A Mother's day plea! If you could please go to the link in my profile, in my bio, or attached to this post and go vote for me. In 4 days they cut to the top five, and 6 days later they take the top person from each bracket. I need to be in that number 1 spot to stay in this. This would be life changing for my kids and I. Plans to transition out of travel got pushed back when we lost all our stuff in the house explosion in 2024. This would give me the tools to make that transition by summers end. Take a moment and cast a vote. It is free, you can do it once a day, and today each vote is worth 2 for a while.
For everyone who has helped me get this far your efforts are appreciated more than you know. I would not be the Mom I am if it wasn't for all the community support we get. It does take a village and I am eternally grateful for mine! ❤️
Thursday was New Bike Day for me! After having a few different people reccomend @bikefitmi to me after hearing my bike fit woes,I made an appointment for a Pre-prchase bike fit. Best decision I could have made!
I was anxious going in. I was so used to being told " you just have to get used to it" when speaking up about how uncomfortable it was to ride my bike even though I was experiencing numbness and pain just about every single ride that was more than an hour. Used to me asking a million questions to either 1) being treated like an annoyance or inferior because I didn't know this stuff. Or 2) just having people stop responding to my questions and requests to help( that has been about 80 % of my experience before. I did manage to find a few amazing people who have been patient and kind!).
Within 10 minutes of being there all my anxiety disappeared. Every question I had was answered with a full context detailed information. When I left, I left with so much new knowledge and a better understanding of how a bike works and how bikes should fit and feel. Maxine even took the time to look up my Mountain bike and give me some ideas on how I may get a better fit with that.( stay tuned for final results)
For the first time in a long while I felt hopeful and excited to get a new bike rather than anxious I might end up with something that wasn't right for me.
Thursday I returned to bike up my Cannondale Topstone bike and have final touches made!
I got it out for a 25 mile test ride and it felt like the easiest 25 miles I have done. Lot's to get used to...I haven’t been on a gravel bike in about 2 years. The shifting, the body position, the lack of suspension, AND I clipped in outside for the first time!! Despite all that my pace was so much faster and I felt great the whole time. I could have easily been comfortable on this bike for so much longer, even on hills!
My enthusiasm for cycling has been renewed! Bike fit matters. SO MUCH. If you are uncomfortable don't let people convince you that you are the problem. There ARE people out there that will listen and help. And if you can, go see the people at @bikefitmi . You won't regret it.
So much more I could say.
I know I have been quiet lately but I am still here and still moving! Had an amazing vacation overseas where I did tons of hiking, biking walking, and stair climbing. Came back to see some noticeable gains on my bike locally! I love stats for the sole purpose of seeing how far I have come over the season or compared to last year! It is motivating when you don't think much has changed but data shows otherwise.
Any way I want to take a moment and talk about the first picture here. My boys and their bikes. This is a BIG deal for me! My youngest is 6 and, despite me trying to get him on bikes since he was old enough to stand, he has never been interested in learning. Recently i had the babysitter come so I could go on a longer ride and he was pretty sad about it. We had a talk about how important it is to learn to fill your bucket and practice self care. About how great it was for me not only physically but mentally. I get to be moving, to be out in nature, in the sun, to feel free. It must have sunk in for him because when I returned home he said he wanted to learn to ride!
As an autistic child he struggles is many of the same ways I do when learning new things. Multitasking on balance, steering and pedaling all at once is too much. So I told him to not worry about pedaling, I would push him. To just focus on balancing and steering first. And learning to walk with the bike. He was patient and persistent and the pure joy he exuded when thing started to click made my whole day!
Just a great reminder that kids learn by example and when they are ready to. When I first started really making time for myself last year it was a hard adjustment for us all. I felt guilty to take time away from my kids, they had a hard time understanding why I needed time for myself. That moment though when my youngest was on his bike seeing and feeling the why behind what I do for himself.....I have a hard time finding words. 🥹 It was such a beautiful full circle moment for me. They too are learning to find what brings them joy and make time to fill their buckets. To get out in the world beyond their comfort zone and try new things.
Part 3 of 3
Get good tracking equipment. Trust the data and use it to help.
For a hyposensitive athlete, "listening to the data" isn't just about optimization,it’s about safety and predictability. Since your brain doesn't always deliver accurate internal reports, data acts as an external nervous system.
