30 Days Of Biking - Day 14

Just another day of enjoyable riding in spite of the threatening rain.

30 Days Of Biking - Day 13

After work I rode over to the Two Wheel Transit bike shop and joined in on the 5:30 shop ride. I'm not very familiar with south Spokane's roads so it was a learning experience for me. It was best when we got out of town and into the countryside. It was a fun ride. And I could almost keep up with the strong riders.

Hypocrisy In Action Cathy McMorris Rodgers Style

As part of a plan to reach out to women and make the Republican party look better than it is, our fair congresswoman, Cathy McMorris Rodgers, penned an article in Glamour magazine in which she states her support for equal pay for women in the work force. She says it can be done in three easy steps.

First, a broad definition within the Equal Pay Act opens the door for employers to define pay disparity as a result of "any factor other than sex." It’s being exploited by some to get away with gender discrimination. Certain circuit courts have held it as a broad catch-all exception whereas others have taken a more nuanced interpretation. We should revisit this definition to better clarify for the courts that decisions must be business-related factors other than sex. 

Second, we should update current laws that don’t go far enough to protect people from retaliation if they discuss their pay. The only way a person can know whether disparity exists is with open conversations about what they earn. 

Third, laws currently favor trial lawyers over victims of discrimination, and we have to shift that imbalance back to the victims. Instead of lining lawyers’ pockets and creating more opportunities for them to seek damages, let’s enforce laws currently on the books and compel those who willfully treat women unfairly to help fund a Government Accountability Office study that would investigate what attributes to differences in pay for people holding identical jobs.

I support equal pay for women--except for when I don't.

Which is all the time.

She may say that but here is what she has done. She voted against laws meant to address the pay disparity between men and women four times. She voted against the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act twice, which lengthened the time for victims of pay discrimination to file a complaint. She voted twice against the Paycheck Fairness Act, a measure aimed at closing the gender wage gap by ending the practice of salary secrecy (see Step 2 above), thus giving women and others a better chance of rooting out discrimination, narrowing the guidelines for what pay disparities are justified (see Step 1 above), and strengthening penalties for discrimination as a way to deter it (see Step 3 above), among other things.

30 Days Of Biking - Day 12

Next month I'm volunteering at an REI seminar showing commuters possible commute routes on the north side of Spokane. Today's rides were for exploring for a new (for me) route.

30 Days Of Biking - Day 11

I felt great while climbing Five Mile this morning. The ride home was a bit roundabout because I had to pick up clothes at the cleaners and get some video of a commute for a video I'm making for SpokaneBikes.org.

30 Days Of Biking - Day 10

This morning I rode to Kendall Yards to take photos (a paying gig!) of the runners taking part in the Negative Split Half Marathon and 10k events. Kathy and my sister, Barb, had a good time running the half marathon. They stopped by with their finisher medals so I could take their picture.

30 Days Of Biking - Day 9

Friday evening I fell prey to an ingenious booby trap. A frying pan was placed atop a precarious stack of pots and pans. When I opened the cupboard door the pan slipped off the stack, turning sidewise in the process, and the edge landed right on my pinky toe. Wearing shoes creates too much pressure on the toe. So today's ride was an easy tool around the neighborhood with sandals and platform pedals.

Payback for the "lock her up in the garage" joke? I think so.

So today's ride was a short scoot around the neighborhood wearing sandals and using platform pedals.

30 Days of Biking - Day 8

Someone following me on Strava congratulated me for achieving a PR on a particular hill. I don't pay attention to that stuff because I use Strava to map my routes. But I looked. I saw I was in 15th place.

Wait. What? My neighbor is ahead of me. By four seconds! This cannot stand. And as of this morning it no longer does.

I hope she doesn't get angry.

30 Days Of Biking - Day 7

There was a beautiful layer of low fog on the Peone this morning. My cell phone did a poor job of capturing it. And I could have done without the discarded water bottle in the foreground.

30 Days Of Biking - Day 6

Someone put soap in the fountain again. It would have made a great bike wash.

If I Do It, I Get In Trouble

I do it!

Kathy won't be home for two days. So much life to live in so little time.

30 Days of Biking - Day 5

Going to work I took a new route that bypasses the crappy part of Freya between the NSC rounabouts and Wellesley. It went pretty well except for the truck that pulled out in front of me. I imagine they don't get much bike traffic in the industrial areas.

Day 4 - 30 Days Of Biking

Wild Horses Monument

On the way to La Conner on Saturday, we passed by the scenic view of the Columbia River just above the crossing. Steph asked if we could stop by the Wild Horses Monument on the way back.

So we did.

I couldn't believe Kathy climbed up that lose dirt and rock in those shoes.

It's a beautiful view and the sculptures are pretty cool. It was definitely worth the climb.

 Glamour shots!

 Heigh ho, Silver!

30 Days Of Biking - Day 3

We had no riding planned today since we were going to pack up, have lunch with Josh and Amanda, and then drive home. But any riding counts so I asked Steph to take some photos of me zipping around the parking garage.

Proof that I rode today.

30 Days Of Biking - Day 2

Back in January, Kathy saw something about riding bikes through the tulip fields in La Conner, WA. She put it on the family calendar for today. (At our house, the saying goes, "If it isn't on the calendar then it isn't happening.")

Over on the west side of the state, Josh and Amanda agreed to go with us. Steph came home for spring break at oh-dark-thirty this morning so she could go as well. I loaded four of my bikes on the rack and Kathy's extra small bike in the back of the Highlander.

Once there, I had to adjust the bikes as best as I could to fit people they don't fit. Steph and Amanda had it the worst. Steph is smaller than me and Amanda has longer legs than me. And to make it even more challenging for Amanda, this was her first bike ride as an adult.

We rode about 10 miles total and visited some photogenic tulip fields. Vehicle traffic was awful. Sometimes there was a gravel shoulder, if any at all, so that raised the wariness level for some. But everyone trooped on.

Sore butts were in order those those new to the saddle. Hopefully, Kathy and I made up for it by buying dinner that night and lunch the next day.

 Kathy.

 Josh rockin' the single speed.

Amanda.

Steph.

30 Days of Biking - Day 1

A couple of nice, long commutes today.