Tiffany Pezzulo
Hometown: Salt Lake City, UT (I am from Rochester, NY though)
Education: B.A. University of Colorado-Boulder (1998); J.D. S.J.
Quinney College of Law, University of Utah (2005)
Occupation: Policy Analyst for the State of Utah
Discipline: Road, cyclocross, mountain (I flail equally on the
mountain bike and cross bike)
Strengths: Criteriums, sprinting
Former Teams: University of Pennsylvania, Captain of the University
of Colorado Boulder Women's Cycling team; GS Ciao; Proteus.com women's
professional cycling team; Team Biogen-Idec; Park City Iron Man;
Squadra Velocita
Category: Road (1), Mountain (expert), Cyclocross (Elite)
Years Racing: 2010 will be my 12th season in cycling (While I started
in 1995, I took 3 years off from racing during law school)
I'm mentoring Susan on our CAT 4 team.
Objectives:
I want to build on individual and team accomplishments from 2009. In
my 1st year racing with this team, I raced a number of NRC and USA
Crits events. Highlights included finishing 8th overall at Speedweek
and 4th at the USA Crits Finals. I also won the Utah State Crit
Championships. In 2010 I hope to be a consistent podium finisher at
NRC and USA Crits events in addition to providing capable support to
teammates at stage races.
Favorite race: Speedweek, USA Crits Finals and the Durango Ironhorse Crit
Key ingredients: My husband is a great reminder for me about the
simple pleasures that just pedaling your bike can bring. He
accomplished some neat things both on and off the bike this year
including a 200 mile ride in Southern Utah, a 3-day tour through the
San Juan Mountains and a 7-day tour across Oregon. He totally keeps
me grounded and is an awesome training partner! My coaches are an
essential ingredient in my training and racing as well. My family and
friends are also super supportive, even though I am pretty lame to
hang out with for most of the year.
Most memorable experience from 2009: Every race had something
unforgettable--from our awesome host families in Tulsa and Bend, to
getting to connect with friends in family in Vancouver and Chicago.
Every place I traveled to race had something really unique. I think
the hardest I laughed all season was at one of the southeast crits, a
certain teammate who will remain anonymous was being an uber
multi-tasker and talking on her phone, drinking a recovery drink and
probably looking at a map (because I'm useless with directions) while
we were charging around the course during the men's race. While
crossing the street during the men's race, she tripped and did a total
SUPERMAN right in the middle of the course. All of her stuff went
flying, including her phone. The best (worst) part was that this was
right in front of a restaurant with outdoor seating and a BIG CROWD.
Said anonymous teammate had no choice but to walk through the crowd
with everyone asking her if she was ok. Once I realized she was not
actually hurt (though she did get road rash), I could NOT STOP
LAUGHING. She was mortified but was a total champ about it.
Unique information about you: I LOVE gardening (the edible kind). In
my "spare time" (at night with a headlamp usually), I keep a veggie
garden going in our back yard. I don't consider myself the domestic
type, but last summer I found that I was really into growing my own
veggies. It was really satisfying to go grocery shopping in my
backyard (usually in my shammy after a ride). I'm super passionate
about eating locally--though I will NEVER be able to give up olive oil
and coffee! When not riding/racing I love telemark skiing and
mountain biking with my husband and all of our ripper friends,
drinking wine, and reading.
