I picked a bright red color that matched the accents on my bike and discovered Shellac which is the toughest goddam nail polish you will every find. Anywhere. When normal manicures will chip a day or two into their short-lived glory, the Shellac just keeps givin’. Through mud and gravel and bike washes and well, just about everything. Fuck yeah! I thought. Nail polish built for rough-n-tumble Tomboys like me! Let’s do this shit.

So I did it. And then I did it again. And again and again.

You see, in addition to being grubby and lazy, I’m also pretty superstitious (don’t ask Sal about the World Series of 2005, I did some pretty crazy shenanigans to will them damn Red Sox to win). I had a few good races and thought maybe the polish was the trick. Then they showed up in a few photos and people liked ‘em. And after that? On and on and on.

I’d deviated from my standard-issue Slut-Tart Red (not the official name) when the photo above was taken. (I have to admit to liking the pink-coral color and it matched my kit – bonus.) The rear flat was a real pain in my ass and, as you can see, my grubby, lazy tendencies extend to my poor bike maintenance. Shit was dirty and so, therefore, was I.

I snapped the photo with my phone and tweeted it because in many ways it perfectly represented what Grit and Glimmer is about: paint your nails if you want to, change your own flats, get fucking greasy, know how your bike works, go home and wash off (also, pumps can be sexy – and not just the footwear kind). The so-called laws of femininity are social constructs: fuck them up. That is a direct order.

The good people over at Handlebar Mustache liked it so much, they made a T-Shirt. I’m not makin’ any money off these bad boys, I’m just stoked to have the first ever piece of Grit & Glimmer apparel out in the world. And the real beauty is that HBStache is donating $2 from every sale to MercyCorps to help ease the worst drought that Africa has seen in 60 years.

Anyway, the gist of this is to say, there they are! Get ‘em while they’re hot!

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On the blog? On the blog I just let it rip. There’s value in that, too – but it’s a different value. My friend Natalie calls it “Heidi on writing vacation” and that kind of nails it. I relax and let the words throw a party. Even though Grit & Glimmer has become more and more refined over the past years, it’s still a place for me to let the good times roll.

Thank god for that – because if I had to go through the publication process every time I produced an article, I might lose my mind.

I get asked about this balance a lot. I’ve been blogging since 2001 and there’s a danger to too much freedom, for sure. Working with the Oregonian and other magazine editors over the past few years has helped me develop discipline, patience, diligence and perseverance.

Writing is work now and I treat it that way. When I was in my early 20′s people would say, “You can write. You should get after that.” They meant that I should start writing for a living and I appreciated the compliments, but I told myself that writing was a special, personal thing – just for me. An art, not to be corrupted or exploited. Sacred.

That’s a load of bullshit.

And it took Laurie Robinson dragging me out from behind this blog (she found me here about three years ago and asked me to do the column for the Oregonian) to make me realize it. Blog writing is fun. This site? I love this site. I love the readers and the discussions and the people I can reach and the conversations that we can have. This site is about interaction and sharing and inspiration. It gives me breathing room. It’s the “writing vacation” I need to stay sane.

But writing here does not push my craft the same way that writing for print and working with editors does. And the craft deserves to be pushed. If you want to be a “real” writer (whatever that is, a whole other blog post, eh?), but you don’t have the balls to send a query letter or put a draft in front of a whip-smart editor with a big, red pen, you might be deceiving yourself. Push the work. Make it hurt a little. Take the risks.

Sometimes it’s hard and sometimes it’s easy. Either way, I wake up every day and get to it. I suck a lot and sometimes I’m good. I’m getting better at being able to tell the difference. I’m getting better at not wincing so much when people who are smarter than me point out the difference.

All this to say, the “Oregonianized” version of the crash story appears in the Travel section today.  It’s a little tighter with a different ending. Public thanks to my editor Laurie Robinson for encouraging me to publish it and for helping me with the refinements.

Thanks also to all of you who took time to send your well wishes through comments, emails, texts and tweets. So much love definitely helps with the healing.

