Stuck in a Cycle with My Cycle

By Kevin Enners ~ KPF Engagement Manager

Wake up, train, sleep, repeat.

This is what my cycling life has come to – except for the occasional weekend ride on Columns Drive – as in-person races for 2020 have been canceled because… You know.  Like a hamster on his wheel, I literally spin my wheel while watching a cycling training video day after day.

I wake up, I train, I sleep, I repeat.

The sport I fell in love with nearly two decades ago has become something more mentally therapeutic than a goal-oriented race. After a mentally challenging day, a spin on the trainer is just what I need. It’s more stimulating than Seinfeld reruns and the high from endorphins enough for Cheech and Chong to trade in “the smoke.”

But, as a goal-driven, competitive (almost wanting to beat everyone on wheels) athlete, I must admit that I am getting a bit restless. My mind starts spinning faster than my wheels with lyrics to the Smashmouth soundtrack: What’s the use in trying? All you get is pain.

Since there are no races, how do I know if I am improving? Am I just going through the motions, trapped in this endless Groundhog-day-like time warp? 

I wake up, I train, I sleep, I repeat.

Here’s the bright side: Without focusing on races, I am able to see “the big picture” and reorient my goals. Virtually boundless, I can go for longer rides without worrying that I’m going to blow up before a race. I can do a marathon on my indoor trainer (which I did in April) and I am planning on doing other virtual challenges (preferably outdoors) this fall.

Like Bill Murray’s efforts to break out of “Groundhog Day” purgatory, my participation in these challenges break up the “wake up, train, sleep, repeat” monotony.  

Indeed, this has been an unbelievable year for all of us, but it will end, and the cycle will be broken sooner or later when we resume racing and wheel together again!

Things I Miss About KPF Racing; While BG Goes For a Century

It is hard to believe that our last race was nearly five months ago.  Somehow, it seems easy to believe our next event could be more than five months out.  With so many of our families falling into a higher risk category it could be some time before we can safely set up events for those we serve.  This makes one of the most enjoyable parts of our events even harder, the social interactions.  The laughs we enjoy before a race as Mike tries to remember where he put the keys, the howls we relish as we cut the lock with bolt cutters.  The giggles that flow like water as Kyle & J-dude nod at each other while we all rush around as Bentley Grace holds court with a few of her favorite pushers.  It's those moments before and after a race that sometime feel the most normal. The indelible opportunities where athletes are talking to athletes and nobody is being treated any differently based on where they might sit.  It's the jokes from Kyle as he inquires about the course record, the questions from Ricardo about whether or not it will be a gun start or a bull frog [bull horn].  Whatever it is we long to enjoy those moments again. 

We are doing our best to remain safe and we ask that you please do the same.  While many of you may not get sick or be at risk for the worst of it, we are your community and we all want to be together again.  We want to chase down PR's, miles and loads of smiles.  Think of those around you as you make decisions and know that together we wheel....again.

Speaking of, our own Bentley Grace decided on July 3rd to run to Alabama...yes, the state.  She set out in the wee hours of the morning on July 3rd to experience 100 kilometres of fun.  With a small group, including some of her favorite pushers, she took on her first ultra-challenge.  Guessing by the upcoming bike fit we have scheduled, this might not be the last.  Eric, Chris and Anthony, flanked by family, helped push BG from Atlanta to Alabama.  We have checked and this is the longest anyone from KPF has run before! Make that another record for BG!!! She has an incredible smile and we cannot wait to share the racecourse with her again soon.  When we spoke to BG she said, "The event was hard and rewarding" taking nearly nine hours to complete the 100 km distance run. BG told us "I cannot wait for Boston in 2021!!!." Great work BG!!! BG qualified for Boston 2021 back on March 7th so we are hopeful that due to all the delays, we might have three KPF teams in Boston next year!! Together WE Wheel! 

Kyle and I have still not run together since March 7th, but after talking with family we are going to do a virtual event on July 24th at Columns Drive in Marietta.  We hope a few of you may be able to join (at a safe distance)! What we've missed most is the casual conversations that happen when we are out riding together.  If you really want to get to know someone, spend a few hours on a bike with them. I don't know if we will be able to train or hang like this all summer but for now, we are really excited at a chance to see just how out of shape we have become.

