Gluten-Free Motorcycle Camping Food

The REI Memorial Day sale brought me into the store to find camping food. I can't claim camping foodie rights like my friend Paul who desiccates his own food for camping. Back in 2010 when Peter and I road from New Foundland to Vancouver, we had to find vegan and gluten free food. For this summer's solo trip, the camping food just has to be gluten-soy-dairy free. Impossible? Possible! Let me caveat this first by saying that nearly all the manufacturers put a disclaimer on their foods, something like, "This product was processed in a facility that handles dairy products, nuts, soy and wheat." so for people who can't tolerate trace amounts of their allergen(s), processed food is simply out of the question. I have enzymes that help me digest foods that have trace amounts of stuff that from my gut's perspective is a "contaminant" so if the package says "gluten free", and there's no soy and no dairy, then I'm willing to take the risk.

There's a range of risk. Here are two products that do not list dairy, gluten or dairy in the ingredients, but do not say explicitly "gluten free".
Whenever I see "spices" but not a list of what the spices are, I always take an enzyme capsule with my meal.

A new (to me) manufacturer, is AlpineAire Foods, whose product lines includes several gluten-free choices. Here are two that meet my additional soy and dairy free restrictions.

I was also pleased to see three choices of packaged fish - no refrigeration needed. I should be able to find green onions and tomatoes on the road, maybe some fresh spinach - a salmon salad! Food allergies are a pain in the butt to plan around, and, it can be done.

- - -
And now for something completely different - aforementioned friend Paul sent this video of a motorcycle cop, Officer Tom Hardin, Sr. rescuing a bull that got loose in Fresno. Officer Hardin, who has thirty years of ranching experience, rounded up the bull from his motorcycle, staying on his mount even after the bull kicked the motorcycle. That's your "believe it or not" story for the day.

Summer Plans - AMA International Women & Motorcycling Conference

If you haven't already made your plans to attend the 2012 AMA International Women & Motorcycling Conference in Carson City, Nevada, July 26-29, here's another reason to go. The keynote speaker will be pioneering motorcycle racer Mary McGee. McGee, who lives near Carson City, will speak at the Saturday night celebration at Mills Park.

"Meeting Mary was an unforgettable experience," said AMA Marketing Manager Tigra Tsujikawa. "Among other things, she is a pioneering woman who started roadracing a Honda CB92 in the United States in 1960. And in 1975, she rode her 250 Husqvarna solo in the Baja 500, zipping by 17 two-man teams. Mary McGee is an inspiration for any woman who rides, and we are honored to have her join us for the conference."

Prior to entering the world of motorcycling, McGee enjoyed auto racing, driving cars that included Mercedes, Ferrari, Porsche and Jaguar. She bought her first motorcycle, a 1956 Triumph Tiger Cub, in 1957. Her next bike was a Honda C110 that she used to commute to her job as a parts manager for a foreign auto shop. In 1960, she started motorcycle roadracing, often switching back and forth between the auto and roadracing circuits. It wasn't until legendary actor and racer Steve McQueen told McGee she needed to "get off that road bike and get out to the desert," that she discovered her love of desert racing.

Now 75, McGee has not hung up her riding boots. She still races -- and wins -- in vintage competition. And, although she learned how to ride on her own, she has a different recommendation for today's riders. "Take a motorcycle safety training course and wear all the right gear," she said. For women who want to race, she has this advice:

"If a woman is thinking about racing in any form, [she should] just do it! Get out and do it, you'll find out it's a lot of fun. The people are wonderful, it doesn't matter how fast you go, and it will add to your life."

I attended the 2009 event in Colorado [Ride report Intro, Part 1, Part 2] - it felt good to be around so many women riders. By the way, men are welcome at the conference, too. The four-day conference will feature a number of motorcycling seminars, a market place, a cookout, the celebration party, and a Women's Health Fair where women can get a variety of health screenings such as mammograms and cholesterol and blood pressure checks.

The fee for AMA members to attend is $175 (through July 10), and registration for non-AMA members is $235. You can find out more about the event here. I joined the AMA just to get the discount for the conference back in 2009. One of the benefits of the AMA is roadside service which I'll be glad to have for my ride from North Carolina back to California this summer.

