The moment so many of you have been waiting for is here! The culmination of Stacie’s 2023 Gran Fondo Hincapie story. I apologize to both Stacie and our followers as this was meant to be posted shortly after her trip. However, in light of the situation here in Maine the following week we agreed to postpone it as I wanted to give her story the spotlight it truly deserves.
What makes our company remarkable is the people we work with every day. We spend a large amount of time with our co-workers and they truly become family. Stacie is not only my colleague, she is my friend, and I am honored to have been able to help tell her story. -Brittany
Brittany (B)- When did you start cycling and what drew you to it?
Stacie (S): I started mountain biking in my early 20s and then stopped in college to focus on my studies. In 2013, I picked road cycling back up. It was something I enjoyed doing. The thrill of the ride and the feeling of the wind and sun on you. It's exhilarating.
B- Why did you choose to buy a Trek bike?
S- I chose the Trek brand because that’s what Lance Armstrong rode, honestly. I knew it was a great brand and went to Rose Bike Shop in Orono to support local businesses. Trek was the brand that I went with when I got back into cycling so it was a no-brainer to stay with Rose Bike Shop and Trek when I got back into cycling
B- What do you like about your Trek Domane?
It’s the first carbon fiber bike that I went to. It’s quick and lightweight. It’s easy to handle uphill and downhill. Also, it’s got disc brakes which gives me more confidence in braking.
B- What drew you to the Gran Fondo?
S- I was unaware of what the Gran Fondo Hincapie was until they came to Bangor two years ago. When Otis let me know about our sponsorship of this bike race I did some research and knew I wanted to be part of it. As I learned more about what the Gran Fondo was and all the races all over the place I thought “Where has this been all my life? Sign me up.” It’s been a lot of fun to participate in the events here in Bangor and an awesome opportunity in Greenville obviously. I like the fact that we (Darling’s) sponsor it and we provide the SAG vehicles for here in Bangor. We were a little short this year for SAG vehicles as the vehicles we had planned for ended up being sold so I ended up volunteering my truck and my wife volunteered to be one of the SAG drivers for the event. So that’s how it got started.
B– I understand we were able to get you a bike case for your bike. Tell us more about that and forgive me I’m not quite sure how to pronounce it – Scicon.
S- I’m not sure if we’re pronouncing it right. I was not expecting that to happen when I let everyone know that I had been invited. Everyone asked, “Well how are you going to get your bike there?” That’s a great question. I looked at a few options and decided I really didn’t want to drive. So I started looking at cases that make it easier to fly with your bike. I did some research on them and wasn’t surprised at the price but I didn’t really like the price tag on them, they’re very expensive. So I was talking to everyone here at the dealership about how excited I was and that I was going to order the case and move on. Roger and our other managers came to me later that day and said we’re going to buy your bike case for you which was really not expected. I felt I was a little undeserving of the gesture. It’s a big gesture in my opinion. I was completely overwhelmed and again not expecting it but thoroughly appreciative. I did some more research to find the right one to meet my needs and luckily I found just the right one. On sale too! You can’t beat a sale. So we ordered it and I couldn’t be happier.
B- Did they ship it here to the dealership or to you?
S- I had it shipped to my house considering the size of the box which was quite large. It was a huge box. I was actually out to dinner with my best friend when I got the delivery notification and I came home and my wife was home already. I’m not quite sure how she got it in the house.
S- Greenville was the race I thought “Oh I’d like to do that sometime.” Greenville is their flagship event and where they are based. George Hincapie whom the race is actually named lives in Greenville, South Carolina, and runs the Travelers Rest Hotel Domestique with his brother. The idea of going to the flagship event where they have nearly 3000 cyclists every year and riding on the roads that professional cyclists have been on is really cool. Because of our sponsorship and partnership with the Gran Fondo Hincapie here in Bangor and the relationship that I’ve built with them by helping them out with vehicles and support. They reached out to me and said, “Hey why don’t you come down and do the Gran Fondo with us in Greenville, we’d love to have you. Why wouldn’t I go? I said absolutely and here we are.”
B- Tell us about your trip, Day 1: Waking up to get to the airport.
