346 KM in 4 Days - Solvang California

Pic 1: View on last day of riding, can't wait to come back and ride that full route to the beach!
Pic 2: Lots of food, on and off the bike
Pic 3: Love this shot
Pic 4: Sweet shot pedaling up a hill

I'm not ready for this to be over! This has been one of the best experiences of my life, possibly the best one!

There are so many more mountains here I want to climb on my bike, so many beautiful roads I want to ride and I have to go home tomorrow. This is the place to be if you want to become a better, faster, stronger cyclist. Not only do you get the weather, but there is just not challenging roads like this at home because our weather conditions don't allow the roads to be build with the steep grade % like here with all the twists and turns. For example our ride yesterday was equivalent in elevation to climbing Cypress three times in terms of elevation. Now I feel I will have to climb the usual hills at home 5x over per ride to get the same challenge of riding here but I know Kevin already has routes planned to challenge me at home as well as having harder gearing on my bike.

I love that cycling is much more common here, the automobiles driving by are much more respectful and no one tried to run us off the road. We met amazing people who are out riding. On our first day we met a guy riding who owns a winery, he sponsors pro teams and he was saying women from the Canadian national team who come down here to train stay at his place! I think one of the best parts about riding here is that no matter what level of cyclist you are, people wave at you and the atmosphere is awesome! The PRO LIVESTRONG team zoomed by us yesterday on their TT bikes at 40+km/hr and they still waved at us! SO COOL! Very different than getting snubbed by the CAT 1 racers around Vancouver or even just the clubs. We really can learn a lot from the people cycling down here. I am so thankful, yet again for Kevin, because since day one of riding he has always waved at cyclist passing by, regardless of if they wave or not, he is alway friendly and alway happy on his bike, who knows, if I didn't have a mentor like him, I too could have been headed to be a cyclist with an "elitist" attitude.

Today I so badly want to go our for a ride, I feel like I could go and climb for hours, mentally I have recovered great from the rides but most likely my legs need this day of rest. Yesterday Kevin and I did a few little sprint drills and I did hit a limit, a little pull in the quad, so that did shorten our ride a fair amount. I am so impressed though, how much I could do before my body hit a limit. I didn't get one cramp this whole time, which means we ate properly heading up to this, trained properly, and fueled properly down here. Being Celiac is incredibly difficult, trying to find food, constantly explaining it to people, not being able to eat or drink at a restaurant simply because somebody is too lazy to look into things for us, or they think they understand Celiac disease when really they have no clue. For example we talked to a chef here who was going off about how potatoes contain gluten (they don't), so quickly we knew that we wouldn't be eating at that restaurant which really would have been convenient. We did get sick here a couple times from gluten, both of our stomaches are not at all feeling great today, but when we were riding we just pushed through it. The best way for us is always the grocery store, many sandwiches, and it is great they have a lot of gluten free options. Kevin and myself are both very happy to have a "teammate" who loves to ride bikes and who has to struggle through the life of a Celiac. One tiny breadcrumb or gluten filler then we get very sick for a week. We have recently been introduced to some "gluten digestion" supplements, which seem to help how long we are sick for, but it still sucks every time. We just say, Oh well, and go on with the day feeling sick, fuzzy brain, and enjoy life as best as possible.

I know I need to get back home to responsibilities, but I also know that God has a plan and there is a way for me. A way that will be joyful, a way that is not constantly dealing with people trying to bring me down, mentally and emotionally. I am learning there still are many good people in the world, I have had an amazing week break here in Solvang from the hard obstacles I face everyday at home. I guess maybe that is why mentally I was prepared to climb an HC category mountain with no problem, with all the hard things I've faced in the last 5 years especially the last 9 months, climbing mountains seems like a breeze, I feel so free and I meet God at the top of every little climb. I have tears in my eyes thinking about going back home, but there is a plan, a plan to ride, a plan to race, a plan to show others that life can be great, that it really is what you make it. There is a wonderful plan, a story for each of us, that God has written about us, but we must fight to find it. The story God had written about your life is the greatest treasure you could find.

I'm glad God has a story for my life and I am excited to continue to walk through the doors that He opens on this ADVENTURE called LIFE.