Even the most simple rides require planning

Riding to work in wicking, not-to-be-worn-in-a-professional-environment-clothes means I have to plan ahead. I keep one pair of shoes at work. If I want to wear a different pair of shoes I have to remember to bring them. Working for a railroad company, I keep a pair of silver locomotive earrings in my desk as well (thank you, Sridhar) in case I forget to bring earrings that match the shirt and pants that I have neatly folded and put in an Eagle packing cube, along with underwear and socks.

One day last summer it was in the high 80's at 7:45 a.m. I rode to work in aforementioned cotton tank top, no bra, didn't want to get it sweaty. Got to work and realized I had left this very important garment at home. Now what? I did have a yoga top at work. Yoga tops will keep you well-placed, but yoga tops don't have the foam molding that keeps everything professional when the air conditioning is on and the nipples stand up. Solution? Bandaids from the break-room first aid kit. Not optimal, just barely sufficient and better than riding home. The latest bout of forgetfulness meant that I was either going to wear business shoes with no socks, or wear my biker chick socks. The material of that covers the big toe is worn threadbare from shifting. These socks were my ride-across-Canada socks, and have been my "ride to work" socks here in North Carolina. Other than the big toe area the socks are in pretty good shape. They need to last for one more cross-country ride this summer when I return to California at the end of my current contract. At least both the socks and work shoes are both black. Still, they really don't go together well; even someone as fashion inept as I can see that, but what's a biker chick to do? (Google "biker chick sockguy" if you want to find a pair for yourself or your favorite biker chick).

May 1st - ATGATT

It felt like the first day of summer on this first day of May - 68 degrees and humid - had to ride into to work wearing a thin cotton tank top under the summer motorcycle jacket and change into work clothes. Doesn't summer start in June? With all the nice warm weather there are many more riders out on the morning commute, which brings me to the perennial "all-the-gear-all-the-time" (ATGATT) rant. MotorBiker posted an amusing advertisement for a device to make your bike accelerate faster. The ad made me laugh out loud - we all know about throttle lag - we want that knock-your-head-back feeling when we lower our head in anticipation of getting on the gas. I have mixed feelings about this video - I like the female empowerment, I don't like the safety issues - She's ATGATT, he's not, they pass a truck on a two lane road two abreast (momentarily). Last year's lightweight air-flow jackets and pants are cheap, folks. Keep your skin safe!

Finally, this tidbit from Asphalt and Rubber about a poor fellow who is undoubtedly in true pain but his situation is giving the rest of us laughing fits- "Man Sues BMW for Causing Erection".

Motorcycle Riding is Good for Your Cognitive Faculties

"Scientists Find that Motorcycle Riding is Good for Your Brain" ... well, let's clarify that. 

Back in 2009, Yamaha announced that they had been involved in joint research on the relationship between motorcycle riding and brain stimulation with Ryuta Kawashima Laboratory of the Department of Functional Brain Imaging, Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer at Tohoku University. Dr Ryuta Kawashima, author of Dr Kawashima’s Brain Training: How Old Is Your Brain, reported the outcome of his study of “The relationship between motorcycle riding and the human mind.” Todd Halterman, managing editor of MotorcycleInsurance.com, nicely summarized the findings here. Excerpting from his article:

Kawashima’s experiments involved current riders who currently rode motorcycles on a regular basis (the average age of the riders was 45) and ex-riders who once rode regularly but had not taken a ride for 10 years or more. Kawashima asked the participants to ride on courses in different conditions while he recorded their brain activities. The eight courses included a series of curves, poor road conditions, steep hills, hair-pin turns and a variety of other challenges.

What did he find? After an analysis of the data, Kawashima found that the current riders and ex-riders used their brain in radically different ways. When the current riders rode motorcycles, specific segments of their brains (the right hemisphere of the prefrontal lobe) was activated and riders demonstrated a higher level of concentration.

His next experiment was a test of how making a habit of riding a motorcycle affects the brain.

