Thursday, October 5, 2017

Moab UT

The second day of the trip we headed for Moab Utah.  I have never been to Moab! I normally hate riding in the car but as we traveled along the road following the Colorado River, I just couldn't get enough. The red rock and canyon walls were just amazing. We did not spend any time sitting around, there was just too much to see. We went to Arches National Park and climbed on the rocks and checked out the views.

 There are also tons of Jeep Trails that you can go on.  We rented a lifted Jeep and took it to a trail called Fin N Things.
We checked out the Slickrock bike trail.  I know it's a Moab classic but I have to say, it really wasn't my favorite.  There were a lot of punchy climbs....and well, we know how much I love climbing-not! I rode around the warm up loop and that was plenty for me! I'm glad I can say "I've been there, done that" but no need to do it again. 
Also in Moab I rode the Moab Brand Trails.  There were sections of this that I loved! Fast and technical enough to keep things interesting but not too difficult.  I did take a wrong turn and ended up on a long trail of slickrock.  I am so glad I had a full suspension bike.  The rocks were just beating me to death. 


I, of course, rode "The Whole Enchilada"  I will do a separate post for this one!






Fruita Colorado

I haven't been out west since I was a little kid.  So when the opportunity came for me to go on an out west adventure, I jumped at it! I flew in to Grand Junction Colorado on a Thursday night. My boyfriend had driven out with both of my bikes ahead of time.  Our first stop was Fruita CO.  We got a hotel in Grand Junction for the night and headed to Fruita first thing in the morning. This trail was fast, and flowy.  It was super fun and a great warm up for the rest of the trip. It was only the third time I had ridden my brand new Stradalli.




Tuesday, May 30, 2017

Arcadia Grit and Gravel

Arcadia Grit and Gravel is my favorite race of the year. It's part gravel and part single track. The course starts on the road and continues on gravel for 11 miles. The race goes off in a few waves beginning with the Elite Men and Elite Women starting off together. My strategy for this race was to hold on to the lead pack of Elite men for all of the gravel.
We took off and it was easy to hang in the draft with the guys. At about mile three there is a pretty big climb. I was killing myself trying to hang with them on the climb and I fell off the back. One girl had made it with them. I got to the top of the hill and it was me, another female rider, and the lead female and Elite men pulling away from us quickly. I had to make a split second decision to either ride with her or chase the pack of Elite men. I went with the chase...I tried to get as aero as possible, stared at the ground and pedaled as hard as I ever have in my life. I looked up, and holy crap I was gaining on them!! Head down I kept pushing, looked up, I was almost there! I did catch them! As soon as I was in their draft it was a piece of cake to hang on. The other girls did not make the breakaway. I flew along the gravel with them sometimes barely pedaling except for around the corners where I had to hammer it to stay on. Once we got to the end of the gravel section there is a climb that goes for miles. I lost them here.
The single track starts right after this climb. It took me a few minutes to get comfortable on the single track. I settled in and tried to just keep pushing. I've done this race many times and with 100's of racers there is almost always someone to ride with. However, this year I was completely alone. Dropped by the Elite men and minutes ahead of anyone else. I found myself accidentally lollygagging along a few times. I also clipped a pedal on a rock and did a quick super man over the bars...I was back up pretty quick. The trail popped out on more gravel and this is where being alone really sucked. Against the wind just grinding along. Looking at my Strava later, I saw that the lead female rider did this section almost 2 minutes faster than me. Ugh, I so wish I could have made that long climb with the leader and the guys...it would have changed my race having "a wheel" the whole way. Goals for next year...
About 15 minutes from the end of the race the lead expert guys caught me. I followed them and rode their wheels to the finish for second place!
I love this race!  It's so much fun.  I plan to keep this one on my race agenda every year!




