I first met Robin Secrist last Fall during an interview with team First Rate Mortgage. At the time she was an established triathlete, but Martha Walsh had convinced her to join team First Rate Mortgage and focus on bicycle racing. Robin has emerged as one of the top bicycle athletes in the Pacific Northwest.
Age: 32
Hometown:
Summit, NJ
Education:
Middlebury College
Work/Career:
Secondary Marketing / Banking
Family:
A cat and dog.
You are known as a successful triathlete who has transitioned to focus on road cycling. How did you get into tri?
My dad was turning 60 in the fall of 2005 and my family celebrated by taking cycling trip through Napa and Sonoma. I bought a bike in the spring of 2005 to get in shape for the trip — I wanted to be able to do all of the riding and all of the wine tasting offered! I knew how to swim, off-and-on I would jog for exercise and then once I had a bike (and was riding a lot thanks to a couple of weeks when I couldn’t drive because I locked my keys in the trunk of my car) a friend suggested I do a triathlon. That was that. I started to be competitive the following season during a Team in Training ½ Ironman program.
Robin en route to a 1st place women’s cycling leg and 16th overall at the 2008 Ski to Sea.
What led you to focus just on cycling?
I decided this past Sunday (5/18/2008) to focus on just cycling. Initially this season was going to be triathlon-focused. I hoped to do an Ironman and had a goal of winning a particular triathlon with a funny name in Eastern Washington. However, I have fallen in love with bike racing and realized on Sunday that my heart wasn’t in triathlon anymore. So I decided to hang up my goggles and focus on cycling.
I decided to join a cycling team after riding with a group of guys from a team in Charleston, South Carolina. I was there visiting my parents last spring and brought my bike to make sure I could get in some triathlon training. My sense of direction is pretty pathetic so I didn’t want to go out riding by myself. I found this group ride and worked up the nerve to show up. I had never ridden in a group or in a paceline before, so for the first 20 miles I just sat off the back and tried not to get in anybody’s way. Then some guys started taking flyers off the front and it looked like it would be fun to help chase them down. So I did and before I knew it I was riding faster than I ever had before (granted it’s pancake flat there). It was an absolute blast, and eventually I sat in the paceline for a bit and didn’t seem to be getting in anybody’s way.
The Velocity Blog’s “Rider Profiles” highlight the accomplishments of some of our amazing local cycling athletes, and provides insight into their lives that may inspire us all.
At the beginning of the season you were a Cat 4, now you are a Cat 1-2. How has that transition been for you?
I’m surprised how quickly I’ve been able to make the transition. I am very lucky to have the support and input of my teammates, Erik Moen and others. It really does take a village to raise this cyclist — I don’t think I would get to the start line without help putting my bike on a trainer, swapping out wheels, pinning my number on, telling me where to go, etc. My teammate, Sile Kiernan, went with me to Mason Lake prior to the 1st race there and rode the course with me, talked about strategies, showed me how to stay safe on the downhill/sharp turns. That helped me feel good going into my first race. My first time out as a 3 was a blast —I was in a nice little break of 6 girls who knew that it was my first Cat 3 race. They were all very helpful: providing me with suggestions on how to pull-through more evenly, how to peek under my arm rather than turning my head before rotating back, etc. I was so excited to race as a Cat 2 with Martha (Walsh) — I remember when we started doing team rides in the fall thinking, “It would be so cool to race w/ her someday!” I still look to others for help during the Cat 1/2 races…that’s one of the things about bike racing (around here, anyway?)…I’ve found the women to be incredibly supportive of one another. It doesn’t matter if you’re on the same team or not — there is a common focus on making cycling accessible and enjoyable while at the same time promoting healthy competition.
Within the world of road cycling, which events do you like best? Why? Which do you not like? Why?
It is oh-so-triathlete of me, but I love time trials. It’s fun to get in a rhythm and just GO. Road races are a very close second — I like thinking about and observing what’s going on, who is going to do what, when do I need to chase, etc. Crits, well, they’re not on the top of the list yet. I was up very late the night before the Walla Walla crit (my first) thinking about how scary it was going to be to take turns w/o using my brakes, have people taking said turns right next to me, etc. Three or four laps into that race I realized I was still upright, with the group, and that it was actually really fun! Except for the fact that I still end up using the brakes and I can’t accelerate quickly, it made me feel like a bike racer.
Do you do any other sports for fun or competition?
I love cross-country skiing, dabble in golf from time to time (mostly when I visit my parents and mostly because they treat me to a great lunch afterwards). I’ve been training for triathlon pretty consistently for two years so I’ve done less downhill skiing, rowing, hiking, tennis and other sports that I’ve done in the past because of time constraints.
What are your competitive objectives for 2008?
Until Sunday my competitive objectives were for triathlon, so my plan was to just get out there and race my bike and see what happens.
What does your training program look like? How many miles/hours per week do you train for cycling?
I’ve been riding about 8-10 hours / week. Some of that time is riding my bike to and from work. To date, my training has been weather-dependent; I avoid the trainer like the plague. My interval training has mostly been racing.
Any suggestions for women getting into tri or road cycling?
Oh just try it! I doggie-paddled for most of the swim in my first triathlon and it was the first time in a long time I was able to run 3 miles. It feels really good to surprise yourself!
