Sunday, January 26, 2014

South Florida/Coconut Cup Series # 5, Markham Park - Sunrise, Florida


Markham Park

3rd Place, Women Pro/Expert

It was tough day on the trails. Since winter left Florida just like that in a blink of an eye, suddenly it got quite warm. Drought that did continue for quite a while however left trails very soft, loose and sketchy.

Fast train of Pro/Expert guys

Up and Over



Racing in Florida is no joke.

Riders here are super driven by all different means. We all train hard and strive for perfection.

We love this sport so much that we push our limits each time we get out on the trails.

This is our passion and second job after our day job. For some lucky souls it is actual a way to make a living…

If you have a bad day and not feeling you are on your game you are done, you are being consumed like a little bug and squished right before it. It’s brutal, but so life like. 






This energy can fuel you or burn you, all depends how strong you are and how far you are willing to go.

Eying the turn




I’m learning that even though we are limited creatures, life itself has no limits, only our own mind creates boundaries and determines when it’s enough.

I have my moments, I can be so fueled that the energy and desire gets so strong than there is no stopping me, but also like a burning star I can have my less than desirable days or even weeks.

I think this is where I am right now. I raced already since September and it’s a long time to go back to back weekend after weekend to the starting line. I was focused, I was hungry but now I’m mellowing down…







For the past few races I’m finding out I’m pushing less, I am not trying so hard, not taking risks, I just want the series to be over with. But at the same time I know the moment racing will end I will miss it!


Finishing the Gun Range trail


How weird is this setup?

Also what is already occupying my mind greatly is the upcoming start of triathlon season. It is just a few weeks away. I keep worrying how many things I still have to do and didn’t have time to get to. All this racing takes me away from the training and puts me in this state where nothing goes good anymore.

Everything I do keeps slowing down and it plays tricks on my mind. Am I burning out? Is it mental, physical am I doing something wrong?

I’m stressing and not caring at the same time. I stress I’m going backwards but when I race I don’t care to try harder or maybe I am afraid because I don’t want to overdo it.






My racing today felt like a mediocre training ride. Maybe it’s sad but at the same time I might be just fine when you look at the bigger picture. My knee (pretty much like myself) on the end of each biking season got the KT tape wrap since it couldn’t take the constant racing anymore. So every pedal stroke today on the trail did hurt and especially on the final lap and on the climbs. Thankfully we didn’t have as many of them today.

Is he catching me?

The course was set up weirdly again, like soft and mushy and narrow version of Amelia trails. Not my first choice. I didn’t like the lap when I practiced it the first time around; by the second lap I was fine with it but not in love. This park is so much better than that.

On the normal days it has so much flow, great packed and challenging terrain, awesome climbs and fast descents. Today it felt just flat, loose and uninspiring. All the great parts were taken out and new and very soft bypasses had been created and run through instead. Also the park is heading in the unknown direction. All the rocks, logs and parts that make this park so unique and important for technical riding and training purposes, sadly those things recently are being removed, trails widened and smoothed out. It makes it very uninspiring, unmemorable and not fun, those sections are becoming just another Amelia. We really do not need that and I hope strongly that someone will put a stop to it and keep the park as it meant to be, safe but honest and rough as it should be.





But during the race I dealt with it as it was and didn’t let it bother me in any way.

Absorbing the mound

After the start at the open gate we took off on a wide gravel path and biked full speed into the first trail.


Maybe a little too fast
This is where the trail system stayed true to what it should be until things started to get too smooth.

Shortly after we wondered to the soft bypasses… Even though I wasn’t biking super-fast I made a ton of mistakes on the first lap. If it was just me, the course, or pressure from passing riders I’m not sure.

I know I tried to accommodate as best as I could people that had to go by, sometimes a whole group of fast male riders, but later on I found some of them on the side of the trail or crashing or experiencing some kind of mechanical problem. It made me feel like it was a waste of my lap time to slow down and let them go by for really no gain. But I did what had to be done and was very cooperative and sometimes maybe too much, sacrificing my own results in order to don’t hinder someone else’s times. It hurts but I want to do things right. However there was this one rider on the Gun Range trail which didn’t click with me in a good way, he simply whistled and later on demanded to go by where there was really no space for such a move. First of all I don’t react to people whistling at me since I believe this is disrespectful and especially when approaching a woman. Secondly yelling and demanding a pass right away is not cool, since I’m not going to jump off my bike, stop my race and stand in the bushes while the path is only a foot wide and the racer is not really that much faster than me. And when finally doing a U turn on the trail I told him to go by, but he was far back and not ready and I had to wait there on the turn for him to finally go by. Now I regret for letting him get away with it so easily. If he is so good he should be able to pass me on his own. But that was only one incident in the whole race that left me with bad feeling.

