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.

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!

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!