Greetings from Rosemary Beach!

Today my husband I awoke early at 3am to go to the airport for a 5:30 flight to Jacksonville, Florida. This weekend is my husband’s 20-year class reunion so we flew down for it.

The festivities start Friday so we decided to fly down a day early to drive to the west coast, to Rosemary Beach, to visit a classmate of mine, Jeanine. After 5 hours of travel we hopped in the rental car for another 5 hour drive across the state, where I saw my first ever armadillo. (Too bad he was road kill.)

The last time I saw Jeanine was in October when she came to New England to visit her brother. She made a point of driving to Maine to see me (and a few other surprise guests I had invited). We had so much fun reconnecting after so many years that I wanted to make a point to see her when we were “in the area”.

The 5 hour drive was long and boring…. but so worth it! This place is stunningly beautiful. Here are a few pictures to prove my point. (Views from the bedroom balcony. Has a certain European charm, don’t you think?)

Now it’s off to explore this quaint area a bit before meeting up with Jeanine for drinks and dinner. More pictures to come later!!

“Photo Shoot”

I received a call today from the photographer that will be taking the shots for the Bicycling Magazine piece. We are going to try to for next week, the 29th. If it rains and the ride it cancelled we’ll postpone until the following week.

If you ride once in a while on the Tuesday night women’s ride, please consider joining us for the ride next week. The photos will be taken at the shop after the ride.

Bicycling Magazine

A couple months ago our club president was contacted by Bicycling Magazine. They wanted to talk to someone about the women’s ride I started this year. So he passed on the information for me to return the call, which I did.

When I returned the call she said someone would be contacting me about the page in the back of the magazine called “Finish”, which is where the photo and a couple quotes would be featured. Then I never heard back from them. Until today.

I am awaiting a call from a local photographer to line up a time when he/she can come and take some pictures after the ride. I’ll then contact all the riders on my email list to see if we can get a larger than normal turnout.

I was told the photo would be in the October issue. That’s just in time for my birthday, also in October. So be on the lookout for that issue! I’ll purchase plenty copies to pass along to my family. They’ll love that!

Yarmouth Clam Festival Bike Race

Today was the Yarmouth Clam Festival Bike Race. This is the third year we have gone to watch the event. We started back in 2006 when we first got into cycling. Today it occured to me that only do I know more people with each passing year participating in the event, but I also know more and more people watching the event.

Last year was the first year we biked to the event.

This year we did it again. And while we were there we saw people with knew, mostly from our club rides.We know a few of the guys from the Base36 team and we were there to primarily cheer them on. Our club members knew riders from other teams.

As the women took the line I realized that I knew a couple of them as well, from group rides. (And no, I’m never able to keep up with them.)

I always enjoy watching this local race. There is a challanging turn on the course with a short, but fairly steep hill and we usually watch most of the race from that location. And it’s close to the start/finish so we can quickly get to the finish line to watch the winner cross the line.

A Special Women’s Ride

We had a total of 17 riders for the special women’s ride today. We left from Clifford Park at 7:45am and traveled to Biddeford Pool, Fortunes Rock Beach and into Cape Porpoise for lunch.

Unfortunately my camera was acting  up and the outside pictures I took did not come out at all. But a few of the inside pictures from breakfast did.

All the women seemed to have a wonderful time so our goal is to organize another one in September. If you didn’t have a chance to ride with us today, stay tuned for more info on the next ride!!

Not Exactly What I Was Looking For

I’ve been spending a fair bit of time in front of the TV because the Tour is on. And when I’m not watching, I’m on the computer.

We usually record (DVR) the program so we buzz through the commercials. However, some we catch. Today we saw the one of all the bike crashes narrated by Jonathan Vaughters. So I was in search of it on YouTube but couldn’t find it. (It will be up there eventually so stay tuned.)

In my search I came across the following commercial. This struck me as very funny.

So Much for That Idea

After a really spectacular ride Monday night I thought I’d go on the Thursday night ride. Unfortunately it wasn’t the best of rides tonight. I didn’t feel it in my head but went anyway. It’s not that I felt bad, I just didn’t have that “Whoo Hoo” feeling.

