Episode 36
“I think I still got a lot to put out there and I think there’s room for me to grow and keep improving and racing.”
Curious as to how our 2021 Female Rider of the Year got into track cycling? Listen in to this week’s episode with Joan and Kim as they discuss women’s programming, how Kim got into cycling, her racing strategy for this summer, and where she gets her super stylish kits.
Instagram: @kimberly.zubris
Facebook: @kimberly.zubris
Chaise Cycliste Couture https://chaisecycliste.com/
Thanks to B Braun Medical Inc. for sponsoring the Talk of the T-Town Podcast. BBraun is a global leader in infusion therapy and pain management, B Braun develops, manufactures and markets innovative medical products to the healthcare community. They are also strong believers in supporting the quality of life in the communities where their employees work and live.
Transcript
Joan Hanscom:
Welcome to The talk of The T-Town podcast, where we discuss all things track cycling broadcasting from the Valley Preferred Cycling Center, I’m your host and executive director, Joan Hanscom. Welcome to The Talk of The T-Town podcast, I’m your host, Joan Hanscom executive director at the Valley Preferred Cycling Center. And this week I am thrilled to have joining us Kim Zubris. Kim Zubris is hot off a very successful elite national championships campaign here at T-Town and we thought this would be a great time to get her on the pod and introduce our listeners to Kim and talk about a wide range of fun topics. So Kim, welcome to the pod.
Kim Zubris:
Great. Thanks for having me.
Joan Hanscom:
So you’re interesting in that, well, all of our guests are interesting, but you’re interesting in that well A, you and I both went to Boston University. So I liked that when I was doing my research, I was like, no way, she’s a Terrier too. So Kim, you went to Boston University. You are a biomedical engineer. So we say check out the big brain on Kim and this is a really great jumping off point for our conversation. And I’ve warned you it’s stream of consciousness. A lot of women in our sport have amazing educations and very interesting real life jobs in addition to racing bikes. And talk to me about that. What is it like to have a job like you have and race bikes at a high level? Because you’ve been doing it for a while.
Kim Zubris:
Yeah. And like you said, I’ve a background in biomedical engineering. And I think that also comes through in a lot of women riders having really something else grand like that, that they’ve pursued. And I think part of it’s just being really driven. I was really driven to study something that was really challenging and go after a higher degree. And that also leads into what drives me to be out there on the bike and competing.
Joan Hanscom:
Yeah, it’s definitely… I don’t want to say type A personality, but it is sort of-
Kim Zubris:
Yeah, that’s fair.
Joan Hanscom:
It’s fair, right? It’s people who have a compulsion to perform at a high level regardless of what they do. But I think, and our male listeners can get mad at me and send nasty emails. But I think you see it more on the women’s side where we probably because of the economics of our sport, women don’t make what men make in our sport. And so we don’t really have an option, right? This is part of one of the things that I’m so happy to be focusing on here at the track is developing the women’s side of the sport, because I would like to see more of this equity so that not that I don’t want people to be my biomedical engineers because that’s rad. But you would like to see women who want to have the opportunity to do this for a living, be able to make a living. So I wonder, how many of the women that we know who are dentists or doctors, but who also race bikes? How much of that is necessity? How much of it is the driven personality and how much of it is just our sport?
Kim Zubris:
Yeah it definitely plays into it. I think for me, it’s a large part. That’s what allows me to stay in it. And I think that’s the same with a lot of other women is you’re supporting yourself in whatever work you’re doing, just so that yeah, you can get out there and train and race as well on top of that-
Joan Hanscom:
Right keep playing bikes.
Kim Zubris:
Exactly.
Joan Hanscom:
Yeah. I was going through a list of people and I was thinking about how many women I knew in cyclocross because of course I came from cyclocross originally. How many women I knew in cyclocross had advanced degrees who had master’s degrees before they even picked up the bike? And they came from other sports perhaps. So before bikes for you, was there a different sport before you started on bikes or what’s your story to becoming a medalist at the elite national championships this year besides training hard?
