Return to Camping:
Our family has awaited this day since 2006. We camped with our friend Jen who stayed with us last year for the ATOC. We planned this trip as soon as we knew that TN was our planned destination. We loved camping again and enjoyed our new camping equipment. We got some great new equipment from Costco that really is outstanding. I thought of our donor Jerry the whole weekend, we talked with Jen about him on Saturday night after a steak and potato dinner.
The Race location and setup:
How exciting to have a race in my new home state!! All I can say is, it truly was the best experience I've ever had at a race. It even tops the famous ATOC when we met every rider. The city of Chattanooga did a wonderful job with setup,access and were wonderful hosts. The city made the parking garage free when they could have made money on parking. Volkswagen USA was AMAZING, their facility is gorgeous, they gave us free waffles and drinks plus let us drive their cars! I will seriously buy a Volkswagen just for the amazing weekend they gave us. It was that good!
The Divas Tour De France:
When I first started my cycling twitter, I met a lady Anita who introduced me to everyone I know on Twitter by introducing me to her friends. They are a group of amazing women, who love cycling and travel to support it. They are famous for their diva tents at races and really know how to do things right.
We had the best view, shade, any supply you could imagine all thanks to Anita and her amazing family. Not only did this family provide us fans with a wonderful spot but they have been so welcoming to my family.
They live in my new hometown and have helped us out so much since we have moved. I had built in girlfriends in Jane and Anita, a wonderful friend in Jeff ( Anita's dad) who has helped out so much as well. This weekend the F5 and B1 gave us a wonderful gift by showing us how to watch a race! Thank you Anita, Jeff, Vic, Mark and Jane for everything.
It was so nice to meet the other divas in person for the first time:
D'Andrea has a warm smile and gives great hugs, I felt like I knew her a lifetime the moment I met her. I almost cried hugging her goodbye, I loved being around her and watching cycling with her. I also loved watching her be a great momma to her daughter as well.
I also met another Diva Barbara, who was kind and friendly. It was great to meet her in person after hearing so much about her.
Jane is wonderful, she is already becoming a southern momma to me. I am so lucky to have met her and know her, she is that amazing.
Anita, I always say my friends are all thanks to you. You can out mom me anyday, it was nice to have someone to take care of me. Thanks for everything you've done for me. I am lucky to call you friend and look forward to more fun times
Jeff, DadBurnett! I love knowing you and so does my family. We talk about you all the time and just love calling you friend.
My favorite part is they are a family like my own family. They include everyone,feed them, make them feel like family and do everything together. There aren't many families like this in the world and I am so thankful that I found one like my own. So nice to be surrounded by people who love being a family!
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| I love this man. |
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| Lovely ladies |
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| I saw Jane wearing this hat and copied it. I had sunscreen in my eyes all day and after I put it on my eye stopped watering! |
Tweetups
I was most looking forward to meeting my tweeps this weekend. I could care less about meeting riders since I had met most all of them and didn't even plan on meeting any. I was most looking forward to meeting people that I talk to on Twitter everyday. I've got to know some of these people very well and yet have never met them.
Anna, I had no clue she would be there until she said she wanted to meet me! I was so excited to meet her since she was one of my first follows on my cycling twitter. She is an amazing young woman with a fabulous personality. Little did I know, we are a lot alike and actually share a lot of the same opinions. I was even more glad to spend time with her and talk about a lot of different things. She made me realize, I really am the cycling Twitter mom after so many call me that already. It was so fun to hang out and spend time together.Saddest part of the weekend was not getting to say goodbye. Follow her @pelotonitis for great race updates
Valerie, We've talked so many times on Twitter and on the phone. It was so nice to finally meet up and spend time together. She has heard about my family and it was nice she could finally meet them. I had fun wandering around chatting with you yesterday. I loved our test drive together, it was so funny!
MJ, Thank you for all the hugs and smiles this weekend. We are definitely kindred spirits, sometimes people just meet, it doesn't matter who or how, we are supposed to know one another! It was so fun meeting up and chatting with you this weekend! I will come visit you in Asheville soon. If you don't follow him, your missing out @dudeinavl
Rox, Thanks for the ride up the mountain and my picture with Ted!! I loved being able to talk to you in person and finally get to know you better. I just loved spending time with you and Anna together, I love that you're such great friends and so welcoming. You helped make my weekend great! Follow her for great pictures @cyclingrox
Steph, It was so nice to get to know you this weekend and meet up. I loved watching you watch cycling and wandering around with you. It was fun to spend your birthday weekend with you. I look forward to getting to know you better.
