Hello, and welcome to my blog about my endeavors as an ultra-cyclist! Over the coming months I hope to share with you the journey that I will be taking in my attempt to complete Race Across the West – an 860 mile cycling race from Oceanside, California to Durango, Colorado. To get things started though, let me provide a bit of background about myself and what lead me to the sport of ultra-cycling.
I grew up on a farm outside a small town, Rocky Mountain House, in Alberta, Canada with my parents, one sister, two brothers, and lots of farm animals! With a keen interest in science and math growing up, and always looking for a challenge in anything I did, I attended the University of Toronto in the Engineering Science program (an honors engineering program). It was my studies at UofT that lead me to California when I got a job in Sunnyvale for a work experience year in 2001. The move to California opened many doors that have since defined my life – I discovered and got involved in triathlon, which eventually lead me to ulta-cycling, and it was in California that I met my wonderful husband, Mike (who’s crazy in his own right – he’s not only interested in ultra-cycling, but also ultra-running, ultra-swimming, and even ultra-cookie-baking!!). We currently live in Sunnyvale with our two cats (Rosie and Cali), and I work as a software engineer at Apple.
Although I had been involved in team sports all through school, I didn’t become interested in endurance sports until 2000. I happened to be in Penticton, BC at the time that Ironman Canada was going on, and I spectated the event. Watching people of all ages, body types, and ability out there giving it their all as they swam 2.4 miles, cycled 112 miles, and ran 26.2 miles was extremely inspiring, and I decided that I’d like to do a triathlon one day. So In the spring of 2001 when I moved to California it seemed like the perfect opportunity to try my hand at triathlon. I was in a wonderfully warm climate that didn’t include snow and ice for a good portion of the year – woohoo! Plus I didn’t have mountains of homework to do – so I could go outside and ride my bike up mountains instead! I did my first triathlon in June of 2001, the Danskin women’s triathlon in Sacramento, and was hooked. I did my first Ironman fourteen months later in 2002 (Ironman Canada). Unfortunately I had to take a year off training to finish school (so that I could get my degree and move back to sunny California), plus I had developed an overuse injury (exertional compartment syndrome) while training for Ironman, and I needed to get that sorted out, which unfortunately meant surgery. So it was in late 2004 that I finally got back into triathlon, gravitating toward the longer distance events.
So it wasn’t all that long ago that I was oblivious to the fact that sadistic ultra-cycling events existed! I was happily training for Ironman triathlons (sadistic in their own right!) and enjoying organized century rides. Then someone told me about the crazy notion of a double century (riding 200 miles in one day). Naivety being my strong suit, and being unafraid of biting off more than I could chew (did I mention I did my first half-Ironman before I’d even done an Olympic distance triathlon?), I said “Count me in!” and signed up for my first double century – the Davis Double in 2005. The ride went well, but the curious thing was that I noticed several people wearing jerseys that said “California Triple Crown” on them. I had never heard of such madness – you mean there were OTHER double centuries out there? Well of course now that I’d heard of this challenge of riding three doubles in a single year, I immediately set out to make that my next goal. I was hooked, or should I say “infected”, with the ultra-cycling disease!
And that’s how I found myself standing in line to check-in at the Butterfield Double Century in February of 2006 – my second double, but more importantly the location and instant where I first heard about multi day ultra-cycling events. While standing there waiting to sign-in, I overheard some other women talking about something called the Furnace Creek 508. My first reaction was “Why would anyone want to do this??? Ride over 500 miles in less than 48hrs with over 35,000ft of climbing, and through places like Death Valley no less! These people must be INSANE!!!” I apparently had not completely lost my mind at this point in time, still recognizing just how ridiculous this sounded! But did I mention that this ultra-cycling disease progresses rapidly and engulfs the victim in an inexplicable urge to continue to do crazier and crazier things as the brain cells of reason and common sense are slowly (or not so slowly) devoured? Not only did I get my first California Triple Crown credit that year, but I ended up doing eight doubles, and volunteering at one double, plus I completed one Ironman and two half Ironmans.
I found I loved the challenge of pushing my limits further and further, and the freedom I felt when I was out riding my bike. In 2007 I completed my first triple century ride (the LA Grand Tour Triple), and then in 2008 I did my first 24 hour event (Davis 24 Hour). It was in 2008 that I also found myself on the start line for the Furnace Creek 508 – just a few short years from when I first heard about it! I had a great 508 experience that year, so I decided to sign up for Race Across Oregon and the Hoodoo 500 in 2009. Race Across Oregon in 2009 was my first ever DNF – extremely tough weather conditions coupled with some lower back problems forced me to withdraw after 457 miles when it became clear that I wouldn’t finish within the 48 hour cutoff. This didn’t stop me though – a few months later I finished the Hoodoo 500 race and set a course record in the women’s division. This is the event where I qualified for Race Across America (RAAM). In 2010 I went back to Race Across Oregon since I had unfinished business with the DNF from the year prior. With the assistance of an all-star support crew I finished, which was perhaps the most satisfying finish I’d experienced (although finishing Ironman Canada hand in hand with my husband a month later was pretty darned special too!). I then went back to the Furnace Creek 508 in October, and despite much tougher conditions compared to my first finish in 2008, I overcame a lot of difficulties and finished again.
With four 500+ mile event finishes under my belt at the end of 2010, I found myself looking for a new challenge in my quest to find out just how far I can go. The two obvious choices were Race Across America (RAAM) or Race Across the West (RAW). Part of me wanted to go full gusto and sign up for RAAM, but in the end common sense prevailed (shocking, I know!) and I decided to “just” sign up for RAW. It is still a huge challenge in all regards, but the logistics of a 4 day race are significantly easier than the logistics of a 12 day race. RAW is a great opportunity to experience the format of RAAM in a more manageably sized chunk. So that brings us to the present, and my 2011 journey towards RAW!