S - I did not get much sleep the night before. Our flight was at 5:30 am leaving Bangor and I probably got 2 hours of sleep I was so excited. I had talked to Craig earlier in the week and asked him what he was doing that Thursday morning. “You need a ride to the airport?” he asked. I said absolutely. So we were up at 330 in the morning and called him and he came right down. Not many people that you work with are willing to get up at 330 in the morning and drive you to the airport. Craig is a great friend, a great co-worker, and a great work husband. He picked us up, helped us unload the vehicle, gave me a big hug, and sent us on our way. I handed my bike over to the ticket agent at the airport and that made me nervous. We got on the airplane and after two quick flights, we landed in South Carolina. It was absolutely beautiful down there. Going through the airport and trying to navigate wheeling this bike around. We got to the baggage claim and we grabbed our other luggage and my bike wasn’t there. I started to get a little nervous. I’ve got my bags but not my bike. The baggage attendant opens the door and wheels two bikes out so clearly I wasn’t the only one flying down for this race. From Bangor to New York I think I was the only one who had a bicycle on the plane but from New York to Greenville, there was probably more than one. From there we headed to the car rental place where I had rented a Volkswagen Atlas and then they gave me a Jeep. I thought oh, I’m going to get fired. I sell Fords and Volkswagens; I can’t be seen in a Jeep that’s not good. It was good. I’m not a Jeep person but I will say you can fit two pieces of luggage and a bicycle in the back of a Jeep Wagoneer with plenty of room to spare so I’ll give them that. We folded down the second and third rows but there was plenty of room to spare.
B – What about settling in and day 2?
S- We got there pretty early and to the hotel around 12 – 1 p.m. Our room wasn’t ready but that was no big deal. There’s a great little restaurant down the way. If I’m in South Carolina I’m going to get some South Carolina barbeque. You can’t beat it. I had a delicious rack of ribs. We get back to the hotel and get everything in there. We didn’t do too much the rest of the first day as we were pretty tired from traveling on that day.
On day two, we get up and go to Traveler’s Rest to Hotel Domestique which is where the race begins and ends. If you’re wondering where the name Hotel Domestique comes from it comes from the term Domestique in Tour de France races in the Grand Races they have in Europe. Domestique is a member of the cycling team who is actually the leader of the team, not the one going out for the overall win of the race and helps on the road. They’re part of your team they might be bringing/providing the water bottles and things like that. So they’re called Domestiques and that is what the hotel is named after. That’s what the hotel is named after. It’s in the mountains at Traveler’s Rest. It’s absolutely beautiful. I would have loved to have stayed there but good luck trying to get a reservation. They are booking out about 2 years wait time. That’s where we had the packet pickup and you get a chance to look to see where the start and finish line is at. You see and meet all kinds of people. You get your race packet. You actually get to sign in. There’s this big board and it had my name and where I’m from. It was really cool. You pick up your race jersey and your road id and inside the packet from Greenville, they give you a bottle of wine. No, I haven’t tried it yet. I don’t even know what kind of wine it is but I saw wine and I was pretty excited about that. Basically, we checked out what the roads were like that day. I had not ridden my bike on these roads before and it was my first time in Greenville. We didn’t get a chance to experience what it was like but we did ride on some of the roads. I was excited and nervous because it’s uphill downhill uphill downhill – no flat and fast. It was really about getting prepared that day and making sure I had everything that I needed for the race the next day. Back at the hotel I got my bike out and tried to remember how to put it back together.
Luckily, there isn’t a lot to it and we were able to get it figured out. I got that all together, getting the computer put on there and the GoPro on there. I’m making sure my number is on there and my timing chip is on there and everything I needed. After that, we were pretty much ready to go. The cool thing about that day was that I got to see one of my best friends from college, Katie. She, her husband, and daughter live in Georgia and they actually drove up to Greenville on Friday night. They spent the night with us at the hotel and we went out for dinner. It was really cool even though I was so far from home I still had some good friends who were there to see me and be part of it.
B- Were there some sentence enhancers used when you were putting your bike back together?
S- There may have been some sentence enhancers used. My friend Holly called them sentence enhancers and I think it’s a much nicer way of putting it.
