Chicago Tri Club

My beach cruiser!

As I was thinking of all of the words that best describe biking to me….I realized how much those words actually described ME and the way I look at life.

Let me explain, here are a few references to biking (B) and my Life (L) with some of those words:

Alive/Freedom:

B: Every time I get on a bike, there is a sense feeling free and alive when that wind hits your face!

L: Okay this one is a bit too easy… alive check! But seriously, many things in life have made me realize we can’t take life for granted, I’m truly thankful for every day and blessed that I can live the life I do.

Passion:

B: I LOVE biking, rarely do I ever not get excited to go biking (minus VQ test days)

Half Ironman Bike Transition

L: I’m a pretty passionate gal; I love a lot of things….my job (for real), my friends, my family, music, good restaurants, good wine, traveling, etc. I try to live in the moment and really be invested in time spent with others or anything I do.

Determination/Challenging/Competitive:

B: Always get back up and on the saddle, if it is on your first Saturday group ride and you can’t seem to clip out in time (not sure who would do that though ;-) ). I always like a good challenge and some healthy competition. Which is why I started doing triathlons, joined a badass bike group, and continue to find ways to set new goals (a Century Ride, Vineman 70.3, and a bike race?! for 2014)

L: I’m a sales manager so gotta hit those sales goals! My parents always instilled an environment where we weren’t allowed to give up; if we committed to a team or activity we needed to be committed until the very end. And if you are doing it, you might as well do the best you can! With the right support and attitude it’s pretty amazing what you can accomplish when you stick with it.

Mountain Biking in Patagonia

Active/Adventure/Thrill Seeking:

B: A new challenge, a new path, a new view and those darn stomach drops speeding down a hill keep biking adventurous and thrill seeking. Cyclocross and Road races definitely terrify me which is exactly why I feel the need to try it….that and I’m dying to race in something where I don’t need to swim first. J

L: No couch potato here…rarely will you find me sitting at home; I also love to dance (salsa anyone?!), kickbox, do triathlons, ski (or attempt to), hike, travel, etc, etc. Some may say I do “too” much but I like to stay active and it keeps life interesting

Juvenile:

Slightly blurry, but I’m on the right

B: I still vividly remember the day I got my first bike with training wheels, the day they came off, the constant request of “mom – can we go around the block”, going everywhere in town with my twin sister and friends via my hot pink bike. Getting on a bike today brings me back, makes me smile, and feel like a kid again!

L: Never take myself too serious…which is why I also bought myself a beach cruiser too! I don’t always need to be a hard core biker and it’s just SO fun to just cruise around…now I just need a beach where I can do it more often!

Always Learning:

B: There is ALWAYS more to learn, I still consider myself a new rider even though I’ve biked all of my life and have done tons of triathlons. However, I just started group riding this summer (thanks to SMs!) and although I’m a pretty strong rider, I still have a lot to learn…still struggle changing tires, need to improve my bike handling, get better with bike maintenance and mechanics, continue to get comfortable in tight groups, etc, etc. SO please be patient with me!

L: I spend any spare money I have traveling, the more I travel the more I realize how small we are in this world and how much more there is learn and see. Off to Asia in a few weeks, can’t wait!

I love this quote, goes along with my bike/like comparisons!

Social/Community:

B: Umm…Spidermonkeys!! I’m so glad that some Chicago Tri Club friends introduced me to the SMs, you guys are AWESOME! This is the exact type of group I needed to improve my skills and hang out with some cool people that enjoy this sport as much as I do (beer sponsor helps too). Venus de Miles sealed the deal to officially join the club this fall…yes, I’m the girl that is always ruining the pics with my non-SM gear but don’t worry I put my order in so soon enough I will be in the orange and black like everyone else. Excited for that!!

L: I’m a social little butterfly, and have a great network of amazing friends and family that I cherish a ton!

J-Pow! and Hayes!

My adventuring into cycling was winter of 1988, in a dark living room, sitting by the fire. I was a little boy growing up in Oklahoma and my dad was hatching a plan. We would ride bikes across the state of Iowa and spend the evenings in tents. I was of the age that spending a week in a tent sounded pretty damn cool, so I was in! This was going to be a father and son trip, as my parents were finalizing a divorce, one last adventure before I would move to Illinois with my mom and little brother. One problem, I didn’t really have a bike worthy of such an adventure. I had a single speed but nothing that would hold up for a week of cycling. Dad went to the city and picked up a new Trek and I would be use his old 1975 Sears ten speed with all original parts (and cables). IOW, the bike and I were of the same model year. Our training plan was easy, each weekend we rode from our house to a lake and back home. A spring of riding and we were off to Iowa for RAGBRAI XVII. The highlights were dove bars, pork chops, and my front derailleur cable snapping and riding an entire day in the big ring. I don’t remember the trip being too hard, we covered 479 miles + the bonus day to hit a century. According to the event site, it was dubbed the hardest of the courses at the time, no big deal. Here we are dipping our wheels into the Mississippi river as proof of our finish and proof I’ve always had chicken legs!

RAGBRAI XVII

That was it for cycling for me until I was working late one weekend afternoon and ended over by the lake to see the 2005 Chicago Triathlon. It seemed pretty cool, I swam through high school and had run a marathon a few years earlier. This seemed to be in my wheelhouse, I went online and bought a triathlon bike a 51cm Ironhorse and started training. I raced my first year on a bike that was crazy small for me and would get crushed on the bike portion of every race. In Miami, I was one of the top amateurs out of the water and listened to “Nice Swim Chicago” for 3hrs while I soft pedaled back to transition. I wisened up and was fitted by Adam at GetaGrip with new bike under me, the rest is history! I have countless triathlons under my belt with 3 Ironman finishes to my name. I’ve gotten into coaching with USAT and USAC and managed to make my girlfriend, Karin, faster than me. My goal for this season, stop getting chicked!

Kicking ass in triathlon!

I was friends with Geoff Scott via the Chicago Tri Club and somehow ended up in Jackson park for the Chicago Cross Cup in 2009. I watched a few races and thought this was the coolest thing I had ever seen. I was hooked, I was also completely burned out from a season of Ironman training. The fire was still burning and I showed up in Jackson park a year later to give it a go. I hung out all season with Geoff and Ken and would official join the Spidermonkeys after cross season ended. I just finished my first year with the team/club and love every second of it. You can find me at every cross race suffering like a dog and cowbelling for other Monkeys.

I’ll be around more this season, I’m adding some early road racing to my calendar before Triathlon season gets going and I plan to be a regular on the JJ Peppers ride. Cheap beer and trying to flog each other on the bike?!?! Sweet, I’m in.

So that’s my story and thanks for reading!

Tag: Chicago Tri Club

Spidermonkey of the Week – Colleen Klein

Spidermonkey of the Week – Hayes Sanborn