Fort Custer Stampede

After a super disappointing day at Mud Sweat and Beers in Traverse City I drove home Saturday night tired, with a headache, and a very sore throat and cough.  I went round and round in my head about whether I should race the next day at Fort Custer.  I didn't want to make the effort to get there just to not be able to breathe again...but I LOVE "the fort".  I decided to get to bed really early and see how I felt in the morning.
I woke up feeling pretty good and the cough was still there but mild.  I decided to head down to the race.  I would start and if I could breathe I would finish.  If I felt like I did the day before I would just DNF. I wasn't going to stress my body just to slowly ride my way around the course twice.
I warmed up a bit and headed for the start line.  We had a nice Women's field of 7. We took off and I headed for the front.  I left the field behind pretty quickly much to my surprise...and then I clipped a tree and they caught right back up. I stayed in the lead for a long time and then was passed on a climb (big surprise).  I reeled her back in on the flat flowy single track.  She took a bad line in front of me and we actually collided!  Oops.  After this, I was really wishing I hadn't raced the day before.  I had a nice first lap but by the second I was really tiring.  I was able to stay in second place until the last minute of the race....the race finished on a climb and I was passed right at the end leaving me in 3rd place.  I'm still happy with how I rode and there were no breathing problems to be had..??  It was a little bit warmer than the day before so maybe that helped.


Tuesday, May 16, 2017

Mud Sweat and Beers

I have to admit I was really excited for this race. I'd never tried it before but from what I'd heard it wasn't very technical and fast. I'm usually pretty good at Power courses! 
I drove to Traverse City on Friday and had a few friends show me the start and end of the course. The air was very dry and temps in the 40's. I hit a few of the hills hard but mostly we were just tooling around. The dry air gave me a little bit of a cough, but I didn't think much of it.
I had a great dinner at Red Mesa with my coach and friend Brian. Always fun to talk training and racing!
When I woke up Saturday morning I was surprised to see I had some blood running out of my mouth....whaaat?? Really strange. I've never had this happen before. Again, I didn't think much of it. 
I was super nervous at the start but as soon as we took off I felt good. I felt good for about a mile and then I just couldn't seem to catch my breath or clear the phlegm from my throat. I was in the lead but lost it quickly. I just couldn't pull it together. I couldn't get out of zone 3 or low zone 4. I usually race in high zone 4 and zone 5. I felt like I was trying but according to my data, I really wasn't. I do have exercise induced asthma.  It has not flared up in a couple of years and I no longer carry my inhaler.  The lesson learned here is that if it's 30's, clear, and dry I will probably not race well.  Or maybe I'll have to get to town earlier to acclimate to the dry air.  Something to keep in mind as I consider racing Iceman...

This was not my day on the bike. I will say that the venue and after party was awesome! It was great catching up with friends and having a few beers! Not sure I'll go back for this race. It's always the same weekend as Fort Custer...and as I found out the next day, I love my tight twisty single track!!

Thursday, April 27, 2017

Yankee Springs Time Trial

The Yankee Springs Time Trial is my "home court" race. This is the trail where I learned to ride. Every time I ride it, I get a smile on my face, remembering a crash I had, or a crash one of my friends had. During this race there was a small rooty incline that made me smile because I remembered when I couldn't ride it and had to walk it.
I started riding only 5 years ago. After I had been riding for a couple years I was getting more and more determined. I really wanted to win the Elite class race. I was hoping that with all my riding in Florida that this would be the year.
I could see who was signed up the day before, and holy crap, there were 9 women signed up. All of them great riders and a few I've never even come close to beating before. I was trying to not feel defeated before we even started.
My pre ride the day before went great. I hit a few sections hard. I had put a new rear shock on my Stradalli, carbon wheels, and new tires. I really needed to see how the bike was going to handle at high speeds. Anyway, I could feel I was fast and the bike felt like a rocket ship. Seriously, it was weird. It almost felt like I was on a dirt bike flying along. This ride gave me some confidence!



The morning of, I woke up rested and feeling good. I wasn't super nervous. It's a time trial so there was really no strategy to worry about. I just needed to pedal as fast I could and not crash. At the start, two women went off in front of me and two women behind me. (15 second intervals). I passed the two women ahead of me a few minutes into the race. I was on fire and hyper focused looking ahead at the trail. The girl behind me is wicked fast and wins most of the races she enters. I was running scared and desperate to hold her off as long as possible. I thought for sure she'd catch me 15 minutes or so into the race.
There are sections of trail where you can see the switchbacks and see if anyone is coming. I kept looking....no one coming. This fueled me even more. I'm thinking, holy crap, maybe I really can win?!?!? The ride itself was pretty uneventful. My bike was handling like a dream. I took every line perfectly, I gutted out the climbs (I hate climbing), and I made nice clean passes past the Expert guys I was catching. I had one mishap where my shoe hit a stump and my foot got stuck in my rear triangle. I stayed upright and managed to pull it back out. How I didn't bend spokes and crash I'm not sure. What's really odd about this is, I have done the same thing at that same spot before. Only the last time I bent spokes, twisted my ankle, and fell.
I pulled into the finish 99% sure I'd won. I waited at the finish to see if any women were within 15 seconds of me. Two minutes went by and no one...!!!



