Vandiver

Vandiver Ticketed for Excessive Speed: Back to Back Events Showcase Progress

What follows is a brief interview with local racing phenom Gina Vandiver. Over the October 2-3 weekend, she competed in the East Texas Hills Classic Race and the McKinney Triathlon.

LBC: First of all, congratulations on this past weekend. Preliminary reports suggest you did quite well.

GV: Where should I start?

LBC: Well, I think all of our readers would be interested to know about your pre-race preparation. How do you get ready for a race? What did you do to prepare for Saturday's East Texas Hill Classic?

GV: A friend and I arrived at the course at 6:30 am to help set up, etc.

LBC: Excuse me, you were racing and yet you still take time to help set up? Incredible.

GV: Ugh. So let’s try this one more time.

LBC: Sorry, I won't interrupt.

GV: There were 7 trucks parked back at Simpson’s Bike shop that were to be used for follow/lead vehicles, so a few of us went to pick them up. Round one, went fine, other than the fact that I hate driving big trucks and I could barely reach the pedal.

LBC: So, you're very self-conscious about how short you are?

GV: Ugh . . . Round two, I was the last one out of the gate because the parking brake was on and it took me a little bit to find the release. So, off I go back to Lake Tyler, when I get pulled over by a big fat chica cop in Whitehouse.

LBC: Incredible. You know about the fat girl that was in the Whitehouse? Wasn't that a couple of years ago? Oh . . . nevermind, I'm easily distracted.

GV: She had no mercy on me (even Bobb Hebb in the Tyler bike club tried to get me out of it). I didn’t have my license or anything with me since I was just going to grab it real quick, didn’t even think about it, so she asked me all types of unnecessary questions while glaring me down. So, I received a speeding ticket for doing 69 in a 55.

LBC: Wow! You're a fast woman. So that really motivated you, right. I bet you're really amped up . . . ready to hammer.

GV: My race was later in the day so I rode with a couple of Tyler bike club women behind the master’s group race to watch and help when needed. That only made me nervous about my race, especially watching grown men get off and walk up the beast.

LBC: So let me get this straight. To prepare for a race, you blast through the Whitehouse, exchange heated words with the fat chick, cruise around with some other fast women and watch grown men wrestle with the "beast." Huh??? Hey, whatever works. Tell me about the race.

GV: We took off at a nice pace. Four of the girls were newbies to road racing and it showed.

LBC: Ooooohhhh. Cat fight. Meowww.

GV: Ugh . . . One girl led almost the entire way to the beast…so I just sat back and waited for the sparks to fly. We reached the feedzone about 1k from the beast, which was right before another good sized hill. One girl even asked if that was the beast, but I just laughed. We reached the bottom of the beast and we were immediately blown apart. Three of us hammered (umm, well, moved faster than the other girls) up the hill.

LBC: It is so exciting. My heart is racing. The Beast really changed the race, I guess.

GV: The remaining three were much slower, one girl even unclipped, but got back on her bike. Once to the top I was breathing like a 90 year old man with asthma.

LBC: You know, 90 year old male asthmatics have feelings too.

GV: One girl slowly slipped away from me, while the third place girl dropped way behind me.

LBC: So at this point, you could probably tell how the competition was stacking up. Did you feel like the race was over?

GV: I should have forced myself to jump on the first place wheel, but like I said, I was doing good to breathe at that point. Since we were doing 47 miles, we had to do another small loop (same as the killer hill time trial course). I sure was wishing for my aerobars that day.

LBC: So you're rolling around the course, largely by yourself . . . did you see anybody else? Where you lonely? Depressed? Did you feel as if the whole world had abandoned you and left you to suffer through your miserable life all alone?

GV: When I hit FM 177 again, I ended up right behind the men 4’s. I was even gaining on them until we reached the beast. This time, I just wanted to get to the top, no matter how slow so I didn’t pull anything fancy (not that I could if I wanted to).

LBC: Wow.

GV: Back at the top, I only had 20 miles to go so I just tucked in my drops and cruised. The wheel truck stayed behind me since the others were so far back, and I was the only one who brought wheels, and Cathy (from the tyler bike club) was driving and she wanted to watch me. I had the easy 2nd place, and . . .

LBC: Did you ever see the first place girl again?

GV: Apparently I was closing on 1st place towards the end. The first place girl is a triathlete (she does like half IM’s and stuff) and has her own personal coach, so I didn’t feel so bad after hearing that. Third place came in several minutes after me, and the remaining three trickled in a long time after that.

