Pro Bike Racing – Page 2

Team Seven Pro mountain bike racers Mike Broderick and Mary McConneloug write to us from the road

Team Kenda-Seven racers Mary McConneloug and Mike Broderick Report on a Successful Bid at Canada’s Mont St. Anne World Cup

Mont St. Anne, Canada is a familiar and favorite place of Mary’s and mine to spend some time and race the bikes during the summer. This year’s late June mountain bike trip turned out to be one of the best to date. Although it was a bit difficult to pry ourselves away from the awesome trails and Mary’s family in Fairfax, CA, (where we spent our first week home from Europe), we hitched up our trailer and made the drive across the spring green desert of Nevada to Salt Lake City, Utah. We managed our first high elevation ride along the way, stopping in Truckee, California where we sampled a bit of the fun and fast Emigrant Trail, which was the heavily traveled route of many early settlers who passed through the Sierra Nevada mountains on their way to California.

Mary and I decided forgo the previous week’s NORBA National Series race in Deer Valley, Utah and take a rest week so we could be more prepared for our goal of racing well at the World Cup events. We flew from Salt Lake to Montreal, Canada, rented a mini van and drove the three hours east through Quebec City to Mont St. Anne.

This is a four-season resort town, which specializes in skiing and mountain biking and hosts World Cup events in both sports. The multitude of condos situated at the base of the green mountain is a clear indication that this is a serious recreational outlet, drawing tourists from far and wide to this French speaking community.

The mountain itself is a steep 2000 feet of jutting rock and black dirt rising up from the banks of the St. Lawrence River. The mountain is covered with a mix of open grassy slopes and dark forest, riddled with rooty east coast single track. The XC racecourse incorporates 5 km of the lower trails that continually switch back on themselves. This is a great place to have a bike race: challenging and fun for the racers and equally good for the large number of Canadian fans who come to watch.

Mary’s Race

Mary’s claim of “not having a perfect race” was hard to believe, since she ended up on the podium in 5th place. In order to get to the tight single track with the top of the field, she burned some candles and, as a result, her technical descending skills were compromised on the first challenging, rocky downhill; she took an uncharacteristic spill and had to get off and run down part of the fast descent.

She did not get hurt or lose many spots, but any crash definitely distracts the focus, and it can be difficult to find the inner rhythm that we strive for in racing. Mary managed to stay in the top 7 for the first 3 of 5 laps. Slowly and steadily, she regained her composure and settled in—charging up the short steep climbs and threading her bike down the dark rooty maze in the woods.

Mary rode on with determination and steadily closed in on and passed German, Ivonne Kraft to take over 6th position. On the 4th lap, Mary caught up to the fading Irina Kalentieva of Russia and moved into 5th place. Mary rode steady and had a clean ride for the remainder of the race, finishing 5th on the day. She is psyched to have three World Cup podium finishes in a row, and the confidence that goes with the consistent finishes on three very different courses that cover the spectrum of what makes cross-country mountain bike racing so difficult.

Mary rushed home to quickly shower and gather her podium ware before the awards ceremony, which she almost missed. She received flowers and kisses and gleefully sprayed champagne with the other women celebrating another great day of mountain bike racing. Her five minutes of glory were over all too soon as she rushed back to the condo to get her recovery drink and then head back to the feed zone to handle the critical logistics of being in my feed zone.

Mike’s Race

It was a welcomed first to start in the second row of a World Cup race. I was called to the line in 19th position due to my overall ranking from the early season overseas. I took the last spot on the second row and just tried to relax and enjoy the experience of being staged with the top guys. I tried to ignore the searing heat as I stood out in the open sun crammed together with all these warmed up athletes, but there was no missing the puddle of sweat that was accumulating in the dust at my feet. As the start pistol fired, I managed to swing around the right of the mass and lock into a comfortable 5th to 10th place for the first mile of the dodgy start loop. I was happy to be with the front group of 15 as we cleared the first decisive climb and dropped into the technical single track, since this is where things get strung out and where the first selection of the race is made.

My game plan was to ride somewhat conservatively, since this is the type of course that can really wreak havoc on the equipment. I saw plenty of evidence of this on race day: guys flying over the bars in front of me, others drifting backwards with mud caked to their helmets or on the side of the course repairing some damaged component. It took a lot of focus to safely negotiate this incredible twisty course, and because of this, the six laps (2 hours) seemed to pass by really fast. Nonetheless, I was starting to feel the pangs of leg cramps on the last big climb. Fortunately, the dark woods were waiting at the top and my pains were put aside as I enjoyed the course’s technical challenges. I was really happy to finish 18th: my best World Cup finish to date.