Thanks Jack Kunnen for the awesome photos!



Winning is always fun but this one meant a lot to me on my home court and the trail where it all began. My friend Scott's company made the awesome medals!  It was a great day of perfect weather and great friends.



Monday, April 10, 2017

The Everglades Ride

The awesome thing about moving to a new state is that there are so many new things to do and try!  I had not yet been to the Everglades or Everglades City.  Every year there is a mountain bike ride from Everglades City followed by an awesome seafood lunch. The ride goes down gravel roads and we took a few detours down some two tracks and a small section of single track.  I couldn't believe how "jungle-ey" the forest felt.  Especially in that single track section.  I've been to Kauai many times and it felt a lot like Hawaii!  We ended up riding about 40 miles.  There was a big group of us and we stuck together most of the day.  I think my favorite part was visiting the gator pond.  I have never seen so many Gators in one place! Enjoy the photos.



Look closely, those are all Gator Heads in the water!!


Cabin in the Everglades with a Dock leading to the Gator Pond


Our Group at the Cabin


It was a super hot and humid day!  The dust stuck to us everywhere!


Some of my Naples Velo friends who have never been on mountain bikes!


The girls!


The start line!

Sunday, March 26, 2017

Stradalli goes to MI-Barry Roubaix 2017


The Barry Roubaix gravel road course and I have never had a great relationship. I am not a good climber and this route is all up and down for 36 miles. To put it nicely, I do not enjoy riding this route even on the nicest of days...
So why did I go to MI to race it??? I haven't been to MI in 6 months. I was excited to see my friends and family and thought this would be a great way to see a bunch of people all at one event. Plus, I'm in way better shape than I have ever been. I figured I could hammer this thing out in 2 hours and possibly win some money to help cover the cost of my plane ticket (top 10 overall women had nice payouts). Also, even though I don't like the course, the event is so awesome and well run. The streets of downtown Hastings are shut down. There is a huge fenced area with fire pits, a Founders beer truck, and thousands of cyclists! So fun! The race caps out at 3500 racers and it's known as "the worlds largest gravel road race". There are three distances to choose from 22 miles, 36 miles, and 62 miles. I am in shape for the 62 and I considered it. I chickened out signing up for it knowing the weather in MI could range from snowing to 70 degrees, but most likely, cold! Turns out I made a good choice. I signed up for the 36.
Watching the forecast I started mentally prepping for a nasty day on the bike. Forecast showed high of 48 and 100% chance of rain with 15-18 mph winds. The morning of, I headed to Hastings with a pretty good attitude. Temps were in the 30's with a "real feel" of 23. I had tons of warm clothes and my Bar Mitts to keep my hands dry. We lined up and I headed for the front of the pack. The race was going off in waves of 100 people or so. We took off and I was feeling fine. We had a small group of fast girls and my plan was to stay with them. Well, that didn't happen. Even though I'm a better climber than I used to be, I was still DYING on the climbs. They pulled away and I'd reel them back in on the flats and down hills but ultimately they just out climbed me. I was still quite a ways ahead of the rest of my wave. I must've been about 5th overall women. I settled in and just focused on catching one rider after another trying to hold my 5th ish place. I probably passed 300-400 guys that had started in waves ahead of me.



These pictures give you a good feel for course conditions....

