Kristy (middle rider in red jersey) waits patiently for the Cherry Pie race to begin. She went on to win the race along with all the sprints. She walked away with every prize (including the Cherry Pie)! She was never able to redeem some of her prizes - time was just too short.
Every race season, the women’s race scene sees one rider fly through the ranks within an impossibly short time span: they uncomfortably increase the pace in the beginner/intermediate Cat 4 races, handle the expert Cat3 expert races with ease and settle in gracefully to the pro/semi-pro Cat1/2 competitions.
As a woman Cat4 racer who’s been a bit stuck in the beginner/intermediate category longer than I’d care to admit, I have become well adept at identifying that one woman bound to effortlessly succeed as she pulls up to the line for the first race of the year. Three years ago it was Lisa Penzel, two years ago it was Shelly Olds. This year, it was Kristy Gough. When she showed up at the Early Birds, I took one look at her and thought to myself, “yep, that’s her”… and since I was merely observing the race from the sidelines that day, I thought to my racing teammates, “good luck, girls.”
I didn’t know Kristy personally, but knew that she was the focus of my team’s competitive “fear” and inspiration. Hence, we intensely discussed on our team forums whether Kristy would be racing with us during our first “real” road race of the season, Snelling, and debated how to collectively (I’m talking 10 women here) compete against her in the race. Imagine the small sigh of relief when we found out she had upgraded to the next category up.
It’s only with Kristy’s passing that I have learned more about who she was, outside of that symbolic woman at the start of every race season she represented to me. Knowing she was my peer, if only for a moment, has made this tragedy all the more difficult to bear, but just as much, it has made it all the more important to carry on in her name. My heart goes out to Kristy’s family, friends and gracious Third Pillar teammates. You - and Kristy - are in my thoughts. Ride free, my friend.
Meredith Obendorfer
women's road team manager,
Roaring Mouse Cycles
I didn’t know Kristy personally, but knew that she was the focus of my team’s competitive “fear” and inspiration. Hence, we intensely discussed on our team forums whether Kristy would be racing with us during our first “real” road race of the season, Snelling, and debated how to collectively (I’m talking 10 women here) compete against her in the race. Imagine the small sigh of relief when we found out she had upgraded to the next category up.
It’s only with Kristy’s passing that I have learned more about who she was, outside of that symbolic woman at the start of every race season she represented to me. Knowing she was my peer, if only for a moment, has made this tragedy all the more difficult to bear, but just as much, it has made it all the more important to carry on in her name. My heart goes out to Kristy’s family, friends and gracious Third Pillar teammates. You - and Kristy - are in my thoughts. Ride free, my friend.
Meredith Obendorfer
women's road team manager,
Roaring Mouse Cycles
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