How I got to ride with Kristin Armstrong

Occasionally you get the assignment of a lifetime.  This was one of those.

As a reader, you may know that I am a news anchor by trade.  Occasionally they let me out of the studio to do some reporting. of late much of it has been related to the outdoors.

Click here to read about my Amazing 60 Mile Gravel Ride in Loudoun County this summer.

I also do some volunteering with Visit Virginia’s Blue Ridge as a board member and member of the cycling committee. 

This is convenient because Visit VBR is working hard with other local groups and organizations to push the region’s outdoor attractions.

Thus, when Kristin Armstrong was named the keynote speaker at the Visit VBR annual dinner, they asked me if I would agree to emcee.

Um. Sure.

Kristen spoke.  I emceed. 

Everything went according to plan.

But the real treat would come on Saturday morning, when I would do a short ride with the Olympian, interviewing along the way, as a station cameraman recorded from the vehicle in front of us.

The ride with Kristin Armstrong

It was here Kristin spoke of winning her first gold medal in Beijing in the time trial, then the struggle to even make the team for the next Olympics in London after she had become a mother.  She won over the naysayers and won her second. 

Then as an athlete over 40, she had to make the team again for Rio in 2016.  She faced a lot of pushback and even overcame a significant injury before making the team, historically earning her third gold medal the day before her 43^rd birthday.

If you want to hear all she had to say, click here to watch my story on WSLS.com.  (You may be prompted to sign up to become an Insider, which is quick and free – then you can watch the segment.)

Her story is way more interesting than my own experience, but permit a moment to gush publicly, as I don’t believe I’ve done justice to that part.

Negotiating

Riding with Kristin was not an easy negotiation, even if I did have an in with organizers.

The initial explanation as to why it was NOT going to happen went like this: “When Kristin travels to speak she has a hard time doing promo rides with the public.  In a group setting, there is always a selection of riders trying to beat her.  At the other end, the rider who pulls their 1990 mountain bike out of the garage and can barely keep up.  It turns into a mess with her in the middle.”

Kinda makes sense right?

I countered that all I wanted was the chance to noodle along on the greenway for a few miles, so we could get some b-roll and I could ask a few questions.

Anyone who has seen me ride would know I don’t have enough game even to consider trying to outsprint an Olympic champion to the playground equipment.

Eventually, I got their blessing.

The weather looked bad on that Saturday morning.  Your Local Weather Authority was calling for rain no later than 11 a.m.

At 10 o’clock we got on the bikes and eased off at 10 mph down Wiley Drive.  I asked her about her life post-Olympics, about making those teams, and what she thought of The Blue Ridge region’s cycling chops.

It’s all in the story.

One thing I didn’t include in the TV story

I didn’t have time to include what she said about riding her local trails in Boise. She told me how men routinely speed up when they see a woman coming up behind them. “When I pass them they say, ‘Well at least it’s Kristin,” she told me.

I guess there’s no shame in being dropped by one of the best there ever was.

For me, it was a thrill just to go for a slow five-mile ride with Kristin.  When we got back to the picnic shelter in Smith Park, we sat down for a bit more interviewing before a publicized autograph signing session for the public.

I eased away from the gathering crowd and logged a few more miles in the park.  I got back to the car just as it started to rain.  It had become a bit chilly.

But I had a warm glow, knowing I would have a great story to tell on TV.

And to anyone else who would listen.