Three Gaps in North Georgia
The “Three Gap” route in North Georgia is full of mountain views, rolling hills, lakes and long stretches of country road. I’m not great at climbing, but because this route is polar opposite of riding in the city of Atlanta, I suffer for the scenery, quiet and fast descents. Oh, and of course for the training to get faster in races.
What I’ve learned:
- Go early before the Georgia humidity takes over or you will melt.
- There is a gas station between Wolfpen and Woody Gap where a dog is always waiting for his owner outside.
- When you get to the top of Neels, look up in the trees. It’s a major stop for hikers on the Appalachian Trail and there are hundreds of boots hanging above you. You can also go to the side of the building to get water and catch an amazing view.
- After you descend down Woody, make sure you toss a rock on the “Stonepile Gap.” Legend says it’s the grave of Trahlyta and you too shall receive happiness and beauty as she did when she was alive.
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Optimistic Attitude in Racing
An optimistic attitude is needed in life and it’s needed in racing. Pretty obvious, right? I know this, you know this, and I’m sure we have all given the PMA speech to others, but it hit me last week that I wasn’t practicing it.
When I first started racing about nine months ago, my goal was to finish. Then it turned into not getting dropped. Clearly, these weren’t very extravagant goals and because of it, I kept selling myself short. I’m not much of a baby-steps kind of person outside of cycling, so why was I setting such limited race goals for myself for so long? With this kind of mentality, I wouldn’t win until I was 50.
Last week I looked for anything to keep negative thoughts from creeping in. In addition to my normal training, I listened to new music, read quotes, watched inspirational videos, and read race reports from women I look up to. It all helped, but what stuck the best for me was saying to myself, “I’m going to win.” At first I felt really weird even thinking such a thing. Am I insane? If nothing else, I felt exceedingly awkward because it seemed like such a cocky mindset to carry. When my coach or close friend asked how I was feeling about my upcoming race, I finally said it out loud - I’m going to win. Sure, I didn’t walk around belting it from the mountain top, but the more I thought it, the more I started to believe it could happen.
Saturday ended up being a challenging course with fair amount of climbing and a killer finish. I turned every single detail into a positive that day with one simple phrase in mind - bring it. I’m pleased to say that because of this, I made a break from the peloton on the second lap and placed fourth. No, I didn’t win, but while stuck in no man’s land for the last 17 miles turning myself inside out to catch the girl in third, I stayed positive and never gave up.
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Have to stop, don’t want to
Turns out, “can’t stop, don’t want to,” becomes “have to stop, don’t want to” when you get sick. I’ve only been on the bike twice this week and it’s really starting to drive me insane. I’m supposed to race an omnium this weekend for a summer series I’ve been doing and it doesn’t look like I’ll be able to. Regardless, I’m packing up my cycling gear and camera just incase I wake up tomorrow a new woman with real energy. If I don’t get to race, my camera and I will be out there taking photos and cheering on everyone. If I can’t join them, you best believe I’ll be there showing my support.
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Body Geometry Fit | Part 2
Part Two: Body Geometry Fit (to read Part One, click here)
We got started with the interview and physical assessment where Micah, the Body Geometry Fit Specialist, checked and analyzed everything from the tips of my toes up through my feet, knees, pelvis, spine, core, shoulders and neck. We throughly went through the list of questions he had for me and discussed any current pain, problems and goals for riding. I discovered that I had different arches on each foot and how that translated into my cycling. Everything was so detailed and there was a reason and explanation for it all. The words “maybe” and “probably” weren’t used, it was science and for once in my life, all of the issues I had with riding were being addressed.
After the physical portion, it was time to get on the bike. With cameras around me, everything was documented and being sent straight to the computer for analyzation. Addressing my number one complaint, soft tissue pain, we spent a fair amount of time trying out various saddles. I’m ridiculously happy that Specialized introduced the Power Saddle this year because that’s what ended up working best for me. Once the reach, saddle, knee angle and drop were dialed in, we moved on to the footwear. Placing new footbeds in each shoe, I was able to easily pull up on the pedal rather than curling my toes to fill up the shoe (yeah, that was actually happening). Moving on, he adjusted the cleat placement in order to neutralize my toe position and keep them from pointing out. Once everything was in place and completely dialed in, Micah took measurements and photos of the adjustments. He went to grab a stem to put on the bike and realized he didn’t have a Specialized one in stock, so he took if off his own bike. So amazing and kind.
At this point, we are a few hours in and the store is closed, yet there is no rushed feeling. He proceeds to take the bike into the shop area, give it a once over, make sure it’s shifting correctly and put on my pedals, Garmin mount and bottle cages. Wrapping up our conversation, I leave with advice about what to expect with a new fit, how to approach my next race, and a request that I come back for a follow up. He reminds me to make sure I let him know immediately if anything is uncomfortable when I ride this week and we pack up my beautiful new bike perfectly fit for me.
Special thanks to Micah and Jeremy at Georgia Cycle Sport
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Body Geometry Fit | Part 1
Part One:
As we all know, “New Bike Day” is hands down one of the best days you can have - there is no denying that. But “Body Geometry Fit Day” has changed everything about riding for me. Ever since I’ve gone through this process, I must sound like an overly excited infomercial when I tell people about it, but I promise you, if you care about how you feel on the bike and haven’t had this fit done, you’re doing yourself a disservice. Although I live in Atlanta and there are many bike shops around, Georgia Cycle Sport in Athens (about 1.5 hours away from me) has such an outstanding reputation that I was encouraged to go there.
