Height: 5’8″
Weight: 165, having dropped 30 pounds in the last year.
Goal weight is 150 by April 2012.
Birthdate: November 7th, 1967
Childhood Heroes: “Pele – grew up watching soccer. Greg Lemond when he won the Tour by 8 seconds. That was when I took up racing.”
Hobbies and Interests: “Gardening, Vegan cooking. Spending time with my kids, especially outdoors.”
Favorite Movies: “The Matrix. Caddyshack.”
Musical Tastes: “I listen to a lot of trance/zen music while I am working. I listen to a lot of rock & roll while I am working out. I also like east/west fusion music.”
Favorite TV Shows: “I dislike TV, except for cycling during the Tour.” 🙂
Favorite Meal: “I am Vegan. Thai, Mexican, Middle Eastern and Indian foods – there are tons of vegan options. If all else fails, a huge salad.”
Favorite Breakfast: “Green Smoothie – 4 bananas, a handful of greens, 2 tablespoons of Chia seeds, 2 cups of coconut milk or almond milk, 4 dates, 1/2 cup frozen berries = delicious.”
Favorite Ice Cream Flavor: “So Delicious Coconut Ice Cream.”
Childhood Dream: “To be a soccer star.”
First Car: “Subaru station wagon. Drove it ’till it had 150,000 miles.”
First Job: “College cafeteria.”
Favorite Vacation Spot: “Outer Banks, North Carolina. Really the best place I have ever been on vacation were the Greek Islands – total zen.”
Pre-Race Feeling: “Nervous. Anxious. Thinking about all the sacrifices made to be at the starting line.”
Early Racing Memory: “I used to be a distance runner in high school. Then in college I developed shin splints and used cycling to recover. I saved most of my first summer’s college funds, I had to work my ass off all summer so that I could have funds to attend school in the fall – so paying for a bike was a lot for me! I remember paying $600 for a Cilo with Shimano 600. I did my first century at the end of the season and loved it. No rollers then – winter was all about cross-training and then it was on to racing the following year.
“I went from Cat-4 to 3 to 2 in about 5 years. I was a Cat-2 for a season-and-a-half and was working at that time, living in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Riding was really good near the Smoky Mountains. But racing at Cat-2 level was not sustainable once I started travelling for work. I went down to Cat-3 and stayed there for a few years before I stopped racing completely in 2004 when my son was born. In 2006, things got very stressful when my son was diagnosed with Autism. The next three years, I barely rode and focused on getting him back on track – which worked out well. Last fall, I decided to start training again after my son lost his Autism diagnosis. This comeback year has been very hard since I jumped back into racing – I kept my Cat-3 license, many M40+ races are Cat-1-2- 3…
“Over the last year, I also went vegan to improve my cholesterol and lose weight, and part of the process realized that I maybe was impacted by food allergens like dairy, gluten, corn – 90% of your energy bars and gels contain Maltodextrin, which is a corn derivative. I have decided to create my own line of Plant Based Nutrition starting this autumn – it will available under the label AMRITA.”
Greatest Racing Moment: “Cat-2 crits, like Athens Twilight. I never placed in top-10 but was always close. It was that feeling of hammering at 35 mph for an hour, shoulder-to-shoulder and sometimes in the dark like at Athens, that I really loved.”
Worst Injury from Racing: “Fell on my wrist while mountain biking. I crashed on my hip once in a criterium, clipped my pedal in a turn.”
Funniest Racer: “Peter McCormick from last year’s team. He has a dry sense of Irish humor.”
Favorite Race: “Athens Twilight, SCCX Cross, Livestrong Philly.”
Embarrassing Racing Memory: “Getting a ticket for peeing in the bushes and arriving at the race only to find that I left my shoes at home.”
Favorite Athletes to Watch: “David Zabriskie, Fabian Cancellara.”
Qualities You Most Admire in People: “Honesty. Friendliness. Being Real. Hard work. Unselfishness. Teamwork.”
What You Love Most About Riding Your Bicycle: “Being outside, being in nature, the adrenaline rush of ripping a corner and the great feeling of being healthy.”