We celebrated Mary’s 34th birthday in a laid back cross-country racer fashion the night before the race. Someday we will have a proper party—maybe when Mary turns 45. Still, we enjoyed being able to spend some time with my mom who came to share the condo with us for the weekend and with our friends Ritchie and Jenny from Ireland. It was a luxury to be able to entertain in a condo rather than the usual cramped camper trailer or RV.

We are now in Heber City, Utah staying with our friends Kathy and Chris Sherwin for a few days before setting off to find a high mountain to park the trailer on. We are looking to get in a bit of altitude acclimation before the 6th and highest elevation World Cup in Angle Fire, New Mexico on July 10th.

Thanks for all the support and interest in what we are doing.

All the best!

Mike and Mary

Team Seven Pro mountain bike racers Mike Broderick and Mary McConneloug write to us from the road

Greetings from Arizona!

Mary McConneloug outside her camper — Mary McConneloug relaxing after the race outside of her mobile home-away-from-home.

Mary and I are recovering from a full weekend of racing in the beautiful Sonoran desert located in the foothills just outside of Phoenix. The Nova Desert Classic was the second round in the seven-race NORBA Series. This was a true desert experience complete with 30+ foot Saguaro cactus, desert tortoise, rattle snakes, and coyote. Not so true to form were the mild 60-degree temps and overcast conditions that persisted throughout the weekend, which made things easier on us northern-blooded racers.

The locals claim that the desert is the greenest that it has been in 30 years and that we are lucky to see it in such an explosion of color. I can’t help but wonder if they are just making excuses in order to keep this beautiful place a secret for themselves.

If you are looking for some flat fast single track with hospitable temperatures during the winter months, McDowell Mountain State Park would be a good choice. Mary and I spent the race weekend camped in our trailer right across the street from the venue, reacquainting with old friends, and taking the time to make some new ones. Our trailer, though slightly damaged, is turning out to be a really great race accessory. It’s a bit more to handle on the road than the stock van and now we rarely miss a gas station, but it makes up for all this by being much more comfortable to live out of (once we are parked). It has all the amenities that we need to be comfortable and at our best on race day.

This past weekend we competed in a three-day stage race. Friday was an 8-mile time trial contested over a twisty and technical 99% single track course. We were sent out in 1-minute intervals to tackle the course alone, left to push our limits and minimize our time based on strategy and some personal suffering. Mary ended up finishing the course in a respectable 33min 11sec, which gave her 6th place for the day. I ended up turning a 29min 24sec that was good for 19th on the day. It was amazing to see that mere 100ths of a second separated many of the top athletes after the rugged prologue event.

Saturday was a super competitive 25 minute short track held on a .5-mile spectator-friendly dusty loop through the venue. Mary led the women’s race for as many laps as she could hold onto, preferring to stay out of the enormous dust cloud that enshrouded the following riders. This strategy also allowed her a clear line down the courses tough drop, but also gave several of the other women an opportunity to hold onto her wheel and save some energy for a final effort. Mary ended up 9th place, only giving up a few seconds in the overall GC time for the weekend.

The 98 strong men’s field was deemed too dangerous to race all at once on the tight course so we were split into 2 groups based on our time trial finish times. I went off with the group selected from the top half of the time trial finishers, and even with the reduced numbers several managed to find a way to hit the ground on one lap or another. With all the dust and the confusion created by splitting the group, I don’t even know how I finished; but I managed to move up to 18th place overall for the weekend after the times for the first two events were combined. I was just glad to make it through the short track keeping the rubber side down. I’m sure it was pretty ugly for some of the others.

Sunday was the cross country, which we consider the main event. This course was 6 miles of exceptionally fast loose single track. In short, it was much like a road race where drafting was key. Mary made a decisive move in the first lap that separated an 8 women group, which would stay away for the rest of the race. Mary and the other independent riders suffered from some Luna Team tactics, which made for a difficult race. The women completed 4 laps on the course, and by the final mile, the top 5 were within 20 seconds of each other. It was really exciting to watch and I was hardly able to warm up, but I think that the adrenalin more than made up for it. Mary ended up finishing 5th on the day.

I had a great start considering I came up from the second row—I was able to sneak up the right side and drop into the single track in 6th position. The pace was really fast and I was able to hang on mostly because of my technical skills. After a lap up with the lead group, I was forced to reconsider my strategy, tone it down a bit, and consider that we still had 4 laps to go. From there I was on my own for a good bit of the race and able to appreciate the awesome riding even while pushing myself near my limits. I ended up with an exciting and hard fought 15th place on the day.

