Becky (Chain Reaction Redwood City)

Yep, we still have bikes for Christmas! If you (or Santa) are stuck on what to get your kid for tomorrow morning, we’ve got what you need! We have all kid’s bike sizes in stock right now ready to go. As a sales person, I love selling kid’s bikes at Christmas time and imagining the joy on their faces when they walk out on Christmas morning to see a shiny new bike with a big red bow (We still have those too!). Whether you have a boy or a girl, we have the bike for them! We are open from 10am till 2pm today, so come in and get that bike for tomorrow morning!

We’ve got a crazy sale right now! If you buy gloves, shorts and a jersey, you get 35% off all apparel in the store! That’s right, 35% off! I just sold a guy about $500 of clothing for his wife for just $350! We’ve got everything you could need for winter right here. And, if you don’t need gloves, shorts and a jersey, then all apparel is still 20% off!
It’s raining, so come on in and get set up for winter! We also have 2 trainers set up so you can test ride bikes too! We have all of our 2010 bikes on super sale right now, up to $500 off already sale prices! So it’s time for you to come in to Chain Reaction and get that new bike that you’ve been looking for, and get all the gear you need at a great price too!

We now have pretty much all of our winter clothing in stock! Whether you are looking for a rain jacket that won’t leave you sweating like a sauna, or a thermal jersey to keep you nice and cozy in the cold, we’ve got it! I have a large selection of Pearl Izumi, Louis Garneau, and Craft apparel in lots of colors and in stock now.

This jacket is an amazing waterproof winter jacket. Charlie in our Redwood City store has one and rode with it in the rain and he loves it. It is fully waterproof with taped seams and Pearl Izumi’s WxB 2.5 layer barrier fabric keeps all water out, and is stretchy. No crinkly fabric here! The zipper is also completely waterproof. This jacket isn’t just built for keeping water out, the fit is phenomenal as well. It comes with a detachable hood to cover your helmet and drop down tail to keep your back side dry when bending over on the bike.
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This was our top selling jacket last year. It’s kind of a jersey and a jacket all rolled up into one awesome package. The outside has light wind resistance while the inside is a combination of warm fleece and wicking fabric. It keeps you warm and dry. One of the best parts of this jacket is the amount of pockets on it. Not only do you have 3 zippered rear pockets but you also have 2 zippered front hand pockets and a zippered sleeve pocket. And with 360* reflectivity, it’s not only stylish, but safe as well.
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Do you get really cold when you ride? Do you think that nothing can keep you warm during the cold winter months? Have you been looking for the ultimate warm baselayer? Look no further because we have the Craft Pro Warm baselayers in stock. These are the warmest baselayers on the market. This has it all. There are different densities in the knit that conform to different areas of your body to keep your core warm. The knit used creates air pockets to keep the cold out and keep the warmth in. My mom gets cold all the time and she has a real problem finding things that keep her warm on the bike, but this does the job.
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Winter is here (at least weather wise) and we want to keep you outfitted so that you can ride year round, so come in to one of our stores and we would be happy to set you up with winter riding essentials!

No, I’m not typing an email in the wrong place, I have gotten a lot of people asking why I haven’t updated my blog in a while. I’m sorry about this. I’ve been very distracted with the health problems of my brother, Kevin (The same one my dad has been writing about on his blog). This whole ordeal has not been fun for neither Kevin, nor our family. I want him to get better so badly and there is nothing I can do for him, and that really sucks for me. I like taking care of people and I take care of Kevin a lot. Seeing him still in pain kills me. Now and then, when the pain subsides a little, I see glimmers of the “old” Kevin, the one who tells jokes about everything and makes everyone around him smile. I am hoping and praying with all my heart that all this stuff will pass quickly and I can have my brother back.

A little intro to me and Kevin. We are weirdly close. When other brothers and sisters are fighting and screaming at each other, we are hugging and making each other laugh. People always say that we are weird for being that way, but that’s the way that we like it. That’s not to say that we don’t get on each others nerves sometimes, I don’t think it is biologically possible for a brother and sister to NOT get on each others nerves. We do little things to push the others buttons but in general we get along great. We do a lot together, but one thing we really like to do is travel together. I think I have been on more trips with Kevin than anyone else and we always have a lot of fun. We go to Disneyland at least once a year (we love Disneyland, perhaps me a little more than Kevin) and we love to go to Europe, Kevin and I have been there twice. We think very similarly and I think that’s one reason why we get along so well. I miss my brother and I want him to come back from this stronger than ever.