About half way through the race I was already bummed that I lost the lead group and then it started pouring. I hate to admit it but I mentally broke. My usual "fire" was no where to be found. My shoes filled with icy water, my gloves and bar mitts filled with icy water, and every layer of clothes was soaked through. The winds picked up and it was like being trapped in my worst nightmare. I hate being cold. I was trying to not panic (holy crap I'm going to freeze to death) and I contemplated quitting. I think the only reason I didn't quit was, if I stopped riding to wait for a pick up, I would have been even colder. I had a lot of pep talks to myself in my head. But nothing could get me back in race mode.
Conversations with myself:
E, there's a chick passing you right now. You're not even going to be top 10...COME ON-You're not even trying. Drop the hammer, do your thing, chase her. You've got this!!!
Nothing happened. I don't know how else to explain it.
E, drink some water. Just reach down and grab the bottle, you need water.
Nothing (never touched my water)
E, eat your Gu blocks
Nada
E, get on that guys wheel as he's going by
Nope
I barely remember the last hour of the race. I just wanted to get to my car. That's all that mattered to me. My legs were numb. My fingers were numb too. I could not feel the shifters or the brakes.  I just about wiped out on a downhill with a turn at the bottom.  I hit the brakes but nothing happened. I think it was because I couldn't tell what my fingers were doing.  Although, I heard a bunch of racers lost their brake pads in all the mud. We finally got to the pavement in downtown Hastings and again tried to talk myself into riding hard. I just couldn't. I was frozen, literally and figuratively, I guess.
I finished. Some of my friends had been standing around in the rain to wait for me to finish. I did not see them. I was too focused on getting to my car. I rode through the finish and headed straight for my car.



I just about burst in to tears when I couldn't get the key out of my pocket and into the lock. My hands were shaking so violently I couldn't get the car open.
I managed to get in and get the heat going. It was quite the task getting changed. I had so many layers on, and there was so much dirt, and my hands were numb and shaking. I had brought hot water to drink and poured some in my bottle. Instead of going to the beer area and getting food at one of the stands I went to a restaurant. My friend Kim helped get us to some seats (I could barely speak) and I ordered a hot chocolate, soup, and pasta. I had my full ski outfit on. Snow pants and all. By the time we got done eating I was functioning again and the shaking had stopped. I headed for the beer and fire pits. I was feeling better and had an awesome time catching up with everyone and sipping on a Founders Dirty Bastard. 



I missed seeing a lot of friends because most of them stayed home when they saw the weather. I'm really glad I toughed this out and finished, though I'm bummed I couldn't seem to pull it together after the rains hit.   I really don't have a good explanation for what happened and why I couldn't pull it together. I think the weather just broke me! Major Kudos to all who raced. I ended up 13 out of 106 (Overall Women 36 mile).  Missing my top ten by 2 minutes. Ugh.
Before Saturday there were only two bike rides I had absolutely zero fun riding. I now have 3. Two out of the three are on the Barry Roubaix course....hmmmm?!? :-) (The other was Iceman '15. I know my MI friends all remember that one!)
I was super happy to have my Stradalli, Honey Bee, in town with me. Although, I'm not sure Honey Bee is happy to be in Michigan!


Friday, March 17, 2017

The final Coconut Cup

The day after the Tour De Picayune started early!  I had to get up and drive to Miami (from Fort Myers) to finish my 6th race in the Coconut Cup Series.  I had slept good but knew there was no way I'd be able to be competitive in the race.  I geared up and headed out for a little pre-ride.  My balance felt totally off and I honestly felt like bursting in to tears I was so tired. 
I lined up at the start and as soon as those girls jumped ahead of me off the line I forgot all about being tired.  My competitiveness just completely took over! I rode the first lap in 3rd.  We were actually having a lot of fun.  The three of us were chit chatting away and having fun riding bikes!  This reminded me of why I race, and why I love this sport, and why I got up at the crack of dawn, exhausted, and drove to Miami-IT's FUN!  Yes, I'm serious about training, riding hard, and trying to win, but ultimately, I do this because it's fun!  If it ever becomes not fun, I won't do it any more.
Our chit chat session got cut short as some Cat 2 guys came around us and took down our lead rider.  I waited until she got up and we continued on.  Even though I had a decent first lap my exhaustion caught up to me.  The first place rider had gotten away in the crash, and I had to let second place go. I knew there was a rider behind me still so I kept on the gas as much as possible.  I could see her coming for me on the switch backs! 
On the last lap, the second place rider had slowed down due to a broken seat.  She was trying to finish standing up!  I went around her and ended up finishing the race in second.  I guess you just never know what's going to happen in a race!