Around the berm

Everyone else was super cooperative and respectful as it should be. I am so nice out there, and often possibly to nice and I get punished for it.

The lap was so short and fast, only 6 miles with 30 min lap times that went by so quickly. Second lap was better for me, more composed, less people on the trails and less mistakes. I didn’t feel I was pushing hard however. On the final lap I talked myself into putting a little more effort when my body was the most tired and I wanted it to be my fastest lap. But the lap time turned to be identical to my first lap, but this time I rode way smoother and did everything right. I enjoyed riding some of the sections like the Area 51 ramp or the Big Gulp drop and the following long wooden ramp. Some sections were really fun and I tried to make the best out of it. I think I enjoyed most the final lap besides my knee bothering me then the most. I still wanted to have a great ride and feel that I did some good work out there. But when I finished I wasn’t really that overwhelmingly tired and thus went for a small jog. After that we had the presentation and shortly after we were heading home and then straight to work. Yep, it was another extreme day that doesn’t have an end on the horizon.


Teammate passing for the win in his category




But so many amazing people showed up at the race site today. There were friends with families, spouses, kids that were racing also. Our good friend Wally who was sick for the past few weeks and couldn’t race showed and was a great cheering support. Dave who was racing hard crashed on one of the sections and was left with nice bruises and cuts all over his knee but still finished in a good spirit. Melissa had her birthday today and could have stayed home with her husband Kenny and daughter Stephanie, but they all showed up and raced and did well…:)










I think this is why I enjoy it so much. I love being surrounded by focused, hardworking and passionate and just plain good people. I’m very driven myself too so it fits. I need to have goals, I go from one task to the next one and it doesn’t make a difference what it might be. It must just feel right at the time. It’s this never ending quest that makes my life worthwhile.
 
Expert Ladies Podium: Jen, Kathy and Myself "B"

I am wired this way; I can’t kick back and just do nothing. Well I can sit down and relax and enjoy the peace and quiet and often when I do have some time I fully do just that, but when I’m doing so I plan in my head my next move. It can be the next picture I want to take of my hummingbird, the next flower I want to plant to support my native wildlife oriented garden, next project to make things around me more perfect and more beautiful, the next big trip, or what my next race might be. All of it it’s important and nothing would make sense without this constant list of to-do’s.

I was always since I can remember this little girl with a big ponytail, big bag full of gear thrown over my shoulder and head full of big dreams. But also I always had amazing support first coming from my parents and especially from my dad, who also has an amazing athletic background and was believing in me and looking after my carrier back in Poland as if it was his own. Now my husband took over the baton and is being a ridiculous support as would my father be and you really can’t find husbands like this just about anywhere. So I guess I’m very lucky on that note. What I would change however is to make my husband less cranky and instead redirect this energy to learning how to cook! ;-)

Consequences of riding hard in Markham

But seriously what I can wish for every good person out there is to make your own Big List of Big Dreams and just keep working on it. I believe everyone has something special about them, everyone has some hidden talent and purpose; everyone should be allowed to follow their dreams and give them a chance to see the day…

Monster Thank You to my Husband Pax for the incredible pictures today!!!
 
Of course my life is easier, my bike is faster my body is stronger and my dreams are possible because of all my amazing Sponsors:
 
Bike Tech Miami, Syntace, Magura, Stan’s Notubes, Schwalbe, ESI Grips, Clif, Xpedo, Trainer Road, Garden of Life, Pro Gold Lubricants, Kuat Racks, Light & Motion, KT tape and New for 2014 - Louis Garneau, Selle Italia, Huub and Rotor Bike Components!

Until next time!


Saturday, January 18, 2014

South Florida/Coconut Cup series # 4 and ITT, Amelia Earhart Park - Hialeah, Florida


Individual Time Trial- Saturday

What an incredible way to do a Time Trail. The start and finish was right on the top of the climb giving the feeling of competing in a Red Bull event!

Bob McCarty rocking the start
The course was set up very nicely, all single-track and all fast, with a good amount of big power climbs which, well required power. I didn't have much of that today after my hard training week unfortunately.

