I made my way out to Wakefield Park for Cyclefest 2008 sponsored by the good people at The Bike Lane despite the fact that it was drizzly and cold with the temps around the 40s (Fahrenheit). (Check the pictures they have posted!) Good thing I went for that bike ride on Saturday with the husband instead. (He’s more in shape than me and that was his first ride of the season!)
Anyway, I digress. So it was darned cold and fairly miserable but imagine my surprise to see the parking lots fairly full with cars and bike racks. I got there a little before 11 AM and believe that most people were out on the race that started earlier that morning. You can’t keep BMXers and MTBers out of the mud, you know! There was no coffee but there was Baja Fresh to keep us warm. Yum!
I had signed up for some workshops ahead of time:
- Heart Rate Training 101 with Melissa Dalio from Sport and Spine Athletics at 11 AM
- Road Bike Handling 101 with Adam & Joanne from Synergy Fitness at 12:30 PM
- Core Training for Cyclists with the same Joanne from Synergy Fitness
I learned a lot at each session I went to. For instance, at Melissa’s I learned that I was INDEED training in too high of a zone. This means I will need to learn to crawl before I can walk, etc. So it’s not in the cards for me this year to be breaking any speed records. 😉 Not that I had intended on doing so anyway. With Road Bike Handling I learned three methods of Cornering: turning, counter-steering, and steering. I have read about these but to actually see them and do them is a whole other thing. We also learned to look behind right/left and over and under the shoulder. I totally suck at under the shoulder. They had wanted to show us more but the wet conditions were not the most conducive. At Core Training, I was inspired by Joanne’s core strength as she was probably about my parents’ age and in great shape. I didn’t need a whole lot of convincing that core work makes you a stronger rider. That makes sense to me. I didn’t need to learn a whole lot of new exercises either as a lot of the ones she talked about I knew about. What I DID need though apparently was a core workout. I didn’t think I worked THAT hard but here it is Day 2 from Sunday and my abs are still fairly sore. I’ve realized it was January or February when I last worked out my core.
I made a new friend (Hi Bach!) and we pal-led around all day as he had pretty much signed up for the same sessions I had. Together we checked out some of the other booths and we stopped at the Fairfax Connector booth who was giving away a pink bike trainer. They also had Oreos on their table. I was more interested in those at the moment. I put my name and my office phone number on a slip of paper and they put it in the bowl underneath the Oreos (they were in their own bowl.) I am pretty sure that it was the pink Saris Breast Cancer Awareness Bones rack.
Everyone knows that the Saris Bones is a great rack. I got a voice message on Monday left on Sunday telling me that I had won! I finally spoke with Charlie from Fairfax Connector today and he said the bike rack retailed for $110 but all the pink Saris Bones I see retail for more than that. Maybe it isn’t a Bones after all. He did say that it was a really nice rack though. Charlie is keeping it for me in his cubicle while we figure the best way to get it to me. He offered to drop it off at my house but I can always pick it up to near work. It’s a bit out of the way but not terribly so. I told him I didn’t want to have it taking up valuable space in his cubicle but today didn’t work out for him as he was off to drop off some data via bike! A man after my own heart, I tell ya!
So that was my experience at Cyclefest. It was great and I really enjoyed myself. Can’t wait for next year’s!
Where The Bike Takes Me 