We had a dedicated B-Group with 9 riders and I had a hard time keeping up with the guys in that group. Geez. It’s also a much different ride than Monday night – a lot more hills to climb and I’m not a good climber.

Now I go through the last couple days, trying to figure out what I did, what I ate, how I slept, etc. to pinpoint the reason for my disappointing ride so I don’t repeat it. It could be lack of sleep, dehydration, nutrition, or the fact that I haven’t recovered from Monday’s and Tuesday’s ride. Still, I had a respectable 17mph average with all the climbing. I just really hate getting dropped.

But I’m not discouraged. It just makes me want to work harder so I can keep up more with the group.

I Scream

A large group for the Tuesday night ride tonight. I’m sure it had more to do with the planned ice cream stop than the weather. Not everyone stopped, and some stopped only briefly. It was dinner time after all so some chose to go home for a decent meal. Hmmm, life is short, aren’t you supposed to eat dessert first??

We saw some familiar faces on the road as well. I decided to wear my club kit on the ride and it gives me great pride to see others flying the club colors on rides thoughout the area.

Sometimes It Just Clicks

I love it when everything just clicks.

Tonight was one of the best rides ever!

I could tell it was going to be a good night. 1.) I felt good physically. 2.) I felt energized mentally. 3.) My bike had that “like a glove” sort of feeling, which doesn’t happen on every ride. (I know, weird.)

It was warmer than what I normally like to ride in for temperatures but I didn’t care. I went to the shop for a little socializing before the ride. It was also nice to see all the riders show up over the span of 15 minutes or so.

Addie was there. Now, I met Addie (Adrian) on the group rides last year. We “rode together” which is to say we started out together but I could never hang. She would try to “pull me along” but I would always get dropped. I was so amazed by her acceleration that I just couldn’t match. But somehow we formed a bond.

I haven’t seen much of Addie this season. She’s been on a few rides, but I don’t see much of her because, once again, I get dropped. But tonight it felt different. I told her I was out for her. She joked the same. And yes, I kept up with her all night. Even passing her once on a climb. (Not that I’m competitive or anything….)

This is Addie on the right. She is a terrific bike rider that climbs well and has great acceleration.

The other great thing about tonight’s ride was that I saw Dave again. He is a guy that introduced himself on the Friday Morning Coffee Ride last week. Nice guy. He asked if I had a friend named Tracey and then explained that he knows Lisa. He told her that he rode with me Friday morning and she freaked!

Now, Lisa is a gal that I know from spin class. She was an instructor the first year I took spin with Tracey. We got to know her a little bit throughout the year. She’s an ex-bike racer and tells some incredible stories. She is the type of person that can keep you rivetted to a story, if you can hear her over your own side splitting laughter. Yeah, she’s that funny!

I haven’t seen Lisa since last summer. I’ve been thinking a bit about her lately – wondering how’s she’s doing. I made sure to give Dave my card to pass along to her. I really hope she’ll send me an email. She’s a hoot and I hope we can get together for some laughs one day soon.

So, that’s why the ride was the best ever. It wasn’t because of the average speed, although that was pretty high, but I didn’t break any person best or anything. It was that it might have given me an opportunity to reconnect with a friend, and an opportunity to prove myself to a new one.

And yes, perhaps the time off did make me just a wee bit stronger. Click!

Special Women’s Ride – July 19th!

Save the date!
Saturday, July 19th.
7:30am to 10:30am
Cost:  Ride is free, but bring cash for your breakfast (the Wayfarer only takes cash)
RSVP:  Please email me by Wednesday, July 16th (so we’ll the restaurant will know how many will be coming)

Shannon Bryant and I both lead women’s only group rides.  Shannon’s group leaves from Gorham Bike and Fitness, Saco and my group leaves from Back Bay Bicycle, Portland.

We thought it would be fun to combine our women’s groups for a special women’s only bike ride this summer on Saturday, July 19th.  We will start the ride at 7:30am (still haven’t finalized where we are leaving from – either UNE or Clifford Park).  We will bike by the beaches along Route 9 in Biddeford and then into Cape Porpoise, stop for breakfast at the Wayfarer and have a get-to-know-you activity, and then make our way back.

This ride is for ALL abilities so please think about joining us on this fun excursion! Bring a friend! The more the merrier!

July 19th Women’s Ride and Breakfast