It just sounds better – classier.
B- So what about the day of? What went down?
S- I probably didn’t get a lot of sleep that night.
B- You’re excited. It’s like the night before the start of the school year.
S- Well no, that’s not excitement at all that’s terrible.
Mira (Stacie’s wife) showed up and brought us coffee! She’s the best! I’ll leave out the part about the two straws.
Mira- Blame your wife.
B- Did you enjoy your time in Greenville?
Mira- I loved it. It’s beautiful. I can’t wait to go back next year.
Mira- I still have the video from when they take off and somewhere in the middle of it, you should see Stacie. (Video to come)
S- So needless to say, I didn’t get a lot of sleep that night. I was excited from the anticipation and nervous. I’ve never ridden a bike you know outside of New England. It’s really hilly where we’re at. Well, South Carolina calls them hills and Mainers would call them Mountains. I was a little nervous about that. So we woke up the next morning and I told Mira it was time to go and I was excited and I threw my clothes on, my bike clothes. I stepped outside and it was 45 degrees out and I wasn’t anticipating 45 degrees so I didn’t bring 45-degree cycling gear so I was quite cold. We get up the mountain and realize that we should have left earlier. You don’t realize what 2500 to 3000 cyclists look like. They close the roads down and everyone knows this event. It’s a huge cycling community in Greenville and they support and respect the cyclist on the road. Everyone knows the race is there so you don’t have people driving like crazy. It was a nice sense of safety having that happen. Damn, I was cold. You get into that start gate and you wait for like an hour.
B- I’m from Virginia and that is further south than you are used to. 45 degrees here versus there are two different things.
S- They’re not the same. They’re not even close.
B- You’ve lived in Maine your whole life, right?
S- Yes, ma’am
B- 45 degrees here is nice, it’s sweatshirt weather but when you feel the cold that can be in the South it's different so it can affect you differently.
S- It totally does. The good thing is that the weather gets warmer much faster down there so by the time the end of the race comes it’s like 70-75 degrees. You have about a 30-degree swing and it happens quickly. That initial couple of hours, you’re pretty cold. I had some things to keep me warm but not a lot. I’ll be okay once I get going but standing there waiting it was so cold. So the race finally starts. I’m about halfway through the pack and Mira was taking video. I believe she said it was something between 15-18 minutes to see us all get through the start line because that’s how many people are trying to get through. Your first part of this race is a descent. You’re 2-3 miles in descent and it was fast it was fun but it was really cold. You’re descending so all that 45-degree air is hitting you and it doesn’t feel awesome. Once you get to the bottom and make that turn onto Route 11 things start to warm up and you’re starting to warm up because you’re moving and the sun's coming up. You’re getting on to this nice route 11. So after the 2-3 miles, you get to route 11 and things get sorted out. You’re not in the congestion and not going downhill for at least a minute anyway. You get going and I have the GoPro on the handlebars and I couldn’t get any video down that first descent because it was kind of chattery and the camera would tip forward. I was hoping that once I got going I could get some great video since I’d mounted it to the handlebar. So I’m going down Route 11 and probably spending too much time admiring the view. It was beautiful and all these cyclists were going by me. I didn’t care and I heard a ta tink tink tink noise and thought oh no what broke? So I look down and behind me here goes this screw bouncing along behind me. I look down and go oh (sentence enhancer), it was the screw that went on the mount for the GoPro. I had to reach down and grab the GoPro as it was starting to fall off the handlebars. Screw the screw, save the GoPro. I grabbed it and threw it in my jersey. Unfortunately, we don’t have any video because there is a screw somewhere on Route 11/Highway 11 in Greenville, South Carolina. Whatever. I told Mira- that at least I saved the GoPro, and we could buy a new mount. I was doing pretty good. I stopped a couple of times along the way to get some wonderful photos. You’re going in these mountains and it’s this beautiful view. I was in awe of the fact that I was fortunate enough to be doing a bike race in this environment.
