Date: March 25, 2000
Event: Fuller VOLVO Eastern Shore Mtn Bike Championship             AMBC
Class: Master 30+
Category: SPORT Women
Length: 12mi.
Time: 1:11
Conditions: Sunny / Overcast last lap - 60s
Bike: KONA - Pahoehoe
Tires: Michelin Sprint S

Did you do anything special to prepare for this race?

I commute to work on a bike. I've been doing that for 3 years. Since we had a mild winter I took the longer way to work especially in the mornings in Jan. and Feb.trying to get in 100 miles per week. We have a lot of hills and I would try to find the most number of hills on the way to work.

In the last two months how many hours a week have you trained on average?

I do a lot of cross-training with yoga and karate and that's been a big factor for developing mental toughness. So with all of that I probaly train 10-15 hours per week. I also run at least once a week.

Were you strong from start to finish?

Yes, as a matter of fact my second lap was a minute faster than my first. I think that's because I didn't know the course. When I was ahead, I didn't know what was around the next corner. I did feel very strong through the whole thing. I was real excited about that.

When did you put the hammer down?

In the beginning I was able to make a move coming up a hill. Then I really pushed and was able to maintain that the whole way through. On the second lap I did get into a little race with a SPORT Women in the OPEN category - I told her not to worry - I'm 30+ - but she raced me anyway. That was fun.

Did you have any unusual problems?

I think I only dropped my chain once. I also had a funny fall. I hit a rhododendron tree and fell off. I looked like a Russian Cassock with my feet up in the air - I landed right on my butt.

Overall, I thought it was a great course. A fun course.

Were you happy with the way the race was run?

Yes. All and all. They got off to a couple of late starts here and there. The technical stuff they could work on a little more (like getting the times right). I thought the winners jerseys that they gave out were beautiful. They had a lot of people helping out at the event. Parking was fantastic. The location was reallly nice. You weren't baking out in the sun. My husband came down and he really enjoyed it as a spectator. I will definitely go back to Wye Mills.

If you could do the race again, would you do anything differently?

I probably would go out a little harder than I did and not have to worry about the beginning. It was fun having the competition. I loved it but I guess I would go out harder from the beginning. I definitely think that hard training has huge benefits and this is the first time that I truely experienced that.

Is there anything you would like to add?

I'd like to thank everyone - all the fans and everyone who was there. It was nice to ride through the sections with people cheering....
that's just always so much fun. I love it. It was a nice course for having people root for you. It's just a great sport because of that.