women’s racing – Seven Cycles

VeloNews: Mary’s Return

On any other weekend, Vanlandingham’s opening-lap crash wouldn’t have been so costly. But with McConneloug back in North America to race the Quebec World Cup, the margin for mistake proved to be zero. McConneloug has long favored the Mount Snow woods, where she won her first NMBS event on the same course in 2003; the steep climbs and tight singletrack fit her skills perfectly. As she did three years ago, McConneloug used the extended climbs to gain an advantage while riding conservatively on the descents. Despite a strong charge by Vanlandingham that brought her back into second, McConneloug finished nearly two minutes clear.

“I heard the splits on the climb and knew I could take it easy on the descents, not push it too hard,” said McConneloug, who sported some nasty gashes on her left arm and leg from a crash into a barbed wire fence two weeks earlier in Belgium. “I felt really good at Curacao at the first World Cup, and I had some bad luck at the other World Cups, some crashes. I had good legs at those races but once you lose it at the start, you can’t get it back. I was psyched everything went smoothly today.

“Vanlandingham, who retained her overall NMBS lead despite her tumble, said not being able to see McConneloug on the climbs made the pursuit tougher. “I lost maybe 30 or45 seconds in the first little loop of the first lap,” Vanlandingham said. “I had to play catch-up, but I never saw her, she got away. She did great, she charged. I’m happy to get second. Besides the beginning I felt great the rest of the race.”

McConneloug Tops Mount Snow

Kenda-Seven racer took lead early and never looked back

In commanding fashion, reigning U.S. National Champion, Mary McConnloug (team Kenda-Seven Cycles), earned her second consecutive victory at the Mount Snow stop of the NORBA National Series this Saturday, June 17. Attacking from the start, Mary took a decisive lead in the first lap that she never relinquished and finished with a nearly two-minute cushion over second place.

Mount Snow is considered one of the most demanding courses in the series. It features approximately 1,000′ of climbing per lap, perilous descents, and ribbons of classic rocky, rooty east coast singletrack. Fresh off of the World Cup circuit in Europe, Mary said of the course, “I’ve always loved racing here.”

In the pro men’s cross-country event, teammate Mike Broderick scored an impressive 13th place, despite a poor call-up position. He and Mary have focused their season on the World Cup and have not contested any of the previous Nation Series races.

Both McConneloug and Broderick have their sights set for next weekend’s World Cup race at Mount Sainte Anne in Quebec, Canada.

Mike and Mary Tour Colorado

Team Kenda-Seven racers Mary McConneloug and Mike Broderick write in from the road. Their recent adventures in Colorado included some racing, some training, and some inspiring words for some young aspiring cyclists.

Mid-summer in the remote, high-elevation regions of Colorado is beautiful beyond description. Incredible Aspen-lined trails, 14,000-foot snow capped mountains, secluded hot springs on raging rivers. And, of course, overfull campgrounds teeming with vehicles that dwarf even our 40 feet of van and trailer. The summer population outnumbers the actual Colorado residents by more than double, resulting clogs at every inch of recreational space each weekend. This leaves us thankful for the quieter weekdays, which allow us some time to experience the open space—or at least find an open campsite.

Snowmass is a destination winter resort town near Aspen that boasts some really great skiing and some sweet high-elevation (8500 feet at the base) mountain bike trails, as well. The NORBA race venue seemed to fill the entire town. It was hectic and cramped, so Mary and I instinctively ended up 40 or so miles away, camping down a quiet dead end canyon road to keep us from getting caught up in the chaos.

The racecourse was set up in the typical alpine style: one steep long climb at the outset and a fast technical descent to the finish. And it was long, with each lap taking around 40 minutes to complete. Mary and I rode a lap the day before the race, but she decided that it would be best to sit this one out, since a huge effort at this elevation with the extra dusty conditions could set her back from her recent recovery from bronchitis—and there was still plenty of race season ahead of her.

Race day was hot and dry. The 100+ men’s field went off at 3:00pm creating an enormous cloud of dust. The opening climb seemed endless: 30+ minutes of struggling even in one of the smaller gears, keeping the throttle pinned just to creep upward and stay on the wheel of the sweaty dude in font of you. The long descent to the finish brought some relief, as we railed down twisty off-camber singletrack through beautiful Aspen groves and the occasional mountain stream.

