Each quarter we honor one of our hard working Team Fun members. This quarter we chose our beloved Dunks. Julie has been riding with us almost from the beginning of TF and has really helped out with leading groups on our weekly ride.
Julie has become a key group leader for the Swami’s Team Fun groups. I value so many things about Julie’s leadership and participation, that’s it’s hard to pick a few things to focus on. She has a love for cycling sport that I think is very contagious for the newer members, and keeps the focus on the enjoyment and safety of the ride. -Heather Brümmer
Julie is a great Team Fun leader. She always has a smile on her face, and is very positive and she’s probably one of the favorite ride leaders…She keeps her group together, even when the route is a bit difficult to follow, everyone has a great time and she always gets good group photos- maybe even better then mine. Thank you Julie for all your help. -Jill T
It has been a privilege getting to know/riding with, Julie over the past couple years! She is light-hearted, easy going, funny, tough and an overall awesome leader. She knows what her group needs and differentiates for all levels! One thing I enjoy most about her is her ability to laugh when the ride doesn’t work out the way we thought it would. She always goes with the flow and keeps a smile on her face! Lastly, I appreciate her tire changing abilities…she can change our tires like no other 😉 -Xo, Lauren Houtchens
My first encounter with Julie D was on the steep slope of Mt Soledad’s Bridges Route. She had endured the Heathers’ pace up Torrey Pines Outside climb on the way to La Jolla’s from Team Fun’s original start point in Carlsbad Village, and was now dogging her way up the 3rd gnarliest route up Soledad. It couldn’t have been much fun, but through all the huffing and puffing she still found it in herself to look out for me and to be social.
That is Julie. No matter how tough the going gets, she faces it all in strides and always has your back. Never believe her when she claims to be dumb, too. She might not speak 5 different languages or know how to take the third derivative of a function at a point, but her commonsense and intuition are almost always slam dunk! If I ever manage to get lost while cycling out in the boondock somewhere, I hope I’d do so with her around ’cause she’ll surely find a way of making it all a good bit of fun. -Michell
I asked Julie to tell us a few things about herself and her cycling habit. In her own words:
I’ve always loved riding bicycles of any kind & have had many kinds of bikes over the years. In 2005, I started riding more often & ditched the slow mountain bike for a road bike. My friend Denise & I would ride out the newly completed San Luis Rey Bike Path each Wednesday, carefully avoiding the wild animals & homeless folks who loitered in the riverbed. Since then I’ve logged literally thousands of miles on a bike. My Garmin account records show over 40,000 miles & I have the thighs to prove it 🙂
Julie on the left in vintage TF kit, with Heather B, Judy L and Michell
Judy Linscheid invited me to a Team Fun ride in September of 2013. It was a fast, fun group of girls: Heather Bruemmer, Heather Krauss, Jill Theodossi and a couple others, who have since moved on to other things. Back then we started from a bike shop in Carlsbad, riding all around North County & beyond. Team Fun was really growing & filling a need for a women’s cycling club in the area. When they put out the call for more leaders, I jumped in.
I generally like “adventure” rides the best. The kind where my friends & I head out to areas where we haven’t necessarily been before, not really mapping a route, but just figuring it out as we go. I grew up here & have a good sense of direction, so even though I may not know the street names, I know where I am & how to get to where I need to go. Right now I know that many of you are laughing at this (so am I) since there is some “confusion” on the Saturday rides on occasion, but rest assured I’ll get us back…..somehow!
On the subject of bike washing, just remember: you are what you ride 🙂 -Julie
From left, Suzanne, Julie, Brielle, Jennifer and Doreen at the Ensenada ride, Go Swami’s Team Fun!
My fondest cycling memory would be when I took my daughter Hillary on a mountain bike ride through Guajome Park. She was about 1 1/2 years old, strapped into the child seat on the back of my bike. She had on her little pink bubble helmet & was snacking on a handful of Cheerios, when all of a sudden she said, “Uh oh!” Nothing seemed to be wrong, so we kept going. Later on down the trail I came to find out that one of her sandals had fallen off – Guess I should’ve provided her with better equipment!
Like this:
Like Loading...
Swami's Team Fun 