Since this was the final race, there was a cookout afterward.  They announced the winners of each category for the Coconut Cup series.  I was second overall in the Women's Cat 1 group.

Great ending to the Florida Mountain Bike Season!
 

Thursday, March 9, 2017

Tour de Picayune 2017-50 Miler

The Tour de Picayune is one of those races that the locals talk about all year.  The course is in the Picayune Strand State Forest.  It's a 27 mile loop that consists of two tracks, single track, and some gravel roads.  Doesn't sound too bad, right?  Well, most of the two tracks are sand, some of them miles of deep beach sand. The single track is fun but it's not your usual "worn in" smooth dirt.  Between the sand and the vegetation you ride over it makes the entire 27 miles a grind. To keep things even more interesting, the trail is in the absolute middle of nowhere, with no bail out options. I have ridden the trail a handful of times before the race.
It seems like my friends and I have been talking about this race for months and then all of a sudden I realized it was 3 days away.  I put a post on Facebook asking some of my endurance rider friends to chime in with any tips for a 5 hour race (I've never raced for longer than 3 hours).  I don't like to eat while riding but I knew I had to in order to ride for 5 hours straight.  Also, I didn't want to "ride" I wanted to "race" and wanted peak performance. I received many tips and I pieced together what I thought would work for me. I didn't want to try anything new on race day (always a terrible idea).  So I decided to use the nutrition I'd been using but more of it.  I also tried one new thing. Beets.  I read a few articles and it seemed easy to try and has the potential to increase performance/stamina by 15%. That's A LOT!  I bought some fresh beets a few days before the race and ground them up in my daily protein shakes.  The fruit I put in the shakes cut down the nasty taste.  My stomach handled them fine so I loaded up my shakes with beets for a few days and the morning of.
I felt great the morning of the race.  My plan was to try and hang with the winners of past years (Bill and Andy).  Yeah, I know, this was a pretty lofty goal but....the last thing I said to my besties JR and JP was Go Big or Go Home!   I lined up next to Bill and Andy at the start.  We took off and I was behind a few of my fast friends (part of our top 5 group at Piggy's Revenge)  I thought they would be trying to follow Bill and Andy too but they weren't going for it and were falling behind just a few minutes in to the start.  I shouted "don't let them go".  When I realized they weren't going to go for it, I went around them and dropped the hammer to catch back on to the lead guys.  So, here we were 5 minutes into a 5 hour race and I was balls out-lol.  I knew they wouldn't keep up that pace so I was trying to hang on until they settled in to their endurance pace.  Unfortunately, about 10 minutes in I had to let them go.  There were four guys in front of me so I was 5th.  My goal was a top 5 finish so I was Ok with this.  Unfortunately, my speed was not fast enough to hang with the top group but faster than the gang behind me.  I settled in for a long lonely solo ride. About halfway through the first loop I saw the 4th place rider, Jerald!  He pulled away from me again in the sand but I "burned a match" a caught him.  I figured the two of us working together was better than solo!  I rode his wheel for miles and miles.  I told him I could take a pull and help him out. He didn't respond and looked at me like I was a crazy lunatic.   OK, whatever, I'll stay behind you! (He later told me the crazy look was because I was too small to draft behind-ha). As we were nearing the end of the first loop, I touched my foot down to keep balance in some sand and felt a weird twinge in my left quad. Like the muscle was giving out.  This was the beginning of "cramping"  I've always heard people say "I was cramping" but I have never cramped in all my years of racing.  I had no idea what to do.  I wasn't even half done with the race.  I have a bad knee on my right side so I usually pedal with 70% left leg and 30% right leg.  I started focusing on pedaling hard with my right leg to try and save the left.  This worked.  I was just getting little twinges here and there and was able to keep going. 
Near the end of the trail is a BRUTAL sand section.  If you stay off to the side the ground is a little firmer but there are trees and bushes along the side.  I decided that branches in the face were better than trying to get through the deep sand.  So I plowed through the trees-ha!  I lost Jerald during this time.  He was really good in the sand.  I finished the first lap by myself.  I stopped and filled my camelbak and bottle with cold water.  It tasted amazing!