I was surprised to see the cloud cover start to roll in during the second of three laps, but there was no mistaking the cooling effect and the rain drops as they started to fall. This was without question a good thing, given the intense heat and dust. As I summited the huge climb for the final time and dove into the dark singletrack descent, the rain had started to fall in force and made things a little trickier. It took a bit more effort and a little less speed to navigate; but after the severity of the climbs that were behind me, it was still really enjoyable.

I managed to pass a few key riders on the final climb and was able hold them off on the descent to collect an 11th place finish. I was stoked to cross the line and be done for the day—especially since I noticed that the cloud cover was turning from gray to black. A stiff wind-driven rain began to pelt the large crowd that had gathered for the finish. Lightening striped the sky as thunder boomed in unison. Spectators struggled to wait for their riders to come across the line, determined to tough it out and feel a little of the pain that the riders go through. But the stone hard ice-cube size hail changed those hardy fans (and myself) into scurrying rats diving for the closest shelter. Hats off to those who struggled in and finished in that mess. Racing is always a bit painful, but I know firsthand that this one was over the top.

Mary and I spent almost a week in Basalt, CO before we knew it. Our quiet campground was surrounded by incredible roads and trails that kept us from thinking about much else. We found ourselves climbing thousands of feet on 2-hour singletracks, turning around at the top and descending for a fun-filled hour back to the trailhead. I tried in vain to do some “easy spins” on the road bike, only to be lured into a 5-hour epic to summit a 12,000′ pass. It was just irresistible.

Our next move was towards Telluride, CO to contest an Inter Mountain State Cup Series race. Telluride had already played a part of both our pasts in some way. Mary learned to snowboard here, and it is where I spent a winter working a nighttime sales job to support an advanced snowboarding habit. Summer in Telluride was a first for both of us, and we were both struck by how incredible this town is. As real estate prices clearly indicate, many others feel the same way.

The racecourse began out of a mountain village at a literally breath taking 9,500′, then climbed fiercely for 800′ or so through a mix of painfully steep fire roads and beautiful traversing singletrack. There was no more than 1k of flat riding on the entire course and just a fraction of it at the top of the climb before we were sent down a beautiful rugged 2.5km switchback descent to the finish. Mary and I raced at the same time and we both really enjoyed the course and the well-planned venue. The promoters (Cycle Syndicate) really put on a good show for everyone.

Mary was psyched to be back racing and didn’t bother to hold back from throwing down a big effort at the start. This resulted in her dropping the entire women’s field and launched her solidly into the expert men, who had started 2 minutes prior. Mary took advantage of the men’s field to hone her race tactics, using her climbing skills to pass as many of them as possible to get a clear, dust-free shot at the descent. Mary finished her three laps with a six-minute lead on the closest woman and an unofficial fifth position in the expert men’s field. She was stoked to be back to her racing ways and seemed better off overall from her short mid-season break.

I was wondering how my big week of training would affect my race form and was thinking twice about my decision to go so big as I saw some familiar Colorado tough guys at the start. I was treating this as a training race—and good training it was. I followed a big attack that started at the gun and lasted all the way through the long climb to the top. Ouch! On the second of four laps, I had settled into a more comfortable third position. I saw throughout the race that I could make a lot of time on the second place guy on the difficult final descent. It seemed that what I needed to do to beat him was hang on to within 20 seconds at the top of the final climb. It’s really more my style to push it throughout the entire race, but the elevation was forcing me to be more strategic. I used as little energy as possible on the final climb and made my attack on the descent, quickly finding the wheel of second place through the thick dust. As I applied the pressure looking for a place to pass on the impossibly narrow trail, he frantically picked up the pace, took a bad line, and kissed the ground in one of the soft corners just 1km from the finish. I was able to cruise through to a second place finish on the day.

Mary and I took some extra time for a bit of fun to the highly attended kids’ race that was taking place a few hours after our finish. Mary led out a group of 12 girls ranging in age from 3 to 12 and even more widely spread in ability. It was beautiful to see the affect that she had on them. The girls loved that someone so personable was out there, and the parents were even more stoked to have their kids racing with an Olympian. Mary had a rewarding autograph session after the race with the majority of the kid racers and their families. She’s genuinely stoked to inspire people—especially kids—to get out and ride their bikes.

My experience leading out the 10 or so little boys’ race was an equally cool experience. It felt really good to give a little something back to the sport that has given us so much.

We were able to squeeze in a fun ride the next day out of Telluride that started with free gondola ride up past 10, 000 feet. Telluride is the only town in the states that offers a free year-round gondola service that you can use for commuting from town to the mountain village or just to get in some easy vert on the mountain. We ended up on a 2.5-hour ride mostly downhill on remote single track. For us, it doesn’t get much better than that.