I would be lost without my Wahoo heart rate monitor, Wahoo bike computer, and the Wahoo app. I'm also in the market for a good, but not too expensive Smartwatch to more accurately track my data long-term so send your suggestions!
What good equipment can do It Replaces "Vague" Feelings with Facts: sometimes I have no clue if I'm speeding up or slowing down. On my bike computer or my Wahoo kicker I can set a Target Pace or Target power Zone to keep me on track on my rides.
It Identifies Over-Training Early:
Hyposensitivity can make it hard to notice the deep, systemic fatigue that leads to burnout or injury.
It can keep you on track for fueling:
Use that bike computer to set yourself reminders to drink every 30 minutes or eat something every 15 minutes. This has saved me so many times!
Feel free to comment with any questions you might have and I will do my best to answer them.
Part 2 of 3
How Hyposensitivity Plays Out in Training
The "Delayed Fuel" Crisis: Most athletes feel a "dip" in energy and eat. A hyposensitive athlete may feel fine, fine, fine. and then suddenly collapse or "bonk" because they missed the subtle 30-minute window of fading energy.
The Temperature Blind Spot: You might not register that your core temperature is rising. While others are sweating and seeking shade, you might keep pushing at 100% intensity until heat exhaustion hits, because your brain didn't "report" the overheating.
Heart Rate Disconnect: You might be running at a VO2 max effort (near maximum heart rate) but feel like you are just taking a casual stroll. This makes "pacing by feel" almost impossible and increases the risk of overtraining.
Mechanical Failure: You might not feel the "twinge" of a strained tendon or a blister forming. You only notice the injury when it becomes a sharp, high-level pain signal that finally breaks through the sensory threshold, often after the damage is done.
So when I say trust my body I mean that by the time I am feeling something I know it is way past time that I should, and I need to listen to that.
Getting into the thick of things! This set of videos, 3 in total, digs into Autism. This first one talks about how society views autism, gives more modern language, and introduces Interoception.Interoception is your internal sense that monitors bodily signals like hunger, heartbeat, and emotions. It’s essentially how your brain perceives what is happening inside your body.
For an autistic athlete, this often manifests as a disconnect between physical reality and conscious awareness.
See part 2 for more
Part 1 of 2. Make sure to watch both!
There is space in this community for all kinds of riders. There is no one right way to proceed. Trust your gut and follow your own path. Take pieces of wisdom with you on your way and use it to create your own puzzle.
This is the first of what I hope will be many videos. I am sharing my experience in endurance sports through an autistic lens, including my time with the From the Ground Up project and what race day was really like for me. I will also be talking about different approaches to cycling that may look different from what is usually recommended but work better for some of us.
Along the way, I will be trying new things and sharing those experiences as I prepare for three 100 mile endurance races this coming year.
I am opening this up as a conversation, so feel free to leave questions, comments, or topics you would like me to cover next.
A few weeks ago I got out on my bike to ride in the snow. I carefully made my way down a hill of ice and hit the local trial feeling a bit more confident than I should. I was genuinely having fun! Minutes after the short video was taken I was approaching small patch of ice on the trail. I thought to myself, self this is a small patch and you have a decent amount of momentum just don't do anything dumb and you can glide over it. This is when I was quickly reminded that there is a fine line between bravery and stupidity. SPOILER ALERT The ice won...but i still had to make it home. You can see the lovely progression of my elbow over two days from just a scratch to a lovely bruise. That bruise just only darkened over the days that followed. My knee was just as bad. I did go get x-rayed and nothing is broken! Today though is the first day I've been able to get back on my bike without a lot of pain. I have been focusing more on yoga and core strengthening over the last few weeks. My knee still felt weird but it did not hurt. And I figured what better day to jump into something uncomfortable than New Year's Day... if I am going to start from the bottom again I might as well do it with clip-ins. The 50 minute ride was incredibly uncomfortable in all kinds of ways but I did it. I am thankful that I am still able to ride a bike. It's time to slow down and move forward with intention and build on baby steps everyday. This is going to be a big year for biking. And yes i will be out riding in the snow more!
So this is happening! From one of the hardest single day MTB races in the country to the next. Who wants to come support? Northern Michigan is beautiful that time of year! Anyone want to start placing bets on how far I'll get?