LBC: She had a personal coach and you . . . you showed up early to help set up, drove a support vehicle, suffered through the chica cop's harassment, rode the race AND STILL almost caught her. You go, girl.

GV: Let it be known that all of the girls finished while several of the boys weenied out.

LBC: That's why I always liked girls better than boys. Well, actually that's not really why, but that's really not important right now.

LBC: New subject. After Saturday's incredible event with the weenie boys, the fat chick in the Whitehouse, the fast women from Tyler, and . . . uhhh . . . the 90 year old asthmatic . . . You embarked on yet another race. Sunday was no day of rest for you.

GV: I got up at 2 am Sunday morning so that I could leave by 3 am to make it to McKinney in time for a triathlon.

LBC: Oddly enough, on Sunday morning I rolled over in bed at 2 am, then again at 3 am, before finally getting up for my favorite tri-fat breakfast (sausage, bacon and fried eggs).

GV: Ugh . . . Once there I did my usual get set up, etc. It was very cool out that morning, low to mid 60’s. The water temp was 74 degrees which meant that wet suits were legal, and of course, I didn’t have one. So I just told myself to tough it out.

LBC: Tell me about it, girlfriend. I've seen some of those people in wet suits and some of that definitely should not be legal. All that black neoprene . . . bulging in some places, caved-in in other places. Don't even get me started about the speedos.

GV: Ugh . . . My wave jumped off the dock and my entire body immediately tensed up, but then relaxed. The water actually felt great during the swim. When the horn went off for the swim, I immediately felt like I was left behind, but I didn’t panic…I just relaxed and did my thing. Before I knew it I was passing several green caps (men 39 and under that started 3 minutes before us) so that made me feel good. I really enjoyed the swim this time and I didn’t do as bad as I thought (4th fastest time out of my division).

LBC: Those green-capped weenie boys are the worst, eh? So you had a good swim, I guess that really boosted your confidence for the transition and the bike?

GV: I made it ashore and ran into transition (I had the fastest T1 time) and then out on the bike. 20 mph in wet clothing on the bike is COLD!! Several of the girls put on long sleeves, but of course, I was too good for that.

LBC: There you go again. Toughing it out. Do you think being cold hurt you? Would you do it differently, if you could?

GV: I quickly warmed up and was glad with my decision.

LBC: So you're on the bike and feeling pretty relaxed. Did you ever feel like the previous day's events were taking their toll?

GV: My legs screamed at every uphill, but somehow I managed to pass people. Even more amazing was how many people I passed going downhill (someone should really tell those people that the pedals work going down too).

LBC: Wait. Do you mean . . . Huh, I suppose it would work.

GV: I had the fastest bike time out of all the women, and out of 169 people total, I was 17th overall. Not too shabby for these “beast mutilated” legs.

LBC: That is great, but just between us . . . you're legs aren't that bad. In fact, I have it on good authority that you were even acknowledged to have the best buns at a recent Longview Bike Club event.

GV: I made it back to transition and headed out for the run. My feet were numb…I guess I hadn’t warmed up as much as I thought. As I was heading out, they were yelling that I was the third female, yippie!

LBC: A "female yippie?" Is that a good thing? Did that inspire you?

GV: I felt like I was crawling on the run because my legs were so tight. A couple of guys passed me and I also passed a couple of guys.

LBC: I guess you were still reeling from that "yippie" comment, eh? How did you feel towards the end of the race?

GV: Coming in for the finish, there was a person ahead of me, but I didn’t care…I just took it easy on the way in. Little did I know that the person in front of me was a female. That’s what sucks about these things, sometimes it’s hard to distinguish between male and female (another reason I am reluctant to cut my hair, for fear that I may be confused for a male, yikes!), had I known I would have kicked it in.

LBC: I know what you mean. A couple of years ago I went up to what I thought was this hot chick and, like, started talking. She was really digging me and all but then . . . She was like . . . He . . . Have you ever heard that song about "Lola" . . . "just like cherry cola?"

GV: Ugh . . . So, I guess I learned my lesson that I should always go as hard as I can. However, I remained the 3rd overall female, I won my age division, and finished 24th out of 169 people.

LBC: Simply incredible. So what length was this event?

GV: Oh yeah, it was a 750 meter swim, 14 mile bike, and 3.1 mile run. Afterwards, I waited for a couple of other Roadkill people to finish the olympic distance. OMG, one of them told me a gross story, I'm not going to tell it, but let's just say, don't ever borrow a wetsuit from a triathlete!

LBC: Fair enough. I won't borrow a wetsuit from anyone. Thanks so much for taking the time to talk to us. You really gave us a lot of information.

GV: Anyways, wow did I get long winded.