Welcome to the action sports team page of Amanda Cerqueira DDS PA

Health begins in the mouth.

And it transfers into every area of your life!

We believe your best health begins with a cavity free, clean mouth. Everything else flows from there.

Very often our patients come in to find us talking about the trails we rode or the waves we surfed over the weekend. It is part of our corporate culture to stay healthy and play a lot. Some offices sponsor soccer teams, some have a baseball league, ours has an action sports team.

We believe recreation is crucial to a good life. So is exercise. It's even better when the two come together. To us this happens on either a surfboard or a mountain bike. This blog highlights surf contests, surf sessions, mountain bike races and rides. Our team is always getting into something fun on a weekly basis. You will be able to keep up with the team's activities by checking out the blog periodically.

Thanks for checking us out! Hope to see you out there sometime!


Dr. Cerqueira, Daniel and staff.



Friday, November 30, 2012

Daniel and Bucky trailriding RDU..again.

This trail probably has the best variety of Cross Country and Technical Mountain biking in the Triangle area. Location undisclosed as this is a secret trail (even though it's location has not been a secret for a long, long time).
Usual riding partner in crime Bucky Mercado also pictured tearing it up. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nYSkPdHlSU&feature=plcp

Sunday, September 2, 2012

All Mountain knee pads review



Decided that since my knees are already fragile from years of riding BMX and Mountain Bikes, I would be well served by wearing knee pads while riding MTB.
The problem was, I thought knee pads interfered with pedaling. I decided to research which knee pads would offer the best combination of pedaling freedom and protection. I decided to test the G-Forms, TLD KG5400 and Fox Launch PRO. Bought all 3 from Jenson (no affiliation with those guys, I just like them for the deals and the service) with the intent of keeping the best one and returning the other 2.
Most of my riding is on the North Carolina coast (believe it or not, we have singletrack) the piedmont (central NC) and ultimately, Western NC (one of the best places in the USA for MTB riding).
My home trails on the coast, which I ride on my 6 inch travel GT Force- are virtually flat and sandy- which require constant spinning if you want to go fast. The lack of downhills means that if you want to feel like Sebastian Loeb on a gravel road, you have to spin a lot. Kneepads could potentially cause a whole lot of discomfort with all that spinning.
The mountains have epic descents, most of them littered with jagged rocks and super fast sections. Pisgah in my opinion embodies all that AM riding is. I live for it and get up there as much as I can. I'd live there if i didn't like surfing so much.
The piedmont, which I ride occasionally is a mix of the constant spinning of the coast and the flow of the mountains. Lots of rocks there as well. All of the above regions also contain tight, winding singletrack through trees, so the potential for hitting your knee on a pine tree while going 25mph + is very real.
First pads I tried were the TLD's. My initial impression was good, but I was immediately put off by the lack of ligament protection as well as protection above and below the knee. I did not want to put up with knee pads to end up with a busted knee anyways. Like my friend Jimmy says "if you're going to wear pads, wear pads!"
Second, I tried the G-forms. Those also offered great protection for direct hits to the knee cap, actually more shock absorbent than the TLD's. It also offered a little side protection but not enough in my opinion.
Third, I tried the FOX launch pros. I had been skeptical of those pads as they seemed too bulky and good for shuttle runs only. I was mistaken. The difference in comfort between the TLD's, the G-Forms and the Fox was almost negligible! I will go as far as saying that, as counter intuitive as this sounds, the FOX just fit me like a glove. They bent better when my leg was spinning the pedals. They were bigger but did not feel much bulkier. Protection from the FOX's were exponentially greater. I just felt so much more confident, not only doing jumps but also flowing down groomed singletrack. I went on a ride without them and felt as if I were not wearing a helmet. My knees felt naked and vulnerable.
I have ridden in the mountains and have ridden my weekly 14 mile loop here in Wilmington NC with the FOX's. They rubbed me raw the first 3 weeks but got progressively better. This past Thursday I was able to complete the 14 mile loop spinning fast the whole time and did not get any hot spots or raw areas. If you stick with them and let the back of your knees get used to it, they will break in, much like dentures (I don't wear them, I make them:) or Chaco sandals.
All knee pads are going to be hot. You do get used to them. I have ridden in 90 degree heat with 80 percent humidity and did not feel any hotter than without the pads. I think that since the extra padding was on my legs and not my arms or core, the increase in heat was negligible. I did not ride any slower because of the pads.
I have heard of people placing lycra behind the knees or wearing knee warmers underneath to prevent rashes but I'm a minimalist and prefer not having to deal with those things.
In conclusion, I highly recommend the FOX launch pros, I have been wearing them on XC rides as well as pump track and AM rides in Pisgah National Forest.
My latest mountain ride was at DuPont in Brevard, NC two weeks ago.
Eastern Slickrock (granite) all the way up and some of the way down. I did not fall so did not get to actually "test" the pads. What I did do was go down that mountain with more confidence, speed and above all, flow. I was able to do cross ups off of the jumps where normally, I just jump straight. I was more relaxed on the rockgardens and I finished the ride with a bigger smile and safer knees!