Mary and I are now driving from Colorado and across to southwestern Utah to stop # 6 on the NORBA National circuit in Brianhead, UT. We are really enjoying this segment of our trip, but are also looking forward to heading back to Europe in three weeks to contest the World Championships in Livigno, Italy and the final round of the world cup series in Fort William, Scotland.

All the Best!

Mike and Mary

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

CyclingNews.com: A Vocal Nomad Living Her Dream

When USA Cycling and the U.S. Olympic Committee announced its selection to fill the single allocated slot in the 2004 Athens women’s mountain bike race, Mary McConneloug (Seven Cycles) came in second—by one point. After a scan of the criteria and the calculations used to come up with the selection, McConneloug knew she had to stand up and dispute the results. She could have been quiet. She could have accepted the mistake, faded into the off-season and wait her next chance to race in the world’s greatest venue. But she didn’t.

Instead, she summoned the courage to ask for a review by an independent arbitrator. For her trouble, she suffered the indignity of being branded a sore loser, of media scrutiny that sensationalized the dispute as a personal battle between her and Sue Haywood, the originally selected racer and a woman McConneloug considers a good friend to this day. The Fairfax, California native says she stood firm “not just for me, but for the integrity of the sport” and she was rewarded with one of the sweetest days of racing in her six-year career.

Cyclingnews’ Steve Medcroft caught up with U.S. Olympian, U.S. National Mountain Bike Cross Country Champion and cyclocross racer Mary McConneloug at her off-season hunting grounds on Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts—to learn more about her nomadic lifestyle, her reflection on racing and about that hot Wednesday afternoon in Athens.

A Vocal Mountain Biker

Cyclingnews: You’ve said before that you started riding bicycles to and from school when you were six years old and have always ridden for transportation, but riding professionally wasn’t your first aspiration. You went to school for something else entirely, right?

Mary McConneloug:I went to Santa Clara University and studied voice. I sang classical and opera, giving recitals and singing in different languages. I played piano also.

CN: Are you still involved with music?

MM: I am, but in a transformed way. I always will have my love for singing and for making music but what I did before was more performance. I didn’t write anything; I just performed and sang songs written by other people. These days, I prefer to do improvisation. Michael (Broderick, McConneloug’s long time partner and teammate) plays guitar and just last night for the first time this year we got together with his brother and a friend and play music. This isn’t the harpsichord-accompanied classical music I used to perform, this was electric guitar, electric bass, and drums. I got on vocals and had fun, making up words and falling into a funk/blues/jazz vibe. So yes, I am still involved with music but it has evolved into something different. I don’t have a lot of time for it, which is what it takes to be one of the top musicians, but I love it anyway.

CN: Were you on a music career-path before cycling?

MM: I had goals but now that I look back I know I wasn’t as serious as I am about mountain biking. I was offered a scholarship and I didn’t know what else I wanted to major in so I majored in music. The career options with that major are to teach or perform. I knew I wanted to perform but again, I didn’t approach it as serious as I approach what I do now.

CN: Are there elements of your vocal training or philosophy that translate into your cycling career?

MM: I think I’ve taken a lot of what I’ve learned from my music to my mountain biking. Physically, learning how to breathe deep and using that breath in an efficient way has helped me. Learning how to perform on the spot has helped too—in recitals, for example, if you forget words or make mistakes, you just have to carry on. And never let the audience know that things were messed up. I took that sense of improv under pressure with me into mountain biking. If I get a flat tire, break a chain, I feel like I’m able to just fix it and go on. With a smile on my face. I also learned to be disciplined—in music that mean to train my voice and learn the materials I was performing. In mountain biking, it means the discipline to be able to focus, see where my weaknesses are and work at them.

From Sport to Pro in one year

CN: What took you to your first mountain bike race?

MM: Someone mentioned it to me about four years before I actually did it. I used to ride a mountain bike all the time. I had always been an athletic kid. I just loved sports: I loved P.E., kickball, dodge ball, jump rope, anything. I was always climbing trees, always playing outside. I loved nature and being outside. My family, for fun and for vacations, would go camping. Every Sunday we’d hike after church. I spent a lot of time outdoors in Marin County and that’s a huge reason why I love mountain biking so much. All I wanted to do was be outside, play outside and ride my bike. As I grew up, I rode my mountain bike all the time. No Lycra or anything like that, just high top tennis shoes. I guess I did carry a few tools but no helmet, no special clothes. I’d ride for fun, for hours at a time.

