24 May T Train Cyclist Profile: Carmen Wageman

We have such an incredible crew of riders at T Train, and their dedication and super exciting pursuits constantly inspire me. I’ve had the pleasure of coaching Carmen Wageman through some of hers. No doubt you’ll be inspired too!

 

Caremen fell in love with cycling while on a cycling trip in Ireland with her husband in 2010. She came home and immediately bought her own road bike. She then set the goal of completing Ironman, which was a huge feat given her serious phobia of lake water after almost drowning during a boating mishap. Carmen sought out therapy and did EMDR to conquer her fears, successfully completing her first Ironman in Kentucky. A year later, Carmen completed the iron distance race in Roth, Germany.

 

After the confidence of her Ironman results, Carmen shifted her focus to riding for causes she believes in by taking part in charity events. She also continued to tour the world on her bike through cycling vacations in France, Italy, New Zealand, Hawaii, Ireland and many more locations in the US and Canada.

In 2019 Carmen completed Le Loop, which is an organized event that rides the ENTIRE TOUR DE FRANCE. It consists of 21 days/stages of hard riding, exactly as the Tour de France does, starting one week in advance of the official Tour. It has been described as “the toughest endurance race on earth”!

 

Carmen first heard about the event through a cyclist friend who had done it. She wanted something that would be challenging and push her beyond anything she had ever done before. She was after a life-altering experience. What she discovered was a ride that was much more challenging than she expected, causing her to go “into many dark places,” but she dealt with the many difficult moments well and has grown as a person as a result.

 

Perhaps the greatest part of Le Loop is that it raises money for the William Wates Memorial Trust: a grant-giving charity which aims to support disadvantaged young people through the mediums of art, sport, and education to deter them from a life of crime and violence. This means the event combines Carmen’s love of advocacy and passion for long-distance riding.

 

Having conquered the event in 2019, Carmen found herself transformed. She explains that she “sees things differently, is calmer, and is more confident” in her very successful business as a home stager (stagerighthome.com).

 

As many of us do after completing an epic event, Carmen swore she would never do it. Of course, she signed up to do it again this July!  Now, however, Carmen is even fitter than before, and in addition to all the amazing and dedicated training, Carmen quit alcohol consumption in Sept 2021. It has been almost 9 months, and Carmen is much stronger as a rider because of how fast she recovers from hard workouts. Removing alcohol from her life allows her to sleep better and has resulted in weight loss, both of which have also contributed to her improvements on the bike. This time around, I will be joining Carmen in France to tackle Le Loup. We can’t wait to watch Carmen fly up those mountain climbs and experience more “unexpected life-altering gifts.”

 

Cool LE LOOP facts:

During the entire Tour, Carmen will climb (on her bike) the equivalent of Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike, Snowdon, Mont Blanc, Kilimanjaro and Everest. Not bad in 21 days!

She will burn 185,000 calories during the tour. That’s the number of calories in 357 Kit Kats.

She will ride approximately 3500K!