Me getting some air right after the start

I knew I was not going to shake up the little under 3.5 mile course today but am still happy with the time I was able to pull, 14:14 mins and a first time ever 14 mph average speed. This gave me 4th today and now if you can imagine me doing the same trail actually rested... :-)

Hammer time
Getting up the speed






















Not victorious but happy. Also satisfied that I didn't end up like a quite a few riders which crashed badly today in the chase for this perfect lap time.

On the sweet berm

It was a beautiful day in the park, with a cool breeze and an amazing blue sky. Crazy amount of people also filled up the park making it even more special. I'm glad I took part of such a nice event...

On the hill into the finish


Now on to the Cross Country Race on Sunday....

Home Base for the race at the Bike Tech tent...

Sunday morning was cold, in the 40s when we were leaving the house. That’s some serious temperatures for South Florida. But the sky was so beautifully blue that it was tough to decide if I should love the day or hate it. But after dressing in multiple layers it was not that bad, well until we started biking to warm up and then the cold air would just pierce through all your clothing.

Thankfully by the time it was time to race I was able to peel off all my layers and was quite comfortable.  The ladies start got a little delayed because of wardrobe malfunction of one female rider and the single speed guys were sent off first. I think it was a good thing really since they are all fast and would not be riding over us to get ahead this time.

Aggressively attacking the hill

I was definitely not race ready today; it was just not my day, not even my weekend really. It happened, what can I say?

If it was for me I would not have allowed myself to go that tired before the race. But how could my husband know how I really feel? The whole week we trained and trained and I guess trained a little too hard because I had nothing this weekend.

This weekend I pushed the limits and my body didn’t want to go anymore. All I wanted was to just curl up into a ball and fall asleep anytime, anywhere…

 But here I am on the start line for the second attempt and seconds later we went off.

Around the bend

There was a nice train of fast and some fresh or fresher for sure than me ladies getting up to speed. Some that don’t race particularly the whole series but really enjoy racing in this park. Me, well you know my story for today.

So I tucked in behind the ladies and was wandering for how long I was going to be able to hang on. It wasn’t that bad at first and I felt I was keeping up pretty well until we got to the climbs. The difference of a rested body and a tired body attempting to climb the hill was huge and this is where I started drifting away. It took a long time to get this “I’m alone” feeling but when it happened I started to pity talk myself on how I allowed once again to lead myself into such a self-destruction. I was upset with myself and I was angry with my husband for not listening. But it was not a bad and strong anger, but rather a sad disappointment, since I really would have loved to be able to show everyone what I got,  and not what I don’t have when I’m exhausted...

I knew something was funky here

When I was on the trails today, alone, I was doing a lot of self-talk and even some blog talk. Yes, I do write blogs in my head when I race, I find it relaxing when needed, and it takes my mind of the pain that I am enduring. One of the things that I said, “I need a Coach to Coach my Coach how to Coach Me!”

Other option, get a Coach. And another probably the most worth investigating, listen to myself and to what my body is telling me and don’t allow anyone or anything to overwrite it!

Seriously, that would really help. It is important to respect your body and your sanity and often I’m not allowing it to happen.

Around the berm

So all these frustrations lead me to completely not drinking on the first lap, I hardly remembered right before the shoot to actually grab my gel and eat. For the whole race I didn’t look at my GPS even once, usually I like to check all the data while I race even in the most exhausting part of it, but not today. I didn’t know my lap times, heart rate, and cadence, nothing really mattered.

When on lap two I started telling myself how much I love biking, how much I like biking fast and adore floating through the trails. I tried to grab the faint feelings of this joy where I could, but it was tough. Mostly I just wanted to get to the end. I didn’t feel as a strong rider that I know I currently am, all the hills, flats, turns were so much more challenging for me today. It completely reminded me of the feeling I had two years back that was completely normal when I was racing in the base class. Back then everything was extremely difficult and I had no clue how to pull speeds that I am capable of racing nowadays. So I was not upset at all with how I placed really, because I knew it was not going to be a great finish for me but with how the riding felt. I just wished for this adrenaline and speed feeling that assures me that I’m pushing the boundaries and having a great time at the same time.

I can catch them




But really with my average speed of 12.8 mph (which I checked after the race) and a one minute gap that I had to the third rider for most of the race, it was really not that terribly bad. My heart rate stayed super low, which told me I didn’t put all the effort, but there was not much to give really so it wouldn’t make a difference today.


I was so grateful for all the support however, Mickey Pike happened to be once again super “Photo Ninja” and was in all the nice spots not only photographing her husband Tom but also rest of the riders and also cheering on each time she saw me.



