AIDS/LifeCycle 2014

And so it begins. 

I just put a repeating item called 'ALC training' on my calendar, for every Sunday from January 12th to May 17th. I've already taken the week of June 1st-7th off from work. Bill and I have already chatted about how I'm getting home from LA.

This is how one goes into the year knowing that the next 6 months will equal a lot of things. Hard work, time outside, singing show tunes with teammates. Sun screen, electrolytes, flat tires, the indignity of that one last hill that goes up and into the Presidio after the Golden Gate bridge. 90 miles done and one $&^%^&*%* hill to go. 

These things all feel routine, and known. It feels interesting going into AIDS/LifeCycle the second year because I know what to expect. What I'm grappling with this year is how to ask. How to ask you folks to support me again. And what I'm coming up with is how this event changed me. For example, Bill just told me he had never seen me give a dollar to a homeless person until after the ride last year. 

Generosity is a practice. Doing the ride last year helped me realize that I like doing things for others. Granted, I don't always feel like it. But I can practice and see how it feels.

So here we are at the end of the year and I'm going to ask you to practice generosity and see how it feels. Can you donate?

http://www.tofighthiv.org/goto/AliceStribling2014

One thing to note about donating to ALC now is that it can help with your 2013 taxes. It will also give me a baseline of support for that last trudge up to the bridge. Knowing maybe I have raised $1500 for people who need medicine because they are sick. My total goal is $6,000. Last year I raised this and more. Right now I am at $496.

My fundraising plan for the year is this:

• If you donate $300 total by June 1st, I'll send you a drawing. (6) monthly donations of $50 will get you there by June.

• February 14th Have a Heart event at Mom's Body Shop.

On Valentine's day, you can get a $25 heart tattoo from Mom's Body Shop on Haight Street and all profits will go towards my ride. Last year, Mom's raised $1200 for ALC!! If you are in San Francisco, consider marking your calendar for this. There are a variety of hearts to choose from, and it is for a great cause.

See mine:

• In May, May, Dr Sketchy's 'Cute Girls on Bicycles' Annual event will be a fundraiser for ALC. Last year we raised over $600 with tips, giveaways and grilled cheese sandwiches. 

I'm riding for those who can't, for those who are sick, need care and deserve dignity. I'm riding for my teammate, Jonathan Baker, who took his life last month. We don't know why. I ride for Freddie Mercury who died of AIDS in 1991. He was an inspiration and I only hope that my light shines as bright as his. I ride so that the beneficiaries of these funds can bring hope and awareness, and possibly a cure.

Thank you for your generosity,
Alice

Click here to donate: http://www.tofighthiv.org/goto/AliceStribling2014

NoNewClothing 2014?

An interesting chat with my therapist last night left me considering something. I started out talking about NoSugarNovember, and how I still feel like an addict and so I'm not going back to sugar. It feels like I still get plenty of it, because I'm still eating grains and plenty of foods contain sugar. For instance, we had Chinese food on Thanksgiving and I felt pretty jittery after that.

I was also talking about how B and I want to go to Thailand and Vietnam next year, and I've committed to ALC and a short tour of the Sierras. And how am I going to afford all of these things and also keep saving money per Mr. Money Mustache? Her take on it is that the experience of going to Thailand and Vietnam are worth putting off new custom shoes and any new clothing. And she mentioned a friend of hers who decided to not buy anything new for a year.

This is appealing for a lot of reasons. I feel like an addict when it comes to clothing. I do things that aren't quite right for my budget and sometimes I can't seem to help myself. I make excuses. I get depressed once I've done the thing because it effects everything afterwards. I justify it. It just doesn't feel clean and honest.

So a year without means it would be long enough to hopefully break the addiction.

When she first mentioned it I felt bummed out, because living without the creativity makes me feel sad. Style is important to me. But we talked about ways to put it into a creative context, like buying second hand and making allowances for making new things, and it changes it to a challenge. Also going on this trip is worth it. This also reminds me of The Uniform Project, which I really respected.

There are a lot of reasons to consider it.

I want AIDS/LifeCycle to cost less this year, I bought a lot of things this year that might be a little too big now, but I can alter them to fit.