(I still need to figure out a better format for these pics)




Pic 5: Love this one too!
Pic 6: Horse trying to get my attention
Pic 7: Hanging on the beach after our last day riding

288 KM in 3 Days!

Wow! I have so many amazing things to write about from the last 2 days!

As I wrote about in my last blog Kevin and I were headed off to conquer Mt. Fig HC category (so many 18% gradient climbs) and that we did! I completed it in 1:46.04 and Kevin did it in 1:41.00. I am so pumped because some of the pro women times for the climb is 1:27.00. I know so many sections where I can easily make up that time, but the first time you ride a mountain, you don't really know it, which has its benefits mentally, but also knowing the mountain allows you to push on the sections that are your strong points as a rider.

The times above were to the "snow line" on the mountain. BUT being Canadian and all we weren't going to let a little snow stop us from getting to all the way to the top. So I attempted a little ride on the ice and obviously my bike slipped all over the place so I got off and started walking I knew Kevin was up there somewhere, I saw his bike tracks in the snow so I had to find him and I admit I was a little worried he was gonna get eaten by a Mountain Lion. So anyways, it was only about 5 min of walking on ice and carrying my bike before I found some dry roads and make it to the top after 15 more minutes. IT WAS AWESOME! One other guy met us at the top, the 3 crazy canadians of course, I would hardly call that snow! It was however a little scary coming down as our cleats froze and we couldn't get unclipped, we both got one foot out in the nick of time before we had a major bail down on the ice. Kevin's right foot was pretty much locked in his shoe the whole decent of the mountain and the ride home which totalled about 40km.

Descending Mt. Fig is just as fun as climbing it! The wind out here in California is nothing like i've every experienced before, one little gust could easy blow you right off your bike. There is no way we could ride our wheels here this time of year (Cosmic Carbone SLR), the crosswind would take us out, not to mention the majority of the roads are insanely rough. Not gonna lie, I sure which I had my Cannondale EVO frame here, for many reasons some being. the smoothness and stiffness of the bike for climbing, descending and bumpy roads. My upper back and shoulders have never hurt so much on a bike! However, I do really love the Ultegra DI2 and the feel of Shimano hoods but I could use a nicer frame and the 3 . 5 less pounds of weight on my bike.

On the third day we set out to conquer 160 km and I had no idea how I was gonna do it as I just had my toughest ride ever the day before but I wasn't gonna let anything stop me! I drank a ton of fluids, loaded up my pockets with food and we headed out. Overall we ended up climbing more on this day that the total of Mt. Fig. The day we did Mt. Fig had a total of 1,488m of elevation and this day had 2,150m just to give you an idea. It was that type of ride where you have to dig so deep within yourself and find something that you had no idea was there. I am completely amazed at what the human body is capable of as well as the human soul guided by God's spirit. Both of these 2 days, I met God in a new way that I never imagined finding him, it was like He was just waiting on top of every single climb that we did. We did about 4 mountains on this day, and there was one point where we had to climb a CAT 2 category mountain, down the other side, back up, then down again, this was the 3rd mountain of the day. The other 2 were the roughest roads I have ever been on, on a road bike, my descending improved dramatically, those steep grades and corners with 100ft cliff edges and insanely bumpy roads, one miss handle, and off the edge you could go.

Back to the mountain with a CAT 2 category (and this one had some of the first smooth roads of the day). I bonked, it was about 3 hours in we started going up the first side, I have never done steady exercise for over 3 hours straight and my body just wanted to stop. However there was no way I was not completing the ride I set out to do, even if I had to pedal at 6km/hr up the mountain. So I spun, nice easy gear, one pedal stroke at a time, lowered my heart rate, waited for the banana to kick in and up the mountain I went, I thought, well at least i'll make it to the top, and then maybe not do the other side. Before I knew it, I was up the mountain!!! Then I saw the amazing decent down the other side and there was no way I was gonna miss out on that! So after all the descending we had done up to that point, that felt like the reward! My handling skill have improved so much, the corners, the smooth road, the beautiful scenery was was UNREAL! It was about as perfect as it could get! Kevin said that was easily the best decent he had ever been on! Then to top it off we had the friendliest horses come visit us, and we got some awesome pics. Then we headed back up, a steeper grade % and down the other side, somehow through all that I started to feel much better and my legs started moving again!