I was doing really good, keeping up with everybody, felt great, my legs felt great, my arms felt great, everything felt great, and my head felt great. After this little rise, I was able to cut across Highway 11 to get onto the next road where there was a police officer and an ambulance. They’re blocking off traffic so everyone can cross safely. I had just got over this rise and I all of a sudden wasn’t feeling too good. I pulled over to the side of the road. We’re about 9.5/10 miles in and I unfortunately got sick. Now all my fluids are gone. I’ll be alright. I’ve still got plenty of water, and supplements, so I should be good to go. I was still feeling okay but the dehydration at that point started to set in. That’s alright, I can make it to the first rest stop, it’s only at mile 20. I’m a little more than halfway there at this point. Unfortunately, with the up down up down once the dehydration starts you can’t get it back. The cramping in my legs set in so I didn’t have any power to go up over the mountains. I’m going to keep going. I did have to stop a couple of times but I kept pushing forward. What started off as a really fun, exciting ride was quickly turning into not-so-fun. That’s okay, I’m going to keep going.
I went on some wonderful roads and a wonderful right that went around this lake. I wish I’d known the road better because you could’ve been going 40 mph down some of these hills and wonderful s turns and the view was great. There was this nice calm lake and the people there. Just the residents there around the lake were out on the side of the road or on their decks/porches and they were cheering everybody on and encouraging people to go and it was a great feeling. I had a lot of fun. I wish the whole race was around this lake because it was so wonderful. I come to the end of the road take a left and start heading uphill. This is when you start getting into the mountain. It’s about 6-9 more miles of climbing and then you cross over the state line into North Carolina. I was going to stop and take a picture of me actually crossing into North Carolina but at that point, I was feeling pretty bad. So I said screw it I’ll get the picture next year. I pulled into the rest stop and told them I was not feeling good and they had me sit down. They got me some pickle juice and it’s not delicious. It did what it was supposed to do – help me with my cramping and hydration. There was a young lady from Greenville and I confided in her that I didn’t know what to do. I flew all the way down here I don’t want to not finish. I was pretty upset. She asked me where I flew from and I told her from Maine. She followed up with, “Whereabouts in Maine?” I thought she was from Greenville – I told her from Bangor and she told me “My mother is around here somewhere and she and my grandmother are from Sherman.” You’ve got to be kidding me right? Here I am all the way in Greenville South Carolina – although at this point I’m in North Carolina and I run into someone from Sherman. Now, I’m from Houlton originally – Sherman isn’t far from where I grew up at all. I didn’t get a chance to meet the young lady’s mom or grandmother, but I thought that was really cool. I told her to let her mom know that I was from Houlton and she would know exactly where that was. It gave me some comfort. As I was trying to make the decision of what I wanted to do next this other gentleman came over with my bike. As he looks at it, he sees the tag on it that says Orono, Maine – Rose Bike Shop. He says, “Orono?” I replied yes, and the conversation continued into me telling him I was from Bangor and him telling me he had a friend that went to the University of Maine. Here I am some 1100 miles away from home and have now run into 2 people so far who know where I’m from and know Maine. It was a comforting moment that no matter where you go you have someone there. They made me feel better about knowing the decision that was about to come was coming. The young lady that I had spoken with first said, “I know how you feel. When you get into the SAG vehicle you’re going to start feeling good. The reality is you’ve got 9 more miles of climbing to go and you run the risk of injury.” I knew she was right and as much as I didn’t want to say “We’re done” I knew it was the right decision.
