Perky. Happy. Fun. Strong.  I once heard her say that getting in the SAG van was never an option.  Even when the rain and wind decided not to cooperate.  Someone mentioned that she liked to run and swim, and I knew she’d competed a bit, but I never knew much more about her until recently.  Now I know, and I am in awe, but Tracy just laughs.  She knows she is the rare exception.  Most cross-country riders want to see the United States in a more close-up and personal way, or are checking off boxes on their bucket list.  Some may be on a sabbatical. Very few are life-long competitive athletes…but Tracy is.

TRACY ACHELIS

Today:  61 years old

At age 30, Tracy had no athletic background and was overweight.  While watching Ironman Hawaii she said “I am going to do that race sometime!”  And she did.  That year she ran her first marathon and Ironman finishing in the top five women over-all, qualifying for Hawaii Ironman World Championships. That was just the beginning of a long list of accomplishments, including:

• 86 marathons
• Western States 100 mile endurance run, twice
• 24 hour, 72 hour, and 6-day running races
• 26 Ironman’s, 10 at World’s (Hawaii) finishing top five in her age group twice
• 3 double Ironman’s

At age 39 Tracy met her future husband, Vinny, also an athlete.  She crewed for him at Western States 100 and he crewed for her at Alabama Double Ironman.  They were married and went to race the Ironman World’s together.  They have raced world-wide in New Zealand, Japan, Germany and Canada.

Is she slowing down?  No.  On weekdays, Tracy swims with a master’s program at 5:30AM and races 5K open water swims, and twice a week Tracy and Vinny go to the gym together for strength “partner” training with a personal trainer.  Goldendoodle, Darla, enjoys a daily four mile walk, and to “ground” her Type A personality, Bikram Yoga is on Tracy’s schedule 3-4 days a week.   In June, a five-week trek on Camino de Santiago is on the calendar, and at Christmas she’ll be found riding her bike up the volcano in Costa Rica.

Truly amazing, Tracy has ridden her bike across the United States twice in addition to many, many other bike tours.  We are so pleased to know Tracy and Vinny.  And thrilled that her smile lights up our Big Dream Bike Tours jersey!