Angela Naeth's Blog

Yesterday was my third day out on the bike. We waited until 11 AM so the fog had time to lift. The marine layer isn’t suppose to hit the valley (or so I thought), but lately, it’s been hanging around more often than not.

Geared up in leg warmers, gloves, long sleeves, jacket, and a tuque, I was more than ready to ride. It’s hard to explain how much cycling means to me. Actually, it’s not. The ability to get on my bike and ride is an awesome experience. I’ll never take it for granted. I absolutely love feeling the road underneath me, the wind in my face and the hard work that goes into pushing the pedals.

Here in the valley, some of the roads are very bumpy and makes for a more “cruise” ride with gritting teeth. I like sightseeing, but I’m ready to just ride. I’ve felt like a caged lion for the last two months and I’m ready to run wild. I’d much rather be ripping up on the highway or lone roads. Patience…

Just as we were leaving, I saw a blurry thing move along the pavement. Low and behold, it was a live tarantula! ☺ I love seeing wildlife. This marks the 4th sighting of weird creatures I’ve seen with my own eyes this year (others include a skunk, a bobcat, monkey’s, and now a live tarantula). I’m hoping a mountain lion is next! Mind you, I’d have to be well out of harms way!

While I cruised a very easy 2 hours, Chuckie took one of his athletes up the infamous FIG (a 9-mile, 9% grade climb). Here’s a picture of it. In one month’s time, I’ll own this mountain and will be doing repeats until the sunsets. ☺ I love climbing. It’s my favorite pastime!

Doc’s words:
“remember , tomorrow is the first day of the rest of your life .
dont handicap it by history .”

The above quote is from an email Doc wrote the group a while back. It’s a great thought to start the day, especially when you wake up to a valley that’s blanketed with fog and temperatures in the low 50s! It does get warm and sunny, but sometimes it takes half the morning. I don’t mind though. It’s a great time to go swimming without feeling like you’re missing sunny skies.

I’m continuing to ride my bike indoor with no resistance, swimming daily, and just started walking on the local track. I walk barefoot so I strengthen the feet. But yesterday was a big day for me. It was my first day outside on the bike! My face had (still does) a permanent grin from ear-to-ear. I felt like a kid who just got her new wheels and wanted to yell out to the world, “Hey, I’m riding my bike! I’m riding outside!” In fact, every rider who rode by received a very big smile and a joyful hello. I couldn’t help myself.

From here, I’m slowly going to increase time on the saddle, continue with the walking and of course, swim like a mad-woman! The leg is feeling close to 100%. I get some twinges here and there, but all should be OK in another week or two. Running comes next…but for now, it’s all about the bike.

Gosh, life is good when you’re making wheels go round!

It isn’t too often I clean my bike. But since I’ve had more time on my hands lately, I decided to clean every little cog on my cog-set the other day. This little fur-ball scared the heck out of me!

Unfortunately, I found him again the next day. Poor fella.

I’m sitting in a local coffee shop in Los Olivos, CA with googly-eyes. Noah Wyle just sauntered in to order his morning breakfast. This is by far, one of my favorite actors. I’m a huge ER and Donnie Darko fan. I’ve tried to get his attention…maybe by the end of the day, I’ll have a date!

The heat is finally here in Santa Ynez, along with the usual California forest fires just miles away. Santa Barbara is getting hit with a fire that has burned many homes and part of the city proper. Luckily for us, the wind is heading westward so the likelihood that our place will alight is nonexistent and the smoke is insignificant. Mind you, with all my extra time on my hands I’ve been playing with matches. I kid.

With the heat, my antsiness is unbearable. There is nothing I love more than getting on my bike in the heat of the day. Next week will mark 6 weeks since I was diagnosed with the fracture. I’ll wait until mid-week to test outdoor riding. Just a few more days of being patient!

Coming back from a lay-off in both cycling and running has taken its toll on the old ticker, legs and overall fitness (and mind, of course). If I hate anything, it’s feeling out of shape when you start running and cycling. I know I’ll be doing the Doc shuffle (but slower!) up and down our local rubber track. And more likely, slower yet… I’ll be cycling with no pressure. Both Chuckie and Doc said to remove the chain from my bike and stick with indoor riding! With the inferno and the wind gusts here, it’s probably a good idea.

