The not-so-secret life of a busy mother, photographer and Trikke lover.
Dennis Ham tows Quincy Jeffries.
Oh, no, I said to myself: this is going to be tricky. After the announcement of the date for the 2012 Trikkenut 100k, I looked at my calendar and panicked. My daughter’s birthday. Piano recital. Ballet. Too much in the way and I love the 100k. Not to ride, mind you, but to be inspired to ride, to snap pictures of Trikke riders for a brilliant slideshow on YouTube. My husband calls my hobby “Trikke Stalking.”
Anyway, this could definitely be tricky. I decide I’d better take what I can get. I deliver one daughter to ballet and figure I have about an hour to stalk. I head to the beach in my car, looking for that tell-tale bobbing of heads.
I know this trail; I walk it with my skinny dog, the greyhound queen Sydney. But I don’t really know the timing for carving the trail. I didn’t make it to the start of the ride, so I have no way of knowing when everyone took off. I start to think: they must have already passed, and it’ll be awhile before they come back, so I’d better head up the road. As I change my mind and walk towards the car, my heart skips a beat. I see the bob-bob of a carver coming down the path, FAST. Aack! Ugly freeway bridge background! I start running down the path to get a more scenic background, but the rider is advancing way too fast, so I spin around, put up the camera and shoot. It’s Gildo Beleski. Figures!
“It doesn’t matter, they’re Trikkers! They’re my tribe!”
Then I think: everyone else will be by shortly. But no, the man who invented the Trikke tends to leave everyone else in the dust. Eventually a few riders arrive after Gildo, but since I wasn’t able to make it to the start of the ride, some of them don’t know me and figure I’m some random tourist checking them out, not a brilliant Trikke stalker. Oh well, guess introductions will have to wait.
As the Trikke riders pass, I overhear an interesting conversation by beach-goers:
“What are those things?”
“They’re called Trikkes.”
“Man, I’d call em Trikke Torture! That looks hard.”
I can’t keep quiet. I tell em it’s really a blast and that these amazing guys are doing 100k today. They are acceptably impressed.
Anyhow, time is passing; I figure I can probably catch a couple more riders. And where is Claudio Pagan? He normally would’ve been battling it out with Gildo, but I haven’t even seen him today. Ah, there he comes over the train tracks, so I put the camera up … oh man. Dead batteries, grrrr! Why didn’t I bring spares?
Gina Alo leads the way.
I whip out the iPhone, get Claudio trying to make up the time he’s lost (due to a flat tire). Still kicking myself about the batteries (the shot really didn’t show Claudio’s top form) for my SLR, I walk back to the car, realizing I’d better get going if I’m to pick up my daughter from the ballet studio on time. I make a quick pit stop at Marina Park to say hi to the support crew and anyone who remembers me from the last ride, then it’s off to pick up daughter 2.
We head home, decide to take birthday girl to see a movie, watch movie (wondering which lap they’re on now), then head home again. As we’re driving, ooh, Trikke riders on side of the trail with a flat. I turn the car around.
“Mom! What are you doing? Do you even know these people?”
“It doesn’t matter, they’re Trikkers! They’re my tribe!”
I say hi to Quincy Jeffries, Dennis Ham and Juan Ortega, but Q has his patch kit out and is determined to fix his tire, although he looks a bit tired.
We go home, where I come up with a good excuse to hit the trail (the dog needs a walk!). I head over to the bike path, get a couple of shots of riders and a couple of scenics (do these carvers appreciate how beautiful a trail this is?).
Then comes the best shot of all: Dennis on his Pon-e, hauling Quincy on his T-12, the victim of two flat tires. At which point he announces he’s done and asks could I give him a ride back to the park. No problem I say, we head to the park, and I’m done stalking for the day. Especially when I get a text message that tells me we’re late for the piano recital. Oops, Trikke Stalker still needs work on her time management skills. And that brilliant slideshow that should be up on YouTube? Don’t hold your breath. All I can say is it’s a good thing Douguss Weymouth and TrikkeWorld Magazine gets theirs done in a timely manner!
The next time someone pops out of the bushes and takes your picture while riding your Trikke, smile and toss her a flash drive. It just might be the Trikke Stalker!
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