Rebecca Wellons
Hometown
Woburn, MA
Date of Birth
23 September 1977
Category
1
Profession
Middle school music teacher and beginning band director
Years Racing/Year Started
I’ve been racing and training consistently since 2001
Hobbies
Cooking, knitting, and playing saxophone, flute, and clarinet
Selected Palmares
Road:
2007 results:
1st Turtle Pond Road Race
1st Myles Standish Road Race
2nd Palmer Road Race
2nd Sterling Road Race
3rd Sunapee Road Race
2006 results:
2006 New England Bike Race Association Road Champion
1st Wissihickon Circuit Race
1st Sunapee Road Race
1st Sterling Road Race
1st Williams Criterium
1st Palmer Road Race
3rd Bear Mountain Road Race
17th Fitchburg Longsjo Time Trial
2005 results:
1st Brewer’s Hill Criterium, Superweek, NRC
Cyclocross:
2006 New England Bike Race Association Cyclocross Champion
2nd place, Verge New England Cyclocross Series
9th UCI point ranked female in USA
13th place, Elite Nationals 2006
Personal Website
http://acerace.blogspot.com/
in her own words
How did you spend this off-season/winter?
The very-short offseason between cross and base training for road season I spent cross country skiing and snowshoeing. I also learned to telemark ski this winter!
What are your goals for 2007?
I hope to defend the NEBRA jersey, but also to earn consistent top-15 placings at NRC races. I’m still formulating my cross goals, but I want to be top-3 in my age group at nationals, and top 10 (or a little better) in the elite national race.
And someday… I want to race cx in Europe!!
What are your Favorite Movies/Bands/Books?
Sorry, folks, this is always my least favorite question. I have no idea. I listen to lots of music, I love jazz, and I love to read fiction as well as classic literature. Frankly, though, I don’t read as much as I used to because I knit a lot. With work and all my training and racing wearing me out, I fall asleep when I read! I find knitting very relaxing and finishing a project gives a great feeling of accomplishment.
What is your Favorite Race? Why?
I love Gloucester Cyclocross. What a classic venue. Beautiful scenery, chances for epic conditions, awesome energy from the crowd, and a super-fun course that flows well and is a pleasure to race on.
When did you start racing, how and why?
As an undergraduate at Indiana University, I went to see the Little 500. Lance Armstrong rode in the pace car that year – I think he was nearby in Indianapolis for cancer treatment at the time – it was so exciting. I had never really heard much about or thought of bike racing as a sport. I saw it and was hooked! My best friend and I got some cheap used bikes and went out and rode for about a year to train. It was quite an experience, racing on a single speed with coaster brakes, on a cinder track! I loved it.
Maybe I should mention…
My first cycling win was actually a TRICYCLE race in 1997. The MINI 500 is a trike race at IU that takes place the same weekend as the Little 500. My team won the co-ed race that year. I suppose that’s because we were probably the only sober team participating. :)
Who were/are your cycling mentors and/or influences?
All of my cycling friends and fellow racers whose friendly competition keeps me feeling alive! There are too many to list, and I wouldn’t want to forget anyone.
What was your first bike?
A red schwinn on my 5th birthday. It had a basket on the handlebars and a ridiculous big orange flag that my mom made me have on there so that from the kitchen window she could track my riding up and down the street on the other side of the hedge in front of the house.
What was your first win/best placing?
2nd place (to none other than the amazing Lyne Bessette) in the Verge NE Series this past cross season
What would you consider your finest moment on the bike?
The little moments that can happen all the time. The moments when I really believe in myself, and make a successful move. That can happen anytime; down a steep and fast descent, through a tricky corner, powering through the flats, or best of all, an attack that leads to a win.
What was your worst or most embarrassing moment on the bike?
Gee, I can think of lots of other people’s embarrassing moments, but none for myself…. I guess getting dropped in the first lap at Wells Ave at the start of this season… that was about bottom for me.
What’s the strangest thing you’ve seen on a bike ride?
(I’d have to attach a picture!)
What’s the one thing you’ve done on a ride (training or race) that you will absolutely never do again?
Doubt myself. Well, it would be nice never to do that again.
When you’re not on your bike, what do you like to do?
Eat, cook, sleep, knit, play my sax
What’s the best advice you ever got for training/racing on the bike?
The famous Greg Lemond quote, “It never gets easier, you just go faster.”