It would be hard to not order any custom stuff, I have plans for new shoes. But I could make do with what I already have.

Pushing myself to be creative, rather than just consume, is very appealing. It's going Against the Stream.

This would be living within the boundaries of YNAB and Mr. Money Mustache, and this is something that I really want to do.

Am I ready? It's such a short time to 2014! Can I do it? Would you do it???

Things that I'm into right now

self drafted straight skirt. Waxed denim.

self drafted straight skirt with zipper

moulage. I'm getting the hang of it.

first fitting of my western shirt jacket. Japanese raw slub denim. Al's Attire.

self drafted snakeskin pencil skirt. will have zipper.

2013 in review

It's a little early, but I'm ready to review.  I present to you 2013, broken out into categories.

Practice

This year I changed my alarm so that I have 15 minutes to sit in the morning. This was about 2-3 months ago, now I find myself waking up earlier to get in a 30 minute sit every day.

I find myself wanting to learn more about concentration, equanimity and compassion. My practice now is doing kind and friendly things, even if I don't feel kind and friendly. When I feel really cranky about something, I write down something for which I am grateful. This is sticky because I want to write about material luxuries, but try to find something else.

Apparel Arts

I started taking pattern making classes last January, it has changed my life in a lot of positive ways. Like most people, I have a complex relationship with clothing and fit. But I love clothes so this was a way to make clothing mine. The first section was skirts. I wasn't even interested in skirts before I started taking this class. But now I know that skirts can fit into the weekly wardrobe as easily as jeans.

I learned that I may have an idea for a long time, even over a year, before I can make it.

The gorgeous thing about style is that it can be ever changing and flowing. One style need not define me every day, deciding what I want to wear every day can be fun.

I have enough. Well thought out basics are better than impulsive and trendy purchases. When one has the right pieces, they can mimic the trends if one would like.

Dr Sketchy's

This year we successfully had two events a month at Chicken John's warehouse. The community is wonderful, our space is great, I am grateful to have this opportunity. I like drawing twice a month, I like picking the models. My drawing is always improving and I really like using watercolors.

Family

Bio: Super complex in 2013, but we seem to be past a crisis stage with my father's health. He seems happy, for now he can talk on the phone and he laughs. Mom has adjusted to the changes. We have a lot of help. I show up when I need to, even if I don't always feel like it.

My local chosen family and community rocks. I love my babycakes and the cats.

Financial

You Need a Budget and Mr Money Mustache are changing my views on money. I currently do a pretty good job of saving, but I am very interested in early retirement. I've been looking at a lot of things differently than in the past and I'm grateful that I started saving early. I'm questioning all expenses.

Health/Riding

Lot of accomplishments in this category in 2013. Did AIDS/LifeCycle break down the mental hurdle that kept me thinking that some things couldn't be accomplished? Oh yes.

6 months of training and a 545 mile ride to LA were pretty special. My team, the feeling of helping people, being of service and accomplishing this major goal felt wonderful.

I was also able to participate in some 200ks with SFR this year as well. It's nice to be with that community.

I lost over ten pounds this year, I've lost 35 total. It feels weird to see the hollows under my cheekbones, I like them.

There is a relationship now between art and riding, in that I've been designing posters for SFR and for commission projects.

I just quit sugar in what I am calling 'No Sugar November'. I had a headache for the first 9 days. Eating bread makes me feel the same, and starts the craving cycle. I'm not sure that I am ready to take on bread and grains.

Style

A big year for style! I'm very excited about it. Bill and I both explored the option of getting custom clothing. In the Spring, I started out looking for dress shoes/flats that would replace a pair of shoes that I bought in London in 2006. Eventually it led me to Al's Attire and I had them remade! In my size!

My joke is that there is no venn diagram where wide feet and cute intersect. I ordered two pairs of custom shoes this year and have ideas about what I might like to invest in next year.

I took some fabric that I bought for myself and Bill into Al's and we had shirts made as well.

I'm exploring skirt shapes, volume, color, not so much pattern (this is a hard one), accessories and modern fashion. My Pinterest is about shapes and inspiration. One lesson that Apparel Arts has taught me is that I can hold onto that inspiration as long as I need it, eventually I will have the skills to make whatever I want. And that, while it is clinging, is also freedom.