Trial subjects were otherwise healthy people who had not ridden for 10 years or more. Over the course of a couple of months, those riders used a motorcycle for their daily commute and in other everyday situations while Dr Kawashima and his team studied how their brains and mental health changed.

The upshot was that the use of motorcycles in everyday life improved cognitive faculties, particularly those that relate to memory and spatial reasoning capacity. An added benefit? Participants revealed on questionnaires they filled out at the end of the study that their stress levels had been reduced and their mental state changed for the better.

These findings "feel right", but sadly the sample size in the original study is too low to be statistically significant. Still, You know it, I know it, all riders know that our brains go through a chemical change-of-state when we to ride - we can feel it, we sigh with relief when we start our ride and sigh with resignation when we reach our destination.


I have wondered why some people describe why they ride as "It makes me feel free." Free as a bird on the wing? Free to be a rude jerk on the road and get away with it because of greater acceleration and mobility than the cars around you? Free to scare the bejeezus out of people with loud pipes? I remember a zen teacher once saying something like, "freedom is not a ticket to do anything you want; freedom is having no constraints preventing you from doing what needs to be done for the greater good." Leave it to the Zen Buddhists to turn "freedom" into a lesson in social and moral responsibility.


The study talks about the rider's need to concentrate their mind and body. I know that when I get stressed out by my reaction to people or a situation, I want to get away from that negative source. Getting on a motorcycle literally lets me do that. Yes, a car does too, but driving a car doesn't present the constant physical challenge that a motorcycle does. Furthermore, on a single ride, as when I concentrate on riding I receive rolling sense of small achievements - smooth navigation of hairpin turn, didn't grab a handful in the unexpected decreasing radius turn, anticipated the blue car moving into my lane without signalling, didn't freak out over the slight loss of traction due gravel in the road while making a turn, didn't hit the chicken that was playing squirrel with me...and so on all the way home. The combination of the internal need to maintain balance and momentum (somatic focus) and the all-around threats to my bodily integrity (that's both me and my bike) are usually enough to keep the negative stressors are kept out my conscious mind. Not drowning in negative stress, feeling rewarded by multiple successive accomplishments - definitely good for the brain.

I would love to see a study that talked about the neurochemical changes that occur in the brain when a person rides a motorcycle. Wouldn't it be cool if to hear my doctor say, "Look Cecilie, you push yourself too hard at work and you take things way too seriously. Your cortisol levels are too high. We need balance out those elevated levels of norepinephron. You need to ride more for your mental health. Don't stay late at work, leave earlier and take the long way home. Here's a prescription for gasoline for the bike, 92 octane, 2 tankfuls a week - now the gas is a medical expense and tax deductible." (in my dreams) 
- - -
Thanks to Paul Hollerbach for the link. Thanks to Alicia Mariah Elfving of TheMotoLady.com for permission to use her lovely graphic. 

RevGirl Survey

RevGirl is a source for information about motorcycle gear, bikes, events and professional women competitor results written by fellow rider, Heather McCoy. RevGirl is running a survey to understand how women riders got started, who supported their learning process and what they think of the availability of good gear for women riders. The survey is short and does not collect any personal information. In order for the survey to be statistically significant (1,000 respondants), RevGirl needs about 250 more respondants. Please pass this link to the survey to women riders who would like to increase manufacturer awareness for women's gear.

---
It constantly amuses me that I often get local news from MotorBiker.org, an English-language moto industry blog written by Mikel Werner in Normandy, France. Thanks, Mikel.

BMW GS promotion - Old Trekkies die hard

If you are a Trekkie (Star Trek fan) and ride a GS, then this sales promotion video is for you. Can you imagine Spock on a dual core, photon-torpedo enabled, Science-officer blue GS?

All cards on the table: this is a CalMoto production - that's CalMoto in Mountain View, California - I have bought four motorcycles from them, including the one that I ride in North Carolina. The speaker in the video is Arlie Ray Blackshear, great guy. I have worked with Carolyn Krchmar when I bought my bikes - ten years ago being able to buy a bike from female rider was half of my buying decision. Also, I have taken the Rawhyde training class and higly recommend it.

Live long and prosper. Enjoy!



See the video at the original source.