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My Visit to Specialized and SBCU

5/31/2015

 
About a month ago or so...my Specialized rep here in LA, Jesse Ellis, told me he nominated me to be a guest at Specialized Bikes for a few days for a program SBCU wanted to try.  (specialized bicycle components university). I needed to fill out a form quickly since they were only choosing a handful of riders to go. So I figured, what the heck, you never know, I may actually get chosen. I was hoping they would notice all the community work I do and pick me. 

A few weeks passed...I told Jesse I needed to ask ahead of time for time off at work so I wanted to follow up and see if there was a chance they actually decided to choose me as one of the people to go. Jesse wrote back and told me to PACK MY BAGS! I was floored. I thought what a great experience this is going to be. 
In the last year, Specialized has really moved forward in a positive way as far as community support. When the new rep Jesse came on board, he reached out to me immediately. In the last few months, another community person came on board Ben, and he reached out and met with me as well. 3 Specialized people even came to the Hansen Dam community meeting to support our mountain bike community. It was a great start. 

So I got my airline tickets, hotel info and ground transportation info emailed to me. I was too leave on a Wednesday night. Then have 2 days of SBCU training including 1 day of road riding and 1 day of mountain bike riding.

Wednesday night I flew into San Jose. When I landed a driver was waiting for me. He took me to the hotel in Morgan Hill that was just a few minutes away from Specialized. I had a huge bag of swag waiting for me from Specialized with a kit, tools, a sweatshirt and other goodies. I also got my itinerary which I had been dying to get. It was JAM PACKED! Every moment of 2 days was accounted for.  I was way stoked and feeling like a queen! 
Everyone was already there, but it was after 10pm, so I went right to my room, unpacked and went right to sleep to make sure I was fresh for the morning,


​Thursday: I walk over to breakfast in the hotel and everyone was already there talking and laughing. You could see the excitement and anticipation in everyone's faces and hear it in their voices. This was a group of 13 people that were chosen from all over the country. Mostly roadies, but some did mountain bike as well. 

At 9am, the 2 Specialized shuttles appeared with the most happy and friendly drivers. Seth and Tony. Little did we know they would be our instructors, guides and amazing fellow riders for the next few days. 

When we got to Specialized, we signed in and of course all started wondering around in the museum of bikes. You heard camera's and phones taking pictures nonstop. We were gathered up and brought into the classroom to get our adventure going.


So our 1st project was to get to know each other. So we were to ask each other a few questions and tell others about someone at our table. Once we did that, we moved on to a tour of Specialized starting with the museum. Each bike had a story. Every story fascinating. My favorite was how Mike started Specialized and how they copied his exact office in the museum. Mike, yes...the head honcho and founder of Specialized came down and chatted with us and answered our questions. 

Then it was time to go upstairs into the design/concept area. THIS was rad!
We were greeted by THE designer at Specialized. Again, each concept bike had a story. My favorite bike was the smart phone powered bike. So very cool and innovative! 


Now time for some more touring and suspension education. I can't recall which came 1st, so I will talk about the garment lab.
Who knew sewing jerseys could be interesting??? Well it was! From the drawing process to how the colors were printed onto the garments was fascinating. We had a question/answer and comment period as well. I had been sent a bib from Specialized a few months ago and though I was very grateful, however I was surprised how low the front scoop was. No women wants the scoop that low. So I emailed them explaining this and the reasons why. Low and behold they listened and raised the scoop for the women's bibs. No one had ever complained or let them know it was a problem. I was floored. They are listening to their community! THIS is what we want. For the bike companies not only to work more closely with their shops, but to be available to their community as well. 


YES! Specialized makes helmets too! This is where we got a lot of answers on today's helmets and helmet safety. Why chin straps are NOT safe, MIPS does their own testing, why Specialized doesn't put a GO PRO mount on their helmets and more. This segment was super informative and helpful. 

We then went to the FEED ZONE for some awesome lunch and then back to the classroom to hear more about Road bike technology and bike fit. They brought in a doctor that is used by Specialized for shoes, saddles and more. The research is very extensive that they have done on fit and even put fitters through a very rigorous exam in order to get certified by Specialized. 