6 hours, 5 bananas, 6 bottles of water, 3 bars, 1 pack of electrolyte later we completed 140km! I was upset we didn't get the full 160km but we were suppose to head out a little further on one of the roads and didn't realize it, to get the full distance. But oh well, that was my biggest ride ever, with an insane amount of climbing! I still have so much more to write, but i'm gonna be late for my ride today! All I can say is without Kevin's constant encouragement and monitoring of my safety these rides would not be as great as they are. I am so blessed!

Lovin life on the road!



Pic 1: Horses came to visit on the other side of the mountain I almost didn't make it over!
Pic 2: Top of Mt. Fig! Conquered an HC climb
Pic 3: Loving life on the road with Jen, one of the Trek employee's

My Legs Need to get UN-Fatigued by 9am...

... and it's 7:30am.

Yesterday was awesome! Kevin and I rode 77km yesterday and over 1,100 meters of climbing in California. We cycled through the rolling hills of wine country and it was just beautiful! That is more climbing then we generally get on a ride back home, but somehow it didn't seem like it. It sunny and beautiful, however we had a pretty strong headwind on many parts of the ride and the temperature was 7 to 20 degree's depending where we were, although it never felt that warm. The roads had a few smooth sections, but were mainly "bumpy" but only some sections were really noticeable and the scenery was so beautiful I hardly cared. We kept up a decent average speed and I turns out I really did like the Ultegra Di2 for all the climbing.

I am still undecided whether I like the DI2 better or RED, I feel like the DI2 could make me a "lazy" rider as its so simple to just shift up into the easy gears (not having to swing a lever over). That being said, with RED, swinging the lever over really isn't any work, and I love the feel of shifting, the mechanics of it is all a part of cycling and often with DI2, it was so quite, especially with the wind, I had to look down to make sure it was had shifted down or up in back.

As for the Trek Madone 6.5, well, I liked the feel of the bottom bracket (BB90) more than I though I would, it felt very smooth and the stiffness of the frame and comfort in the back was really quite nice. The front end, the word would be responsive, VERY responsive, or perhaps "twitchy" is a better way to describe it. My first descent was a little scary and I thought maybe my headset was loose, but there was just a lot of flex in the front that I am not used to on my Cannondale Evo, Cannondale SuperX or my Masi. I just have to change my descending style which is fine because I need a lot of practice and fine tuning of that skill set anyways. It is helping me to become more comfortable cycling quickly! I think Kevin's description was adequate for our Evo's verses the Madone's "It's not as smooth as Butter (Evo) but it's still Margarine".

Alright, well this blog is probably not written in the greatest english but i'm trying to get all my liquids down while i'm sitting here before we go to climb Mt.Figueroa. It is 4800 feet, a 10 mile climb with an average gradient of 9%. To put that in perspective Mt.Cypress in Vancouver is 2625 feet, a 7.5 mile climb with an average gradient of 5%.

Mt.Figueroa is an HC which by definition is:
Hors catégorie is a French term used in cycle races (most notably, the Tour de France) to designate a climb that is "beyond categorization", an incredibly tough climb. Most climbs in cycling are designated from Category 1 (hardest) to Category 4 (easiest), based on both steepness and length. A climb that is harder than Category 1 is designated as hors catégorie.

This is the Mountain the pro's come and train on.

Yesterday we did one Cat 3 and four Cat 4 climbs and my legs are fatigued. Lets hope they wake up in time to climb up the mountain, its starts with an 18% gradient, so they better be ready!

Off to ride...

Arrived in Solvang!

Just arrived in Solvang for 4 days of riding! I am so excited! Kevin and I flew into LA, then we drove up the coast stopping in Santa Monica, lunch on the pier in Malibu, which was fabulous, a quick drive through Santa Barbara, then arrived in the cutest little dutch down, Solvang.

The hotel is nice so far, although more of a motel and unfortunately we talked to the chef in the restaurant and didn't feel that she really understood the seriousness of Celiac disease, so instead of risking it, we opted for grocery shopping making sandwiches in the room. Looks like we will be eating a lot of sandwiches this week. Oh well, tis life for us.