 




There were a lot of people that were encouraging and understanding and seemed they knew I was having a tough time out there.

I still think I can


And then on to lap three I got flat, not complete flat but a little puncture which happened to keep seeping air out of my back tire. It all started with weird buzzing noise on the turns and then the rim banging on all the roots and rocks that I was riding over. I really didn’t want to destroy my bike, so I took it easy. Thankfully I was only a few miles away from the finish and there was still some air left. I was standing up and keeping the weight forward as much as I could in order to don’t make things worse. On the last berm my bike totally rolled the almost empty tire and was about to spill me on the ground. I was already at super slow speeds and just cruised to the finish line.

All in all it was good learning experience, for me, for my coach, maybe for whoever else might take some advice from my race today.

I was hardly visible this weekend during this race and like most of you noticed I just kept to myself. I was just tired and wanted to disappear.


Wow these climbs are tiring me

Often I have to work 15 hour long work days so I can make it to the race site on the weekend.  Sometimes I’m very exhausted, sleep deprived and have little window to squeeze all my bike and triathlon training in and also the racing. In between that somewhere I still have to have some time left to be a regular human being and show my home and forest creatures and my beloved flowers some love and prepare healthy meals. All of it takes a lot of time and days are never long enough.

When everyone was still racing and relaxing and getting home after the race, I rushed home, took a nice warm bath that felt so incredible and unfortunately just minutes later I headed straight to work. Yes, no nap, no recovery, no time to reflect for me today sadly. It was by choice however so the extended work hours do not destroy my next weekend. Life is tough, but so pretty at the same time…

Being a Mountain Biker, and Triathlete and having full time job is not easy in any way. But at least I can show you that even though it’s not easy it is possible. It takes a lot of work, energy, sacrifice, self-doubt, but also when you don’t give up on yourself it brings a lot of joy and amazing results.

I guess I should be looking forward
There is a dip, glad I looked forward
























By my own choice or not, I’m still glad I showed up today on the start line and did my best.
I enjoyed this beautiful day and was happy to play a small part in it and support our amazing bike community…

Until next time!



Monster Thank You to my Husband Pax for the incredible pictures today!!!


Of course my life is easier, my bike is faster my body is stronger and my dreams are possible because of all my amazing Sponsors:

Bike Tech Miami, Syntace, Magura, Stan’s Notubes, Schwalbe, ESI Grips, Clif, Xpedo, Trainer Road, Garden of Life, Pro Gold Lubricants, Kuat Racks, Light & Motion, KT tape and New for 2014 - Louis Garneau, Selle Italia, Huub and Rotor Bike Components!



Sunday, January 5, 2014

Amelia Sixty Nine - 6/9 Hour Endurance - Hialeah, Fl

Amelia Sixty Nine
9 Hour Coed Team - 1st Place

Beata Wronska – BIKE TECH and Filippo Barbieri - TEAM PUSH UCI ELITE TEAM, but today we rode proudly also as our own creation Lean, Mean and Green Team. :-)

We did awesome, it was a long and exhausting day on the trails, but we had a good time and we gave everything we had. We pushed some amazing times that ultimately lead us to the victory.
It was gloomy and rainy for the first part of the day so the course was difficult and slick, but thankfully we managed without major issues and raced well into the dark and to the podium...

Beata Wronska – BIKE TECH and Filippo Barbieri - TEAM PUSH UCI ELITE TEAM - 1st Place

Here we go…

There is always time in life to try something new. And I exactly felt this time around like doing so.

I raced before six and twelve hour solo races and knew by know what they bring, how they feel and what to expect from them. They are awesome and tough and a very steady paced, however this time I wanted it to be different and I was set to have an awesome time racing a coed team. I was looking for a change of pace, more intensity and explosive riding, and to enjoy it with a mate and to get a different perspective on the same event.

Luckily for me when on the quest for this perfect team mate I found exactly what I was looking for and am extremely glad that the person that I really wanted to greatly race with was as happy as I was to unite forces…

So Filippo Barbieri and I were very excited and were looking forward to this amazing challenge. Since we never raced before naturally we went together to pre-ride the course. Honestly watching Filippo ride and float on the bike through the trails was very inspiring and I was very happy to ride in such great company.

Hopes for the race day were that the meteorologists are going to be mistaken once again and the predicted downpour at 5pm was not going to happen. But while driving in the morning to the race site the sky turned gloomy and was covered with thick grey clouds.

The plans to be early on the race site also turned a little differently and I was hoping it was not going to affect our race plans since there was so much to do to set up for such a long day. But I stayed composed and knew we will pull through.

