| Profile | Biography | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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I started racing BMX at age nine. In the preceding my years of fun in the dirt, I tried every girly sport you
can think of, from baton to cheerleading, yes cheerleading! Nothing seemed to fit, none of those activities were my "thing".
I was 8 when my Dad refused to let me play football. Some for the kids in my neighborhood raced BMX. I begged my dad for a
bike. My Dad had raced motorcycles when he was growing up and that made him reluctant to let me try BMX. He pictured his
little girl with a disaster of injuries and trips to the hospital. I persisted and he finally
let me give it a go! His vision wasn't far from the truth, but in between the list of injuries (which comes along with any
sport) came an even longer list of accomplishments and experiences! Racing has taught me so much and has taken me to so
many great places around the world.
I had a pretty successful BMX career, with the help of my BMX coach and team manager Pat Blackburn. He coached me through my amateur and pro years. Together we traveled the BMX circuit across the country and he gave me the confidence to turn pro and be the first girl to race against Pro Men. As I was starting to make my transition into Mountain Biking, we met a legendary bike manufacturer, Frank “the Welder” Wadelton that happened to also live in AZ. Pat and Frank formed Jalapeno Bikes, which I raced all through my BMX pro career. Frank also built me my first mountain bike and opened some doors for me. I raced BMX competively on a national level from the time I was 9 years old till I was 18. I was 16 when I began making the transition to Mountain biking. It was a natural progression and I was forturnate enough to meet legend Missy Giove. This heroine gave me my first downhill mountain bike and gear, then showed me how to get started on a career as a gravity racer. During my three year stint at the junior World Championships the Rock Shox DEVO team was instrumental in helping me travel and compete. When my junior years were over on the DEVO team I got picked up for a full factory sponsorship on KHS bicycles who have now been a kind of family to me. My years on the team have helped me step it up in the pro rankings and made it possible to race as a full time pro athlete. In 2005 all of my hard work, determination, and the support from my loved ones and sponsors paid off with my U.S. Mountain Bike Womens Downhill Champion title. I LOVE riding my bike and racing, but there is another lofty goal I have embarked on. I am working on my undergraduate in Bio-Chemistry and am literally racing my way to medical school too!  |