Now it was time for a ROAD RIDE! We went into the CAGE (an enormous area of bikes to choose from) and we got to pick our bikes out. Since I don't road ride much and own a very heavy, entry level road bike, I wanted to ride a nice bike that was light and had great brakes and good components for a smooth, not so tiring ride. Seth helped me and decided a RUBY was the best bike for me. He was spot on. However the sizing was very different than the Cannondale I ride which is a 54" frame. On the Specialized I couldn't even reach the handle bars. So I was put on a 51 which fit me much better. 

My Garmin did not come on so I couldn't log the ride. But I am guessing we did about 25 miles or so. There were some POWER house hammer heads, very experienced road riders and racers on the ride, but we kept regrouping and Derek was nice enough to stay in the back with a few of us. Then we split up into a faster and slower group. I went with the slower group and Tony and Derek lead and swept the ride. I had a blast and even got to see MC Hammer's old house which is now a winery.
What a great experience this was so far and it was just getting started! I'm sure I will forget some things since it was so jammed packed, but will try and review everything I can here!

We then turned our bikes in (loved loved loved the Ruby), and showered in their enormous locker rooms and got ready for dinner. Seth and Tony drove us all to a wonderful Italian restaurant in Los Gatos (I think that was the town) for some chow, vino and great conversations. Seth had picked out a fine menu for us and we had a few bottles of awesome vino as well.

I was thrilled because I got to let him know what a problem our community had of getting demo bikes. Not just women's bikes, but ANY demo bikes! Now I understand more how the program works with the shops. 
After a wonderful evening, they bussed us back to the hotel. We were all looking forward to day 2. I was super stoked because it was mountain bike day and we were going to ride the famous FLOW trail in demo forest! 
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Day 2! Donuts and Bagel day! Specialized sure seems like a great place to work! All the staff seemed like they loved their jobs and they were so very knowledgable! Everyone was approachable, hung with us and most important listened to us! 

We went into class briefly. Since there were mostly roadies in the group, they decided that a morning PUMP track session was in order to get the riders used to the dirt. I knew this would be a struggle for me since it's still difficult to stand up on my bike for any length of time since I had reconstructive knee surgery, but was still stoked to give it a go. I have ridden a pump track a handful of times. THIS time we were on dirt jump bikes. This was my 1st time on a dirt jump bike and O my are they tiny!
Everyone picked it up after a few laps and did a great job. A few turned out to be complete rippers too! It was so awesome watching everyone become kids again on bikes. 

  
Now it's time....what I've been waiting for! DEMO FOREST TIME! I wasn't sure what bike I was getting. The day before I discussed with Seth that I wanted a bigger travel bike, but that wasn't too heavy. More like a trail or a light Enduro bike. He was going to try and get me the new Rhyme. The women's version of the new Stumpy. 
Well, I walked into the cage and one of the guys walked up to me and said how lucky I was to be able to ride this bike. Yup...I was assigned the Specialized Rhyme women’s trail bike! Very stoked and feeling confident now that I was in my element. The dirt! Whoo hoo!

On the van ride up, I really got to talk to Tony about our lack of certified mechanics in the shops too. It is a huge problem. Everyone seemed to have complaints on the mechanics in the shops. Why are they not better trained? Why are they not riding our bikes and checking them before they leave the shop? Why is the staff not trained to deal with customers on a professional level? Why do they have such a hard time selling to women? I could go on and on and on with the complaints I hear from our club. It was important that Specialized here's these things from their community. The shops need to take responsibility and send their mechanics to be certified. They will get more business when customers know they have great mechanics that are certified. Just like demo bikes. Want to sell more bikes? Invest in some demo bikes so customers can 1st try them! It’s a no brainer!

So here we go. Seth, Tony and Derek took us and our bikes in the shuttles all the way to Santa Cruz to ride this famous trail. The FLOW trail has not been open but a few months and it is already famous.

They set our bikes up very quickly (YEAH AUTO SAG!) and we split up into 2 groups. 1 group was to do the entire loop and the other was to get more of a skills clinic with Seth and do parts of the FLOW trail. I was all in for the full loop with our rider leaders Tony and Derek. We also had other members of Specialized that joined us, mostly product people and Amy from the women's mountain bike product side.

Well, we started up a long climb of a fire road....sigh....however, I am just so grateful to pedal, be outside and to be part of this amazing experience I didn't care. Most of these riders were super strong roadies, which meant they were also super fast on the fire road climbs. It gave me time to get used to the Rhyme too. This bike was very light for a trail bike, so it felt a bit squirrely to me. I'm used to a much heavier bike. Just some getting used too.