Evernote

This may sound crazy but Evernote kind of changed my life. I track all of my projects and interests using Evernote, I clip web pages, recipes, all of it. I found out about it from reading an article on the founders of ModCloth.

One big thing I did this year was track all the clothing whims that I had, that I wanted to purchase. I found that most of the things I bought online I sent back, and most of the things that I thought I wanted, if I write them down and think about it for a while...well they don't really interest me for very long. Or if they do, then it is worth saving the money. Trades also rock.

Anyhoo, that's it. Thanks for reading.

Bike: Berthoud Saddle

Some time in the recent past I became aware that my Berthoud Aspin cork saddle was askew. I say 'sometime' because I think it had been this way for a while, perhaps even when I bought it two years ago. But it's like I never really looked at it that closely. Weird, I know.

I recall that the saddle rubbed my jeans on the right side when I first got it. Then recently I actually burned through a pair of jeans on the right inner thigh and started doing some looking. Oh yeah, the saddle was a just a little wonky. I tried to mess with the rivets and straighten it out, but in the front this plastic piece was turned and underneath the rails were bent. Nothing would change it.



I took the saddle into Box Dog to see if there was anything that could be done about it. Geoffrey Colburn took some photos and sent them into their distributer, Euro Asia Imports.



(photos by Geoffrey Colburn)

Geoffrey got back to me with an unexpectedly pleasing result. The distributer was willing to exchange the saddle for no charge, which is so super awesome. I was expecting to pay something for restoring it.

Needless to say this replacement saddle came with a rail stabilizer. #sweet

Style: Al's again, and Apparel Arts

Over the last couple of weeks I have been dealing with some family stuff. We were also busy at work finishing up some projects. It finally feels like things are starting to settle down, and I'm glad. I feel like hibernating a little bit for the winter. I'm going to take some time off the bike and I'm looking forward to some dark, cold time to snuggle indoors with the cats, my baby and some sewing.

Last year I bought some fabric with the intention of making Babycakes a shirt, and me a denim shirt jacket. B's is a nice Viyella shadow plaid and I got some beautiful Japanese raw slub denim. I was in over my head with my skill level though, and we decided instead to order these from Al's Attire.



While I was disappointed that I couldn't realize my vision, and bummed that I made a birthday present commitment that I couldn't keep, I'm glad to have that 'to do' item in the works. Bill ordered a nice button up work shirt, and I'll have a great western style layering piece.

I'm finishing up my 2nd final skirt for Apparel Arts. I'm very pleased with what I've accomplished. I found my inspiration last fall (from Spring 2013), pinned them to Pinterest, started school in January, and 10 months later I've almost completed both of these garments.

I learned the pattern drafting theory, drafted two slopers (had to make a second one because I lost weight), completed 12 skirt pattern exercises, including muslins, and then followed through on a vision that I had a year ago.



It's hard to be patient with the process, because I want to get to shirts, but it's nice to stop for a minute and reflect on everything that I have done.

I didn't really wear many skirts before I started pattern drafting. Now I have the skills to draft and make whatever I want, so now I'm working out what pieces I could use to fill out my closet. Likely basics, timeless pieces that I can wear for work and to ride in...of course. :)

Rider #3273 Reporting for Duty

So this is happening.





Yep I'm riding again! 

To contribute, please go to my site: www.tofighthiv.org/goto/AliceStribling2014 

Many thanks,
Alice

BBP

I really enjoyed the Buddhist Bicycle Pilgrimage, or BBP last weekend. We set off from Spirit Rock at the crack of dawn Saturday morning. Headed out Nicassio Valley in the morning cold...I was so cold. Climbing felt nice because it warmed up the body.



We skirted around the reservoir and up to the Pt Reyes Petaluma Rd out to the Cheese Factory. Then out to Hicks and Wilson Hill.



After that I knew a few roads, Two Rock and whatnot. It was a nice long ride, 84 miles Saturday. We stopped at Sae Taw Win II for lunch and learned about their classes.

We got to camp near Cloverdale around 5ish, had dinner then I volunteered to clean up afterwards. I was close to the point of passing out at that point but I know how important volunteers are to these kinds of events and I wanted to give back so I washed the dishes. By the time 8pm rolled around and it was time to sit, I was nodding off on the cushion.

