kerry-litka.com|small things considered

Fitchburg 2010: Stage 3 – The Time Trial

kerry — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 19:27:44 +0000

…a scene in which our heroine faces a challenge put forth from The Man*.

*The Man, who in this case, is the USA Cycling Official responsible for Time Trial Bike checks

The time trial – what was in the past Stage 1 of the venerable classic has now become Stage 3 – because it cost less to [...]

Fitchburg Stage Race 2010: Stage 2 – Same Song, Second Verse

kerry — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 16:24:44 +0000

Ah, the road race. It used to be my favorite stage, the penultimate stage of the Longsjo, the stage that separated the men from the boys, or the real racers from the posers. I refuse to use terms like women and girls, or even worse, ladies, because in general, terms that describe women seldom differentiate [...]

Fitchburg Stage Race 2010: Stage 1, or a Comedy of Errors

kerry — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 03:22:51 +0000

I just finished stage 1 of the venerable Fitchburg Longsjo Classic Stage Race, and all I can think was “what the hell was that all about?!?”

Seriously…it was by far the most bizarre FSR stage in all of my 12 years of racing (to be precise, I have only raced Fitchburg a total of 10 times [...]

Cycling Fashion

kerry — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 18:16:30 +0000

Ok, I lied about only blogging about fashion on my other blog. But this one seems better served on this site.

Ever wonder why bike racers don’t make great fashion models despite possessing such coveted traits as dangerously low body weights?

Take a look:

Glove Tan with Chiffon

Awkward pose - gangly arms

Sock tan

Pavement tattoo

Of Pencil Skirts and Sweater Clips…

kerry — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 17:43:48 +0000

OK, I am now officially going to blog about sewing and fashion related things on a new blog, instead of on here, which is supposed to be a cycling blog. I realize that most of my cycling readers could care less about my sewing creations, and my sewing readers are not interested in debating the [...]

Putting an end to the 650c Wheelsize Myth once and for all

kerry — Sat, 01 May 2010 23:51:43 +0000

I still get emails from women asking advice on bike size and bike fit, and the number one question (other than ‘what bike do you recommend?’) is ‘will I go slower on 650c wheels?’

The answer is…NO. I’ve discussed this on here plenty of times, and I have always used my own race results as proof, [...]

Seriously, Voler….

kerry — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 17:29:10 +0000

Well, it was bound to happen. They’re vanity sizing cycling clothes now. That is so, so sad. Last time I checked, cyclists were among the infinitesimally small segment of the population who were not getting larger. And yet, the cycling clothing people have decided to follow the trends set by mass marketed ready-to-wear and gone and sized everything [...]

It was twenty years ago today….

kerry — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 14:45:14 +0000

Hikaru Jacket from Burda Style, in wool cashmere

Here we have my latest sewing project – the Hikaru Jacket from Burda Style. This was one of those “sewing in reverse” kind of projects, where I bought the fabric first, and then eventually found the right pattern for it. I got the fabric back in December, [...]

Diva

kerry — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 20:44:10 +0000

A friend of mine recently commented about the appropriate name of my new bike – insinuating that I am a bit of a Diva. Well, maybe I am. Take, for instance, my list of demands concerning my new bike. When I decided to spring for a new ride, I was painfully aware that the only option for [...]

Clothes and whatnot

kerry — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 15:07:13 +0000

OK, enough about cycling. Let’s talk about something less controversial and more fun – Clothes! I’ve actually been sewing up a storm around here and the fruits of my labors are about to make an appearance here on the website, as soon as I get around to taking photographs. In short, I have managed to sew [...]

If the UCI ran other sports….

kerry — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 14:05:06 +0000

If you hadn’t seen it yet, the latest news in cycling is that the UCI has decided to ban the Specialized Shiv time trial bike two days before the final time trial of a race that started three days ago.

Apparently, the bike, which debuted in the spring of 2009, is not within the legal [...]

A voice from the peloton…

kerry — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 22:15:51 +0000

The following comment is from a woman who I raced with locally here in New England many years ago (I can’t believe it’s been that long).

Her points address the issues at the local, grassroots level – the problems and the solutions. In my opinion, it’s the most coherent thing that’s been posted on here yet [...]

The Problem with Women’s Cycling: Part V

kerry — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 03:26:26 +0000

Are we really up to Part V now? (By the way, do you like how I keep switching from Roman to Arabic numerals?)

In case you’ve missed it, we hit an all time record high for the number of comments on a blog entry here at kerry-litka.com with our recent post “The Problem with Women’s [...]

The Problem with Women’s Cycling: Part 4

kerry — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 14:42:14 +0000

Disclaimer: This one’s going to piss a lot of people off

OK, here’s the deal. If you just got your 2 upgrade, that does not legitimize your decision to quit your job and “go pro.” Previous comments on this blog indicate that at best, “pro” women in the states are making less than $10k a year for [...]

The Problem With Women’s Cycling: Part 3

kerry — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 02:52:32 +0000

I posted that last entry because I thought it would generate some discussion, and apparently is struck an even bigger nerve with the readers when I received an angry phone call from a rabid Nicole Cooke fan about an hour after posting it.

First, I’d like to state that I didn’t write it, so don’t [...]