Dan, it was so nice to finally meet you and watch you in action. Conner and I have always been thankful to know you and learn from you. I loved seeing your beautiful family and enjoyed talking with your wife. I was so glad we finally got to chat a bit yesterday. We are blessed to know you. He is a funny tweeter who writes for VeloNews @Dwuori
I also got to meet the hilarious and sweet Emily aka SpazMcSpazzy, she is hysterical and definitely worth the follow @spazmcspazzy
Also was introduced to Jebbie, a wonderful mom of a well known cycling tweep. She is adorable and came all the way from Virginia for the race. I look forward to knowing you better.
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The Riders
For me, this weekend was about falling in love with women's cycling. These women are underpaid, under appreciated and virtually unwatched. It was the highlight of my weekend watching these inspiring women race with little or no support. Even Conner walked away saying, ''Mom, we need to support the women more, everyone loves the men but hardly pays attention to the women.'' and he wasn't talking about the way they look. My kid isn't that kid, he was talking about the honest truth of women's cycling.
We planned on just watching, not trying to meet riders or get autographs like in the past. We've been there done that and really are over it. I did have one rider I have been wanting to meet, it just happened that he was in the same area and I was able to meet him. Then I got to meet a couple others at the end of the race since they were close to the area of the tent. I loved watching my friend Jen meet Tyler Farrar.
Personally, I wanted to meet Heather Nielson @ridempowered. I met her on Twitter when I first started tweeting and learned her story. This girl has sacrificed to follow her dream, she has scraped by and fought tooth and nail to overcome. I don't admire many people in the way I admire her, I rarely look up to someone but I look up to her. She has guts, determination and a feisty spirit. She's always been wonderful to me on Twitter and we are both California girls. I looked forward to finally meeting her this weekend and watching her race.
How amazing to see someone you know start a race and be able to scream loudly for them. There really are no words for how this felt and how much it made me adore her more. She thought she wouldn't have any fans, so I fangirled it up for her ( we all know I am a pro fangirl). I even timed a bathroom break to make sure I didn't miss her passing by. So imagine my sadness to see her rolling up the sidewalk when I came back, she had been pulled from the race earlier than expected. I was so bummed for her, the best part was I could give her a hug, listen to her frustrations and be able to be a support for her. What an amazing unexpected blessing. I will be a diehard fan as long as you race, I only hope that I can come support you at more races.
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| I love my Colgate Smile picture with Tyler. What a kind and gracious man, I will now cheer him on even more |
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| Lucas Euser was so friendly and kind |
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| Poor Ted King, he thinks I am crazy. The only reason I ever wanted to meet him was because of two followers Em and Jennifer. I made him take this picture for them. Someone tell him I am a nice mom. |
Jen, Thanks for the wonderful weekend of camping,riding and racing fun. You are one of the family now and we love spending time with you. I love being able to mom you and take care of you while we are together. Thanks for printing out all the race info and keeping me straight all weekend. We are so much alike and you're definitely a sister of the heart.
Marty, I am so lucky to have a husband like you. You put up with all of my hair brained schemes and antics. Thank you for going and watching racing with me. For driving all the way home to take the kids to camp and back. Thanks for understanding my love of cycling and my love of tweeps, I am so glad you could meet them this weekend.
Conner, gosh, who would have thought that you watching the Tour De France in 2005 would lead to this. I love that we have a hobby together. It's so fun hearing you talk about cycling, your thoughts on riders and the peloton. I can't wait to become bigger women's cycling fans together.
Lizzie, I know you hate it! So I am glad you go and tag along. Hey, at least you get fun free stuff. Wait until you see the light up necklace I got you.
Long story short, I am one happy, heart full of joy, short peppy redhead. Life is good and this weekend reminded me of that. I was sad to let it go and leave it behind, truly made memories of a lifetime.
A/N
My antics became famous. A newspaper reporter wrote about our chalking party on Lookout Mountain. You can read about it here: http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2013/may/27/ready-for-race/
Some pics Marty and I took this weekend.
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| Women's TT podium |
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| Men's TT podium |
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| Chris Butler's dad chalking his son's name. Loved this moment |
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| Me watching the peloton |
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| The winners |