Be safe everyone and remember your community each time you walk out of your door.  We look forward to sharing the road with you all again soon! ~ Brent

Alabama or Bust for BG and her posse!!

Inclusion Looks The Same but it Sure Sounds Different in DE

Hello Kpeasey Nation-

It is beyond our wildest imagination seeing our little flower continue to take root and blossom. As we see the foundation continue to grow, Brent and I took a little jaunt north to Delaware for a little Bowling with Kpeasey Northern style. The rules are still the same with the goal being to knock down ten pins with two rolls and to spread inclusion far and wide, but those northerners sure do talk funny. As long as they continue to use words like inclusion, kindness, together we wheel and as long as their efforts are met with ear to ear smiles, we will get used to the amusing way those Delawareans speak. 

We brought Tina and Naomi Hicks along with us and we got to see good friends Preston and Deb Buenaga of Preston's March for Energy and participated in our second Fusion Inclusion 5K. It is an example of inclusion at it's finest with dozens of athletes enjoying two laps around Christiana Mall. 

Besides seeing the family who put on the bowling found raiser is was good to spread the message of inclusion that we continue to spread everywhere we go. It is exciting to see the little islands of KPF begin to spread in Atlanta, Delaware and Utah. Fusion Inclusion and Preston's March were gracious hosts as they always are.

In between our trip and recruiting new athletes, Brent and I have been going to different groups  around the Atlanta area to recruit so that KPF can continue to grow and evolve. As we turn the corner into the summer months we are gearing up for the largest 10K in America, the Peachtree Road Race. This year we have have our largest group of participants with ten teams. The teams include Sherry Adams and Brandon Clift, Naomi Hicks and Carrie Smith, Justin Knight and Chris Nasser, Ricardo Aranda and Matt Shechtman, Curtis Ward and Yvonne Leeb, Lizzie Kriskey and Rebecca Carpenter, Katy Freeseman and Krystle Andrews, Bentley Grace Hicks and Fred Soller, Kyleigh Kramlich and Scott Stafford and lastly yours truly with Brent Pease. We are stoked!

We have many events leading up to the Peachtree including our summer gala; a celebration of the Peachtree athletes as well as our summer fundraiser event. I personally am super excited about this because the location is where I did therapeutic horse back riding as a kid. It brings back great memories and it allows me to witness the growth of the Chastian Horse Park which had such an incredible impact on my childhood. The event is being held on June 16.

As this weeks blog comes to a close I encourage all to sign up for the Jake Vinson Family Grant and to look at our website for updated events and latest happenings around the Foundation. 

KPF Atlanta to Utah to Muncie: What a Long Strange Trip It's Been

Guest blogger and Walking with Walking with KPeasey of Utah athlete, Joe Guttenplan, recently competed in the Ironman 70.3 with KPF athlete Curtis Ward. The two not only competed but completed this challenging event. Below they share their thoughts about their experience. 

I was more than excited when Brent let me know that I’d be able to race with Curtis at Muncie 70.3.  Having been inspired by the Pease Brothers from the moment I was introduced to them, I was really looking forward to finally having a chance to race with another athlete. I longed to experience conquering a long distance triathlon, not as an individual, but as a team. Helen Keller wrote, “Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much.”

As cliché as it sounds, the entire weekend far exceeded all expectations. It was incredible to spend time getting to know Curtis, his mom and the support crew (Brent, Mike, Jesse and Thomas). We all worked as a cohesive team to build a race plan that would work for all of us.  Since I had never raced a distance greater than a 5k while assisting another athlete, I received a significant amount of helpful coaching from everyone in the camp leading up to the start of the race.  

The weather was perfect on race day and the support team and fellow Dynamo/KPeasey fans were out in full force.  Without them, I anticipate a mighty long day. During the swim, Curtis and I made a few friends and were joined by an outgoing navigator on a kayak to help direct us through traffic. A little comic relief took place to quell the nerves, when Curtis experienced a few fellow racers, who grabbed onto his boat for a breather believing that he was a lifeguard there to help them.

The first 3/4 of the bike portion was incredible. Curtis and I received encouragement and kind words of inspiration from athletes, who were passing us on both sides of the road. At the end, it was only Curtis and myself working as a finely tuned team to get the miles in on the bike.  Curtis was a great teammate and provided both encouragement and friendly conversation to help push us through the last tiring laps. Without him I would have been toast.

