Those Burning Questions...

How do you do it? Train for hours on end each day, prep, travel, racing, and recovering...  It's a lot! And, it's a question I get from time to time.  Well, here's how I do it..and everyone is different and has a way of making it all work, because lets face it we're not becoming millionaires racing bikes! Well, not yet anyway.. A few years back I decided I wanted to see how far I could go in this sport.  I committed, paired down my lifestyle, and decided to pedal a lot.  That was the first step.  Making the decision to go for it, and surrounding myself with people who believed and continue to believe I can do something great on a bike.

Since you're not a millionaire how do you pay the rent? I don't have rent.  I live in an awesome loft above a barn my dad and I built when I was a teenager.  It has wood floors, a full tiled kitchen, stove, and breakfast bar.  I have a little living area and of course there's my bedroom.  It's tiny, but awesome.  I have a deck that overlooks a field and I can hear the crickets and see the stars at night.  My dog runs around the yard.  It's pretty darn great.


Do you work?  I work with some of the most supportive people you could ask for.  My current expertise is marketing with an emphasis on social media.  Bicycle Trip, a local Santa Cruz shop allows me to do their marketing and advertising from 2-6:30 pm Tue-Friday which gives me close to 20 hours a week.  I'm so grateful for the opportunity to work with them and really like what I do.  Essentially, I speak to fun bike riders in our community on a daily basis, put cool events together, and create art in Photoshop.  No complaints!  In my free time of course, when most people are dating and going out for drinks, or lets face it - FACEBOOKING - I usually can be found studying at home, as I begin Paramedic school this Fall and as it turns out there's kind of a lot you need to know when it comes to saving lives... Who woulda thought?!

My Roomate.

When do you train?  For the most part I ride every day.  Some days are harder and longer than others, but it usually equals out to around 20 hours a week including races.  Now - the 20 hrs a week sound somewhat manageable right? I mean, i'm only working 20 hrs a week - so it's like a full time job, no?  Wrong.  There's so much surrounding training starting from the most important part - early morning coffee (and I don't mean that in the Urban Dictionary sense...) get your head out of the gutter! Kitting up, packing up food, water, gear for the ride.  Getting to the ride start - Soquel and Aptos Creek road, where I sheepishly admit one of my most favorite parts of the day is people watching and waving to those I know heading out to their 9-5. Poor them. Picking out my playlist - will it be mellow or techno-ridiculous? Depends on my mood really..  Then it begins.  That block of time I set out of my day to pedal.  To do work. 

One of my fav training routes.

What do you think about on the bike?  In a perfect world i'd say - my workout, duh.  But no way.  I'm too ADHD.  Unless i'm doing intervals, i'm drifting out of past, present, and future - not necessarily in that order.  Contemplating decisions i've made about various things, thinking about if i'm hungry, how I should drink more water (not now, in general), if i'm rested enough to do this ride, the race on the horizon, and how this blue Jetta just cut me off while talking at his phone that's arm distance from his mouth - what part of HANDS FREE doesn't he understand!  Shmuck.

Is it worth it? I mean, you're 29 and single with a dog living in a loft above a barn...really?  Yeah, I wouldn't change a thing.  I love the challenge, the experience, the people, and my team.  It's the hardest thing i've ever done - emotionally, physically, psychologically - the full gamut.  Racing bikes - the whole process is hard work, and takes a lot of discipline.  One can compare the lifstyle probably to that of a monk!

Fitting.

The  team i'm racing on, Vanderkitten-Focus is one of a kind.  Members come from Australia, the Uk, and New Zealand.  Everyone gets on well, can laugh at my silly 5 year old jokes, and have a good time together, whether we are training, racing, traveling, washing cars, eating birthday cake or just putting another shrimp on the barbie as they say...

The Vanderkittens.

So, there you have it.  That's how I make it all work.  And, saving the best and most important for last - my family is a supportive bunch, with special emphasis on my mom who has never once said I couldn't do something that I put my mind to.  I think that's the real secret to success...with just about anything. ;)

My mum.