Last week, something happened. Something wonderful. Something shocking.
When my teammate, Jeff Kerkove, told me he thought I had a really good shot of going to race the Marathon World Championships in St. Wendel, Germany August 8, I laughed in his face. In order to race a UCI World Championship race, you have to be selected by your country’s cycling federation. For that one day, you wear a jersey and shorts that says your country’s name on it, and not your normal team racing kit.
Even though I laughed at Jeff, I decided that even though it seemed like a long shot, maybe I should look into it. After all, I tend to underestimate myself because I’m just someone who loves to ride my mountain bike! When I saw the news on the US Marathon Worlds Team, I had to read it about 3 times and pinch myself to make sure that it was actually my name on that roster. On August 8, I will be wearing a red, white, and blue jersey that says “USA” on it with 3 other US riders. We will be representing the endurance racing community from our country as well as our cycling body.
Click the thumbnail for the full story, or click here for the press release from Ergon.
It has been 6 days since I got the news, and it still seems like I’m dreaming. I have never raced my bike overseas, but it has always been something I wanted to do. Going to World Championships had never been something on my radar because I never thought I could be good enough to do that. I started bike racing because it was a fun cross-training activity to complement running. It wasn’t something I did as a junior. In fact, when I was younger, I thought people on bikes were dorks in neon spandex. However, when I became obsessed with riding mountain bikes halfway through my undergrad, I started to have loftier goals, like maybe going pro. I am now in my 5th year racing as a pro. There have been times when I wondered why I spent so much time, money, and energy on bike racing. There have been times where I felt so fortunate to even know this sport exists. And there have been times where I have to do a triple take at the computer screen because I can’t believe my eyes.
I know this sounds cheesy, but if you love something, no matter how much you don’t believe it or believe in yourself, you never know what you can accomplish. Having the courage to step forward and say, “I am not afraid to take a chance and go for it” DOES pay off. I have 2 more weeks at home to prepare, and then it will be time to participate in the greatest accomplishment of my cycling career to date. Who knows what’s in store for the future?!? I look forward to the journey and challenges along the way. Go USA!