On Tuesday, I left work early to drive North to Athens, GA with camera in tow. What had been a few phone calls here and there was finally happening. My new bike was waiting and Micah, the owner and Fit Consultant at Cycle Sport, would be there to get me all set up. An easy to talk to guy, I was looking forward to meeting him just from the few quick conversations we had already shared. I walked in and was immediately greeted and asked “do you want to see your bike?” He walked me into a small private room to the left side of quite a large bike shop. A red room with Specialized bike parts lining the wall, there sat a beautiful new pearly white Amira Expert Lululemon Edition. I was instantly in love.
Now it was time to get started. Micah handed me an iPad to fill out my information and one of the last questions asks if there is anything specific you want to address. Being in the middle of the city, all of my local bike shops in Atlanta are much smaller, so right then and there I was really relieved to be in a private space dedicated to bike fitting. As a woman whose main complaints concerning pains on the bike are female related, I was glad to know that everything I was about to discuss wasn’t for the entire shop and their customers to overhear. Not that it’s embarrassing or anything no one has ever heard before, but it was great to know this was between him and I. No distractions, no pressure. I changed into my kit and we got started.
Read Part Two here.
Special thanks to Micah and Jeremy at Cycle Sport
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Getting Left Behind
With perfect weather and stunning views ahead of us, my team and I woke up in a mountain cabin early Saturday morning to consume our breakfast and drink as much coffee as we could stomach before it was time to kit up. The cool, brisk morning was quickly heating up as we walked less than a mile uphill in loose gravel to get to the pavement road ahead. We ditched our street shoes by the stop sign, put on our cycling shoes, clipped in and rode out.
The morning started with zero traffic, endless landscapes and every animal you can find in the country. The pace gets faster as we warm up, we start getting closer to the rolling terrain that steadily increases, and the ride starts getting a little tougher. As we start winding through the woods, my chain drops and I yell to let the group know - only one person stops to wait and the rest keep going. As I fumble around to fix it, I’m anxious that I’m losing the group and I make a simple task much harder on myself. Once I fix it, my teammate Laura and I, start riding and come to a fork in the road. No one has waited on us and we have zero signal. Right here and now is when I learn to always put the damn route on my Garmin. Rookie mistake. We decide to head left and up we go. Hoping to hell this is the correct route, my brain knows that this will be an additional climb if it isn’t. On one hand, I have nature surrounding me, so I can’t help but enjoy it. On the other hand, my legs are screaming at me and I know I have a long ride ahead. I begin to remember that my thoughts are merely an exaggeration of the mind game that is happening in my head. I get out of the saddle, put down my head, and climb. I know my legs can do this. It’s silent until Laura yells, “12%” as she reads her Garmin. I don’t respond - I can’t. When I ride, I’m so concentrated on what I’m doing that I’m completely silent. We get to the top to find everyone waiting with a few apologies after I explain what happened and we keep going.
Not long after that, every one of us runs out of water so we decide to detour 6 miles to find a gas station. We get what we need and head back to the route only to find a small biker bar across the highway from where we decided to detour. Laughing it off, we continue to ride with only rolling hills, a beautiful river and long stretches of road ahead of us. The last climb on the day is at the very end of the route, the group is strung out and we are all exhausted. A 21% grade is the very last of it as we approach the home stretch. It’s brutal, it hurts and I feel like I could walk faster than I’m riding at this point, but once I get to the top it’s all worth it. At this point we have ridden through Georgia, Tennessee and North Carolina.
We regroup at the top and instead of putting my street shoes back on like the rest of the group, I stick them in my back pocket and start riding down the loose gravel hoping like hell my CX skills treat me right. They do. I ride as much of it as I can before the ‘ole road bike won’t cut it anymore. The last bit of the walk to the cabin is filled with small chat about the gorgeous routes we encountered. After rolling our bikes into the open living room, we all take a seat on the outside balcony overlooking the beautiful mountains we just rode. We proceed to pour a few drinks, take out a few snacks and talk about tomorrows ride.
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Levi’s® Commuter™ Follow Up
Earlier in Spring, Levi’s® introduced their first Commuter™ line for women (read my original post here). Promising functional clothing for cyclists, the Levi’s® Commuter™ collection has performance and iconic style. Featuring water-resistant fabric, 3M™ reflective details, and deeper back pockets for secure storage, I'm following up to show you what they look like after two seasons of wear and really give my stamp of approval. I love when denim starts to wear in, and I'm pleased that the quality of the zipper, pockets and button held up like new. Although I can only speak about the wear of their denim, they have outerwear, pants, and tops and if the shorts are any reflection of the rest of the line, the other pieces won't disappoint. Shop the entire Commuter collection here.
Always on a mission to be better than I was the day before.
Always on a mission to be better than I was the day before.
Mae here - I’m the newest addition to the Specialized family and I’m excited to bring in a female perspective. Living in Atlanta, I’m the Lead Photographer + Marketing Manager for a small creative agency and when I’m not at work, I’m training or racing.
With cyclocross being my first love, this season of road is my first and I’m absolutely hooked. After this weekend at Speed Week in Athens and Roswell, it’s safe to say that criteriums are for me. I don’t know if it’s the condensed time frame and all out effort that I endured in cyclocross that enticed me, but I’m officially addicted to the speed, tight corners and suffering that comes with racing crits.
Now it’s Monday - rest day. I’m reflecting on everything I did wrong, everything I did right and happily looking forward to the next pain cave session.
See you on the road.
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