On Sunday, we stopped at the City of 10,000 Buddhas and Abhayagiri Monastery and learned this song:

I have enough
I am grateful
Share the blessings
Hallelujah.

May all be fed
May all things flourish
May all awaken
Bhodi Svaha

We used our route sheet, knew the path and stayed on the path.

My Dad calls...

and I am grateful for it. He calls to ask when someone is coming by because he has a list of things that he needs done.

He wants to put his house in order in some way. He wants to get rid of things, sell things, he kind of always has a list of things.

The theme for the ride that I am going on this weekend is generosity. I've turned towards meditation and practice to help with this suffering that I'm feeling.

I think about generosity in relation to my father. I am being generous because I pick up the phone when he calls, even if I am busy. I don't do that for everyone. If I'm busy, I call people back.

I am willing to ask the same questions and to be calm and fun. I like it when I can make him laugh, even if I cry later.

Right now I feel like my heart is weighted down. There are sharp rocks that have made their way inside me. I hope that I can ride out a lot of things this weekend on pilgrimage.

Holli Would at Dr Sketchy's

No words. All Holli Would.

Stuff and Things

Currently I find myself in Wyckoff, NJ visiting with babycake's mom. This is after a weekend spent with my mom and dad in South Carolina. My parents' living situation has changed recently, they both have their own apartments in their living facility in Spartanburg.

As I'm beginning to understand, dementia has different cycles: crisis, stasis, crisis, stasis. Couple months ago we had a crisis, now we are trying to find equilibrium.

We've hired Geriatric Resource Services and I think they will help to make things more relaxed for everyone involved. I am grateful to have a weekend with my dad where he seems happy and we laugh. I'm sure that things will change. It is possible that one day he will not know who I am and I will have to find the strength to accept him as he is. I find it helpful to stay grounded in gratitude.

We're traveling to New York in a couple of days and I might witness Fashion Week. Since I've been in Apparel Arts, I've been tracking garment shapes and silhouettes on Pinterest. Learning about Fashion without schooling is a challenge. I would say that I've always been interested in style, but I haven't always been flexible in my style. I do find it fascinating to see style chameleons, one who can really can take on and off a persona with a season. I'm developing a willingness to try new things. When one has curves, it can be scary to play with volume for example. One doesn't want to make ones hips look bigger for instance by wearing something with more volume on the bottom. But fuck it. Why not try it? That's where I am.



I had some time over the Labor Day weekend to sew. I forgot something very important, and that is you must always staystitch the top of the skirt pieces so that they don't stretch out as they are being handled. This one stretched. My waistband was an inch and a half shorter than the top of the skirt, oof. I even went so far as to cut a new bigger waistband before I finally figured out what had happened. Fortunately experienced folks on the internets helped me and I was able to spray and iron it back into shape.



This photos shows that the skirt did indeed shrink back down so that it fit the waistband again.

Making stuff can be very very hard. I tend to get down about things when they don't work out, my biggest challenge in life is keeping a positive attitude. Cycling and meditating have taught me that things will always change and to keep going.

My mother was talking about my father over the weekend and she had that he was very good at starting projects and not as good at finishing them. I guess that I learned this and am attempting to overcome it.



I did this little guy at Dr Sketchy's Roller Derby.


Al's Attire finished my walking boots.

It was the summer of custom shoes, I saved for these and it was totally worth it. They are beautiful, comfortable and they are going to last forever.

I'll probably hold off on another pair for a while, I would like to get a tall pair of boots in the next 6 months or for next Fall. I never find tall boots that fit. My legs are very curvy and pretty 17" calf boots are hard to find. Al wants to put me into a pair of button boots. We'll see.

Process: Apparel Arts skirts

I've been doing this Apparel Arts thing since January and all I seem to post are unbleached muslin process photos. It feels simultaneously like the least fulfilling thing that I do and the most fulfilling thing that I do. Where is the finished product??? In my brain so far...

The first topic, skirts, didn't hold that much appeal for me before I started. I don't usually wear them. In the bare legs department, I usually prefer dresses because they are easy for work. Throw on one piece and you are done. Skirts have to be STYLED. Maybe one can wear a tshirt with them but it never feels quite put together. I tended towards jean skirts for many years and now I want to take it further.