We finally hit a few single tracks that were mostly flowey with some climbing too. I found I was able to unweight the bike much easier due to its lightness. Finally we come to the FLOW trail. I had no idea what to expect. All I knew was 4 miles of flowey single track sounded like a dream to me!

We gave each other plenty of room. I went in the back since the group was large and I wanted tons of room. The trail was absolutely magnificent. The trail builders were brilliant. The entire trail was full of super fast flowey single track, TONS of fun berms, some features, tons of whoops and groomed to perfection. WHAT an amazing experience!

I got to the end and saw everyone smiling and chatting a mile a minute. Then I was told 2 bad things.... One....we had a big climb out....sigh...but I really didn't care, was just so content with everything....two ...one of our comrades Aaron took a very bad fall and landed on his back. He was not doing well from what we heard. 

We started the climb out and passed Aaron lying on the fire road with Seth sitting down and as positive as ever, just asking us all how our ride was with a huge smile while we rode by. The fire trucks and ambulance was on the way. 
We all got back to the vans and waited for the ambulance to come down with Aaron and of course waited for Seth. Derek had packed all sorts of drinks for us in huge coolers and snacks so we indulged while we were waiting.
One of the product guys that joined the ride asked me about the bike. I was brutally honest and told him that the bike was awesome except the handle bars had to go. The vibration was huge on the long descent and I had to stop a few times and shake my hands out. He really listened to what I had to say. 

So the ambulance, fire truck and Seth all finally came down so now we could all leave to go back to Specialized for a BBQ and pump track session. This was our final get together with everyone. We also got to get an update on Aaron. He fractured a vertebrae in his back, so not good, but could have been much, much worse. 

We called it a night and went back to our hotels to pack up. We all met for breakfast the next morning and reminisced over the last few days. Then the drivers showed up to take us back to the airport. Our time with Specialized was up. I was sad to leave.

I went into this venture with not the greatest of likeliness for Specialized. However it was slowly changing with a few events that occurred in the previous months. I came out of this adventure wanting to WORK at Specialized! (Yes you bet I applied for a few positions! I have TONS to offer Specialized in the future of the women's mountain bike products, outreach and advocacy!) . The joy the staff had, the generosity they showed, caring and all the amazing perks the staff got were just incredible. I was so impressed with how knowledgeable Seth, Tony and Derek were as well. These guys know their products inside and out and represented Specialized in a 1st rate manner at all times. They all did an outstanding job. I felt so welcomed, was treated with kindness, respect and generosity at all times. They absolutely rocked!

Thank you to all at Specialized that were involved. An enormous shout out to Seth, Tony and Derek who were absolute pleasures and a wealth of knowledge to us all. Thank you for your patience, your kindness and generosity. All did an outstanding job. Well done! Thank you to the other 12 amazing riders who joined in. Thank you to Jesse Ellis at Specialized who nominated me.

Below are all the pictures I took during my trip. I wish I had taken more on the trail day, but I was having so much fun, I didn't want to stop and take pictures.
UPDATE! Specialized just came out with the video of our trip! Enjoy our magical weekend in this short video! www.youtube.com/watch
Until the next adventure.....this is GGR Girl Wendy E Signing off....

GGR Welcomes Dilbeck Realtors to the Rocktober Event!

5/30/2015

 
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GGR proudly welcomes Dilbeck Real Estate to this year's GGR Rocktober event. Leah is a GGR girl herself! 

Need a realtor ? Let me intro you to Leah Dilbeck, Dilbeck Real Estate! 

Buying or Selling real estate is like exploring a new trail - having the right guide is key. I have been in the real estate business for almost 20 years & absolutely love helping my client's dreams come true. Real estate transactions are a lot like mountain biking: there are challenges, excitement, & joy.  I am there for you through the climbs & the descents helping you, encouraging you & enjoying the ride with you. 

Leah M. Dilbeck
Dilbeck Real Estate
Cell # 626-823-5902
leah.dilbeck@dilbeck.com
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GGR Welcomes Shredly to the Rocktober Event Oct 18th!

