Blind ambition | Cyclingnews

An interview with Katie Compton, January 21, 2005

With eyes firmly fixed on Mary McConneloug, Ann Knapp and Gina Hall at the US 'Cross Nationals, no-one expected anyone else to take out the stars and stripes jersey - except Katie Compton. Steve Medcroft caught up with her to learn more about this Paralympic gold medallist and world record holder, and her outing in Oregon that earned her the enviable title of national champion.

In Portland, Oregon in December 2004, cyclocross racers from all across the U.S. came together to challenge for the right to wear the stars and stripes jersey in 2005. In the women's race, three front-runners took to the line. Mary McConneloug, Ann Knapp and Gina Hall had been wowing crowds and battling head to head from Gloucester, MA, to Tacoma, Washington and everyone watching the race expected the three to break off the front and settle the championship amongst themselves.

Quietly lined up next to them was a Colorado 'crosser who had spent the season competing in men's 'C' races around her home town of Colorado Springs, Colorado, far from the attention of most of the cycling media. Katie Compton was fit, strong, and had a bike she said was 'running great'. The sighted pilot to a blind tandem Paralympic cycling team, Compton's win of the women's national race that day was a stunning upset and unexpected by everyone including Compton herself.

Katie Compton: I actually felt really prepared going into it. All the training I've done for the Paralympics, training on the tandem (Compton is the sighted pilot paired with a blind stoker) the last couple of years really helped me. I've been driving a bike for two people and that has made me stronger. This year, I kept up with my training after Paralympics ended, my cyclocross bike was running great and I got a little bit of sponsorship so I planned to go to nationals all season. I have friends in Portland that I could stay with, so I made a whole vacation trip out of it. To get ready, I raced with the men in the Colorado, in the Boulder and Denver area, was actually riding well with them. Alison Dunlap gave me some help too. Pointers. It was basically her plan I was following; race with the men, hit it late season, come on strong for nationals. It seemed to work because I felt good come December.

KC: Exactly. To be a pilot for the Paralympics, you can't compete internationally within three years of a Paralympic event. You can't have any UCI points; you can't ride for a UCI trade team. They want to keep people who have been racing professionally from just jumping on a tandem and racing with a blind person at Paralympic time. The chances are that if you've been out of elite competition for three years, you're not racing professionally. You're probably racing more amateur level. You have other things going on. You may be working full time. And that's my life. I'm working. I have other things to do. I love riding my bike, love racing and Paralympics allows me to continue racing, but it's more a low-key competition. Not low key competitively because international competition is still hard, but there are only a couple of races a year. I get to focus on those and I don't have to worry about traveling and racing every weekend.

KC: I knew I wasn't going to make a career out of it. Very few cyclists, I think, actually make a career out of it. And if they do, it's short term; contract to contract. You're making ends meet but not necessarily making any money at it. I found a path that works for me. I'm a coach with Carmichael Training Systems. I get to stay around cycling, I get to work with athletes all the time and I get to ride my bike too. It's such a cool job. Thanks to the Internet software, I can work anywhere.

KC: She actually feels the bike pretty well. She knows the power stroke. She knows my rhythm. A lot of times I'll tell her what's going on but she sort of senses what's happening from the feel of the bike without me having to tell her. She knows how much to lean, how little to lean. She can feel the braking. She can feel the acceleration. She's been blind since she was two and has been riding tandem at least since '96 and maybe before that, so she has such a good idea of how to ride the back of the bike that she helped me a lot.

KC: It was trial and error at first. We had to know that our riding styles were going to match. You don't want somebody who is a spinner matched up with someone who's a masher. We matched pretty well right away. I generally push bigger gears and Karissa has always pushed bigger gears. We got together and our pedal strokes and riding styles are so similar that we've worked out well together. When we get out of the saddle, the way we move the bike underneath us, matched. That alone makes a big difference.

KC: The Paralympics was two weeks after the regular Olympics. They use everything the Olympics used - all the venues, the housing, the food. Because with all the media coverage for the Olympics, and the worry about terrorist attacks, attendance for the Olympics was low. The Greeks were so upset that they bought up all the tickets for Paralympics. We had full stadiums everywhere; sold-out venues. At the track, there were heaps of people all around, in every chair. I though that was pretty cool.

KC: Our coaches yell lap times at us during the race. In the last five laps, he'll say 'up 20' or 'down 20' (meters off the pace of the second team on the track). With thee or four laps to go, he said, 'Up 20', and I was like, 'Really?' We'd raced the same team last year in the European Games and in that race we had been down 20, down 30. When the coach said we were up 20 at the end, I was amazed because I knew we could keep it going, knew we had a lot of energy still.

KC: It's so much fun. It's a lot more fun riding fast on a track than riding fast on the road because you get to go around in circles. The corners are banked, the surface is wooden and the transitions are super-smooth. It feels like a rollercoaster going through the turns; you just lean the bike over and fly through the turn, sit up a little bit and go through the straight then into the next turn. The faster you go, the more fun it is. It's hard to hold back. Obviously, you have this fitness thing where you start getting tired and you can't go as fast but for 12 laps, you can stay on it pretty good.

KC: We didn't ride all the time, but he'd get me to go because we'd either ride for ice cream, a candy bar or a Slurpee. There had to be a destination. And a reward. Otherwise, when you're a kid, you're like, 'why would I want to go ride my bike for two hours when I can just stay at home?' When you are a kid, you'll ride to the park or ride to the pool or ride to your friends, but not just to ride. His rewards got me into riding.

KC: I started at Trexeltown (Pennsylvania) at the track. I think I was younger than 13 I think. They have a really good beginners program for track riders. It was free; they had bikes you could rent, bikes you could just use. I don't know the program now but 10 years ago we had coaches there to help with the bikes, help with track skills, tell us the rules and to have people to ride with. It's a great way for kids to start.

KC: Alison Dunlap gave me a lot of encouragement to try it. And lent me a bike -- since she wasn't racing 'cross this season, I had her spare bike in the pits during the race. I didn't actually need it though because I saw Ann go in for a bike change during one of the laps and she lost a couple of seconds. My bike was running great -- wheels were great, tires were clearing, shifting was fine -- so I knew I could get away without a bike change and two seconds at the end of a 'cross race will really help you out sometimes. Alison also gave me info on the riders; she's ridden with all those girls.

KC: I think I was leading from the third lap. I didn't really attack. I think I was sitting behind Gina, Ann was sitting right behind me and we had gapped Mary a little bit at that point. I just took a different line through the mud and got a bike length so I just tried to keep the power on and stay consistent, keep a good line and see what I could do. I looked back and suddenly I had five seconds, then seven seconds. All I could think was to just going to keep going, keep pushing. Then Ann made contact with me with a lap and a half to go and I was like, 'oh no, she's going to stay,' but she crashed as soon as she made contact. As soon as I heard that, I rode harder.

KC: Not at all. I don't regret any of it. I love Paralympics and I love racing tandem with Karissa. I enjoy it more than even racing 'cross for a season. Besides, Paralympics is something I can keep doing for the next three years. If I go and race 'cross world's, I can't compete in Paralympics for the next three. I think I'd rather continue competing at the Paralympics. Plus, I'm only 26. If I keep racing 'cross, keep racing with the men, keep getting stronger, after I do another four years with Karissa I might think about myself and look at 'cross to see what I can do.