I looked down the road to see if anyone was behind me.  No one coming and Jerald was long gone in front of me.  Here we go, lap 2 solo, is what I was figuring.  I turned up the tunes on my headphones and headed out feeling dang good! Things got better when I caught up to Jerald again.  I was in my own little zone by this point and I rode on by him with a "hi".  It might've been smart to hang on his wheel but I just wanted to keep plowing along at my own pace.  We went back and forth quite a few times.  He'd do better in the sand, and I'd do better on the harder surfaces. At exactly the 3 hour 50 minute mark I experienced my first real cramp-HOLY CRAP! That hurt.  I was thinking for a minute I was going to be limping my way out of there on foot.  I let my left hang unclipped in and pedaled with just my right leg.  I let the left leg spasm itself out and then slowly tried to clip it back in and get that leg spinning circles while the right leg did all the work. Recently Bob McCarty taught me how to rest my legs while standing.  If you drop your heels and lock your knees it takes the strain off your quads and stretches your calves.  Feels awesome!  I was trying to do this rest move and this is when I realized just how brutal this trail is.  The rough terrain, whether it be the sand or the foliage you're riding over, does not allow for coasting.  I would stop pedaling, stand and drop into rest position and would roll about 10 feet before the bike stopped...sigh...so much for resting.  I did this about 5 times to try to get my legs to calm down.  I did get a little rest and was able to continue on.  Finally, what seemed like out of nowhere, a crowd of people appeared at the side of the trail screaming.  Holy Crap! We were at Snake Pit (a camp about 20 minutes from the end of the trail).  This totally renewed my energy.  I was following Jerald through the single track at this point.  I started singing some Katy Perry behind him and he said "do you want to go?". Must be he didn't like my singing. I was like "yep!"  It felt so good to be on single track moving the bike around and being in and out of the saddle.  Besides the cramping issues, my energy was off the charts.  I dropped the hammer through the last single track mostly right leg pedaling but whipping around the corners and riding over every log-over like a Pro.  I hit the miles of sand at the end of the ride and rode it terrible.  I was off the bike 7-8 times from loss of momentum.  (Later, talking to everyone after, this seemed to be a common problem.  Just no power left to ride through it!) I was surprised to see that Jerald was not in sight. I was actually going to finish this thing in the top 4!


 I knew I had finished well!
 I was so happy to be OFF my bike!
Bill, Andy, and I at the finish
 The finish line!
Sooo tired...

I stayed on the power for the last miles of gravel.  Pulling into the finish was the best feeling ever.  I knew I had seriously just crushed that ride. I had planned for 5 hours but crossed the finish in 4:28.  The best surprise when I got to the end was- the 3rd place rider had dropped out of the race.  The only riders waiting for me were Bill and Andy.
Jerald rolled in a few minutes behind me.  I had no idea where the others were behind me the entire time.  I was sure they were only minutes behind me.  Since I am used to cross country races that are only 1.5-2 hours (you're full-on the entire race) I kept feeling like I was riding slow at an endurance pace!  The other riders ended up finishing near the 5 hour mark and beyond. 
I ended being surprised again when I found out the top three finishers received prizes!  Bill, Andy, and I went out to Snake Pit to receive our prizes. Wes (race coordinator) had sandwiches for us too.  It was all I could do to choke down a half of sandwich.  My stomach was a disaster from eating all of that sugary crap during the race.  I think it's safe to say, I gave that race every thing I had.  I was absolutely exhausted and sick!  I hung out with my friends for a bit, mostly staring blankly and feeling like crap.  I got home, went to bed, and got up at 5 to head for Miami to race again!  The final Coconut Cup was the next day at Markham Park!
My conclusion is that beets are awesome :-)
As always, thanks to Stradalli for the sweet ride.  Many thanks to Erik Keller for the awesome photos,  Picayune Nature Club, Wes, and the other great volunteers


Monday, February 27, 2017

Amelia Coconut Cup #6

The last time I raced at Amelia (In December) it was not a great day on the bike for me.  It's, yet again, another new trail to try and learn.  Well, this time I was feeling much more confident.  The lessons I've taken with Bob McCarty in the last two months have taught me so much!  I am also in love with my new Stradalli bike.  Ever since the camping trip to Alafia (last month) I have really felt great on the bike-better than I ever have.


