According to Training Peaks, August 6 and the L’Etape Du Tour De France Femmes Avec Zwift is only 30 weeks away…

Kind of seems like a long time, but I know how quickly the weeks tick over when I’m working at building fitness and balancing all the things that come with life.

The very good news is that I had an epiphany about three weeks ago. I was trying to manage my own training program and true to form, I over scheduled myself, piled on too many double days, and neglected to recognize that I’m 53 and not 33.

To put it simply: I blew up.

This is a good thing. Because now I’m in the proven and expert hands (and brain) of coach Steve Weller of Bell Lap Coaching. For long time readers of this website, you’ll likely recognize Steve’s name.

Steve is the person who took me from a back-of-the-pack master’s category racer to an elite racer. I went from being a person who wished they could race and compete at the biggest cyclocross races to being someone who did it. Thanks to Steve, I had multiple successful years racing ‘cross in the U.S and Europe with the peak being the 2010 World Cyclocross Championships in Tabor, CZ.

And now here we are, back together again. I couldn’t be happier and more confident with how L’Etape Du Tour De France Femmes Avec Zwift day will be.

August 6, 2026 is more than just the date of L’Etape and riding 120 km to the summit of Mount Ventoux—it’s a reminder to me (and Marc) that we can do and get through hard things—it will be a celebration.

A celebration of my newfound (mostly) healthy body.

10 years ago, there was absolutely no way I could have dreamt of doing this ride.

All it took was having my colon removed on August 8, 2016 and rectum removed on April 30, 2018—for a second chance at life.

When I had my first surgery, I nicknamed my stoma (the part of my small intestine that sticks out of my abdomen, just below my belly button)—Reset.

My stoma and ileostomy allowed my to hit the “reset button” on life and get back to living a full and active life again. For too many years, ulcerative colitis robbed me from truly living.

The surgery on August 8, 2016 changed everything for me. It’s because of this surgery that I’m here today—alive.

I can’t wait for August 6, 2026. Just thinking about the day and how awesome I’ll feel at the end of L’Etape makes my eyes very watery and blurry.

The next day, August 7, 2026 is our 22-year wedding anniversary. I’m so excited to celebrate this day by watching a stage of the Tour De France Femmes Avec Zwift—never in my lifetime did I think I’d see the return of the Tour De France for elite women.

And then August 8, 2026—my 10-year anniversary of living an ileostomy life. I am so thankful to the brilliant doctors and surgeons who took care of me and got me here.

The best way for me to thank them is to do their work justice—by living each day as fully and completely as possible.

The countdown is on to Mount Ventoux!