New York is awesome! The city is all that I thought it would be and more! Yellow cabs (To my mom’s chagrin, we did not find the cash cab), skyscrapers, and tons of dogs! I had no idea that New York was such a dog city. People walk their dogs everywhere, at all hours, it’s great! The only thing is that most people aren’t super friendly about letting you pet their dogs. I come from a family where it was totally cool to ASK someone to pet their dog, but don’t just go up to them and start pawing at their animals (No pun intended). And here in California, that seems totally cool and ok, but it just seemed like New Yorkers aren’t down with the pooch petting. Oh well, I still thought it was cool to see all the puppies!

Emily and I went to the Met in the morning and I must say, the Met is an amazing museum! It’s like a combination of the best of the Louvre, The D’Orsay, and Le Centre Pomidue in Paris. You have the best of Ancient and Classical Art on the ground floor (Where Emily and I spent much time, she being a Classics almost grad student and me being an anthropology and archeology buff) alongside the best selection of Post-European American Art and Aboriginal Art I have ever seen! Then we went upstairs and they have an amazing Impressionist section. Rooms and rooms full of Van Goghs, Monets, Degas’, Renoirs, and Seurats. I was in impressionist heaven. My mom loves Monet, so I took a virtual picture tour for her, every single Monet there is now cataloged in my computer for her and she really liked them. The only downside to the trip to the Met was that the Modern Art section was closed for refurbishment, oh well, it looks like I will have to go back again!

After spending the morning immersed in amazing art, we decided to fill the afternoon exploring a whole other, but very important, culture: SHOPPING! We took the metro down to SoHo and lazily walked the crowded streets while stopping into shops we wanted to. Their Bloomingdale’s is pretty awesome, and I came really close to buying a cool DVF dress that made me look like a bird (Really, it was pretty cool, not tacky) but decided to not completely drain my bank account that day. After wearing ourselves out on shopping overkill, we went to Dean and Deluca, which is this amazing gourmet grocery store where I got a superbly tasty chocolate-peanut butter brownie and some special cinnamon for my mom. We took the subway back to the hotel and decided on a low key dinner (We had to get up really early to get me to the airport). All in all, I really really REALLY liked New York, and I can’t wait to go back.

Took the mega bus from Philly to NYC today. We had tickets to see Wicked and it was AWESOME. Everything in it was amazing, the songs, the sets, the costumes, it was great. The only downside was that Kristen Chenowenth and Idina Menzel were not playing Glinda and Elphaba (I’m a huge Glee fan, and they have both had guest roles), but it was great all the same. And I think it’s pretty cool to see a show on broadway.

We then went to pizza at a place by the David Letterman Show and it was superbly delicious. I must say that I have been converted to the east coast way of eating pizza, folding it. Then, we went exploring a bit and spent some time in crowded Times Square. Walking back to the hotel, we grabbed some cheese cake from juniors (HIGHLY recomended!) and are now having a quite night in watching silly girl shows. Tomorrow should be a big day of museum hopping an sight seeing!

That’s right, I’m in the home of cheese steaks and the Declaration of Independence. I’m out here to see my best friend Emily and having a great time. And yes, it is sunny here. The weather is interesting because I seem to have hit the only 2 days of the year where the weather here is decidedly California-like. I’ve never been here but so far I really like Philly. The people here are super nice, the streets are reletively easy to navigate, and it’s been a good mix of bus/subway/walking trasportation.

Speaking of transportation, I took a mix of planes, trains and taxis to get here. Everything was fairly uneventful until I got to the train station in Newark to catch my train to Philly. My Amtrak train went from on-time to 1 hour late to 15 minutes late to 22 minutes late to 7 minutes late to 27 minutes late to arriving at the station no more than 5 minutes off schedule. Is this normal for the east coast trains?

Today we went to Old Philidelphia, saw Independence Hall being renovated (no, we did not get in the horrendous line to see the Liberty Bell) and Betsy Ross’ house, went to the best bakery in Philly (Tartes, AMAZING!), found a pretty awesome costume shop, and basically spent the day exploring and eating pizza in a combination East Coast/West Coast style (Folding a slice of pepperoni in half and dipping it in Ranch dressing). Lady Gaga dance parties, a Gossip Girl marathon and homemade chicken parmesean are making this girls weekend the best ever!