So this person said something like, “You’re speedy, you should try mountain bike racing” and I never did it. Three years later, I was living in Seattle. On my days off I’d mountain bike and my boyfriend at the time said, “Mary, you should try mountain bike racing, you’d love it.” It sounded fun so I gave it a shot.

CN: You turned pro very quickly?

MM: My first year, I did two races as a Sport class rider then moved up to Expert. I decided to upgrade to pro because one day I beat the pro rider and got a tee shirt instead of the money. I also met Mike that first year. Then we started traveling and since then we’ve split time between Mike’s family’s home on Martha’s Vineyard and my family’s home in Marin, with all the time in between traveling and racing.

CN: You lead something of a nomadic lifestyle then?

MM: Yeah. If you’re on a tight budget, if you don’t have a home, being a nomad works. In my case it has been necessary because at times literally all I’ve had are my bikes, my passion for cycling and some really great friends and family. The fact that Mike is also a professional mountain bike racer and he has so much passion for the sport as well makes it easy. We take our home with us where we go.

CN: Were you a nomad or a mountain biker first?

MM: I think I evolved into being a nomad. I’ve always loved to travel. I did Europe with a backpack right out of college. I traveled across Canada with my sister; our mountain bikes in the back of a Volkswagen van. But mountain biking really lends itself to being a nomad. The races are scattered all over the United States and I’ve always been tight with the budget. We drive, camp, cook and race. It’s just how we live.

CN: How did you get by early in your career? Were you sponsored?

MM: Mrazek (a Czech manufacturer) was my first sponsor—they gave me a frame. Then I raced for Team Micro Supreme on a Gunnar from Richard Schwinn’s [grandson of the Schwinn] Waterford factory in Wisconsin [the original Schwinn manufacturing facility]. I was getting by with bike frames for a while then Jamba Juice picked me up in 2000. It was a great team, my first where everyone had matching jerseys and some expenses covered. We actually got to stay in condos at the NORBA nationals instead of sleeping in a tent.

The next year, the Jamba Juice sponsorship ended and we didn’t know what we were going to do. I started out the year finishing third in short track at the NORBA national in Big Bear. We had just sent our resume out to Seven Cycles and after that race they told us to come by. We drove all the way to the East coast, where they measured us. A week later they had our frames ready. We did the nationals at Red Wing right after and I remember that race vividly. I made it to the podium in cross country for the first time. It was exciting to have the support of our new sponsors. The fact that they accepted Mike and I as a couple was just the coolest thing. That was the beginning of my true career in the sport.

CN: Has life gotten any easier now that you’re a seasoned pro? Couldn’t you now sign on with a full factory team and have all your needs met?

MM: I think we’re going to continue with our simple approach. Both Mike and I like to have the freedom to choose when and where we’re going to race. One of the things about the big factory teams is that when they decide that you’re done, you’re done. I don’t like anyone to have control of me like that.

I feel like we have also invested a lot of time and effort in building the relationship with these companies. We’ve hand selected who we work with because we really believe they’re the best products out there. We run them for reasons of superior quality and performance. Stan at NoTubes.com is a great example of this. The guy is incredible. We were racing for Jamba Juice in 2000 and Stan’s wife Cindy approached us. The product is cutting edge technology and has absolutely helped us rise to the top. I feel like that it’s the companies like this—that took the time to care about us when we were peons—that deserve our loyalty now I’m an Olympian.

CN: Let’s shift to racing. I see a national championship, silver medal in a Pan-Am Games. How did your career progress?

MM: The national championship year was great. Mike and I were traveling around in our inherited Seven Cycles van with a trailer, which was our makeshift shop. We camped all over the United Stated. We drove up, down, zigzagged all over the place to make it to every single NORBA national even though there was no prize money and no UCI points—just for the sheer love of racing our mountain bikes. I raced consistently all year long and then in Mount Snow, Vermont, I just took it. It was the first NORBA race I ever won and I just took it. That race showed me that I could win, that I could beat Alison Sydor and Jimena Florit. Just to have a glimpse of that was huge. From there, the next biggest highlight in has to be the world cup race in Calgary where I finished second behind Gunn-Rita Dahle.

CN: You got the hole shot and held onto it?

