Favorite race:

I'd have to say it's a love-hate relationship, but having done Tour of the Gila 4 years straight, going on 5, I'd say I like the tenacity and determination and grit it requires of a rider.  I appreciate that it demands several skills from a team to be able to come out on top.  I love the terrain, and I love the time trial.  It's held in a tiny town way off the beaten path so I would have never discovered Silver City and the Gila national forest if it weren't for this event.  All in all, I guess that makes it my top choice.

Admirable Athlete:

Kelly Benjamin, who races for Colavita.  I met Kelly while I lived in Kansas City and got to know her at local training crits.  I really consider Kelly a mentor in the sport.  Kelly has always set a positive example on how to be a professional racer--professional in the sense that she demonstrates tact and class while ripping it up in her races.  

Unique information or story about you:

Tour of Kansas City, 2005, I married my husband Rob on the finish line, following both of our races.  It poured rain all day; Rob crashed in his event because of the standing water and our guests were soaked.  [In fact--the National USAT championships were in KC that day and were canceled due to the bad weather!]  But it let up for 5 minutes, just in time for the ceremony, which was presided by our USAC official/minister-friend Chris Hess, who used a megaphone to get our "I-dos" loud enough for all of the racers and spectators to hear.  During my race, I crossed wheels with a rider in front of me and was on my way down.  One of my competitors, Molly Vetter-Smith, braced me up to prevent me from crashing as we hit the base of the steepest part of the climb.  Doing so cost Molly all of her momentum, but she merely whispered to me, "I am NOT going to let you crash on this day!"  To this day, I owe Molly for keeping me upright on my wedding day!

Most embarassing (race) moment:

One of my very first races was a time trial in Nebraska.  I had NO idea what I was doing and so when the volunteer held up the biker in front of me, I allowed him to do the same for me.  What I did not realize was that the volunteer would merely let go-not push.  I was in a gigantic gear and...well, I tipped right over, water bottles rolling away and lookers-on laughing.  Of course, I was clipped in and as I lay on the ground, I didn't have the leverage needed to clip out!  The USAC official said "I can't help you, your clock's running."  Sooo....two minutes later, I was back on my bike VERY red-faced.  I spent the next 2 years refusing to be held for TT starts!