5/26/2015

 
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GGR welcomes for the 5th consecutive time to this year's annual Rocktober event SHREDLY! Shredly is mountain bike inspired women's athletic apparel.

www.shredly.com

Their story:
Mountain biking is awesome, but the selection of riding apparel for women is not. It has a terrible case of the B’s – black, boring, baggy, and to be honest, still looks like its made for the boys. Women are rad and there’s no reason why they can’t look good and feel good when they’re tearing up the single track. Furthermore, there's no reason why it shouldn't be possible to buy gear that can cross over into all the other sports that women love.

So we bring to you the SHREDLY Trifecta: performance + comfort + style, offering a multi-sport line of women’s apparel infused with vibrant colors, innovative designs, and practical attributes like lightweight, yet durable, fabrics with quick-dry properties. SHREDLY was created to bring a burst of fresh style into the world of women’s athletics while maintaining technical product performance. We truly believe in our mantra:  Look good. Feel good. Shred good.

Made in the USA: SHREDLY has committed to supporting our domestic economy and all of our products are proudly made in the USA. We hope you are just as stoked as we are to get a homegrown product.
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Wanna exhibit at this year's GGR Rocktober event October 18th at Malibu Creek State Park? Want to get in front of the largest all female mountain bike market in the US?? It's EASY! Just email us for an exhibitor packet: wendy@girlzgoneriding.com

Welcome LA Sports Massage to GGR's Rocktober Event!

5/19/2015

 
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GGR is very excited to welcome LA Sports Massage to this year's GGR's Rocktober event at Malibu Creek State Park October 18th!

www.lasportsmassage.com


LA Sports Massage is an association of the finest sports massage specialists in Los Angeles. We are athletes and sports minded people just like you, so we understand your needs. And we understand the impact your chosen sport or activity has on your body. We know what works, and we know how to help.

LA Sports Massage provides innovative bodywork and massage geared toward the needs of today’s active or athletic individuals and teams. We have a keen understanding of the needs of athletes of all sports, including runners, cyclists, triathletes, bodybuilders, yogis and more. Our mission is to help you enhance performance, speed recovery time, avoid injury, and extend the life of your athletic pursuits.

We will be providing complimentary post-event massages for 10 minutes to the participants.
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If you would like to be an exhibitor at this year's GGR Rocktober event and get in front of the largest women's mountain biking market, then please email us for all the details! wendy@girlzgoneriding.com

My 1st Enduro: Rim Nordic, Running Springs

5/17/2015

 
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The event planning for me started Monday. The weather forecast was looking very bleak with snow predicted up to 5 inches and roads requiring chains and snow tires. As of about Thursday, after the Amgen tour was cancelled for Friday in Big Bear due to bad weather, I had lost hope and was leaning towards a plan B of riding local with friends. Then the sun came out Friday and seemed to melt everything away. I kept checking road conditions and the weather. Road conditions were good, no snow, but the chill factor was off the charts at mid 30's for Saturday and 50"s for Sunday. 

Now my friend Amy Rambacher who is a Pro rider, offered to go up and pre ride the course with me. So with no snow and just cold weather, how could I NOT go?? So..Friday afternoon I decided we were on...it was a go. Step one was to pre ride all the stages to make sure I was comfortable and not in over my head before I signed up for the actual race.

Saturday Pre Ride: The drive on the 330 getting to Rim Nordic at one point was halted with fog. You couldn't see a foot in front of you. I tried to pull over, but couldn't see if there was a cliff or a pull out on the right. I was thinking...you've GOT to be kidding! It may as well be snowing since we couldn't see a thing. I don't remember fog like this since living on the East Coast. So I barely was moving. A few miles later once I got higher, the sun peaked through the fog enough for me to see. Phew! As I got higher and higher, the temperatures kept dropping. Amy sent me a text letting me know she was there and it was COLD! I'm thinking...no problem...I'm a tough girl from the East Coast! I can handle it! I was just so grateful to have Amy there to ride every inch of the course with me I didn't care how cold it was.

Then I stepped out of the car...........36 degrees......my 1st words were not pleasant....BUT....I was prepared...at least I THOUGHT I was prepared. See, I've been living in LA now for 27 years...so that east coast girl that could hang with the cold is now long gone...only the accent remains.