I headed over The Alley Saturday afternoon so I could get a few practice laps in before dark.  The course was marked and I headed out from the start line.  I was unpleasantly surprised to find that the course was backwards! Ugh, I had just figured out (kind of) how to ride it the other way.  The second practice lap went good. I'm really not sure if it's because the course is easier backward or I'm just that much more confident on my bike now, but either way, I felt like I had a decent handle on things!
Race morning dawned with another beautiful Florida sunrise.  It was going to be just another 80 degree sunny day! (yeah, I'm loving it here)  I wasn't sure how many Pro ladies would show up today.  I knew the Florida State Championship winner Simone was going to be there and that had me nervous!  I really wanted to be able to hang with her today.  It turned out it was just the two of us.


Kind of weird to race with just one other person. I was either going to finish first or last!
Simone and I joked at the start that we should just take it easy and then sprint for the finish.  But I think we both knew that wasn't going to happen. Sure enough, the whistle blew and we were immediately in an all-out sprint to get in to the single track.  Simone is a power house and she beat me into the woods.  It took me about 10 minutes to steady myself out. I was all over the place, clipped a few trees and wobbling everywhere.  About 15 minutes in I came over a jump way too hot and nearly went down in the rocks on the other side.  I somehow saved it and landed with both feet on the ground but it put me behind.  I burned a match catching back up to Simone.  I had a really hard time hanging on at this point.  I had really blown myself up.  A few more minutes down the trail Simone had caught a stick in her derailleur.  This was probably my only chance to get in front of her.  I took off knowing there was no chance in hell of dropping her but I was certainly going to try!  Even though I've really been improving a lot my skill set just isn't in line with my legs.  Without a wheel to follow I was sketchy on the corners and to be honest, I feel like I just sucked.  Boo.  Simone went back around me and we finished the first lap together.  At this point, I'm still pretty blown up.  I think what was happening is I would ride the features/techy areas like crap and then would constantly play catch up on the easier sections. This was exhausting me.  Simone got about 30 seconds on me the second lap.  I could see her on the switchbacks which would give me some hope.  Then, I had one chance to catch back up...three Cat 2 guys came around me and they were only going slightly faster than me.  I decided to try and use them to pull me back in the game.  I dropped into she-beast gear, my heart rate was in  Zone 5 and pegged, and I was just letting the drool fly out of my mouth.


I hung for quite a bit and I knew I was making progress.  Unfortunately we came to this weird carpeted pump track section. I rode it like shit and I lost the boys. Dang.  I spent the third lap riding completely blown up by myself hoping she might tire.  No such luck!  I was just coming into the finish chute and could hear the announcer announcing Simone's win.  That girl can ride! Wow.  I've got my work cut out for me between now and September when the Florida State Championship starts. 
The race today was a great test to see just how far I've come in a year.  I think its safe to say I'm about 20% faster than I have ever been.  Loads of thanks to the Naples Velo/Naples Masters gang! Thanks for being patient with me and teaching me how to road bike. The rides have been so much fun and key to my training. Joining the Stradalli team has been invaluable to me.  I've had such a fun time riding with Bob, Tom, Kelly, and Jonathan.  I've learned so many new things about riding the last two months and having a team for support at the races has been awesome!


Double Header weekend coming up.  Tour de Picayune Saturday (50 miler in the sand-gulp) and last Coconut Cup at Markham park Sunday.

