Date: June 23, 2000
Event: Chevy Trucks NORBA NCS#2 XC - Mt. Snow, Vt
Class: Women 19-23
Category: Expert
Length: 2 laps / extended loop
Time: 1:48:38
Bike: Of course nothing but the best. A 3lb. steel frame built by Joe Williams of Williams Cycles. Joe Williams was a former frame builder for Seratta Cycles and is now cranking out bikes from his shop behind Shirks bike shop in East Earl PA.
Tires: Vedestein, Sizer Duo Comp. A tire made in Holland, and more than able to handle any East Coast muck and mud.

Did you do anything special (apart from the whole training lifestyle) to prepare for this race?

Not really, but coming down from altitude for the race was a help.

Were you strong from start to finish?

I faded greatly at the finish losing much time in the last few miles. I have a tendency to race on the brink of my Lactic Threshold for the entire duration of my races. This means I am going almost 100% the whole time. In a race where your body is in its most fit condition, and everything is going perfectly you can race at your L.T. the whole time and not slow at the end. Unfortunately, things rarely go perfectly, and I would sooner fade towards the finish than not push it hard enough early on and finish feeling way too strong and wondering how much more I really could have given it.

When did you put the hammer down?

When the gun went off, and that was the last I saw my competition.

Did you have any unusual problems with the race?

Problems are of course a very common occurrence in racing and it is more unusual to not have a problem than to have 5 or 6 problems. Mechanicals are usual, and never a valid excuse. Flats, broken chains, and bent parts are part of racing. The best riders learn how to minimize the amount of mechanicals, injures, and problems they have. Learning to shift smoothly, avoiding ramming your bike into sharp obstacles, and crashing less are ways to greatly reduce mechanicals, and of course stay physically intact. I was restricted to my middle chain ring for the second lap, but even if I was last, that would never become an excuse. It is part of racing, and the best overall racer usually wins.

How do you rate the course?

I loved the Mount Snow course. And for the people who hate it and spend more energy complaining about it than racing it, then just don't go. Or else quit complaining about it and focus on the races you know you will do well at.

Yes it was very muddy, and very technical, and very rooty, but this is how Mount Snow always is. Unless you are a top Pro racer, I say we have no business complaining about the courses. Go to the races that fit your racing style, and that you expect that you will do well at. I very much dislike the Deer Valley National course. It is a climbers course and I am not a climber, but as long as the National Series does not become solely technical, or solely fire roads or climbs, I try to respect the fact that there is a race for every type of racer. Everybody starts at the same line, and races the same course.

Were you happy with the way the race was run?

I could diffidently make a list of suggestions for next year, but NORBA is working very hard to make this work. Yes, believe it or not, they are. Living at the U.S.A cycling headquarters I get an inside view of how much gets put into the races, and how badly NORBA wants to make it all work. I do pass my suggestions on to the organizers, and I do volunteer to make changes for the better. If all the people who expressed there displeasure with how the races are run would stop verbally tearing down our National Governing Body and instead use there hands to help build up our sport, cycling could be the next big sport. When we have the budget of say Football or Baseball, I assure you our races will be run better, but till then we need to all join together for the good and make what we have work.

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

If I could do the Mount Snow race again I would do it as a Pro. Then I would know exactly how I stack up against the best Pro Women in the dirt, and I wouldn't be laying awake at night wondering how I would have done against them.

Is there anything you would like to add?

A big thanks to my coach Henny Top, the God who gives me strength to ride, and all my sponsors for sticking by me through a slow starting season. DeeFeet, Womens Sports Foundation, Williams Cycles, Shirks Bike Shop, White Brothers, Dr George Delgado, Clif Bar, Colnogo, Veltec, Speedplay, Spy Optic, & Smart Fuel,

Thank you Allie Warfel for the interview!!