by 
Mark had a few too many, Dominic kept his glass re-filled. He still raced well and won.
UCI3 CX Festival was a blast. Race report on my blog.
More importantly, I got my interview with Katie.
I raced early Sunday, hacked and coughed and sucked on an inhaler for most of the day, nervously awaiting this interview.
Katie won. All 3 days.
Half hour later we were chillin’ in the grass with some coconut water.
Me: Have you heard of drunkcyclist.com?
KC: Ohhh yea.
Me: Do you cuss? Do you mind cussing?
KC: I cuss like a sailor.
Me: Cool, cuz this isn’t real formal.
Laughs a little, she talked about seeing DC stickers on a friends bike and checking the site out.
Me: So, how do you feel about racing and getting paid about 10% of what the men get paid?
KC: It sucks, but that’s going to change next year. Peter Van den Abeele wants UCI to have all even pay. I heard that through the grapevine. You can’t change things overnight but it is getting better.
We talked about USGP and races she likes to support because of equal pay outs. She said Vegas is expected of her every year but this year she had been off her bike 3 weeks and just didn’t want to take a chance and hurt her knee.
Me: Would you consider doing the Whiskey Off Road MTB race that pays out 20K split right down the middle?
Katie: I’ll think about doing that one, it’ll bring out some good riders.
Me: What do you think about doping?
KC: Doping sucks. They do a great job of testing the ones doing well. The more testing the better. I was tested 7x in two weeks but it’s been a month since I’ve had one. But yea, they do a great job.
Me: What do you think about fixed gear bikes?
KC: I love them! We live a mile from a velodrome so I train there all the time! Motor pacing too.
Me: Favorite CX event?
KC: Bend Nationals.
Me: Favorite CX weekend?
KC: This one! We come every year, it’s my favorite weekend of racing.
Me: Favorite CX race overseas?
KC: Asper-Gavere Belgium.
She talked about this race and how muddy and shitty the weather was and how many people crashed and broke bones….she seemed very psyched about racing there.
Me: Career highlight?
KC: World Championships and World Cups, very special.
Me: Lowlight?
KC: Worlds, when I was injured. Well I thought that was the lowest until I was still sick months later.
Katie went on to tell me she was finally diagnosed with hypothyroidism. It took months and months for a diagnosis. She was so stressed out from the fatigue and and not feeling good, and it kept getting worse. It took 6 months to get in to see a specialist and they are still fucking with her dose, and bloodwork, and trying new doses.
KC: I just want to feel GOOD.
Me: What alternative remedies do you use? Acupuncture?
KC: Not yet, but I want to try it.
Me: You should, it’s good shit. It might help with those notorious muscle problems you have when you travel. Can you describe the pain?
KC: It’s indescribable, a burning, stabbing pain and I can’t bend my legs.
Me: Do you take vitamins?
KC: Vitamin A, D, B Complex…
Me: Brewer’s yeast? isn’t that good for thyroid function?
Me: Do you use compression tights?
KC: Yep, rest, recovery, and i started swimming! I think swimming helps my lungs.
Me: When did you go gluten free?
KC: In March, read it helps thyroid function, no sugar, soy, gluton, I really like Honey Stinger, fish, elk, buffalo…
Me: Do you juice?
KC: No juicing, but we should, Mark has gout.
Me: Oh thats funny, Dominic does too.
We laugh and yell out to Dominic and Mark that they both have gout and the two of them discuss.
Me: Favorite activity outside of racing?
KC: I love to bake and cook.
Then we talked about her 3 legged rescue rottie, Pixie. She cooks for Pixie. We talked about that for a while since I feed a home prepared diet too. We both agreed that dog food is pretty much poison. She won’t feed the meat raw though, except bones. Then my buddy Scott B. walks up to say hi to Katie and we all whipped out our phones to show off pictures of our dogs.
Me: You donated all the money from the women’s clinic you gave last Thursday to three local area dog rescues.
KC: They need the money and I like to give them money in a big chunk like that if I can.
Me: Do you have any problems with breed specific legislation living in Colorado?
KC: Not with rotties.
Long discussion on BSL.
Me: When and how did you meet Mark?
KC: In 2003 at World Champs in Quebec.
Me: Married?
KC: We got married in 2008. We had two weddings. The first wedding was really last minute, in New Zealand with just his parents. For the second wedding, I wore a dress, I wanted a bit of puff, tight a-line top, puff at the bottom, and flip flops.
Me: Flipflops? RAD!
KC: Well, wedding flip flops. The dress was long enough you couldn’t see my feet.
Me: Last time you wore make up?
KC: My wedding. My Mom made me.
Me: Do you trash Mark or does he trash you?
KC: He is faster unless I am in top shape. Mark is fast, people don’t realize.
Me: Do you talk about or pay attention to politics?
KC: No, but I do vote and read up on issues when it’s time to vote.
Me: Your coach….
KC: I write my own programs. I get advice from a coach about some things but not for a training regimen. I’ve been playing it by ear for a year, I just had my 1st interval workout since last November! There’s still a lack of fitness but I’ve learned to be efficient and carry speed. I was 3 weeks off the bike at USGP Madison and won.
Me: Do you get massaged a lot?
KC: Not too often.
KC: OHHHHH!
Me: He’s ok. He crashes a lot.
Dominic was doing tricks for Katie’s parents in the parking lot and he crashed.
Me: How do you take it when you get those mic’s shoved in your face after a race and all you want is some water?
KC: I am used to it, used to racing and going hard, and there are times I have to stop and get my inhaler…
Me: You have exercised induced asthma?
KC: Yea
Me: Me too!!
Me: Favorite clothes?
KC: Patagonia, Icebreakers.
Me: Favorite band?
KC: We have satellite radio so we just listen to the alternative station. I like Phoenix a lot. Loud angry music just makes me mad, Mark loves it. I like Happy Music.
At this point I was going to be late for work at 6pm. We didn’t realize an hour had passed. I had a great time talking to Katie. She and Mark are both super cool down-to-earth people.
Katie is my fucking hero.
If you made it this far, thanks for reading. Hope you enjoyed it. I’ll leave ya with another cx video. I don’t do sand pits. Not since I broke my shifter. It’s just as fast to run it, fuck it.
by 
Good one , Judi. Makes it real for me half a world away.
looks to me like running the sand is faster than biking the sand.
thanks for the in depth!
Nice Judi! That was good stuff!
EXCELLENT interview outcome! Yay! Looks like you have a new friend. Nice video, too. (I’d run more of the courses like that if I had a better relationship with running — and maybe if I raced on a real cross bike so I didn’t feel such social pressure to ride through everything.)
If you come to USGP-Portland there is no sand pit, just a dirty/muddy motocross track with whoops and banked corners and stuff that they incorporate into the cross course. You’d love it. Please consider a trip to Portland. Seriously. Get your LBS to help out. Your breath-of-fresh-air approach would blow minds out here. Portland needs you.
Nice interview J. I found it interesting.
One side note, If anyone ever refers to me as Charlie Cartolano – Redford it will take more than a few drinks to subdue my wrath.
Fun to read. Thank you.
@charlie c, he really took her name. :0)
Awesome interview, Katie Effin Compton in a baddass! Nice work in the sad too by the way.