So many team tents were lined up on both sides of the feed zone and were filled with a bunch of good friends or simply people that love to ride their bikes. It was great to see everyone out there… Our Bike Tech Tent was also filled with pretty much all the team riders ready for a big riding day…

BikeTech Team Tent
While Filippo was warming up I was pacing left and right running the whole race preparation in my head. It was weird not to start when the gun goes off and at the same time calming and stressing, since now I had to worry about my team mate and that everything was going to be fine. It definitely affected both of us. While on and off the course we both felt responsible for each other and it was not a race only for myself anymore but for both of us.
 
Filippo at the Le Mans start

Filippo in the twisty trails






And he was off. It was an awfully long run to the bikes which were placed on the ground. I remember exactly how exhausting running in biking shoes is. After getting on the bike I counted Filippo to be 13th into the trails and our competition was very nearby. I was confident however that he will do great and I was in the meantime scrambling to get myself ready for the race. Filippo pulled great lap times and by the time it was my turn we had a nice little gap which we were hoping to maintain.









Wrist band swap at transition


We switched wristband in the transition area and I was off. I don’t know how really it happened but I felt very strong right from the start. Even though the beginning of the race is always hard and it takes time to lower the heart rate and calm the breathing but I knew it was going to be great lap. And it was, probably one of the best ones I ever had. I was flying no matter what the course threw at me, it had to be the first time ever that I realized what those tiny double jump humps were for. First time ever I was actually flying nicely over them, and it felt so good. I was carving the turns, loving the downhills and attacking the uphills. I was definitely in the zone. Only thing that was slowing me down was the light rain which we started experiencing after the start and it continued for almost the first half of the race. There were damp and very muddy sections on the course, with wet roots and also slick corners. Knowing that we have a whole day of racing it was wise to take precautions in the parts like this.



Team work captured





For the first time ever I didn’t have to worry about anyone passing me besides one guy I think in the whole nine hour race. Usually I am the one that has to pull to the side and let guys go by but this time I had riders giving me the right of way and letting me go. Very good feeling really and everyone was amazingly pleasant. I remember a group of cheering guys on top of the big climb section standing there quietly and watching people ride by and suddenly yelling “oh yeah, this is how it’s done” when I was charging up the hill. It was very cool and motivating. Love those little things that make racing so much more special.








When I got to the transition my lap time was in the low 37 minute mark and speed of 13.3 mph. I was happy but man it was exhausting. Going all out for one lap of 8.2 miles is definitely very tough and very draining. Best part was that we were about to do it over and over again for the whole day. When it was Filippo’s turn he went for a two lapper. I couldn’t even imagine how that would feel if you don’t treat is as a normal race and just bring your pace down to be able to handle the distance. But he managed to have very good lap times.  And then there was time for me to go for two laps in the row to allow my partner to rest up and eat something solids as I did. When I started I felt very good again and rode the lap as it was my only one and had even a faster time than on the first one, also in the 37 minute mark with 13.4 mph this time. But the following lap definitely felt so much more difficult and I still remember this amazing burn in my legs and wondering how crazy it is going to be to bike so hard for the whole day. Therefore the following lap was a bit slower and I lost maybe a minute which wasn’t so bad. Our lead increased to a more evident seven minutes but it was not enough to get comfortable. We knew we had to be at our top performance throughout the race. By now I was pretty tired. When you do a few all out efforts, empty your muscle stores, race your heart rate to the max levels, get sweaty, muddy, hungry, your body just collapses in the chair and doesn’t want to do much more.

B on the berm

And you sit there, and start getting cold, icky, uncomfortable….

Since there on we decided to ride one lap at the time. There was so little time in between. By the time you sit down, take your shoes off, drink, eat, and change to fresher and drier clothes, it’s time to get up and warm up and go again, and again and again… Doing so many time trails in a row throughout the day happened to be more difficult than I could have expected. But we kept on going…

Pushing on the winding uphill


The sky was still gloomy but at least it wasn’t raining anymore. Things slowly started to dry out but when looking at the time we still had quite a while to go. At some point I saw Filippo dropping his chain in the tight single-track. It was a little scary but he arrived once again safely and with a good time. All I could do was just wait and hope that everything was going to be fine. There was no chance I could have gone anywhere near the course to even watch him ride, since every ounce of energy that I had left I had to save for my next turn, so I waited. At some point when I was in the trails still hammering and suffering and enjoying riding at the same time I heard the announcement of the six hour race winners. It had to be nice I thought, but still we had four hours to go since we started a full hour later for our nine hour race.