I am feeling a little under the weather, but with the sunshine and the terrain, as soon as I start pedalling I know I'll feel a million times better instantly! I should be getting my gear on right now, it is a littler cooler than I had hoped, sitting at 4 degree's right now. I hope it warms up quickly as we didn't bring our winter riding jackets or winter tights. Nonetheless this is going to be awesome! We will be riding some Trek 6.5 Madones with Ultegra DI2, soon I will find out if I prefer Shimano DI2 or the ever faithful SRAM Red groupo. As for the frames, I will be comparing my Cannondale Evo to a Madone 6.5. With the new Kammtail on the Madone, it is suppose to be a pretty nice riding bike. So we shall see! Okay I really need to get my gear on!

Out on the Road

Well, it sure feels good to hit the pavement on my bike again! I’ve been out on the open road only a couple times since September, the rest of the time has been indoor on the rollers and learning some mountain and cross bike skills. While the rollers have made me even stronger than last spring and hitting the trails is scary, fun and exhilarating, there is nothing quite like flying down the open road at high speeds on a really smooth fast bike! I’m really happy with my results over the winter and now it is time to build up strength climbing the hills. In Solvang, California in a couple weeks I’ll get to put my legs to the test with a 10mile climb with an average 9% grade and I can’t wait!

Today’s ride was sopping wet, it felt like my gloves weighed 5lbs a piece at the end of the ride along with my booties and shoes, yet a wet day on the road is better than not being on the road at all! Cycling never really gets easier, you just get faster and I often wonder why I find putting myself through so much physical pain to be so much fun. Maybe it’s the reward of pushing my body further than I thought possible or climbing multiple hills only to find I still have the legs to climb more. Maybe it’s the comradery or just the pure pleasure of being out in nature. Whatever it is, I sure do love cycling. I am honestly too tired from this weeks rides to think anymore or type anymore right now, all am I thinking about is what I can eat for dinner.

I thought maybe that I would come up with some interesting blog today, but I guess I just needed to process my ride a bit and try to feel more connected to the world. Am I sacrificing too much time to ride? I think it’s okay to work towards my dream, I mean I don’t have a family to take care of and maybe soon enough I’ll be able to find some fast girls to ride with as well. Maybe one day I’ll be fast enough to join a team of fast girls, only God knows, but in this lonely, exhilarating, daring, fun adventure I am pursing I know God has a plan in all of it.

Time for more food…

Now it is time for My Story

I got tired of living other peoples stories, don’t get me wrong, I loved to help and serve others in their lives ventures, but I very much desired my own story. I knew it had to happen at the right time; otherwise the pieces of the puzzle wouldn’t have fit together properly. I waited and waited, I prayed and I prayed, when I felt the green light to go I leaped as far as I could thinking God would catch me and instead of landing on my feet in my Father’s arms, I landed face first in a valley that only ever saw darkness.

It is there that I am learning how to be the light that God has made me. It took me many months before I realized that I had gotten what I asked for, My Story.

I am so afraid, I don’t want to admit it, but I am. I feel so alone at times it scares me, until I realize I have a friend in God that will never ever leave me no matter what happens. Not only do I have a friend in God but also God brought me someone because He knows me and He knew my desire for companionship. I thank God everyday for Kevin, without him I would never have gotten to this part of My Story.

So one piece at a time I will share My Story, some parts I am too afraid to write because that would mean looking inside myself, other parts I must express with much frustration and other parts I cannot wait to share with the world.

I guess I am just a dreamer, I believe that I can do something bigger than myself because God is with me. I have to be okay with failing because I will learn from it, pick myself up and try again. I try to follow the practicalities of life as best as I can, but I know there is more out there, as we all do, and I don’t want to miss out on any of it.

I tossed and turned all night last night, I though to myself, why the heck do I think I can race a bike? I rode the first race course for spring series the last couple days and it is incredibly tough. I thought I have pushed my body to the limits before but this was a whole new world of pain. Sure my times on the course were decent, especially for a novice, but I only did half the distance, how the heck am I suppose to race the whole distance? Not only that but there are all these rules to follow, plus the unspoken edict that comes with road racing. Yes, I am freaking out, but fortunately I have about three weeks to work through these thoughts so I am confident for race day. I keep thinking to myself, am I really going to do this? Part of me thinks it is just a dream, that I won’t really be racing, I mean it all happened so fast. I really have been only cycling for eight months and three of those months have been inside on the rollers. As in life, I need to be okay with other people disliking me during the race, getting frustrated at me for the novice mistakes I may make and I have to be okay with the amount of pain I will endure. Why the heck do I want to do this? That is a great question, but there is this burning passion in my heart that is pressing me on and telling me I can do this. I think I am so afraid because I’ve never wanted anything so bad.

