INTERVIEW: Allison Mann

 

 

 

 

 

 

Allison enjoying a little training after work.

 

 

NAME: Allison Mann

 

AGE: 28

 

HEIGHT: 5’8

 

HOMETOWN: Murrieta, CA

 

YEARS RIDING: 3.5 years

 

YEARS PRO: Almost one month! No, seriously.

 

HOURS SPENT TRAINING PER WEEK: 8-10 hours on the bike, 1-2 hours off the bike

 

TYPICAL TRAINING DAY: Breakfast, full-time job, usually an hour or so interval session at lunch, back to work, home around 6 for dinner, core/yoga, and in bed before 10. Not very glamorous, I know!

 

BIKE: My 2009 race bike is the Specialized S-Works Epic. I also train a lot on a 2006 Salsa Dos Niner and a 2007 Roubaix Expert (road).  When I feel the need to huck it I grab my Specialized Demo 7.

 

FAVORITE PART ABOUT NEW S-WORKS: The entire bike is everything you would want in a race bike. It’s light, it’s fast, it accelerates like a Ferrari, and it looks good. It almost pedals itself.

 

FAVORITE FOODS: Anything my husband, Justin, cooks. We work together on meals: turkey tacos, grilled salmon, chicken, steak, monster salads, brown rice, and sometimes wheat pasta with peppers and meat sauce.

 

FAVORITE TYPE OF MUSIC: I listened to grunge and metal in high school, so it’s somewhat embarrassing to note that I mostly listen to pop now. I like some of the more mainstream hip-hop also.

 

FAVORITE RIDING SPOT: Crested Butte. Locally – Santa Ana mountains (Trabuco) and Idyllwild.

 

FAVORITE OFF THE BIKE TRAINING: I really enjoy yoga DVDs, and have always liked weight lifting. I’m hoping to try some trail running at the end of the season.

 

FAVORITE PART ABOUT RACING: Putting everything on the line against others doing the same. It’s always painful, but it feels great too. Cheering on other competitors is also a lot of fun.

 

THOUGHTS ON U.S. CUP: I am totally loving the US Cup races so far this year. Very happy that we’ve already had 3 on the west coast, and #4 is right around the corner. The series has been well-organized, and very well promoted. I haven’t heard any negative comments from any racers, and there seems to be a lot of dedicated people out there every weekend lining up! I wasn’t racing or riding bikes in the 90s at the height of US mountain biking, but I hope to see it reach that level again. Already this year I’ve met some really cool people at the events.

 

THOUGHTS ON TEAM SHO-AIR: The team is taking over! Here in So Cal so many of the amateurs are excited to be sporting the colors as well. It’s been great to watch a local company take over mountain biking and really help grow the sport. I look forward to being a part of the expansion!

 

BRIEF HISTORY ABOUT YOURSELF: I’ve lived in So Cal my whole life, and went to college in San Diego. After graduating my husband, Justin, and I got into racing gas-powdered radio controlled cars in 2002 or so. I did some photography and articles for R/C Car Action, but realized in early 2005 that it wasn’t what I wanted to be doing as a weekend hobby. I started working out at the gym, and tried karate classes for the summer, but following the ’05 Tour de France I knew I wanted to get on a bike. I hadn’t ridden in about 12 years, so it was interesting. Mountain biking was painful – I fell a lot, couldn’t descend, didn’t know how to shift, but for some reason all I wanted to do was go explore on the weekends. Two weeks after getting bikes we were off to Phoenix to visit family and we wound up on our first bike vacation. We rode Sedona two days. I was in way over my head, fell on a cactus, and shortly after planned a trip to Bootleg Canyon! In January of 2006 I was on a 1×1 at Gooseberry Mesa. It continued to escalate from there. I can’t imagine not riding bikes. It is the most fun and amazing thing I’ve ever experienced. I love riding new trails, traveling to new bike destinations, and meeting other riders.

 

We’ve been lucky enough to ride Mammoth, Downieville, Whistler, Crested Butte, Fruita, Moab, Gooseberry, Santa Fe, Monarch Crest, Flagstaff, Gallup and more, and most of the time with great friends.

 

WHATS NEXT FOR ALLISON MANN: Up next is Sea Otter, April 18th and 19th! Following that I’ve got the US Cup in Santa Ynez, the Idyllwild Spring Challenge, US Cup in Colorado Springs, and the Downieville Classic AM World Championship. I’m hoping to travel to a few other races, but am just looking forward to the next few months. Lots of training, and hopefully some good racing in my Sho-Air kit for the rest of the year!