The Lauch pro's on the way up..


And on the way down...video does not reflect true steepness and sketch factor of this section but gives you an idea..



Saturday, August 4, 2012

Zumba on the river

While mountain biking and surfing are great workouts, sometimes there are no waves or time to get to the trail. Some of us (Amanda and Haley) resort to Zumba not only as a way to train, but also because it's FUN! Working out can be hard-but dancing is not.
This past weekend was National Dance Day. Amanda, who is now a certified Zumba instructor, had the privilege to join quite a few others, as they surprised innocent bystanders with a 2 song "Flash Mob". They basically showed up downtown by the river front, quietly set up a sound system and boogied for the crowd. Tourists and locals were treated to a killer show of Latin dance and before they could tell what hit them, the girls were gone...
Amanda will be teaching Zumba at the Coastal Tumblegym in Carolina Beach, Wed. Aug 8 and 15, 2012 @ 7pm, filling in for Zumba extraordinaire and her sensei Gina Graziani. Gina will be attending the National Zumba Convention in Florida, learning new moves and getting pumped for another year of fun! Thanks Gina for introducing so many to the wonderful world of Zumba - Eres muy chevere!!



Just a portion of the mob downtown



Some of Amanda's posse from Gina's class


Breakin' in down!


Go Haley!


Amanda's Zumba Instructor training 

Pisgah National Forest/Dupont Mountain Bike trip

So Bike Magazine decided to call our backyard "the new best ever Mountain bike destination in America.." or something along those lines. Funny how once the world acknowledges something we already know, we decide to love it even more...
To celebrate this renewed love we decided to go revisit the area. We spent 1 week in Asheville exploring some new trails as well as revisiting some old ones. The area has grown a lot, but so have the networks of trails. Mountain biking is huge around western North Carolina and the trails have been groomed to incorporate huge amounts of flow and technical features. God's version of a roller coaster, except the price of admission is sweat and sometimes, blood.

Just arrived at cabin








Time for a cool dip in a mountain stream



Fourth of July Marshmallow Roast

Waterfalls

These trails will beat your equipment up.  Lots of fine tuning went on throughout the week. 
  
High elevation hiking, this trail on top of Mt. Mitchell resembles Canadian forests and is the only one of it's kind on the East Coast.  Unfortunately no bikes allowed so we hiked it.  

This bad-boy was the size of my hand...and it had the face of a bunny on it's back!!??!



 

1 week in Pisgah with very little to no injuries, only to come home and hit the wrong tree on a leisurely after work ride...


Tuesday, March 6, 2012

A few lost pics from this past summer..

It seems like we didn't even have a winter! The recent warm weather got me thinking about this past summer, when we went kayaking for the first time as a family.

Our outing took place on the south end, where we were able to navigate some really narrow channels and eventually arrived on a deserted island. Looking forward to doing it again this summer!