Once on the run, we received emotional pats on the backs from a vast majority of the racers, as they passed us on their way back to the finish line.  I had to fix my right arm in a manner so that I was not only pushing the chair, but that I was able to give a sufficient thumbs up to acknowledge the constant positive affirmations from fellow racers. As much as I could have used that extra energy to propel us towards the end, I didn’t feel it was enough to simply nod a thank you. Thumbs up all around.

The support crew showed up on bikes at a perfect time to give us a second wind as we reached the turnaround.  Most racers had already passed us going the other way by this point, so it was great to have Thomas (and the Facebook live feed), Jesse, Mike and Brent there to cheer us on as we made our way towards the ultimate goal: the Finish Line.  I had mentioned to them that my legs were starting to give out and my pace was slowing mightily for the last four or five miles of the run.  Those last miles were a great example of what the Kyle Pease Foundation is all about.  While nobody broke out into an inspirational “Where there’s a wheel, There’s a way” tribal chant, Curtis and the boys coached and encouraged the entire way home. They willed us to the finish. While having the team there to help was incredible for the Friday setup and in both transitions, my favorite part of the race was the last handful of miles as everyone pulled together to get us to the finish line.  

There was no greater thrill than hearing the loud ovation as my teammate at the wheel, Curtis, and I rolled across the finish line. Crossing the line by myself is pretty darn amazing; crossing with my teammate is beyond description.

Curtis, a man of very few words except when he’s on the course, summed up our experience this way, “I had an unforgettable, life-changing time. The swim was fun because the other swimmers kept on bumping into me and Joe on the course and were trying to hang on to us like we were a rescue boat. The bike course was exciting to see all the other bike riders cheering us on, but the run was my favorite part because it had a food station at every mile. I may be exaggerating but I feel like we stopped to feed me 26.2 times along the way. That's where you see me with a big bag of chips, literally making it "all this and a bag of chips." 

I want to thank everyone associated with the Kyle Pease Foundation for allowing Michelle (my wife) and me to not only take part in this weekend, but for allowing us to start Walking With KPeasey in Utah.  I’ve enjoyed working with Kyle and Brent while participating in a few races in Atlanta so having the opportunity to build a new chapter in Utah to extend the mission and purpose of the Foundation in our new home is absolutely surreal. Wherever we are, Together We Wheel.  

Kyle Pease Foundation: We're On The Road Again

Though Willie made it famous, Kpeasey is putting it into practice over the next couple weeks, taking the Kyle Pease Foundation on the road.

 

As I'm writing this, we are in the midst of the "Boston Sweet Tea Pahty", with our own Atlanta Hawks tossing the Celtics into Boston "Hahbah", while the Braves scalped the "Sahx" in the final game of their four game set. How good it feels to rub it in the face of our social media director "Tahd" who makes the "Bahston" area his home.

 

Now that that's out of the way, we have a busy couple weeks on both the speaking and the racing circuit that will take us from coast to coast. At the end of April, Kpeasey was all over the state of Georgia, enjoying races in Augusta and Atlanta.

Little Miss Naomi has been on a roll, racing  every weekend throughout the month of April. We are so proud of her and thrilled that fans think of the Kyle Pease Foundation whenever they see her race. She is becoming one of the many familiar faces of KPF.

Brent and I, along with Michael Ragan and Naomi, joined Greg Smith and Marin, at the Pace Academy 5K (Marin's school) last week. We were also joined by Jim Balckburn, Tina Marie Hicks, Cary Liner and Joltin' John Pulliam. Well represented team of KPF blue.

 

We are so excited and honored to be speaking next week at SAP Financial in Philadelphia. How fitting that Brent and I get to speak in the "City of Brotherly Love".

 

We will be following that up with a trip to the left coast where Zappos.com Bay to Breakers 12K on May 15th.  Curtis Ward will be joining us in San Francisco and enjoying the beautiful sites the city has to offer. We will also be speaking at two locations in "The Golden Gate City" while raising funds for KPF.

Don't forget to sign up for the Jake Vinson Family Grant. You can visit our website to apply.

Getting ready to pack the suitcase, blast some Willie and get on the road....again. Remember, Where there's a wheel there's a way.