Well, I put on 2 pairs of socks, pads, a skull cap, winter riding gloves, a winter riding jersey, my GGR Enduro jersey, my GGR Windbreaker and my GGR Thermal jacket. I was thinking...Ok...I have so many clothes on...I'm gonna be fine...so we started up the climb to get to Stage 1. The climb to get to each stage is called the transition stage. I decided to bring my Canfield with me, not my Epic, which is an all mountain bike with 6" of travel and heavy at 32 pounds which keeps me on the ground and very safe! BUT.....It's not an XC bike, so it's tough on the steep, long climbs. I sucked it up and just climbed slowly thinking I can't WAIT for the down hill cause i'm gonna haul and have a blast! All this climbing is going to be worth it and also help me get way more lean pedaling a heavier bike. So we finally get to the 1st stage and I needed to rest a bit from the steep climb. I had no idea what to expect. Amy made sure I was now in Enduro mode which means, putting all your suspension back on and dropping your seat. From the long climb, I had my seat sky high and rode with half of the suspension on. So now it was time to finally pre ride our 1st timed run. THIS was a fun stage. 100% single track with a steep descent. I loved it and did fine. Amy always stopped and warned me of bridges and different lines to take to keep me rolling and safe. Stage 1 went by quick. It brought us back to the bottom where the cars are. So now we needed to do the super long fire road and single track switch back climb for stage 2.

The gruel begins.....it was getting colder...I had so many clothes on they were bulky and it hindered me a bit, but grateful I had them. This transition stage was very long...steep fire road. I just went slow and easy trying to relax my breathing in the ice cold. When I caught up with Amy she was talking to another girl who was descending stage 2 and crossed us while we were climbing the fire road. It was Jenna Bonham. This was to be Jenna's 1st Enduro as well. We chatted, took a selfie, then kept going. Big mistake stopping for that long. My feet and hands were going numb from the cold and I was now shivering and getting concerned. Little did I know there was still a grueling single track switch back climb at the top of the fire road we still had to climb to even get to the timed stage 2. THIS was brutal...we were over 7100 feet and it dropped to 30 degrees...I had to push my bike up most of that single track section...I was wondering how many others would have to if any.....finally we got to the timed stage and I just wanted to go because I was miserably cold. This was a much longer stage than stage 1 and we had more single track climbing on the timed stage which I was really surprised at. I thought Enduro was climb up the fire road/single track to get to your timed stage, then you have a descent you are timed at. I was completely wrong. Most of the stages was much more of a cross country course.

Well we DID have 2 steep, loose descents with switch backs. Never had I wanted this more than anything just to stop climbing. I did fine on the descents and not so fine on the switch backs. Amy went really slow on these to make sure I was OK and warned me of every super tight switch back coming up. She just kept giggling because there were so many. So then I started to relax a bit and giggle too because i was just so bad and of course nervous and sketchy on new terrain. The dirt actually was PRIME! With all the rain and snow the area got, it made for perfect conditions.

So we finally get to the bottom and we were supposed to keep climbing to get to stage 3. However I was really suffering in the cold and needed to get warm. So we rode to our cars and went in and visited with Bev, the race promotor in her trailer. She had hot chocolate waiting for us. I was ever so grateful. Now even though I was super cold, I was sweating a lot too, so my clothes were wet and now that we stopped, I got even more cold. Bev loaned me some ski pants and I changed some clothes so I was dry. Then I dug out my SKI gloves. After about 45 minutes, I was comfortable enough to complete the last 2 stages we still had not ridden yet. I was trying not to whine or be negative, I was just plain freezing. Amy was super patient and never once complained or told me to suck it up. She also never gave up on me. Thank you Amy.

Transition Stage 3: The hell stage: So...we climbed back up the same, long, steep fire road riding towards the timed stage. At the top of the fire road, we had to once again get on the steep single track and climb all the way to the top to get to where we needed to be. This was the longest stage of the 4. I wasn't sure why yet, but was about to find out. We had a little bit of everything on this stage, climbing, double track, single track, fire road, chunky fire road. It just went on forever. Climbing the fire road and same single track again was an absolute killer. I felt like I spent 4 hours of doing the stair master. 

We checked each other and made sure we were OK with the cold, it was still very, very cold. I just wanted to keep going and finish the last stage. Amy seemed to be just fine. So here we go again. This last transition stage was also a steep fire road, but MUCH  MUCH shorter and NO crazy, steep single track to climb. Stage 4 was almost all down hill with some fun loose, steep sections and a wee bit of a chunky fire road to blast down. THIS was my favorite stage. THIS is what I thought all Enduro timed stages were all about. I was completely wrong. It's really more of an XC course with steep descents. At least this one was. 

