Georgia Gould never fails to impress me. She is a gracious winner, a classy competitor, and a treasure to the sport of bicycle racing. She will hopefully represent our country in Beijing on her mountain bike. And she throws down in ‘cross, too! 
I first meet Georgia when we formed the winning break in 2004 at a UCI Cyclo-cross race in Virginia. She was a welcome companion as we extended our lead over the chasers, and strong as heck. I attacked her on the last lap and rode solo to my first UCI victory (and did the dumbest finish line salute ever: Richard Nixon). She was gracious in defeat, and we chatted afterward. I learned that she was a first-year ‘crosser living in Idaho with her fiancé. I could envision a huge future for her.
I never beat her again. The closest I got was the next year on the same course when she rode to a solo win far ahead of me and Betsy Schauer, who I outsprinted for 2nd. Talking afterward, Georgia confessed that she was “only a cat 3 on the road” and hadn’t done much road racing. We (Cara and I) encouraged her to check it out, since the two of us did a majority of our racing on the road. She said she might.
I’m glad she didn’t. Mountain biking and Cyclo-cross is lucky to have her. She has podiumed at Cyclo-cross Nationals every year since 2005. She is a national champion on the mountain bike. She rocks the World Cup Mountain Bike circuit. She’s phenomenal.
Last weekend, she suffered heatstroke during a race in Santa Ynez, California. She’s recovering, but it definitely gave her some pause. I read her interview and was once again struck with how gracious and professional she is. She said she didn’t want her DNF to detract from Kelli Emmett’s victory that day. How pro is that? She’s lying in a hospital bed and has only wonderful things to say about her competition. You can accuse women’s racing of being a sewing circle. Go ahead. But I think that Georgia’s rare attitude is sorely lacking in a lot of arenas…not just cycling. I wish more people would think like that. To take a step back. To never begrudge someone a victory. To be positive.
Just like last weekend when Scott Zwizanski snuck to a solo victory in the Downtown Wilmington Criterium. You can accuse The Zwizza of sitting on in the break…but whatever. He did what he needed in the last lap and while Colavita and Kelly Benefits were watching each other, he attacked and powered home alone for the win. Good on ‘im. Love me some Zwizza.
But love him or not, I hope I never badmouth a victory by someone who saw the situation and played their cards right. I think that only sore losers would accuse him of “sitting on”. He had zero teammates in the break; why should he do anything? Anyway he did plenty. People who whine about that kind of stuff grate on my nerves and I want to shove a pile of Georgia Gould interviews in their face. Be gracious. Be complimentary of your competition. Spend those minutes of badmouthing on something else. Clean our bike. Blog about how much you love your race tires. Help your soigner unload the van. How you behave in defeat says more about you than how you behave when victorious. The sport doesn’t need dissention in its ranks; we have enough problems already.
So…heal up Georgia and rock those Olympics!
I first meet Georgia when we formed the winning break in 2004 at a UCI Cyclo-cross race in Virginia. She was a welcome companion as we extended our lead over the chasers, and strong as heck. I attacked her on the last lap and rode solo to my first UCI victory (and did the dumbest finish line salute ever: Richard Nixon). She was gracious in defeat, and we chatted afterward. I learned that she was a first-year ‘crosser living in Idaho with her fiancé. I could envision a huge future for her.I never beat her again. The closest I got was the next year on the same course when she rode to a solo win far ahead of me and Betsy Schauer, who I outsprinted for 2nd. Talking afterward, Georgia confessed that she was “only a cat 3 on the road” and hadn’t done much road racing. We (Cara and I) encouraged her to check it out, since the two of us did a majority of our racing on the road. She said she might.
I’m glad she didn’t. Mountain biking and Cyclo-cross is lucky to have her. She has podiumed at Cyclo-cross Nationals every year since 2005. She is a national champion on the mountain bike. She rocks the World Cup Mountain Bike circuit. She’s phenomenal.
Last weekend, she suffered heatstroke during a race in Santa Ynez, California. She’s recovering, but it definitely gave her some pause. I read her interview and was once again struck with how gracious and professional she is. She said she didn’t want her DNF to detract from Kelli Emmett’s victory that day. How pro is that? She’s lying in a hospital bed and has only wonderful things to say about her competition. You can accuse women’s racing of being a sewing circle. Go ahead. But I think that Georgia’s rare attitude is sorely lacking in a lot of arenas…not just cycling. I wish more people would think like that. To take a step back. To never begrudge someone a victory. To be positive.
Just like last weekend when Scott Zwizanski snuck to a solo victory in the Downtown Wilmington Criterium. You can accuse The Zwizza of sitting on in the break…but whatever. He did what he needed in the last lap and while Colavita and Kelly Benefits were watching each other, he attacked and powered home alone for the win. Good on ‘im. Love me some Zwizza.
But love him or not, I hope I never badmouth a victory by someone who saw the situation and played their cards right. I think that only sore losers would accuse him of “sitting on”. He had zero teammates in the break; why should he do anything? Anyway he did plenty. People who whine about that kind of stuff grate on my nerves and I want to shove a pile of Georgia Gould interviews in their face. Be gracious. Be complimentary of your competition. Spend those minutes of badmouthing on something else. Clean our bike. Blog about how much you love your race tires. Help your soigner unload the van. How you behave in defeat says more about you than how you behave when victorious. The sport doesn’t need dissention in its ranks; we have enough problems already.
So…heal up Georgia and rock those Olympics!
4 comments:
"How you behave in defeat says more about you than how you behave when victorious." Well Said.
Someone once told me that character is doing the right thing even when no one is looking. I'm going to add your quote to my lexicon.
Have a great day.
After her win at Trenton Georgia not only took time for a photo with my daughter, she also invited us back to her tent for a chat while she cooled down on the trainer. Made my daughter's day. Class act. We'll be pulling for her in Beijing.
I'm glad to see how Georgia has grown into a humble, but quietly self-assured champion. I knew her in her formative years, and well, we are all allowed our heady youth. She has displayed an amazingly quick ascension to the elite ranks of biking, and it appears her personal development has been keeping pace. That's heartening to see in anyone, let alone one of the most successful racers in mtb history.
girl you must type as fast as your mind does think! well said well put and right on. :)
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