My class is great. We work independently with a teacher, Heather, who comes around to talk to each of us individually. The goal is to work our way through a book that was written by the founder of the school, Suzy Furrer.

The pattern drafting course can take 2-3 years to complete. It's up to us how fast we move. Personally I have had to do most of my work in class, I don't have a lot of time for homework. But that's why I decided in the first place that this was a possibility, it's very flexible and there is no up front financial commitment. I pay as I go and it doesn't matter how long it takes. When I have time, of course I like to do work at home.

Anyway eight months (Aids/LifeCycle, a tour, and some family bombs later) and I'm onto my final two skirt projects, which I'm making in fashion fabric. Yeehaw! My first skirt is inspired by a JCrew skirt from their 2013 Spring collection. It's a pretty simple shape, one that we even did in an exercise: the inverted box pleat.

The first round of design needed more drama. I think I did pretty much what we did in the book exercise, 3" box pleat, and small extension for more of an A-line
shape. When I tried on the muslin, I wanted more. So I added a deeper pleat and more flare.

This also has a jump pleat lining, and the first muslin was a learning experience for how to neatly fit it in with the box pleat.


It's not supposed to look like this!

The second muslin also sort of sucked to put together, but I did it. Damnit. I now have a list of how to put together the final,


This is more like it. I know you people are like what is this? I promise to post the final skirt when it is done.


Again, this is the inspiration.


Here are some drawrrrings and notes.


Drawings and notes for the second skirt, which is still in the works.


Inverted box pleat muslin.
Gathered panel skirt muslin.


This is my inspiration for the second skirt. I hope that it will look similar to this when it is done. Easy, breasy. A little volume and yet flattering for my curves. From Marc Jacobs Spring 2013 collection. Photo by the Satorialist.

Random Poseurs 200k Dart-xtravaganza

I met my team at the crack of dawn's ass last Saturday at the Safeway on 16th St.

We rolled down to the coast in fog and chill and eventually stopped for a quick break so that I could take a photo of Poteo-dotes, Juliayn, Jim and Ely the bagmaker.



As it happens with long rides, a lot of things happened and a lot of things were discussed. Sitting on the couch a week later, I can't claim to remember it all.



I had time to catch up with Ely and told him about AIDS/LifeCycle. We have not had as much time to ride together this year.

I found out about some of Juliayn's projects, she thrifted some merino sweaters and is making new things from them.

John told me some weird stories, many of which I didn't understand.

I got to hear about Jim's new baby and how he wants to craft a good space to make music. We also talked about getting parents iPads. They seem to dig the Video Chat.

We rode a lot, I saw some territory that we covered in AIDS/LifeCycle. I love hitting those sandy red colored cliffs outside of Santa Cruz. The clouds were really weird and dramatic that day. There were some beautiful parts of the coast with ice blue water reflecting the sky next to almost wheat color sand. I do really love that color combination.

We hit Stage Rd, which I had never been on before. We climbed up and over the bitchy Soquel ridge to Los Gatos. Thank you to Captain Potis for the steady push up that one hour climb so that I could enjoy the rest break you had planned for us at the top. I wish that I were a faster climber, and yet the stuff that needs doing to get faster is always sitting there. Maybe next year it will change. So many things have changed already. I do feel strong.

We had a great time that day. We got loopy and silly together and it was entertaining and fun.



Some highlights for me were eating road side blueberries that Juliayn was smart enough to purchase on Hwy 1. The blueberries from the store are decidedly 'one note' in comparison. I have never felt like I could taste the Vitamin C in a blueberry before these.

While the beginning of the day was gray and foggy, the afternoon and evening yielded beautiful golden light and we had fun taking glamour shots on the bridge in Cupertino.



The Santa Cruz Randonneurs put together a fun Dart, Scott Brittle even had me design a poster for it. This is the second poster I've done for this event.

These photos from Juliayn make me laugh:

Astoria, Or ---> Seattle. Pt. 5. The End of the Tour

Zeke and I headed to Amtrak really early on Wednesday. We wanted to give ourselves plenty of time to disassemble the bikes and Jen and Mike told us there was COFFEE and stuff around the station should we find ourselves with extra time.