Speaking of healing, here’s the update. All road rash is nearly completely gone (the deeper gash in my hip is being a little stubborn). Shoulder is still sore and I still can’t sleep on my left side, but it’s getting better day by day.

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2. Do You Get the Sunday Oregonian? Look for me!! Well, many of you already know this, but I think...
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Grit & Glimmer has a little bit of everything, from recipes to bike racing and nutrition ramblings to cyclocross mayhem. As a freelance writer I produce a regular column for the Oregonian called The Everyday Cyclist.

If you’re looking for a little multi-media, the Cyclocross Diaries I hosted with Wend Magazine last Fall might be good for a laugh or two. Videographer Eric Keeney and I covered most of Portland’s shenanigan-prone cyclocross scene over the course of several months of races.

Into photogrpahy? Check out photo posts here.

Like Chris Horner? Peep the images of his famous Billy Demong taxi ride here.

Looking for a little inspiration? No sweat – I’m prone to sappiness. Check out the Director’s Cut of “The Meaning of Sport” or “Climbing Out of a Slump” or “Big Miles, Small Miracles, and a Four Man Rescue Team“.

Insight into the mind of a very mediocre Cat 4 road racer? Check. “There are Only So Many Matches” and “The Littlest Caribou Rides Again” have it covered.

Want to discuss issues about women in cycling? Check out “Ladies, are Bike Shops Still Failing Us?”or “Real Women and What We Want from Cycling Gear“. This discussion about Rapha’s new women’s line also spurred some good discussions about apparel

Thanks again for stopping by. Have a question? By all means, shoot me an email.

Cheers,
Heidi

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1. “On Point” Tomorrow with NPR, Loren Mooney and BSNYC Further proof that running is good for you. Got up,...
2. Stuff that Didn’t Get Said on NPR’s “On Point” Man, live radio is nuts! Everything happens fast and furious...

Got up, dragged ass to the track in the pouring rain, ticked out a workout with BFF Natalie Ramsland, fabulous frame-builder and very fast running partner (ouch!).

Checked email from the phone before driving home to find an email from NPR asking if I’d like to join Eben Weiss (Bike Snob NYC) and Loren Mooney, editor-in-chief of Bicycling Magazine, for a discussion about cycling on “On Point“.

Needless to say I drove home very calmly (no, really) and called them back.

We’ll be chatting tomorrow from 8-9am Pacific Time and it doesn’t look like our local stations have picked up the show, but you can listen online or just hang out and wait for the archives to pop up. Or you can totally ignore all of this, of course.

Mash these links for more info:

Ways to Listen

About the Show

Where you’ll find the archives once they’re up

Related posts:

1. Stuff that Didn’t Get Said on NPR’s “On Point” Man, live radio is nuts! Everything happens fast and furious...
2. A Big, Gritty Welcome to NPR’s “On Point” Listeners If you’re visiting today after listening to On Point’s “Cyclist...

Here are the details:

When: 6pm-10pm

Where: Towne Storage Building, 17 SE 3rd Avenue, Studio 313, Portland, OR  (That’s our location, but lots of other studios will be open, too!)

What: Mingling, chatting, beer, wine, snacks. Maybe some work on display or something. It’s casual.

Why: You really need to have a reason for a party?

Who: Swift Plus Creative currently consists of me (writing and social media), Salvatore Bondi (industrial and graphic designer slave in residence) and Rachel Winningstad (our new Studio Assistant – a super talented digital artist wtih a penchant for rampant organization). Our buddy Thomas Koestler of Koestler Product Design, another industrial designer that works out of our space will also be on hand.

Hope you can make it. If you do, come on in, grab a beverage and introduce yourself.

Best,
Heidi

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I’m on the list of business ladies along with some of my buddies including Tori Bortman (Gracie’s Wrench), Natalie Ramsland (Sweetpea Bicycles) and Caroline Paquette (Little Package Hats). There’s a sweet lineup of other cycling-businessy ladies, too and I can’t wait to meet them all. It’s an honor to be listed among such an intimidating list of super rad human beings (geez, I hope I can pull my weight!) and it will be fun to share a beer or two with them – and you! Which is to say, you should join us. It’s gonna be fun. (It’s also at UBI, so you’ll get to check out their cool space.)

