My Teammate is a Celebrity!

For this post, you have to travel back a few weeks in time with me.
Date: Sunday, July 30, 2006, the weekend after the Bar exam (ugh, I shudder just writing those two words).
Location: Denver, Colorado (before I departed on the most fun road trip ever).
What: The Surbaru Urban Assault Race
Who: Emily Gloeckner and me.

I had talked Emily into doing this urban adventure race with me. The whole point in doing the race was to win a pair of New Belgium Cruiser bikes - the prize for the overall first place team. It was my first race in 6 weeks (that whole studying for the Bar exam got in the way of racing), and Emily's first race in 3 years, since she retired from racing road bikes professionally. Well, she is still a total stud and can kick my butt on most days. We're in the parking lot before the race and Emily looks around at the other racers. She's used to being in races with pros, where everyone has the latest, most expensive, and lightest gear available on the open market. She says to me with shock and awe: "There are kickstands on some of these bikes." We both keel over from laughing so hard, and that was the beginning of 1 hour and 47 minutes of continuous laughter.
We had to do some pretty crazy things to win those cruiser bikes - a 3-legged potato sack race, riding adult-sized big wheel bikes, Emily had to carry me piggyback while she was blindfolded through an obstacle course (see, I told you she was a stud). Oh, that's right, we won the cruise bikes. First female team to ever come in first overall in this race! You can read our race report here.

Now to the part where Emily becomes a celebrity. The director of the race fell in love with us (how could you not we're two fit, fast, and super cute chicks who are the proud owners of some cool New Belgium cruiser bikes). He set up an interview between Emily and the Boulder newspaper the Daily Camera. Here's the resulting story:

Taking it downtown:Urban Assault Race bringing its twist on cycling to Boulder
By Joshua Lindenstein, Camera Staff Writer
August 16, 2006
Emily Gloeckner raced bicycles professionally for 15 years before settling full-time into a career as a civil engineer.
So when she calls last month's Subaru Urban Assault Race in Denver "probably the most fun I've had on my bike," there's some heft behind her claim.
Such praise has to make race director Josh Kravetz smile, since that's exactly the angle the race Web site uses to tout the event, which features teams of two riding to various checkpoints around the city, where they must then complete wacky obstacle courses before moving to the next stop.
Kravetz, who moved to Longmont from Austin, Texas, about a year ago, started the event in Austin in 2003 as a way to cater to the "urban athlete" who might otherwise have to travel for a bike race or who doesn't necessarily want to become a serious racer.
He has since expanded the race to Dallas, Los Angeles and San Diego. This is the first year that Kravetz has staged the races in Colorado. After holding races in Fort Collins in June and in Denver in July, Boulder will be the final race of the 2006 series on Aug. 27.
"It's purely focused on being just fun and quirky and crazy and getting a good workout in the process," Kravetz says.
The race features four divisions: male, female, co-ed and a shorter family race in which a parent can ride with his or her 7- to 12-year-old child.
Gloeckner and her teammate Kathryn Garner, who races bikes as an amateur, became the first female duo ever to win the overall title — which earns the top team a pair of New Belgium cruisers — at one of the races.
"At most of the checkpoints, we laughed hysterically because it was such a good time," says Gloeckner, 36, of Denver.
But the race is far from being a weekend release for elite cyclists. The scavenger-hunt aspect — along with obstacles such as mazes, foam pits, inflatable slides, bike jousting and kayaking — serves as a great equalizer.
Plus, the adult divisions cover only about 25 miles on their bikes, depending on which routes they choose. There is no set course for the race. Competitors decide in what order they'll hit each checkpoint and how to get there.
"The people who are going to do well in the race might not be the most fit people," says Gloeckner, who can't make the Boulder race because of another obligation. "It will be who knows the city the best and plans out a route. You definitely don't have to be a bike racer to go do this race. You just need a bike."
Elite racers or not, teams have to be responsible and obey traffic laws. Duos ticketed by police are disqualified. Kravetz says Sunday morning is the logical choice for the races since traffic is generally lighter. Teams are also required to carry a cell phone for emergencies.
The Fort Collins and Denver races each had about 150 people but Kravetz is shooting for 300 in Boulder.
The Boulder race will include checkpoints at Flatirons Subaru, Chipotle, Amante Coffee on north Broadway, Cutting Edge and Boulder Running Co. There are also other landmarks teams must find with the help of clues and a support person with an Internet connection, whom they can call from their cell phones for help. The race finishes at Maverick American at 30th and Bluff streets with one final obstacle course.
In addition, there will be a race after-party at the finish, complete with food, beer and music.
Because of the Boulder race's proximity to the headquarters in Longmont, Kravetz says he should be able to bring out all of the best obstacles.
"We'll be able to make it a really great race," Kravetz says.
Copyright 2006, DailyCamera. All Rights Reserved.


Click here to check out some cool race photos.