Saturday, February 25, 2017

A weekend with buyers

I haven't posted about being a Realtor yet.  I've spent a lot of time on my bike since I moved to FL so there wasn't much to report! Well, this past weekend I worked with my first buyer.  They are moving here from Michigan.  Obviously, I know a lot about moving from Michigan to Florida and buying a house!  Mr and Mrs Buyer have been coming to Naples for years and they had a really good idea where they wanted to live.  They wanted new construction and within a few miles of the Gulf (It's called the Gulf not the Ocean-so I've been told ;-) ).  Their only option for new construction and near the water was a neighborhood called Naples Park.  In preparation for their arrival I searched all the new construction in Naples Park and then took a tour of the neighborhood on my bike.  Multi-tasking at it's best!  When they arrived on Thursday we all hopped in my car and went on a house showing marathon of 10 new construction homes.  Mr and Mrs buyer found one they loved and we made plans to meet the next morning and sign an offer! 
The next morning I headed for Naples and met my buyer's at the house they loved. I could tell something was wrong as soon as I pulled in.  We went inside and they proceeded to tell me that they just had a conversation with a police officer and were no longer comfortable with living in Naples Park.  It is not a gated community and it is a community where small beach houses sit next to huge new construction homes. Very different from some of the high end gated communities in Naples.  I think we were all disappointed but I've been doing this job for 13 years and know and understand what a huge stressful purchase this can be!  So, no big deal for me, except we only have a few days and we are starting from complete scratch with their search! 
I headed home to get on the computer.  This time we decided to look at a little of everything.  Condo's close to the beach, older single family homes in gated communities, and new construction further from the Gulf.  These customer's were super fun to work with.  At one point we had tears in our eyes from laughing.  We had another agent give us a tour of a retirement community.  The thought of these guys going to all the retirement activities was hysterical.  It was an easy decision that retirement life was a long way off for them!
The bummer of visiting the retirement community was that one of the gates closed on my car!  We were leaving the community and traffic stopped in front of me as I was in between the exit gates.  Mrs Buyer says "Erica the gates are closing"  I was thinking yeah...but they always bounce back when they sense a car.  (similar to when garage doors automatically open back up if something is in the way). Mrs Buyer says louder this time, the gates are closing!!!!  Holy Crap, yup, the gates just closed on my car and scraped the heck out of it.  Sigh...definitely a bummer to the weekend.  We took photos and pried the gate off my car and continued on.  I am working with the association to get my car repaired.


After days of seeing different houses these guys found an incredible new construction home.  It is in a gated community and has an incredible lanai with pool and Jacuzzi.  It's located about 5 miles from the beach.

 
We had a great time getting to know each other and it was awesome for me to get out and learn all of these neighborhoods.  I'm finding that most of my knowledge and experience transfers to a different state with ease.  Neighborhood knowledge is my weakest link right now so this was a great experience.  My favorite part of my job is becoming friends with my clients.  I can't wait to have a cocktail at their pool!

Thursday, February 9, 2017

Florida Trails

A week of trails! Normally I like to get two road rides in per week. It's not my favorite type of training but I know it makes me faster! This week the times of the group road rides didn't work out for me so I had a great time visiting the mtb trails all week!
Monday-Quarry Ride. Sometimes with mountain biking you head out and feel like you have no skill! That was Monday. I fell and ripped my tights open. Sigh
Tuesday-I did a recovery ride on the MTB. Just scouting around my neighborhood looking for two tracks to ride. I don't like to be on the busy roads by myself.
Wednesday-I met Jen and our friend Rob at CRP. We had a great time! I needed a hard ride so I set out to try and get some PR's! I did!! Feels good to be getting faster!
Thursday-Quarry Night Ride. I came early so I could practice teaching my dog Kai to run the trails with me. He's doing good! Then I headed out for a lap in the daytime with Joe and Jen. Those two are crazy fast here at the Quarry. Again, more PR's!! I was able to hang on to them for ALMOST the full loop. They crushed me in some of the technical areas at the end.
Friday-I've been dying to get back to Northport to ride. I took the morning off and headed up there with Jen and TJ. This place is a full body workout! Roots, roots, and more roots! We had a great time and more PR's!




Saturday-A race called the "Tour de Picayune" is coming up on March 4. It's a 50 mile race in the Picayune Strand Forest. It's a brutal trail of some single track and some super sandy two tracks. Saturday there was a large group ride there to familiarize riders with the trail. It is very tricky to find your way around the 26 mile loop! The markers are hard to spot. This was a great day on the trails and there were so many new faces! I couldn't believe all of the mountain bikers that showed up! Florida doesn't have nearly as large of a mountain bike community as Michigan so it was exciting for me to see a big group!





Great week on the trails! My knees are scratched up, I'm covered in bruises, and I am TIRED!