In a stage race, the times from the 3 individual races are added together into an overall time for the weekend. As we added together our times, we realized that Mary was only 3 seconds out of a 5th-place podium spot for the weekend. Although it is always great to get some podium time, Mary was happy to come out of our New England deep freeze winter and snow training and be competitive so early in the season. To be honest, we don’t really know how I finished overall, since everyone just packed up and left after the top five results were figured out. I really enjoyed the racing and was happy to feel competitive throughout the entire weekend.

RV life remains a constant test, as I guess we should have expected when buying a considerably used second hand rig. This week a blown fuse kept us from using our battery power, and I am just about to get into the issue that caused a small flood inside our home last night. One good thing I am sure is that the pipes didn’t freeze. I have learned once again that diagnosing the problem is more than half the battle. Before I start imagining and expecting a huge fissure broken into in our holding tank, I am hoping to find a loose pipe or fitting.

Mary and I are looking forward to some fun travels exploring the southwest and lots of serious training time over the next few weeks. We are going to be slowly making our way towards Marin County CA to visit Mary’s family and take advantage of the training grounds that we know so well. We are already looking forward to our next competitive event: the 4-day stage race The Sea Otter Classic in Monterey CA April 14th -17th.

All the best!

Mike and Mary

Bike Magazine: There’s Something About Mary

The story of the fastest woman in the United States

by Jim Fitzgerald

With NORBA eliminating the prize purse for pro racers in 2003 and sponsorship dollars dwindling, these are difficult times for racers. Few people are as familiar with the hardships of making it as a pro racer as the winner of the women’s 2003 U.S. National Cross-Country Championship title, Mary McConneloug.

“In the past I have gone into debt racing my bike,” says Mary. “Many people think that once you go pro, you have it made. This is hardly the case. These days it is hard to come by the financial support to race.”

Before Mary made a paying career out of racing, she made it a way of life and relied on family and thriftiness to make it possible. At the beginning of 2002, she was without a title sponsor, but showed up at the first NORBA national fit and ready to race.

Though she didn’t break the top five, Seven Cycles saw potential in her racing ability and signed on as the title sponsor she needed.

“It was such a relief to get the financial support and quite amazing to get on my first custom-built bike — especially at a time when all my doubts of what I was doing were looming over me.”

Currently, Mary is heading into her third season of mountain bike and cyclocross racing for Seven Cycles and hopes to use her success to set a positive example for others.

“Even though I am still just barely getting by financially, I consider myself lucky to live the way I do. To race my mountain bike is a fabulous lifestyle,” she says. “I want people to see that with dedication and hard work, the ‘impossible’ can be achieved. I want people to be inspired to ride or race their bikes…it is a key to happiness.”

MTB racing in Cyprus: The chase for points begins
VeloNews online, February 2004—by Jason Sumner

McConneloug’s Olympic Bid Makes Stops in North America

Team Seven’s Mary McConneloug and Mike Broderick are heading back to North American after nearly five months of racing and traveling in Europe and the Mediterranean. Their next stops on the mountain bike World Cup will be Quebec and Calgary, Canada.

Mary is currently the U.S off-road National Champion and the UCI points leader, which will be the determining criteria in selection to the one Olympic spot open to U.S. women mountain bikers.

After their brief stay in Canada, Mary and Mike will be heading back to Europe for the Marathon World Championships in Austria on July 11. Final selection for the Olympic spot will be made on July 12.

“The next few weeks will be difficult with the travel”, said McConneloug. “We don’t like packing. But it will be good to race on our North American home turf. And great to see all of you!”

Stay tuned for more results and standings as we follow Mary and Mike’s race adventures.

USAcycling.org: Silver Medal Performance Brings McConneloug Closer to Athens

Calgary, Alberta (July 3, 2004)—The sixth round of the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup series proved to play an integral role in Olympic selection as reigning U.S. National Champion, Mary McConneloug (Fairfax, Calif. [Seven Cycles]), increased her lead in the UCI standings amongst Americans with a superb second place finish this afternoon. McConneloug finished second, 46 seconds behind the seemingly untouchable Gunn-Rita Dahle (NOR), who won her tenth consecutive World Cup cross country race, and a convincing two minutes ahead of third-place finisher, Annabella Stropparo (ITA). More importantly for McConneloug, she finished ahead of the only other candidate mathematically eligible for the sole U.S. women’s Olympic mountain bike nomination, Sue Haywood (Davis, W. Va.). Haywood finished 15th.

Stay tuned for the results of the Marathon Worlds (July 11), which will decide Olympic MTB team!!!