MM: Oh no. I was riding back in tenth through the single track but I knew that there were climbs coming up within the single track where I’d be able to pass if I didn’t blow it all in the start loop. Sure enough, riders were just blown by the time they got to the single track and I was able to just squeak by people right and left, up and down. Next thing I know I riding right behind Anabella Stropparo. I could see Gunn-Rita Dahle ahead of us. Annabella was sort of holding me up in the single track and I knew that I could get around her so pedal stroke by pedal stroke I worked and ended up riding away from her. I closed in on Gunn-Rita and ended up only 45 seconds back at the finish, which was as close as anyone was getting all year round. This was right before the Olympic selection. I felt that I proved I was worthy.

An Olympic controversy

“I needed to speak up. Not just for me but for the integrity of the sport.”
—McConneloug on her appeal to get into the Olympic team

CN: Okay, about the Olympics. It must have taken a lot of courage to stand up and contest a decision that put Sue Haywood into the single U.S. Olympic slot. What was going through your mind when you decided something wasn’t right with the selection points?

MM: It was a huge lesson for me. In the weeks leading up to the selection I was being told, “Whatever the choice is, you have the right to an arbitration.” It was as if USA Cycling and the USOC was expecting arbitration no matter who was chosen. The fact that it came down to one point according to them meant that I just couldn’t sit there and take it. All year I had felt like getting to the Olympics would have only been a bonus on an already incredible season for me and we weren’t expecting to go but when it came down to one point I was like, “Wait a minute here.” I just wanted a third-party neutral decision on this because the criteria they used to justify the selection seemed to be full of discrepancies compared to the stated criteria. I needed to speak up. Not just for me but for the integrity of the sport.

CN: You prevailed thorough the process and got to represent the U.S. in Athens. How was the race, the experience altogether?

MM: It was incredible to be in Athens. To actually get there—to show up in the hot, dry air with the wind was blowing and realize, “I’m in this totally foreign land for the race of my life.” I stayed in the athlete’s village for five days and just to be there was pretty spiritual, an incredible journey. Although the other people in the village had no idea what I had to do to get there, I knew. And was going to everything in my power to be as ready to race as I could be. I stayed in my room, did my yoga, chilled out, focused on the course and training. The course was beautiful.

I was so ready to race when it finally came. I remember getting my call-up, second to the line because of my ranking. My family had come all the way from California. My sponsors came from Boston. Mike took the RV down on a Saturday and met me there. It was incredible. Then the gun went off and I bogged. I shouldn’t have started in my big ring. Even thought the start was flat and on kind of a slight incline, I should have been in my middle ring so I could get out front. So I bogged a little bit and as soon as I knew it, I was in the tenth spot. I charged up this hill, messed up a little corner up and ended up fifteen back and all in the first three minutes, there went my chance of being in the front. But that’s how racing is, you know. Things happen and you just need to adjust and deal.

It was so hot that day, probably 90 degrees in the shade at 11 when we started and hotter still over the two hours of the race. In each lap, I moved forward a couple of spots and on the last lap I made it back to ninth. It was victory for me. I had come back from so far. It was incredible to be there, to finish in the top ten.

CN: Cyclocross season is in full swing. You’re a crosser as well?

MM: I am a cyclocross racer. I love cyclocross. When I came back, I thought that I would just do some racing for fun, take time off and train lightly. I still had a little bit of fitness from the year though and last weekend (Gloucester US Gran Prix of Cyclocross events), I realized I can’t just race for fun because when I get out there I want to win. And if I want to win, I have to train hard. So then, despite wanting a break, I still have real ambitions for the ‘cross season, times when I feel like, “Yes, I want to do this, I want to go to nationals, maybe have a shot at being national champ.” Then I have other moments when I just want to pick cranberries, bake bread and hang out.

So for now, I’m just going to take it day by day and we’ll decide in the next few weeks whether we should go out to nationals (December 10 through 12th, 2004 in Portland, Oregon).

CN: Your career has grown organically over the years. Are here some specific goals that keep you moving forward?

MM: I have a long-term goal right now that I will be hard and firm on for the next four years: I want to race in Beijing, have another shot at the Olympics. As for 2005, I want to keep seeing my fitness rise to that next level. I’m just seeing clearly now that success in racing is really about commitment and dedication and over the years you become able to commit more and dedicate more. I’m at that point where this is all I want to do. So yes, I want to be national champion next year and yes I’d love to win NORBA’s and get up on that podium for the world cups. I definitely have goals but I think you get there by keeping the flow and the balance and having fun at it too. Do that and life is sweet.