute by bicycle, despite the fact that everywhere within Honolulu is within a half-hour cycle ride. To get ladies more comfortable with riding on the streets, we’ve created a chick-centric bicycle group, the Punani Pedal Club, to encourage girls to ride. I hope that this club will promote cycling and encourage more girls to ride bicycles by having a group of female riders for support, despite the undesirable traffic conditions.

There are over 20 or so girls in the group that often commute by bicycle, show up to our occasional group rides and love biking! Punani Pedal rides are not exclusively ladies, but we request that a girl lead the group at all times to set the pace and not let the testosterone-fuelled boys take over. The biking scene consists of mostly guys, but they have been extremely supportive of girls jumping in on bike rides and events. Thanks to their enthusiasm, events like Aloha Sunday have girl categories and prizes!

What’s your favourite ride right now?
I currently have 3 bicycles, 2 old steel road bikes and 1 track bike. It’s hard to choose a favourite! Lately I’ve been riding my track bike a lot, a Cannondale Capo, because it’s so much fun! One of my road bikes, the Darjeeling, is also a great ride because a friend and I totally customized it from the paint job to the set up, so it fits perfectly and looks cool.

Where’s your favourite place to ride?
After trying out our skate park bowls, its my new favourite destination. Aala Park is basically a ghetto-ish velodrome, and is oh so much fun!

Favourite riding outfit: Tanktop, cutoff jeans, vans shoes, and a cycle cap! Almost everyone in Hawaii rocks this ensemble!

Favourite food: Anything vegetarian preferably with cheese

Favourite movie: The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou

Favourite book: Jacques Cousteau collection

What makes you laugh? Fun friends and bike rides

What makes you angry? Sassy drivers

What are you listening to on your I-pod? Ted Leo, Beirut, El ten eleven, the Thermals, Rilo Kiley, Rancid/Tim Armstrong

Do you have any pets? I hope to have a sloth one day

Anything else you’d like to add?
Cheers to all the girls in Honolulu and around the world for riding bikes! You ladies are fantastic! Though I only learned how to ride a bike a few years ago when I was 18, I have made some of the best friends and have had the greatest memories because of this magical 2-wheeled creation.

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Name: Marin Voth

Nickname (on the internet): emvee

Star sign/Blood type: Taurus

Birthday: 5/11

Current city: San Francisco

What’s the bike scene like in San Francisco for females? blossoming

What’s your favourite ride right now? every ride is my favorite ride

Where’s your favourite place to ride? Anywhere in San Francisco, Oakland and/or Berkeley.

Favourite riding outfit: chrome bag, a short skirt and leggings

Favourite food: does coffee count?

What makes you laugh? everything

What makes you angry? people who ride their bikes on the sidewalk.

What are you listening to on your I-pod? A-Trak: Dirty South Dance 2

Do you have any pets? no. I’m highly allergic to furry animals, so I can only love them on the internet.

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Name: Kim Cavanaugh

Nickname: Cupcake, Mrs. Cavanaugh

Star sign/Blood type: Aries/O+

Birthday: April 12, 1987

Current city: Houston, Texas

What’s the bike scene like in Houston for females?
It’s pretty chill. We have the girls ride that is a blast. Within the last couple years the bike scene has really blown up in Houston. It’s become very “hip” to be on a bike none the less a fixie so you see a lot of folks just riding it to be hip. When the fad dies we will see who is still in it for the joy of riding versus a fashion statement.

What’s your favourite ride right now? My Nishiki ☺ I call her Peaches.

Where’s your favourite place to ride? Through downtown during rush hour and around 3am when the streets are empty. It’s one or the other.

Favourite riding outfit: Shorts and tank.

Favourite food: Cupcakes and pizza.

Favourite movie: Blow.

Favourite book: Alice in Wonderland Through the Looking Glass.

What makes you laugh? Hipsters, Jackass, the dudesons, etc….

What makes you angry? Not being on time and dudes/chicks in their 30s still acting 18 get a real life and grow the hell up.

What are you listening to on your I-pod? Eagles, Fleetwood Mac, a lot of classic rock.

Do you have any pets? Yes, two dachshunds. Puff is a standard size longhair/shorthair combo black and tan and Churro is a mini longhair that is a squirrel like color scheme (brown/red).

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Name: Joanne Lombard

Nickname: Jojo

Star sign/Blood type: Taurus/no idea!

Birthday: 21st May

Current city: Dublin

What’s your favorite bike right now?
I love my fixie, its an old Raleigh racer which my boyfriend helped me build into a fixie.

What’s the bike scene like in Dublin for females?
I haven’t really explored ‘the scene’ I just ride with friends. The launch of the Dublin Bike Scheme has made a big difference, with lots more girls out and about on bikes!

Where’s your favourite place to ride?
Along the coast of Dublin on a sunny day or in the centre of the city late at night.

Favourite riding outfit: Jeans, t-shirt and runners.

Favourite food: All kinds of chocolate, I’m a bit of a chocoholic…

What makes you laugh? My friends

What are you listening to on your I-pod? The Arcade Fire, Florence + the Machine, The Cure, LCD Soundsystem & Sigur Ros

Do you have any pets? A cat called Charlie who is spoilt rotten!:)

Joanne’s Candy Cranks posts

I have about an 8 mile bike ride to work, I usually take a street called Kedzie which has a shared bike lane then get up on the North Shore Channel Trail. It’s an okay ride and I thought I would share some pictures.

Shared bike lane means both sides of the lane aren’t marked off and you have to trust the cars. It’s not too bad.

^How its marked.

Then you get to the trail. This is the river it goes by – it’s super disgusting though. Most of the rivers that run through Chicago are man made so something just isn’t right about them, very polluted.

Once I get to the trail I usually take off my helmet so that I cool off before I get to work, I don’t like walking in all red and sweaty. The trail goes through the Chicago Park districts then it crosses into the suburbs Lincolnwood, then Skokie.

When the trail hits Lincolnwood and Skokie it’s known as the sculpture park also due to the sculptures that line the path. It’s a nice path and brings me right by work

Name: Karin Christen

Nickname: kAIRin

Birthday: September 9.

Current city: Zürich

What’s the bike scene like in Zürich for females?
The downhill / freeride scene is very relaxed here in Switzerland, everyone has fun and respects one another. Of course there are more guys than girls riding, but the scene has became very popular in the last few years and you’ll find a bunch of girls on the trails. Mostly you’ll see some guys and one or two girls in a group riding together.

What’s your favourite ride right now?
All my rides are my favorite as I’ve got a bike for every occasion. Doing Downhill I ride my Intense Socom, for Single Trail riding I take my Intense 6.6 and for Street riding, I’ve got my Basso Race bike of course.

Where’s your favourite place to ride?
For my afterwork ride: Uetliberg Trail, Zürich
Freeride / Downhill rides: Lac Blanc, France

What are you listening to on your I-pod?
Shinedown at the moment.

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