What was funny was that I was so very worried about the technical aspect of the course, I never even considered the endurance part being so difficult. All of my XC rides are usually 20-30 miles and I just did a 31 miler on the Canfield, so I felt I was ready endurance wise. However the elevation and cold really changes the game! I had no problems on the steep loose descents, only on the areas I had to climb. 11 miles in high elevation and cold felt like 30 miles. I was exhausted and my quads burned like crazy. I wore my knee brace the entire time because pushing my bike was painful on my right knee where I had reconstructive surgery back in 2013. The brace is a life saver. 

So we went in to talk to Bev. I still could not make up my mind to race or not. I struggled so much with the endurance part and the cold. Even if I had my XC bike, at that high elevation and cold, I think it still would have been difficult. I was worried I would just be exhausted and couldn't finish. I was also concerned with the cold having to wait at each stage for a very long time due to the seeding. Then on the flip side, I know how disappointed in myself I would be if I didn't stay the night and race the next day. I would have felt like I failed. It's just how I am. So Bev let me know that they were basically going to just let people go at the top so they didn't have to wait in the cold. Now I felt better. A little more convincing from both Amy and Bev and I felt I just had to give it a try. So, I signed up for my 1st Enduro Race. My goal was just to finish and to finish safely...no crashing! Then Amy decided to race too. I already felt more relaxed and like I had these 2 ladies on my side and supporting me. And THAT....they did.

Now..I had to find a hotel. But 1st a stop at my favorite bike shop to say hello and give Ali her GGR jersey and Zoic purple socks. Bear Valley Bikes. I pull in and who is there???? The famous REV! I couldn't believe it! A few years back, Rev was my guide in Big Bear and spent the day on Snow Summit with me helping me with routes for an upcoming women's weekend I was thinking about doing. He was one of the most fun person I have ever ridden with. This man has ridden all over the world and is the best story teller EVAH! If you ever need to hire a guide in BB, Just give the REV a call. You can email me for his contact info: wendy@girlzgoneriding.com.

So I go into Bear Valley bikes and say hello to both CJ and Derek. I desperately needed some warm socks for Sunday's race. O and I wanted to see if they recommended a last minute hotel for me. I got my socks and something even better. Derek called his buddy and got me in to a hotel right up the street at a reasonable rate and the room was PERFECT! Every time I come to Big Bear, the locals are so generous and kind. I think everyone in LA should spend a week in Big bear. They would become kinder people.....

Derek told me about this awesome event he is putting on. The Big Bear Grand Fondo and Grizzly 100! July 25th. Mild to WILD! 20K/30K/50K/70K/100K and up to 10K of climbing. To get more information and register, please go to: www.BBVRace.com. 

So off to the hotel I go..it was pretty late, after 6pm and I was cold, sweaty and exhausted. I checked in and again...the most friendly people on earth at the Red Robin Resort. Peter was a doll. I unpacked my car, jumped in a scolding hot shower and felt much better. Grabbed some chow and vino at the bar and called it a night. I kept visualizing each stage in my head to ride smoother and hopefully faster.

Race day! Sunday! The 1st thing I did when I woke up was look at the weather. It was 34 degrees again...Sigh...I now had to sike myself up to handle this and stay warm. By the time I left, it seemed to warm up a bit and was now in the 40's. I got to Rim Nordic just after 8:30am and didn't even want to look at the temperature gauge, so I just got out of the car. I was pleasantly surprised it had warmed way up to almost 50! YEAH! Our pre ride meeting was to be at 9:30am. So I had plenty of time to get warmed up and mentally ready. The one thing I was really concerned about was getting lost. I had already made up my mind I was going to do whatever it took to complete the climbs and every single stage, but getting lost was an entirely different problem. Those who know me well know that I am directionally challenged and really struggle with it. In the end...not only was the course marked perfectly, but there were volunteers at each of the bottom of the stages so we knew where to go. I can't tell you how relieved I was!

I see Nancy Harris and Roger pull in! They were riding at Snow Summit and decided to come wish us all good luck! I was grateful and used this time to ask Nancy about a section that I was squirly on and asked how I could handle that better. I kept her advice in my head for all the stages and it was a big help. 

