Mara Abbott Blog: My First Olympics!
I kept trying to think of something creative to write about this month… but since I am now in the Olympic Village getting ready for our race in just two days, it is a little hard to pick a different topic! This is my first Olympics, so it is very exciting for me to get to have my first experience here in Rio. We’ve almost been here a week and the village is starting to get filled up as more athletes from different sports arrive and competitions get closer. I’m actually pretty happy to have one of the first competitions. A...
read moreMara Abbott Blog: Bike-to-Work Day
My favorite cycling day of the year, without a doubt, is Bike-to-Work Day. It is a celebration not of bike racing, but rather bike commuting. My own commuter bike might just be the love of my life. Since I don’t own a car, we go everywhere together. For the long hauls, we sometimes use my bus pass. For the big hauls I take along my Burley trailer. With those two tools, I am confident we can conquer anything. When I get home from a race, I can’t wait for our reunions. Obviously I’ve been riding a bike, but nothing compares to...
read moreMara Abbott Blog: Home support at the Tour of California
I just got home last night from the Tour of California. I had a wonderful week there with the team. It was a huge honor for me to get to be a part of the “host nation”. As the only American on our team this year, I was very proud to get to show the other girls and staff some beautiful places in the USA – and secretly so excited when they agreed that it was a great area. The race was even more special for me because my family was able to attend. Both my parents and my older brother got the chance to see me race. ...
read moreMara Abbott Blog: “An honor to be able to wear an Amy D jersey”
After the Trofeo Binda in Italy at the end of March, I got to return home to compete at the Redlands Cycling Classic – the kickoff for the cycling season in America, and one of my favorite races. My Wiggle High5 management was generous enough to let me compete on a composite team at Redlands – The Amy Dombroski Foundation Team. Amy was a good friend of mine, a spectacular cyclocross racer who was killed in a training accident in 2013. The foundation was created by her older brother and his wife to help support young women to get...
read moreMara Abbott Blog: A Small Community on a Small Island!
As an American on a Europe-based team, each spring provides a chance to choose a home base to use between races. Since this year our team camp was scheduled in Mallorca, I decided that was a good sign that 2016 was a great opportunity to explore that island cycling mecca for the first time. I was reunited with the Wiggle crew at the Hotel Viva Blue. I could see why they picked this as the venue. In the US, my experience with hotels that cater to cycling events has generally involved a note in the bedroom requesting “please do not use...
read moreMara Abbott Blog: Mara’s Top Travel Tip!
As another cycling season starts, I thought I would share one of my top tips for traveling. Sometimes cycling (or adventuring!) can take you to places where you don’t trust that the water is safe to drink. This can lead to a) inconvenience while you try to find somewhere to purchase water, b) a lot of expense once you add up the small purchases of a bottle here or a bottle there, and c) a whole lot of waste in the form of empty plastic bottles. I confess that my primary motive to find a solution to this puzzle was the latter. Bottles can...
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