We popped down there pretty quickly, only to find UNION station, not KING St Station. Through the kindness of strangers, we found out that King St Station is just smaller, and right after (in other words hidden by...) Union Station. We had about an hour and a half to get our boxes, pack the bikes and wait.

We started on Zeke's bike first. The thing that I was worried about was the pedals, because I didn't have a full on pedal wrench, I had a 15mm wrench from the hardware store. I had to leverage my weight onto the pedals but eventually I felt the sweet sweet turn of the wrench. YES. What ended up being a bigger deal was turning his handlebars. The screws were rusted and it was difficult to wedge my small multi tool under the bars to get good leverage. Eventually again I felt the sweet turn of the screw.

Zeke's bars were too tall for the bike box so we took his front wheel off. They don't recommend this and I did not need to do this on my bike. Zeke's bike just has those tall extensions on the side and wouldn't fit.

My bike was a breeze. Pedals off, taped 'em up. Took off the bars, turned them and hung them on the top tube. Wheeled it into the box and GLORY was mine.



I believe that we may have cheered and taped up the boxes. So much easier than flying!

We dragged all of our crap to the ticket counter and checked it, stood in line for the ticket taker people, then stood at the gate for the Sleeper cars.



We climbed aboard and met our attendant, whose name I unfortunately forgot and he gave me champagne. So rad. Welcome aboard for real.



Our little roomette was pretty cool. We had two comfy seats facing each other, a picture window and enough room to store our crap. There were bathrooms and a shower pretty close by, and coffee and juice and stuff upstairs.

I think that I just enjoyed the novelty of it for a while and hung out in the room. We had to place a dinner reservation, so we did read up on that stuff. There is a dining car and a parlor car on the Amtrak Coast Starlight. One had to place one's dinner order for the parlour car when the person came 'round, but all one has to do for the dinner car is make a time reservation. So civilized. All meals with the roomette are included.



Zeke started exploring immediately. I was relaxing and reading. It was really nice to have so much room to move around when I did get up to explore. The Parlour car had cool lounge-y seats, there was a car where you could hang out and get a good view. They had snacks, movies, drinks, a wine and cheese tasting, etc.

We had lunch with a Bay Area nerd couple, he was wearing a Utili kilt. She was a coder. You know who they are. We had fun talking about the Walking Dead and bikes. Our dinner companions were from LA, and they had taken the train to Seattle and were heading home. Breakfast was with an Australian couple who went to MONGOLIA last summer, of COURSE we talked about Ewan McGregor's the Long Way round. They were awesome.

Couple of notable things happened on the train. I started Ender's Game, which Zeke has read like 13 times. We went through the Cascades, which were beautiful. I got They Might Be Giant's End of the Tour stuck in my head and it never went away. Zeke had mixed feelings about the End of the Tour, and he was looking forward to planning his next adventure: riding the spine of the Sierras from Tecate Mexico to Sumas, WA. Let me just say I have already received an email asking me which part of the adventure I would like to attend. :)

Thinking about next year is challenging right now. The situation with my parents is RFC (really fucking complicated) and basically I was arriving Thursday morning on the train and leaving Thursday night for South Carolina. ugh.

Anyhoo we arrived in Emeryville and Zeke's dad and his younger brother came hurtling down the gangway in their fluorescent vests and carrying protest signs, I mean, climate change signs for Zeke. it was really cute.



We reassembled bikes and headed over to Zeke's house for COFFEE and second breakie. It was so nice to catch up with Joel, talk about the trip and meet Zeke's rats. Mary Curie and someone else. Zeke took off with his maps of the Sierras, at which point I headed home to start the second leg of the week.

I'm not sure that I can write about that part. My therapist thinks I'm still in shock about the whole thing.

The quick version is two weeks ago there was an incident and the police were called. My dad ended up in the Geriatric Psych Ward which ended up being a very good thing. The determination came down that my parents should separate. Fortunately they live in a great facility with Assisted and Independent apartments and arrangements were made. My brother and I showed up and did what was needed. Thankfully we have a lot of help. It will take a long time to process.