Time to start the event.......Transition stage one: So today I started out with music to relax me on the climbs and hoping it would help me not focus on my breathing so much. It worked. The 1st climb was steep and a bit rocky, but not bad, completely doable for me on the Canfield. Now time to line up for the timed stage one. The seeding went as always, starting with Elite/Pro all the way to beginners. I entered women's beginner. No ages, just all the women lumped into one. Amy rode Elite/Pro along with Christine and Mandy. Jenna and I were last as beginner Enduro racers. I signed up last, so I was grateful to go last so no one was behind me. There was one gentleman, but he never caught us, so I was happy about that! I got a ton of great pictures of everyone at the line up. The atmosphere was so relaxed and fun. There was this super fun group of young men from Incycle who were supper funny, competitive, very nice and just showed how much fun you could have. I was so grateful for the time to rest too from that climb! Now it was my turn. They were 1 minute intervals with a count down. All of a sudden I was VERY nervous. I had the Real Me by The Who waiting for me to press play to help me feel more brave and committed. 10 seconds....3...2...1...GO! Immediately I smiled and kept talking to myself. Smooth is fast...outside leg heavy...rear brake only around the corners...Ok...now I was talking way too much...time to for The Who to do their job. 1st timed stage in the bag and I felt cautious, but safe and strong....

Stage 2 & 3 the grueling get to stages.....here we go again....making the super long, steep fire road climb for both of these timed stages AND climbing the single track switch backs twice. Sigh....Stage 2 was the steep switchback stage. Jenna and I talked about them and thought we would be faster if we ran them. I really wanted to try and ride them and stay ON my bike. Well...I should have run them.....I still had a great time..I loved the descents and this is what I came for...not climbing, but descending..this is what my Canfield was made for. To get me down these steep, loose descents safely and that it did even with how nervous and squirly I was, my bike saved me an abundance of times!

Stage 3..I'm starting the grueling climb/push on the single track to get to the timed stage and one of my toes on my right foot started to really hurt. Then the pain was so bad after continuing to push my bike I thought I broke a toe. My anxiety level was so high racing, I just don't remember hitting my right foot. So I stopped and took my shoe off because I couldn't walk anymore. Took off 2 of the 3 pairs of socks I had on to keep me warm, and viola! No more toe pain! I had so many socks on that my toe had got bent up the entire time. DOH!
Stage 3 was exhausting, but I was excited to start it to get it over with since I knew I was now half way over and I WAS going to complete my 1st Enduro! Only one more stage to go which was not only the shortest, but my favorite.

Stage 4: The transition stage was a short steep fire road and the timed stage was almost all descending except for one rock garden coming off a bridge. I was so happy and grateful knowing I was going to accomplish my goal and just finish. I was so very tired, so I also knew that this was the time I could make mistakes, so I was a little extra cautious. After going over the bridge, I didn't have enough speed going up to tackle the rock garden so I jumped off my bike and ran it up. One thing I learned from this whole experience is that is was OK to get off my bike and run things. I never wanted to do that, but then I would never enter anything if I wasn't ok with that either. So now I am...I think I was fine with it because unlike a down hill race, no one is watching, its all about you and you don't have to worry about the crowd. Until the end of course when your fellow racers are there cheering you on. THAT was a very nice ending on each stage.

So...I accomplished my goal of just completing my 1st Enduro and having an amazing adventure. I could not have done this without the amazing and generous Amy Rambacher. She took her entire weekend to support me, pre ride every single stage in the freezing cold and really encourage me. She also didn't push me either. No pressure at all. I thank her immensely for this. It was so very nice having someone hold my hand through the entire process of an Enduro. WHAT a great experience. Will I do it again?? Well if my schedule permits...absolutely. 

If you have never raced an Enduro before, or even ANY race, THIS is a great start. EVERYONE is supportive and you have tons of time to rest at the top before your timed stage. Here is the schedule for the rest of the Rim Nordic Enduro's: www.rimnordic.com/2013-racing-schedule.

Ladies...we only had 5 women in the entire race. 2 elite/pro, 1 sport and myself and Jenna as beginner Enduro racers. All of the ladies were amazing and super friendly. I can't make the next race but probably can do the July 12th race if you want to join me!

