Yes, we gave up 1 week of our life, turned our house upside down, emptied the contents of a fridge, and lost a ton of sleep….
However, our children got to meet, greet and play with some of the nicest, most humble bike riders ever. Colby Elliot was our “pit crew” for the children’s races, pancake breakfasts and TV watching. My husband loved hearing stories from old racing days and on two nights we had almost the entire Swami’s Team here for dinner. I particularly enjoyed cooking and feeding everyone and just having some very lively company around. Almost all the out of town racers at the Redlands Classic are housed in host housing and I feel that we were the lucky ones.
For more information on the Redlands Classic, click here.
And, good luck to all of you Swami’s Team members I hope you’ll make it to the big leagues SOON!
I love this time of year! The Redlands Bicycle Classic started Thursday and we are a host family the duration of the classic. Our team is a composite team put together solely for the purpose of the Redlands Classic. There are three very interesting veteran racers; Dirk Friel, Anton Villatoro, and Alexi Grewal. And, then there are five very young racers who are just starting out in their career with hopes of becoming the next big racers! Last night, I made dinner for most of the team (Large pot of non-paleo pasta, sweet potatoes, and fruit and they ATE it all!! I’m quite certain they are going to EAT the entire contents of my fridge before Sunday. It’s been a blast for us to have so much extra life around here and my kids are having a ball meeting and greeting them! We will probably continue to be host families in the next years, it’s just too much fun.
In addition to being a host family, my school also was lucky enough to have four of the women from the Peanut Butter and Co. team make a visit. All of my elementary students got to hear about each of the women’s cycling background, how they came into racing their bikes and how much peanut butter they get to eat! My students were thrilled and the best comment was “well if you’re bike is made of carbon fiber like an airplane, can you fly on it?”
Finally, we are onto Saturday, which has the best events of the week- the kids races and the Criterium for the mens and women’s teams. Both children had a fun time racing their bikes, although, I’m kind of mad at Shimano for not sponsoring the kids races with medals this year! Why was this year different? There are well over 300 children participating this year, it gets promoted all over town and in every elementary school. Yes, my kids do it to win, but, also they know from prior experience that they will get a medal at the end!! To them, it’s the reward they get for doing it. Regardless, the Redlands Classic is one of the few bike races where children of all ages actually get to participate. It’s been a great opportunity for the entire community to come together and let the kids race too.
1. There is no planned rest in a crossfit WOD.
2. In cycling, you can hide amongst other bike racers to recover.
3. In a Criterium race, it’s all OUT in the first lap, then, everyone slows down.
4. In CrossFit, you are at 90% capacity at 3, 2, 1 Go!
5. CrossFit requires more skills than a bike racer, for example, Double Unders, Clean and Jerk, Snatch, Kipping Pullups, Muscle Ups…
6. Bike Racers need to be fantastic at bike handling skills and positioning!
7. When I was a bike racer, I could spend upwards of 5 trips to the potty being sick and nervous only to lose my nerves within the first five minutes of a bike race.
8. In CrossFit, I can be nervous and sick and spend lots of trips to the potty, but, some of the events will be over in 10 minutes!!
9. Bike Racers can spend upwards of 15 hours a week on a bike just training for the weekend event.
10. CrossFitters workout for one hour a day 3-5 times a week!
11. Most CrossFit workouts are under 15 minutes and most bike races last anywhere from 30 minutes to 3 or more hours for women.
12. Bike Races have surges of really hard intervals- such as a prime lap and this is when great cardio will be of benefit. However, the winner of the race, may outsmart the more fitter girl with better positioning and teammates in the race. There is no team work in a crossfit workout.
13. Bike racers can get seriously injured in the blink of an eye- wrong turns, somebody looks down instead of up, handlebars can get locked up…the list is endless and sometimes injuries occur that are out of your control.
14. Crossfitters can injure themselves in the blink of an eye as well, however, it would be unusual if they were to hurt others at the same time.
I love the fact that I have been on both sides of the street on this one and currently love crossfit more than cycling!
Although, there are times and days when I’d love to go for a ride, it’s only to get out and enjoy the sunshine rather than to get a workout. I’m looking forward to the days (hopefully soon) when heart failure and my kids on bikes on the streets won’t be so problematic for me. They can do it, I’m just a nervous mommy!
I had a blast racing my bike in my younger years, but, had less fun as a mommy doing it. Maybe, when, they are older, I’ll return to it, but, right now, I’m really ecstatic being a crossfitter.
These workouts are awesome! I especially love the soundtracks. Check them out on itunes or You Tube. The Sufferfest videos are designed for all of you cycling enthusiasts who need to train in winter indoors. Way harder and much more interesting than a spin class! If I were training for a cycling event right now, these are the workouts I’d be doing-if nothing else but to rock out while riding on my bike.
Readers, this is Joy. A fellow Phys Ed teacher in my town, also happens to be an avid cyclist turned cycling coach and is looking for some trainees! If you’re a woman who needs direction on a bike whether it’s mountain bike, triathlon or road cycling, Joy, can set you up with a program to meet your goals!
In continuation with my last post, here are some examples of things we’ve seen on kids that we don’t recommend!
This helmet is situated too far back on the child’s head. It is not secure around his ears.
This helmet is on backwards!
This helmet is snug around his ears. The front of the helmet is going to protect the frontal part of his head, and it will not slip around his head.
I may be preaching to the choir with this post, but, I just see too many silly parents running after kids on bikes with no helmets! Let’s be responsible adults and suggest a helmet to the parent. And, I can honestly say that we have done this on more than one occasion…to the extent of donating our old ones so that heads can be safe!
My dear friend Penny was the “Raffle Queen” this past weekend at the women’s clinic. She had the honor of giving away lots of FREE STUFF. With over 100 women at the clinic, we had some really great sponsors to offer our women. The following are just a few of the items that I thought (I’m opinionated) you would all be interested in hearing about!
One of my personal favorites: Abbee makes clothes to make women feel beautiful on the bike. She has designed the BLOOMER which is basically a very short boy short with a high quality chamois in it to be worn under a skirt. It’s a high dollar item, however, you only need one and if you ride a lot, I’d highly recommend.
Next up: Mission Products
I love the new Orange Lip Balm, the After-Sun Lotion, and the Moisturizing Face SPF18. They make a wide variety of products for the athlete. I have so far enjoyed all the products with my favorite being the lip balm. And after my husband and family spent 4 hours at the air show and coming home severely sunburned, he’s found the After-Sun lotion to be really helpful and nice on hot skin.
I should also mention that our local bike shop, Redlands Cyclery was one of the title sponsors who provided fantastic bike support, event space and the Kokopelli jewelry. Thank you Redlands Cyclery for all your support, we appreciate it!
Above, the “racer” group. That’s me in the back in the red kit in a support capacity. Again, the women’s bike clinic was a huge success and I’m sure we will be back again next year! All the women who participated in this weekend’s clinic will receive 4 upgrade points through U.S.A. Cycling Association (that’s if they wanted it)!
Thanks again to the all sponsors, volunteers, and participants! We’ve had a successful weekend.
P.S. I am partial to these products but nobody is paying me for my opinion. FTC…blah blah blah…
