2010 Dream Team
We are inspired by the reasons that women choose to ride in Venus de Miles, and in that vein we decided to gather a group of women who we think can inspire our riders. The Venus de Miles Dream Team has seen incredible hurdles and incredible successes, both on and off the bike.
Alison Dunlap (Speaker)
Alison is an American professional cyclist who won the World Cross Country Mountain Bike Championship in 2001 and also has two Mountain Bike World Cup victories to her credit. In addition, she has a number of high achievements in the road racing aspect of the sport, including a victory in the Redlands Bicycle Classic in 1996. A two-time Olympian, Dunlap represented the United States in cycling’s Road Race event at the 1996 Summer Olympics and the cross country mountain bike event at the 2000 Summer Olympics. www.alisondunlap.com
Ariana Solana Dittmer
Ariana starting going to bicycle races to watch her mom, when she was three years old. She would participate in the kids races during mountain bike and road races. Ariana is now 15 and races for Black Sheep Junior Cycling and races in the Front Range of Colorado. She has been mountain bike racing for years, and has recently started racing road. Her specialties includes cleaning technical mountain bike sections and powering through criteriums. Her mom enjoys supporting her race while taking pictures and cheering her on the sidelines! Check out her team www.juniorcyclingassociation.com.
Colleen Cannon
Colleen founded Women's Quest after a highly successful career as a professional triathlete. In her racing days, she was World Champion in 1984, and National Champion in 1988 and 1990. She also was a multiple U.S. National team member. Her passions, besides chocolate and being in nature, are liberating and empowering women through movement and balance, and targeting their true "hearts' desire." www.womensquest.com
Colleen Cooke
Colleen is an avid trail runner who has competed in the Trans Rockies Run for the past three years. This 118-mile trail stage race takes runners from Buena Vista to Beaver Creek via fabulous Colorado trails and fills her passion for trail running. After competing in triathlons for almost 20 years and completing four Ironman Triathlons, she still enjoys hopping on her saddle and pedaling Peak to Peak Highway or wherever the scenery draws her. More inspired by the beauty and challenge of a ride than the competition, Colleen’s favorite thing to do is re-connect with friends during a road ride. How perfect that she works for a company that was “born on a bike”, Clif Bar & Company.
Erin Carson
As General Manager and Fitness Director of RallySport Health and Fitness Club for the past 18 years, Erin has taken on the challenge to help others change their lives through a comprehensive approach to wellness. As a runner, cyclist, former Pro-Basketball player and overall outdoor enthusiast Erin recognizes the power of good fitness practices to maintain a healthy, injury free commitment to not let time dictate a decrease in physical performance. www.rallysportboulder.com
Dimity McDowell Davis
A sports + fitness writer for 15 years, Dimity McDowell is the co-author of Run Like A Mother (Andrews McMeel, 2010), a contributing editor at Runner's World and writes for a range of magazines. An elite rower in her former life, she's now a dedicated, if not natural, runner and triathlete. The mother of two kids and two dogs, Dimity, lives with her husband, Grant, in Denver, where they try to ride together as often as possible. Which is about once a year. runlikeamotherbook.com
Kay Levesque
Kay's Work and Passions: Massage Therapy and Ski Instructing. Kay's Play and Passions: Riding Bikes, Telemark Skiing, Rock Climbing, and Quilting! Kay's Life Passions: Being Mom to a beautiful daughter, Wife to a most excellent husband and life partner, and Friend to her bad-ass girlfriends who ride bikes, ski, climb and quilt with her! Currently Kay races with the Chipotle-Titus Masters Mountain Bike Team and enjoys competing in 24-hour and cross country events as well as endurance races. This year's goals are to try out a Super D race and compete in the single speed category. Wish her luck! You know she'll always be smiling.
Kimberly Baldwin
Kimberly Baldwin has been racing road bikes professionally for 8 years; last 4 years on the T-Mobile team She is a 4x national champion in road and time trial, winner of Tour of Switzerland and Tour de Snowy in Australia. Despite being diagnosed with a malignant tumor in her ankle in 2003, she was back the following race season. Kimberly even met her husband, Chris, while on her way to a race in 1999. Kimberly currently works at Re/Max of Boulder, but she is still involved in cycling camps all over the country, helping women get into racing at any age.
Michelle Karl (Speaker)
Michelle balances several different roles. She is the mother of two girls, a wife, a therapist, a friend, and to get perspective she finds herself outside running and biking....a lot. Michelle has completed several adventure races and last summer she completed her first XTERRA. Her business, The Balanced Mother, offers individual therapy, couples counseling and workshops that center on helping others find their own formula for life balance. www.thebalancedmother.com
Nicole DeBoom
Nicole got started young, qualifying for the 1988 Olympic Swimming Trials in the 100m breaststroke when she was 16. Since then, she’s been a top finisher at two Ironmans, and many short-distance traithalons.In 2004, Nicole won Ironman Wisconsin and promptly thereafter founded Skirt Sports. a fitness-skirt specialty company featuring fitness skirts, designed by a female athlete, for female athletes. Since the company launch, SkirtSports has made national and international headlines. Convert to Skirt! www.skirtsports.com.
Pam Landry
Pam Landry is a veteran coach, marathon runner, triathlete and Sport Psychology consultant, running The Athlete’s Edge in Boulder. She specializes in working with individuals to help them to continually work on expanding their potential in both athletics and in life. With 17 marathon finishes to date, and more on the horizon, Pam continues to train and compete regularly, and enjoys bringing her unique experiences as an athlete, coach, teacher, mentor and mother to every athlete and aspiring athlete that she works with.
Taylor Fogg
Taylor is a 15 year old rising high school sophomore, currently a USA Triathlon All-American (ranked 2nd in the USA), and a two-time USA Triathlon Youth National Champion. An active volunteer with the Ronald McDonald House and Falfins swim team, she is also an honors student who serves on student council. Other activities that keep her busy include swimming, cycling, running, triathlons, guitar, and woodworking. Taylor's future goals include becoming a pediatrician and completing the Ironman in Kona.
Tricia Downing
Tricia was a competitive road and track cyclist until September 17, 2000, when she was paralyzed from the chest down after being struck by a car while on a training ride. Determined to live life on her terms, Downing turned her misfortune into opportunity, becoming a pioneer in the sport of women’s wheelchair triathlon. She has competed in a variety of triathlons from sprint distance to Ironman and is a member of the Physically Challenged National Triathlon team. She is also the director of Camp Discovery, a new life-fitness program for women with disabilities. www.trishdowning.com
Wink Jackson
After college, Wink became one of the founding female members of the professional mountain bike racing scene in Japan. Seven years, a career with Cannondale Bicycles designing products and creating the internationally acclaimed Volvo-Cannondale mountain bike team, 9 All Japan racing titles, World Cup top 20 rankings and a wonderful husband later, Wink with Michael, decided to start Zeal Optics in 1996 from their world headquarters in Moab, UT. Now based in Boulder, Wink designs Zeal women's specific polarized eyewear. Wink's dream is to See a Better World... for everyone. http://www.zealoptics.com