Women who bike the distance: Tracy

This is a dedicated space for women that kick butt in the everyday errands, commute and fun rides, and decide to take it a curious, wanderluster step beyond comfort to miles and miles ahead to see what's out there, do long distance rides, camping and explore the landscapes.
Please do leave your comments and/or questions for the featured riders and enjoy!
♥xxo.m

Women Who Bike the distance: Tracy

*Above photo provided by Tracy

When did you start your long distance curiosity and where was the first ride you recall as being such a long ride?
I only recently started riding long distances, I grew up in NYC, so
bikes were my main means of getting around the city (when it wasn't
snowing), but I'm not sure if I had even rode more than maybe 10 to 15
miles in one stretch. I also never owned a nice bike while living
there, just a big heavy city bike that could be locked anywhere (which
I still own and ride around town when I will need to leave it
somewhere, my friends call it the resistance bike because it is so old
and broken). About 2 years ago I hurt my neck and all I could do was
ride a stationary bike, I started doing spin class and started to
really love riding. Once I was better, I decided I needed to buy a
real road bike (my blue and white Masi) and start riding for real. I
started by doing shorter rides to the Marin headlands, butter lap and
eventually I found out about a group of people that road down to work
(SF2G.com) and thought it was awesome, so I did my first 43 mile ride
with them and loved it. I now bike down from San Francisco to Mountain
View twice a week and try to do longer rides on the weekend.

What upcoming rides do you have +the location?

I will be riding down to work (in Mountain View) twice this week, but
I am planning to do a ride up North (maybe to Pt. Reyes or just
Paradise Loop) this weekend. At some point I will sign up for a
century (up til now I've done only 90 miles and less) I would love to
start doing more multi-day bike trips as well.

The 3 things that are a must to bring with you:

a snack
my phone cash, and a credit card in case I get lost
an extra tube, a pump and tire levers

Other helpful tips you have for women +men, who are new and/or curious about long-distance riding:

Riding long distance really sounds intimidating, but really its about
working up to longer rides. The more you ride the better you will get.
Bike people are also really friendly and love when new people join.
SF2G does a first friday of the month ride (http://sf2g.com/nrlb.html)
where they don't leave anyone behind, so it is perfect for anyone who
wants to start riding down to anywhere in the south bay. There are
also a lot of other groups that do similar things, the Velo girls have
beginner friendly rides as well (specifically for women). Things that
I have found really useful is having a set of real bike clothes,
having the pockets in the back of the jerseys to carry some cash and a
phone as well as the padded shorts makes the ride way more comfortable
(it doesn't have to be super fancy, many places have cheaper options
and sale stuff), carrying a backpack makes riding much more painful.
Also, water bottle cages on your bike. If you are riding to work,
brining a set of clothes to change into the day before is key. I guess
just carrying as little as possible on your person.

Favorite meal/beverage after a long ride:

Probably mexican or Indian food. Anything spicy and flavorful. A good
beer is always great after a long ride as well.

at butterlap

after trivia nite

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♥Gracias Tracy!!