Kim Zubris:
Yeah. In sport, I really did a little bit of everything when I was younger. The one that I eventually really fell for was running. I was on a high school cross country team, and that was really it for me. I learned really how to compete there and how to make the training payoff and really get to the level that you wanted to. Had a really awesome coach there that really made that experience worth it. So I was a runner, went to college, went to grad school, grad school got back into running, had some really awesome friends in a running club in Boston. And from there misled the team part of a sport. So that led me to pick up a bike and join the collegiate team at Boston University.
Kim Zubris:
And that’s what got me into cycling. And then moving here back to Pennsylvania, I did my undergrad in this area at Lehigh University and my husband had bought a house here. So that brought me back here and I was really worried like, oh no, I’m going to leave all of this cycling scene that I know in New England and the collegiate racing and cyclocross, I jumped into that at that point too. I moved here and found the track and I was like-
Joan Hanscom:
There you go.
Kim Zubris:
So yeah that was it for me, fell in love with the track. And that’s what got me here.
Joan Hanscom:
You know it’s crazy when I was at BU they didn’t have a women’s cycling program, just boys.
Kim Zubris:
Really?
Joan Hanscom:
Yeah.
Kim Zubris:
Yeah. And it was awesome because that was the one sport that they let grad students participate in as well. So it’s not NCAA. It was a club sport and that was really my entry into that and getting to race low key it collegiate. There’s so many other new writers that the entry into the sports a lot easier, I think coming that pathway.
Joan Hanscom:
So, that’s an interesting segue. You mentioned having good coaching and now you work with Kim Geist who is a tremendously good coach and you help coach here for women’s Wednesdays, which I am very thankful for, because I think you guys are giving more women entry into the sport. Maybe it’s not a club social thing like it is in college, but it is giving women here a great thorough introduction to how to do the thing on the track. Right. And I think that’s really important that that same thing that you valued in the club scene. We need to recreate that here. I think on getting people into the sport and onto the bike and onto the track. And so we’re thankful that you’re coaching in women’s Wednesdays, but how’s that been for you? Is that been rewarding? Has it been terrifying?
Kim Zubris:
It’s all of the above. I think a big part of it is exposure. And so letting women realize that they can come here, they can try the track. There’s no pressure. We have groups that have never been on a track bike or on the track at all, really starting from the very basics. And it just from that we see some of them get so into it and they really want to take it a little further. And that’s the most rewarding part is seeing that they’re really benefiting from that. They’re doing something that, on your own you might’ve been too, I guess, limited in how you can get out there and try that. So the program is great and it aligns with how I started at the track. I took the adult fitness class that Kim Geist was coaching.
Kim Zubris:
I didn’t have a bike. I had to loan a bike from the site here and that gave me the chance to try it and realize how much I loved it and then actually getting into the racing. And that’s what we hope some of the women that come through women’s Wednesdays will also want to come out on Saturdays and try racing or make it to Tuesdays and Fridays and racing. But if not, at least they got a chance to try something new. And maybe they’ll just use the track as a means of fitness or…
Joan Hanscom:
It seems to me like we’ve gotten a lot of energy this year around. I think we found some people who’ve been in the program, who’ve out into the community and now they’re starting to evangelize on it right, they’re out recruiting more women. And it feels like the snowball is starting to roll down the hill a little bit here, which is really exciting for me. One of the things we set as a goal for ourselves is 50, 50 and 50, right? This notion that we’re going to have 50% female participation by the 50th anniversary of the track. And this year we’re 60, 40. And that’s amazing. And if you look at the elite women’s fields on Friday, they are so close to being the same size as the elite men’s field now. And this is so exciting to me, right? Because it means it’s working.
Joan Hanscom:
And I feel blessed because the board gave me permission to do this, right? It doesn’t have to be a money-making program. This is an investment in the right thing. This is an investment in the right direction. And I don’t know if you’re feeling that same energy, but I feel like it’s starting to actually bubble up that we’ve got momentum now with this women’s program after three years. And I’ve always said, you have to give everything three years to succeed. And it feels like the energy is there now. So I don’t know if you’re feeling that or am I just being overly optimistic.