The training continues…

When Life Get's you Down...

...Get on a Bike!


Wow, it sure has been a long time since I’ve blogged and my life has changed so much in the last year, I'm not quite sure where to start. The name of my blog "When Life Get’s you Down... …Get on a Bike", with the picture of a bike in the background is a good indicator of the new direction my life has taken. Easily put, life got me really down and then when I thought things were going to get better, they took a turn for the worse but somehow through some of the toughest days I’ve faced, riding a bike not only got me through it, but it took me full speed into a whole new world of joy; a whole new life.

So I sit here, wondering exactly how I got to this point in my life. That black and pink bike on my blog, yes that is my road bike, I have a cyclocross bike sitting next to me in my living room covered in mud from last weeks ride and a mountain bike hanging in the shop at work. I find I often have tears in my eyes when I sit here on my couch in the morning thinking about how I have been blessed in darkest days of my soul and I know deep in my heart that it can only be the hand of God that has carried me through.

Through this wilderness, God taught me how to walk differently, how to run gracefully and how to ride a bike really fast! I can now walk loving those who have been deemed "unlovable", I can now handle hatred, slander and persecution against me with grace and I now have the confidence to be who I am without shame and push my body to the limits every time I get on a bike.

I find a deep need to share my heart yet again, like my last blog but I am in such a different place that I do not doubt this blog will be very different from the last. Last blog I decided to take the leap of faith into living a life with God and I wrote about my journey in that. Life now is with God, for better or for worse, to be honest some days it seems it would be easier if I had chosen to not commit my life to Him, but then I remember the darkness of living without Him and I am immediately repentant. I remember I used to always pray “God I want to be in the world, but not of the world”. God is teaching me just that and it has proven to be way more difficult that I ever imagined. I remember some days over the last year where I truly felt that I was learning the meaning of “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you [God] are with me…” (Psalm 23:4). Those are the days where I stood, holding on to the smallest prayer and the tiniest glimmer of hope. Do I think those days are over? No I do not, but I do know that God is with me and I believe that as I make mistakes and fall on my face that I will learn more of God’s Kingdom culture. I pray that my journey will inspire others to seek their own individual journey to their God given destiny.

I really desire for this blog to be real, I am tired of religion and I am tired of a world of perfection, trying to reach something that I was not created for. I just want a pure raw relationship with God, honest, broken and more real than the air that I breathe. If the world could know that God loves them as they are, then we may yet see an awakening that God desires for mankind.

I picked up a great book recently call the “The Ragamuffin Gospel” by Brennan Manning. I’ve only read through a quarter of it, maybe eventually I’ll get through it, but in reading the first few chapters I saw the raw Gospel of God and I am thankful to be called a “Ragamuffin”. The definition: a ragged often disreputable person; especially: a poorly clothed often dirty child.

I don’t expect this blog to be anything like my as my last one because I have many days where I feel so far from God that I wonder if I ever knew him but. I have days where I am completely selfish and entirely frustrated at anything and everything. I have days where I feel I am walking in complete disobedience to God yet something keeps pushing me forward on the path I am on. I just think, well God loves me, I am a ragamuffin, completely human, deeply in love with God, learning to walk in God ways and not hiding in a bubble of safety. I take risks daily and if I take my eyes of God for even a second I tremble with fear and quickly run back to my Father’s arms, for God is my only safety net. Daily I fight, to pursue my passions yet remain in God and it is not one bit easy but I am thankful God is giving me this opportunity. Then again, maybe this blog will be more authentic than the last, bringing me to an even closer relationship to God and the people around me believers or not.

In any case, I can’t wait to share my life with you all! I will be racing soon, on my road bike, I am so scared and so excited! I’m headed off to my first training camp in Solvang California at the end of the month and then races begin in March.

Here is me… raw, wounded and too stubborn to give up on my passion: CYCLING!