FFFC Women Who Ride Series – Lisa Vaughn-Spence

FFFC: Please introduce yourself to our readers.

LV-S: My name is Lisa Vaughan-Spence I am 42 years old and the mother of 2 children Anthony 22yrs old and Danielle 5.5 years old.

FFFC: How and why did you get started riding?

LV-S: After deciding I wanted a new challenge I decided to try my hand in the world of triathlons.

FFFC: Which type of bike(s) do you prefer to ride?

LV-S: I actually do not own a bike YET!! I borrowed a Specialized Road bike from a friend for my race. I was not sure that I would even ever ride again given this was my first attempt at a triathlon and the most biking experience I had prior was casual riding on the boardwalk at the beach in the summer. The bike portion of the race turned out to be my strongest and the part I enjoyed the most.

FFFC: What do you like most about riding?

LV-S: I feel powerful on the bike. I have always had strong legs and once I actually learned how to shift the gears properly I felt like the most powerful part of my body was able to take me to new places. It took a little time to get over the fear . The rate of speed that you are traveling sometimes while going downhill made me very nervous at first. The more I rode the more in control I felt and that is when I was able to enjoy it the most.

FFFC: What is the furthest distance or longest time you have ridden?

LV-S: The furthest I have gone is aprox 20 miles and it took me about 1hour and 20 min. I was having an exceptionally good ride that day.

FFFC: Do you belong to a riding group? Shout’em out right here.

LV-S: I follow some groups on facebok, but have yet to join a riding group. Most of my riding was done with Live now Tri Now and my roll Dawg Shylice Nelson

FFFC: What do you do to stay in riding shape (exercise, nutrition, etc.)?

LV-S: My nutrition is a constant battle and not as enjoyable at times as the fitness part. I try to do at least 5 days a week of cardio usually running. Since getting into the Tri world I have added swimming into my cardio routine as well. I also strength train at least 3X a week.I will soon be adding some spin classes to try to stay in riding condition through the winter.

FFFC: What was the biggest challenge when you started riding or still is even now?

LV-S: My biggest challenge was gear shifting, I had an angel by the name of Danielle Crump agree to ride with me and help me learn the gears. That was huge!! Once I learned it made all the difference and that is when I began to love it. Hills are always a challenge and are still a work in progress, but I have made huge strides through just learning to change gears properly.

FFFC: Do you have any upcoming races or rides planned? Share the event details here.

LV-S: I plan to do a indoor Tri soon riding on a spin bike, pool swim and indoor track running. Just something fun to do.

FFFC: Who helped you as you learned the ropes of riding?

LV-S: I would say Danielle Crump had the biggest influence by teaching me how the gears work. However there were countless others that were very helpful with tips and motivation.

FFFC: Any advice for someone interested in starting to ride?

LV-S: I would say invest in a good bike and be sure to get a good fit. I suffered for a little while in the beginning until I was fitted properly to the bike I was riding. Good bike shorts are also very helpful when getting started.

FFFC: What has been your biggest accomplishment to date?

LV-S: My biggest accomplishment to date is the completion on the Iron Girl in August. The swimming portion was my biggest obstacle but I am proud to say that I improved my bike time from 2hours for the course the first time I rode it to 1:15 on race day.

FFFC: Who are some of your riding idols (Male or female we don’t discriminate)?

LV-S: I don’t think I have enough experience in the sport to say I have any idols in biking, but I would be remiss if I did not mention all of the people that helped me get to where I am and were very instrumental in helping my experience to be so awesome that I want to continue. Shout out to Danielle Crump, Lisa Steptoe, Dawn Smyers, Aixa Flanders just to name a few. So many people helped me and I am truly appreciative and look forward to getting to the point one day to be able to pay it forward.