We’re each going to yammer about our respective businesses for about 30 seconds each, just to provide some information on the work we do and why we do it. We’ll also have some work on display (er… some people will!) but mostly we’ll be roaming around chatting with people and enjoying a lovely evening with the Portland bicycle community.

Peep the full details on the website. Or check out BikePortland’s story on it (double bonus: really nerdy picture of me there).

Here are the vitals:

When: Thursday, May 6, from 7:30pm to 9:30pm
Where: United Bicycle Institute, 3961 N Williams Ave, Portland
Donation: $10 to $30
Hope to see you there!

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It’s true, it’s true. The Everyday Athlete is no more.

What better day than the first of the year to launch the new site, right?

Actually, it’s not really new. It’s just like the old site put on a really hot dress and a pair of stilettos and went to the judge to have her name legally changed.

This has been in the works for a while. Everyday Athlete was growing up and out-growing. I started EA Blog on a whim a long time ago, and it’sbecome more than I could have ever imagined. I’m super stoked with where we’ve been, but even more excited about where we’ll go.

Change is hard, but hard is good. And good is invigorating. And invigorating is energizing. So I’m taking hard and good and invigorating and energizing and stampeding off into 2010 with guns blazing. It’s a new decade – let’s blow the roof off!

So what’s behind the big change? A few things.

I done been run off my land.

Well, not exactly. But I did get served a legal notice to cease and desist the use of the trademarked name “Everyday Athlete”. Whoops!

Turns out this guy in NY at Everyday Athlete Studio owns the words and he was fixin’ to open up an online store presence. Apparently, my use of his words wasn’t ideal for his business situation. I called him directly after receiving the note from his lawyer and explained that I would happily move (and had been planning to). For the record, he was very nice about the whole deal and gave me a really generous amount of time to get my ducks in a row.

But about that pre-existing plan to move…

It’s time to grow.

Bikes are great. Running is rad. Motivation is kick-ass. Fitness is a lifestyle. Nutrition is delightfully nerdy. I love all that stuff. A lot.

But there’s a lot of other stuff I like too.

I think the thing that makes us interesting human beings is our capacity to be diverse and have incredible range. I want a name, a site, and a philosophy that encompasses that value. I want to tell stories about roadtrips and families and interesting characters. I want to share photos and music and food. I’m an athlete at my core, but certainly it’s not the only thing that defines me.

Grit and Glimmer is still a blog about all those athletic pursuits, but it will also be about the other things that make life balanced and whole and brilliant.

About that name.

The Grit: Broken fingers, frost-bitten toes, bourbon adventures, off-road cycling mayhem, road racing agony, thunderstorm training runs, and a healthy dose of sailor speak.

The grit is stuck in your teeth after the first muddy cyclocross of the year. It’s the thing in your gut that gets you through six back-to-back softball games in triple digit temperatures. It’s the way your teeth smash together when you’re fighting not to get dropped up a climb. It’s the raw edge, the hard side, the fighting spirit.

The Glimmer: Tortellini overload, ass-kicking music, ridiculous cat stories, mouth-watering recipes, fashion confidential, design geek-outs, and good old-fashioned reflection. It’s the shiny parts that catch your attention and draw your eye. It’s the life stuff that makes us interesting and well-rounded.

Glimmer is a word I borrowed from Pam Houston after seeing her speak at a conference a few years back. It’s what she calls the notes she takes when she captures a little life vignette to use later in her work. It’s about moments and details and a way of communicating them. It’s about honoring small things, poignant things, language and life.

More later.

For now? Pardon our dust. We’re buffing the edges of this new set-up and I’m sure we’ll run into a few glitches. If you see anything funny, please feel free drop an email to me at heidiswift [at] gmail [dot] com.

And – if you’re so inclined – take a moment to subscribe to the new feed. The old one will still work for a long while, but subscribing to the new one will ensure that you’re up to date. It will also make you rich. (Ok, ok, maybe not, but “rich” sounds so much more compelling than “up to date” – yeah?)

Don’t forget – you can also sign up to receive email updates:

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