On the carpeted hill





 


Trails were getting emptier now but for us the race was still on full force. Not much later I was going on my final lap without the required lights, simply it started slowly getting dark. Most of the trails were still pretty well lit maybe for a few darker and creepier parts which were going to get much creepier later on…








 

Filippo was first to go with the light, but still it wasn’t completely dark. I was happy we were probably the most lit team on the course. We had exactly same setup of Light&Motion Seca 2000 on the helmet and Taz 1000 on the bar.
 
Filippo with Light & Motion in action


When I took off with my lights on it wasn’t pitch black yet, but the park was getting darker and darker with each passing minute. Only thing that I was not looking forward riding in the dark was the creepy, muddy, dark and uninviting section on the far back side of the course. But when I eventually got there it wasn’t all so bad and I managed to get out of there pretty quickly. Biking fast in the dark and in the middle of the forest was such a different experience of what we had during the day. It was this whole new and unknown universe.
 



Getting ready for my turn at night
The ample amount of light coming off from me was lighting up the path, the trees and those amazing tree air roots hanging down like in a tropical rain forest. Everything looked so beautiful and so mysterious. Tiny bugs were flying by me like snowflakes from moving in a high speed car. At some point a family of raccoons galloped away from the path I was riding on, while another one decided to cross my path, grab some snack on the right and still run back to where he came from, all of it while I was riding toward it. Hope it was something really yummy and worth scaring both of us. :) I got slammed by a moth straight in the face and was working hard to keep my mouth shut as much as I could in order to not eat any living additional nutrition to what I had preset for the race as my Cliff products.

Also during the final laps I experienced this overwhelming headache from constantly overworking the system. 



Working as a Team well into the dark




This lap was definitely slower and especially in the very twisty sections things were coming up at you pretty fast, therefore I chose to take my time there after some tree log jumped out from nowhere in one corner right at me. It was all good however and a really nice experience and to make things better it was my thankfully final lap. One more switch and it was now Filippo heading once more into the darkness. And like he admitted afterwards, he really flew, just like there was no darkness at all. He pulled an amazing final lap time which not only confirmed our victory but also gave us a whole lap completed on the rest of the teams.








 
It was an incredible day and performance for both of us. I’m very glad we decided to ride together and share this experience.

Beata with Light & Motion in action


After a very nice award ceremony it was time to pack up all the gear and head home to rest up for the next challenge. As for Filippo he had his five year old son already impatiently awaiting his dad’s beautiful trophy that was almost his height and welcomed it with a big smile on his face…


Soaking up the Victory...
Little Alessandro with his fathers trophy!


My Pax did a tremendous job being our Team Manager and simply great team mate. When I was too exhausted to make my own drink or do really anything he had everything lined up for me. He made sure Filippo also got everything he needed and also had time in between caring for both of us, giving us splits and taking pictures. He was pretty tired at the end of the day almost as we were…

Pax sporting L&M Solite next to our Bike Tech tent and my bike on the Kuat rack after a long day of supporting both of us!

We had a lot of amazing people cheering for us and encouraging us which I always love and appreciate.


It was another good day out there on our bikes, doing simply what we love to do…
And it's amazing how our passion directly affects everyone around us, our spouses, families, kids. By doing what we love we also bring a lot of new people to the sport and hopefully new generations or racing fanatics...


Filippo and I super happy after the race..
Beata Wronska – BIKE TECH and Filippo Barbieri - TEAM PUSH UCI ELITE TEAM
Huge thanks to All our amazing sponsors and especially Light & Motion for the incredible support and for allowing us to race fast even after the sun was long gone...

Also to my husband Pax who was our Team Manager for the day and kept tabs on us and made sure we had everything that was needed during this long and demanding race! He did incredible job and I'm very grateful that he commits all his free time to helping me achieve my goals.

All three of us did an incredible job today! I'm supper happy and glad and grateful for such an amazing team!

B with Specialized "Sollie" after the race


Of course my life is easier, my bike is faster my body is stronger and my dreams are possible because of all my amazing Sponsors:
Bike Tech Miami, Syntace, Magura USA, Stan’s Notubes, Schwalbe, ESI Grips, Clif, Xpedo, Trainer Road, Garden of Life, Pro Gold Lubricants, Kuat Racks, Light & Motion, KT tape and New for 2014 - Louis Garneau, Selle Italia, Huub and Rotor Bike Components!