The cycling world here is pretty active. Being as it is a town with 2 universities, there are a ton of bikes around. A lot of hybrids and college bikes but it’s a really cool bike city. They are locked to trees, bike racks, fences and street lamps. I peeked into a couple of shops here and they sell these really cool “I (bike symbol) Philly”, I’d like to buy one, but seeing as I haven’t ridden here, it didn’t seem right to wear one.
Off to New York tomorrow. More to follow!

Sundays are supposed to be the days that my dad takes my brother Kevin out on a killer ride, but this Sunday, Kevin had some major kidney stone pain, so my dad took me out instead. Now, when I think about riding with my dad, I get a little nervous because he is so fast and strong and I am, well, neither. After voicing my concerns to him numerous times, he suggested that I ride my mom’s E-bike. This is the bike that she rides to work and back on and it’s got an electric motor on the back that doesn’t pedal for you, but it gives some power back to you. It’s a “pedal assist” and super fun to ride. We went out to Portola Valley and did “The Loop”, and yes, it was HOT. I think I might be a bit like my brother on rides though, it takes me a little bit of time to get into riding and then I am good to go. Stopping off at the “New Roberts” to get a soda was pretty cool for me because I have seen so many pictures of my brother drinking sodas on rides and it was nice to be able to share that with my dad myself. It was definitely nice to spend the day on the bike with my dad.

There have been bike racks at Whole Foods since it opened, but for a very long time, they were out of the way and not very visible. This didn’t make much sense to me and my dad, considering that this is a store that promotes healthy lifestyles, and yet were making it a bit inconvenient to ride your bike there. So I was pleased to see that they had added a new bike rack right outside the front door. The location is super visible which makes me feel good about leaving my bike there while I grab a sandwich for lunch. Way to go Whole Foods!

Although awesome as it is that they have this new bike rack, it would be nice if it were set out a few more feet from the cart center so that we could put our bike’s front or rear wheels in it. As you can see, I (and someone else too) had to place my bike sideways after trying to make it work the “right way” for about 5 minutes. Still a few bugs in the system but much better than putting my bike far away!

Speaking of grabbing lunch, if you every drive between El Camino and Jefferson on weekdays between 11am and 1pm, you might seen me on my Gary Fisher Simple City heading off somewhere to get some food. I love this bike. It is so darn practical, not to mention cute. It’s great being able to stick my purse in the basket and go wherever it takes me. Although it did take some getting used to riding with a lot of weight on the front, it’s still a super fun bike to ride. I have been happy to ride it short distances that I would otherwise be taking my car and wasting gas. And although it may be a bit cliche, I love riding it to the farmer’s market on Saturdays and loading the basket up with fruit and bread.

No, not that season, I’m talking about pre-season clothing! We just received in some of our new Fall 2010 Pearl Izumi clothing and it looks great! There are a couple of pieces that I would really like to highlight here, simply for their pure awesomeness.

1. Men’s P.R.O. Aero Jacket: Every one needs a great all purpose jacket and this thing is amazing. It’s made of super light, packable fabric that will not only keep the wind off you, but keep you dry in the fog without turning into a sauna. The material is a 2 way stretch to provide the most breathable best fit possible. And it fits in a jersey pocket for when the sun comes out!

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2. Men’s Elite Thermafleece Tight: When I took these out of the box, I was amazed at how light they were. They have a combination of thermal and barrier fabrics for superior moisture transfer and warmth with out being too heavy. The barrier fabric on the front will keep the wind off your knees and thighs, while the articulated knee insures no bunching on the bike.

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3. Women’s Symphony Thermal Hoody: These jerseys just look comfy. It’s loaded with great details for making your fall/winter rides warm and toasty. It has a hood with a ponytail hole so you can wear it under your helmet, plus a zippered back pocket with 3 dividers. The thermal fabric that makes up this whole jersey is super soft but will still keep you dry and ready for more.

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4. Women’s Superstar Knicker: I love knickers, I think that they provide the optimal amount of warmth and versatility for year round riding while being one of the most flattering pieces out there. The Superstar knicker is no different. This one is built with brushed material that is soft to the touch but won’t over heat on warmer days. Made with the Women’s 3D Tour chamois, this is perfect for moderate length rides. The wide, yoga inspired waistband and gripperless legs take the comfort of this knicker to the next level.

More clothing news to come, and if you have any questions about the pieces shown here or anything about cycling clothing in general, I’d love to hear from you!