So that was my adventurous weekend. Next up is Memorial Day weekend in Kernville. Then I was lucky enough to get invited to go to Specialized for 3 days to ride with them the last weekend of the month. I am all about the adventure and riding with friends. I feel so very blessed to be pedaling my bike and be having these incredible experiences. Thank you to all that share them with me. Thank you to all that support what I do and support GGR and our women's cycling community. 
Huge kudos' and extra thanks to:
Amy Rambacher (we call her PRO AMY!)
Rachel, Den Mo and Mega Watts for coming out and supporting us at the race
Bev & Kerry from Rim Nordic
Derek from Bear Valley Bikes
Jenna for being a doll
Zoic clothing for my awesome shorts and socks. Love being an ambassador
Kali Protectives for always protecting my noggin, knees and elbows.
Jesse from Specialized for hooking me up with my new awesome Specialized purple flat shoes that are super light and comfy!

Until the next adventure...this GGR girl is exhausted yet content so time to go. Make sure to grab a friend and take them biking with you! Please enjoy the pictures!

GGR Girl WE...

Welcome GO GIRL ACTIVE WEAR to the GGR Rocktober Event!

5/14/2015

 
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GGR is so very thrilled to announce that Go Girl Active Wear will be an exhibitor at this year's GGR Rocktober event at Malibu Creek State Park October 18th.

www.gogirlactivewear.com

Go Girl Activewear was created in 1998 to promote and encourage women who participate in extreme sports. She had begun attending regional races in Southern California, Arizona and even Baja.  In those days there were not many vendors set up to sell to this newly expanding market and if there were any there, they sure didn’t have any merchandise geared toward women.  She was inspired to create a line of functional and fashionable women’s cycling apparel.  

Then, in 1998, Go Girl Activewear was formed.  Irene started designing and producing cycling kits and other sportswear and accessories to sell to women mountain bikers and other adventurers. Go Girl was a fixture at many cycling events in California such as Sea Otter, NORBA Nationals, and events with Team Big Bear, such as the Women’s Only Weekends.   

There were so many great women mountain bikers and they all were out to have fun and enjoy this great sport.  Several friends were racing, so the next logical step was to have a Go Girl Racing Team.  The Go Girl Race Team obtained a lot of great sponsors who helped us so much when we were getting started.  Gathering an amazing group of women and junior girls together to race was exciting and fun.  Trophies and titles were earned in cross country and other disciplines, 24 hour races were survived, and good times were had by all.  

When Irene started Go Girl, women and girls riding mountain bikes were few and far between.  So, it is time for Go Girl Activewear to hit the trails again with an ever increasing line of jerseys, shirts, caps and more.   Go Girl Activewear is for women devoted to pushing themselves to new limits, who don’t settle for the ordinary. Go Girl Activewear women are devoted, focused and unchained from society’s predetermined boundaries.
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If you want to be an exhibitor at the GGR Rocktober event on October 18th at Malibu Creek State Park and get in front of the largest all female mountain bike market in the US...email us for more info. Its EASY! wendy@girlzgoneriding.com

GGR's Women's Weekend In Big Bear Welcomes CLIF!

5/11/2015

 
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GGR is so very thrilled to have CLIF participate in this summers women's weekend in Big Bear! Clif will be supplying the fuel station at the GGR booth. Clif has been a huge supporter of GGR and women's mountain biking! We LOVE the product and thrilled to have all the goodies at our fuel station for our GGR club members.  Learn more about the nutritional aspects of Clif here: www.clifbar.com/clifcast

www.clifbar.com

The GGR women's weekend August 8th & 9th is 2 days of guided cross country rides and Down hill runs guided by our GGR Veteran XC and DH volunteer ride leaders. A super fun, very social weekend of just riding all over the mountain and a huge group dinner Saturday night plus more riding on the mountain or in Fawnskin on Sunday.

It is a FREE event for all GGR club members to attend. Club members will still need to purchase lift tickets to ride Snow Summit. Special GGR discounted tickets that will include lunch will be issued prior to the event. 

Sign up is required and can be done on any of the GGR Chapter pages here:
LA: www.facebook.com/events/311835109013032/
IE: www.facebook.com/events/1006099182736294/
SD: www.facebook.com/events/1433139427002920/

Thank you again to Clif for supporting women's mountain biking and GGR!

To get involved with GGR: Girlz Gone Riding for the Big Bear Women's weekend or the GGR annual Rocktober event, email us at: wendy@girlzgoneriding.com
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    Do you have great women's specific mountain bike story and want to contribute to the GGR blog? ? Email Wendy at: wendy@girlzgoneriding.com

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