Kim Zubris:
No. It’s really accurate. And the programming, I mean, kudos to Kim Geist, she’s really put together a nice series throughout this whole summer where we have the introduction classes, where again, if you hadn’t ridden it on the track before, that’s a great place to start, but it’s also building into more advanced classes. So some of those women that already went through the intro program can come back and learn more advanced skills, learn racing tactics and try something new, ride behind the motor, try Madison exchange, something that’s all a little bit more advanced.
Joan Hanscom:
How excited were the home sisters on the night that they got to do their first motor pay pacing? They were like glowing, those two, they were so excited. I thought it was amazing that they were like, oh my gosh, it’s our first motor pacing. It was amazing to me to see them behind it.
Kim Zubris:
I love that piece of it too, is that you have women of all ages out there. So you have mom, sisters, there are teenagers and they get to see that there’s a lifetime of this sport. It’s not just a junior sport you’re done. You can really grow into it, into the elites, into the masters.
Joan Hanscom:
Yeah, we have a bunch of very diverse women participating, which is also super cool. Right. It’s like all bodies, all ages. I think it’s super cool how two coaches who are, let’s be honest, very elite athletes have made a program that’s so all inclusive and welcoming. I think is super cool if I were to have my head chopped off tomorrow and that’s it, I couldn’t do anything else for the track. I would be so proud of this program because it feels like it’s just the right thing at the right time. And I love what you guys are doing with it. And it makes me so happy. I don’t get the way, but I sit back and I think, oh my God, this is amazing. Just let it roll because it’s pretty incredible what you all are doing.
Kim Zubris:
Yeah. I can’t wait to see where it continues. I think we’ve got something really special in that sense.
Joan Hanscom:
Yeah. I’d love to start a regular cadence maybe of women’s only race days just to help them get over the hump. Right. Because when we did women’s weekend way back now, like holy moly, back in months of beginning of May, right? It feels like a decade ago. There’s a whole bunch of people who came out to do their first track races. And I think that that setting of mentored racing and having their first race in a really non-intimidating setting was great. Yeah. Eventually you’ve got to line up and do the big girl things and line up at a regular race. But if we can start to just break down those barriers of like, this is scary, then maybe we can get more women doing it and it will hit that 50, 50. It’s super cool.
Kim Zubris:
Yeah. And the track is, especially there’s all these little nuances and learning that and learning how to go through that weekend and just jump in your first race. Once you get over that barrier makes showing up the next time that much easier. And you’re meeting other people who are also just starting the same time as you. I think that was… I take away from when I started here meeting other riders in the adult fitness class and then showing up on a Saturday and there’s a familiar face there, you’ve got somebody that you know and trust and have ridden with before.
Joan Hanscom:
Right.
Kim Zubris:
It makes that racing more of a social event as well. You’ve somebody to chat with in between races, figure out what gear to ride in the next race, it’s less, I guess, isolating that way and having that opportunity to meet other people who are also just starting out like you are.
Joan Hanscom:
Yeah. I think it’s super cool. More of this. So let’s pivot away from Kim Zubris coach to Kim Zubris coached because you’ve had a great summer here after a weird 2020 where we didn’t have racing. You seem to have made good use of the weird off year, the year that wasn’t and you came out firing this year. And what were your goals and what are you hoping to achieve? And what did you do in the off season to prepare and how did you get ready to come in and kick butt like you did?
Kim Zubris:
Yeah. It’s one of those years that no idea what to expect coming into it. I wanted to race, I wanted to be back out there really performing at the level I felt I was a couple of years ago. 2017 through 2019 I had some pretty rough times with illness and injury, just chronic. And couldn’t really get to the level I needed to be at and wanting to be at. So that break of 2020 to just reset and spend some time on the bike alone really helped in my sense. I think I really benefited from just getting to be able to ride and train.
Kim Zubris:
And so coming into the season, I hadn’t raced in a year and a half and no idea what to expect again at the beginning of the year. And I think everyone was also really excited to be out there racing. So there’s this energy in the races this year that we may have been missing in the past year or two. And that really motivated me to get out there and perform well too and I feel like I came into the season strong and I was just trying to build from there really.
Joan Hanscom:
And did you do anything different over the winter, lift more weights, change your diet, or just do the thing?
Kim Zubris:
Just ride bikes.