t broke my heart. It took me a couple of days to really deal with it honestly. I wasn’t the only one, there was an older gentleman there and people in better condition than I was and that rode these roads that weren’t going to finish for any number of reasons be it accidents, illness, injury. That’s the nature of our sport. It’s a difficult sport and it's a dangerous sport. It’s a fun sport but these are things that happen when you do it. It can happen in the blink of an eye. So they loaded up our bikes and they took us to the fire station in North Carolina. It was in this wonderful little town called Tryon, North Carolina, and the people there were so nice and pleasant. They got us all comfortable and turned on the TV. We were watching college football and at one point there were ten cyclists in this room at the station. Not one of us was saying a word to one another. It wasn’t that we didn’t like each other, not because the people weren’t nice and polite. We were just mad. We were upset and disappointed. It was okay. After about an hour SAG finally came to rescue us and they loaded up all of our equipment into this poor Transit Van. They really needed a new Transit Van. I really wanted to tell them I could help with that but this wasn’t the time or place. “Always be closing.” (We laugh at this thought because as many of us in sales know – we’re always thinking about this)
It was okay but it was really disappointing. When we got back it was really hard for me to get out of the van. It’s still really hard to talk about and it seems foolish. It felt like I’d let everybody down. I let myself down, my family, Darling’s. So that took me a couple of days and it still hurts a little bit. After a few phone calls to family and friends, you get a little insight. you get reminded that- I did something that not everyone can do. Something that not everyone would want to do and I actually went 20 miles. That in and of itself is an accomplishment. I said I wanted to do it and I didn’t just talk about it I went and did it. That means something. It took a couple of days but I gained some perspective and got a good night’s sleep, some beer, and some more southern barbeque. You’re able to gain some perspective and understand that again I was able to do something that a lot of other people wouldn’t be able to do.
I talked with my aunt a couple of times and she reminded me that she’s proud of me and that she couldn’t have done 2 miles let alone the 20 that I did. When I show people my Garmin, it saves the elevation that I did. When I show people the picture they’re astonished that I did that and it impresses them. I don’t show them to impress them but to say this is what cycling looks like. When they say it's impressive and I look at it again – that is kind of impressive. It doesn’t feel like it sometimes because I didn’t accomplish my original goal. All and all it was a wonderful experience. It’s one that I absolutely want to do again and hopefully, things work out a little better so that I complete the 48 miles and not have to give up at 20. One of the things I had to really think about and understand and I thought about this a lot on the flight back from South Carolina on Sunday. I initially thought about this as a failure- I failed and let everyone down. Again, after gaining some perspective I realized that this wasn’t a failure. I asked myself, did I fail to achieve the goal I set out for myself? Absolutely. But did I fail? No, I didn’t fail. I think I would’ve been a complete failure if I said I was going to do it and then didn’t do it. If I’d gotten there and said, “No, this is too hard, I’m not going to do it.” I think I would’ve failed if I said, “I’m never going to do it again, I’m never going to try again, riding a bike is stupid and I’m never going to do that again.” So it’s not a failure, it was just a failure to achieve my goal. Without failure, you’ll never truly be successful in anything you do.
B- So what can riders do to not get crampy legs and not get dehydrated?
There’s a lot of things that can happen. Sometimes you’re just a victim of the sport. That was probably part of it. What can or could I have done differently? Warmer clothes would’ve helped. My body was just working so hard in the beginning and my body was working too hard so I put my body in a negative position to start. It’s not necessarily always about the muscles, although they are important. Being lean is hugely important but taking care of yourself as far as your diet and hydration and always be maintaining those things. It’s not just about doing it two or three days before an event but doing it all year long. Unfortunately, with the travel, I traveled just two days before the event so I probably hurt my nutrition and hydration a little bit as a result and not dressing for it. Those things overall hurt me but now I know to be more prepared, maybe go down 4 or 5 days before the event and get my body more acclimated would’ve helped. You’re in the mountains there so it’s different. All I know is I’m looking forward to doing it again. Next year when you see the posts you should see me crossing the finish line at mile 48.
B- Do you have any other races planned?
S- Champion the Cure Challenge is huge for me. It’s a charity ride versus a race but it’s something I prepare for every year. I continue to be a proud participant of CTCC for what it stands for and does for our community. It’s helped family members, friends, my wife, and people we work with. That will always be something I participate in and that’s in August of every year. As far as the rest of the year, it’s getting pretty cold. I won’t be participating in anything else this year. Mostly it will be indoor virtual training from here on until the spring. That helps keep you in shape and I’ll do indoor training this winter. I was going to do a race in Chattanooga, TN that I was really looking forward to but I’ll be in Florida that week. Next year I plan to do the Gran Fondo Hincapie Bangor again in June, the Champion the Cure Challenge in August, and the Gran Fondo again in October. Once we get a little closer to the first of the year I’ll see what else is out there and plan from there.
B- We look forward to hearing about your journey, thank you very much.
