Page 26 - Dec_13

reader athlete
julIa Sperry

age: 42 | residence: South Burlington | family: Husband, Jim | occupation: Retirement plan analyst | primary sport: Cyclocross

JULIA SPeRRY DISCOVeReD CYCLOCROSS IN

2010 AND HAS BeeN RACING eVeR SINCe. THe

CATeGORY 3 RIDeR SPeNDS MOST OF HeR FALL

WeekeNDS ON THe ROAD, TRAVeLING AROUND

NeW eNGLAND, BUT THe HIGH SHe GeTS FROM

RACING MAkeS IT ALL WORTHWHILe.

VS: What do you like about cyclocross? I also did one year of road racing, but I 3, but don’t think I can make the leap to quickly and then there’s stuff that just
I have to admit, I’ve never understood
only started cyclocross in 2010.
Cat 2 because of time constraints. age cakes to your shoes and can break your
the appeal of carrying a bicycle. isn’t on my side either. I have friends derailleurs. at the race in maine, they
js: I actually like getting off and on the VS: How often do you race?
who catted up, but it’s hard at that next tell you to keep your mouth shut and
bike. I’m the worst mountain biker on js: I’ve done as many as 20 races a year, category. the field is smaller, but there’s make sure to wash afterwards. there’s
a huge difference between the women one section where you come down a hill
the face of the planet, but in cyclocross but this year, I’ll probably only do 15.
you have to learn skills like dismount- you need to find places to stay and peo- in the front and the back, so it can be and the grass ends and you hit pavement
ing and remounting and suitcasing your ple to carpool with. I enjoy all that, but lonely in the back. Cyclocross for wom- right in front of the barn. One year I lost
bike over barriers. I practice that over after the 15th weekend, I’m pooped.
en has grown, but they haven’t added control and went through the course
and over again. also, it’s a very short enough fields. In addition, women have tape and the photos show this man

season from september to November, VS: you recently competed in the to race with the juniors, and one year in watching the race and looking at me
so you can concentrate your efforts. I providence cX. How was that? Providence, it seemed like at every cor- with his mouth dropping open and then
get stronger as the season progresses, js: It was a huge event with 135 women ner I came across a poor 10- or 12-year- running out of the way. my mouth is
sometimes doing double races weekend in the Cat 3/4 field. the race is the third old, and I didn’t have the heart to bar- glued shut because of the manure. One

after weekend. I get a little burned out one in the Verge series. the first one is rel around them or scream at them so I year, the course actually went through
traveling three to four hours for the at Catamount, and not that many peo- waited. It’s not the greatest strategy, but the barn with the cows on either side.
races, but I like doing the race, getting ple from southern New england come I’m not losing a podium shot over it.
that was cool, but afterwards, we all
my elbows sharpened, and all that argy- up for that, so I got some Verge points lined up for the hoses and cleaned our
bargy. When you’re done, it’s just a ri- VS: tell us about your best race.
bikes, our clothes, our shoes, and our-
there, which put me in the second row
diculous high.
for starting in Providence. that made a js: I won a race at Paradise Cross in selves. I can get kind of girly at the first
huge difference since I was ahead of 100 Windsor. that was very cool. It was the mud puddle, but when it’s splattered all
VS: How long have you been riding?
women.
end of the season, so I felt very strong. over you, you start to feel gritty and ba-
js: I raced mountain bikes in high school the next day I raced in Putney and that dass. this year there haven’t been too

when Catamount Family Center started VS: Would you like to move up a was probably my best race even though many mudders.
their Wednesday-night series. We’d show category? I didn’t win. a woman who was faster
up in t-shirts and shorts and hack around.
js: I’ve already moved up from Cat 4 to
than me dropped a chain so I passed VS: Is it true that cyclocross is mostly
her. I’ve never raced that hard in my about competition, not recreation?
life, and I came through at 4 or 5 laps js: that is true. the fall is the one time

and heard the official say I was done. of year when I go cross crazy. I like rid-
then the other woman came through, ing recreationally with my husband and
and they told her she had one lap to go, friends, but I really love racing and the
so I got back on the bike, but I was com- competition. It’s an intense two months

pletely spent and couldn’t catch her. I’d and then I get it out of my system. I
Berlin, VT never raced that fast and been that mo- guess it is an odd sport. We all stand
229-4131
tivated before. I truly used everything around before the race talking about
I had. One of the things I love about tire pressure. a friend calls it dressage
Come play at The Studio and discover Central Vermont’s most
cyclocross is that it puts me out of my for bikes. I like to keep it low-key be- rewarding community fitness classes with world-class instructors
comfort zone. I’m a slow twitch person cause it’s too easy to go completely over YOGA ZUMBA® PILATES BOOT CAMP CYCLING
so the speed and strength of the sport the top with equipment, but I just love
is not natural to me. I don’t really care the whole package of going to races,
how I finish, but I like that feeling that seeing the same people, and challenging

I can be fast and not entirely a turtle. myself. It’s painful. It’s 45 minutes of
I’m tall and skinny. you wouldn’t look being uncomfortable. you put up with
at me and see a sprinter.
the travel, the nerves, and the stinking
porta-potties. Once you get through
VS: How hard is it to keep yourself
the start—which is where the accidents
and your bike clean? happen—I have a lot of fun. It’s like a
js: I definitely clean my cross bike more high. I get more from that 45-minute
than my road bike. there’s one race in burst than from a four-hour ride.
www.theconfluencevt.org
maine where you literally ride through
cow manure. there’s mud that dries
—Phyl Newbeck

26 VtSportS.com
December 2013