I’m up for the challenge though, and I’m definitely not complaining! In fact, I’ve made a vow to never complain about a hard workout or tiredness. There is little worse than being sidelined for 8 weeks. I’m ready to be on fire!

WOW! What a great weekend for me. It was exactly the medicine I needed to stoke my fire! The Avia Wildflower half-ironman is my favorite race to participate in thus far, and now, to watch! I love this race because, when do you get to camp with so many people that love the same sport you do?

I met up with my fellow Team TBB teammates: Erica, Donna, Jocelyn, Reinaldo, and Jonnyo at the Avia RV and VIP area. Ed Goldman and his crew did a great job in making sure all of us were well taken care of. All weekend, we had great food to eat (including Kenny Souza’s great steak and chicken on the BBQ), a place to chill, and an area to meet up with all the other Avia-sponsored athletes and supporters.

I was fortunate enough to camp in a small tent with Chuckie for three nights. We camped with a few friends and athletes who were all bundled up in their RVs and campers. I say fortunate because this wouldn’t have been the case if I was racing. It’s not too often you get to sleep in a tent with bugs, spiders and other creepy-crawlers. And don’t forget the rain… I loved it! The only thing I didn’t like was the communal bathrooms where a few black-widow spiders decided to make it their home for the weekend - right behind the toilet seat! It made for some interesting ways to sit on a toilet…

The Wongstar had her own camping spot a few rows from mine with big bold signs: WONGSTAR! Seeing her again after a long break from PI camp, put a smile to my face instantly. She’s a fun person to hangout with, and my ex-roommate looked awesome! My other teammates spent their nights in a home or RV that both Avia and Tri-California organized. They missed out (even if they were sleeping in king-sized beds with fluffy pillows, Jacuzzi…)! ☺

On race day, the weather was perfect. It was overcast until mid-morning, and then warmed up to a nice 75-80 degrees with blue skies by race end. The mens start line was massive. Some of them had to line up 3-4 rows back. The womens was not as big as last year, but nonetheless it was a competitive race. With my VIP pass I managed my way with crutches to the boat docks to get the best view. Both races spread out quickly in the swim. I was trying to guess where I would have been this year if I were racing. I’m hoping in one of the mid-packs! I could point out a few Team TBB athletes a mile away because of their swim stroke.

I’ll let the racer’s describe the race (check out their blogs), but as a spectator and a competitor last year, the race was/is tough! The climbs on the bike are awesome and the run is never-ending with twists, turns and steep accents and descents, half on dirt and the other on pavement. Erika and Reinaldo rocked it with two podiums! Tereza and I hungout in-between transitions because her race was cut short from a broken pedal. We made up for it by eating a great lunch in the VIP tent! Donna and Jonnyo toughed it out and finished a great race.

I also got to meet up with Paul and Phil from See Worthy Inc. Sable Water Optics. They make some great goggles and are the funniest two guys you’ll meet. Nice seeing you guys again!

After the race, we all met up at the Avia RV and had a great post-race dinner: chicken, steak, salad, and gelato! The best part of the night was sitting around the fire and the pimped-out Avia Rig, watching the fight (the door opens up with a television in view on the door panel)! It was the Packman vs. the Hitman. It was a 2nd round knock-out for Manny! After being with Doc for 6 weeks in PI, with all his boxing stories, all I could hear in the background was Doc’s voice doing the commentary. ☺

Overall I had a great weekend. Great people, great food, great event! Thanks Avia! You’d think watching a race that you were suppose to compete in would be hard, but I found out that it wasn’t. The only thing that was hard was maneuvering around tons of people in crutches! ☺ If anything, the race made me realize how much I want to be out there again. I wasn’t angry, sad or depressed. I lapped up all the excitement and watched my teammates and friends rip it up. I’m confident I’ll be out there next year ready to go!