Seattle Tailwind

March Challenge

2009-03-09T17:46:00.000-07:00

I signed up for the Wenatchee Duathlon which takes place March 29th in you guessed it...Wenatchee. This is all part of my plan to be thirty, flirty and thriving by June 24th! My dad and I signed up to compete against all the other crazy folks. Him and I plan to finish the race, hopefully not last place. So in my evenings I've been running, biking and then running again. I have to get my legs used to this kind of exercise...uhhh!! Today's workout was a stretch and strengthen day.

Good news...I have a chance of placing in the top of my age category. Last year not one person competed in the 20-29 women category. Sweet!!!

Anyway, wish me luck. I also wish my dad luck as well as him and I challenge ourselves before landmark birthdays.

Tailwind Social!

2009-03-08T21:03:00.000-07:00

Seattle Tailwind is planning to meet Wednesday evening, March 11th--6:oopm-- at the Ballard Place Condos for our social get-together! Bring your favorite potluck dish, and beverage to share with all your friends.

We plan to celebrate our 1st cycling season together as Seattle Tailwind and recap all of our achievements from the past year. We are also very excited to share new events and ideas for the 2009/2010 Tailwind season.

If you are interested in being a part of Seattle Tailwind this season, we would love to have you here. Or if you are interested in sponsoring a women's cycling team, we'd love to talk to you. Please contact Sarah Jensen, sarjensen@hotmail.com if you would like more information.

Riding out of hibernation

2009-01-19T12:00:00.000-08:00

Rosanna riding the Leader around Mercer Island

Early Saturday morning I piled on the layers, pumped up my tires and officially came out of cycling hibernation. This didn't mean that the weather was remotely warm, but actually, the weather was remotely bearable. I should preface that by explaining that I've actually been on the bike through snow, freezing temperatures, heavy rain and even hail without glasses to shield my eyes. So I've paid my dues to the racing regimen and now I'm enjoying the option of being a "fair weathered" cyclist through one of Seattle's colder winter seasons from what I can recall.

The perfect and easy kind of ride to help me get back in the saddle is a quick loop around Mercer Island. I started at the hot-spot meeting place for cyclists in Leschi and watched many teams gather and take off while I took the last sip from my hot Americano and a swig of water to wash it all down. My husband, Brian, joined the ride with me and a couple friends of mine until he met up with his team heading in the opposite direction.

The frost laid around in the shadows, but nothing terribly dangerous that I noticed. I did, however, notice how slow my legs were and how much of a difference just a couple months off the bike can make when climbing those short hills. Even though I've been running more significant mileage as I'm training for a June marathon, the muscles I needed to work in my favor weren't waking up!

The combination of crisp weather, waking up my muscles and an earlier start in my training this year made for a perfect ride.

Rosanna

Group Health Bike MS Ride

2008-09-11T07:45:00.000-07:00

Seattle Tailwind is headed to the Skagit County Fairgrounds this weekend to join the movement and ride the Group Health Bike MS Ride. This ride raises funds to support programs for those living with multiple sclerosis and to fund research to find a cause and cure.

Support our team and donate today!

Feature: Seattle PI, Velocity blog

2008-09-11T07:34:00.000-07:00

Seattle Tailwind got a little press with its first feature in the Seattle PI, "Velocity" reader blog, written by David Longdon.

Velocity: Introducing Seattle Tailwind

Vella Bella Ride

2008-08-20T18:24:00.000-07:00

Vella Bella Ride, Lake Wentachee

August 16th & 17th

Whew - what a hot and hilly ride! The Vella Bella ride near Lake Wenatchee was a beautiful and fun ride! We decided as a group to start the 50 mile ride at 7:30AM so we could beat as much of the sun as we could, our best attempt to escape the heat.

We all set-up camp at the eight mile campgrounds on Icicle Rd. Waking up at 5:30AM wasn't so easy, but the groaning quickly dissolved once we had our coffee. We started from the rec center and headed out to start the first of two out-and-back legs. The first leg was definitely the hilly one! We did so much climbing, but all was worthwhile when we flew down on the way back. When we reached the turnaround, which in fact was the literal end of the pavement, the rest stop consisted of a pick-up truck, one volunteer, coolers of water and various nutritional snacks. We could only stay a few minutes because the bugs were starting to bite, but we had great conversation with other ladies and had fun teasing the volunteer guy that seemed a little bashful among so many women.

Like mentioned above, we flew down on the way back through the refreshing breeze and empty roads (virtually no cars at this point and all were polite). The corners were curvy - easy to tuck and fly. We stopped back at the rec center to put on more sunblock and load up on more food (eating/drinking every 20-30 minutes is the first way to survive the unrelenting heat). Then, we headed out to the second out-and-back leg of the 50 mile ride. This leg was much more of the rolling hill variety and most of it was sheltered by trees, except for the first 5 miles on a highway with some semi-truck traffic. When we reached the rest stop at the turnaround point, we had a beautiful view of the river from atop a foot bridge. Another pick-up truck with snacks and two men volunteering (bonus!). All the women we spoke with unanimously agreed that this was a memorable ride and we are all hoping that it will continue to grow and year-after-year.

The way back was not as fast, but the tree cover kept us cool as the weather heated up. There were a few near misses with squirrels making suicide runs across the road, nearly missing our wheels by inches. What are they thinking!? The last 5 miles on the open stretch of road were hot as the sun scorched our backs, but we all made it back with more than enough energy to laugh and chat about our adventurous ride. At the end of the day, we all were relieved that we chose to do the 50 and not the 75.

Back at the rec center, there were all sorts of goodies waiting for us, including gummie bears (genius!). We filled our bellies and then headed back for showers and an afternoon spent in Leavenworth grabbing some beers and cooling down.

Save the date for Vella Balla 2009 - August 29th

On our way to Vella Bella

2008-08-14T13:00:00.000-07:00

Seattle Tailwind is travelling this weekend to Lake Wentachee to ride together in the women's Vella Bella ride. We'll be camping overnight and riding 50 to 75 miles. A full report and photos will be posted when we get back!

Club Poster

2008-08-14T12:50:00.000-07:00

We are thrilled to share our club's first poster,
showcasing some of the 20 inspiring women that form our club.

While the photo was being taken, the ladies had a lot of fun.

(Be a tiger!)

Nice work, ladies!

A Tuesday ride around Mercer Island

2008-08-04T09:28:00.000-07:00

Last Tuesday Debbie and I decided to take an afternoon ride around Mercer Island. We invited two potential Seattle Tailwind members with us, Lisa and Kristi. Since we are all teachers we went early that afternoon and enjoyed the sunshine. Because Debbie lives in Factoria we thought that would be a great place to start and pedal around Mercer Island. There weren't too many people out, maybe they were all at work. Humm... :) Anyway, I posted a few photos of our ride. My friend Kristi is learning to use clipless pedals and took a little spill in a soft area. Hopefully we all can get another ride in before school starts up again!