Joan Hanscom:
Just ride bikes, ride on. Well, it paid off because you were second in the omnium at elite nationals. You were third in the team pursuit and third in the elimination. So we got to give you a lot of hardware that week. You were busy and then you’ve just kept on going. And you’re leading in the rider of the year competition right now, which is fun and exciting.
Joan Hanscom:
And one thing that I’ve noticed is that you are racing very aggressively, which is fun to watch. Well, again, this is where I get the hate mail, right? I think women’s racing… Like if you look at women’s racing on the road, because it’s shorter because it’s not like 230K it’s more aggressive by nature, right? Because it’s shorter. And sometimes because I’m not a track person, I sit back and I’m like, oh, this scratch race is not aggressive at all. But you are aggressive racer, which is super fun. Like you are not afraid to just go smash off the front and go for it, which is super cool. It’s made it fun to watch. Is that how you’ve always raced? Is that a new mindset? Is that just fuck all, I’m going to crush it this year. What is it?
Kim Zubris:
It’s how I like to race. I think I find excitement in that and really going for it and really racing like you mean it. I like action in the races. So I try to spark that when I can and try to race my race and that’s really what it always comes down to for me is getting out there, how do I approach a race where I’m going to go for the win.
Joan Hanscom:
Right.
Kim Zubris:
I don’t really like to settle for anything beyond that. So if that means being a little more aggressive or making some more moves, I really try and put it all out there and go for it.
Joan Hanscom:
Yeah, it’s been super fun to watch. It’s been noticeable, right? Like if you watch… I mean, I’m here watching a lot of bike racing, right? But it’s noticeable that you race a very aggressive style of racing which makes it very fun as a spectator to watch. So I thought is this something you’ve worked on or is this how you’ve always been? Did this stem back to how you raced when you were a runner? Is that just always how you’ve raced or has that evolved?
Kim Zubris:
Yeah, I think that just speaks to how I approach it really.
Joan Hanscom:
Cool. As a road racer, that is where I have lacked. I don’t have that same like I’m just going to… I’m conservative as a racer and so I think that also was why it speaks to me right? Like I watch, I’m like, oh, I want to be aggressive like that. I need to not care if I lose. Right. You have to be willing to lose to win. So that seems like how you race. It’s pretty cool.
Kim Zubris:
Yeah. And also finding the right time to do it as important too. And I think that’s what I’ve built on through the years is that you can’t just go out there from lap one and attack and hope that it’s going to stay away every time, it’s learning where to apply that-
Joan Hanscom:
Right. Aggressive with your brain.
Kim Zubris:
Yeah.
Joan Hanscom:
Yeah. For sure. So how’s Kim as a coach? You coach with her, but she also coaches you, is that a strange balancing act or is that easy?
Kim Zubris:
Oh, we’ve worked it out pretty well.
Joan Hanscom:
And you used to be Madison partners.
Kim Zubris:
Yeah. That’s right.
Joan Hanscom:
So…
Kim Zubris:
Yeah. So I’ve worked with Kim for quite a few years now and I think it’s a good fit. We really work well together in that sense. And that really also helped build this relationship where I can step in and help in her coaching or in coaching the women’s Wednesdays with her. We’ve really just built through time, the sense of understanding of each other and the approach she takes to coaching her athletes and how I can step in there and help.
Joan Hanscom:
One of the things that one of the mothers of some of the juniors she coach said about Kim, that she loves it. Kim doesn’t set her kids up to fail. She doesn’t allow herself to be pushed into doing something sooner than she thinks it should be done with the kids. Right. Oh, my mother thinks she should be in the age group now. And she really appreciated Kim’s philosophy on everything is in its order and readiness and very methodical and she was very complimentary about that. Do you share that philosophy with Kim about there’s a timeline, there’s a pattern. There’s a path.
Kim Zubris:
Yeah. And I’m not one of those athletes that came out and your first year I’m going to win every UCI race on a Friday night, I think it’s really been a slow gradual progression for me. And that’s having the mindset of sticking with it and having Kim backing that and seeing big picture, there’s a longer plan. You’ve got to have the right program for that. You’ve got to have right planning for that type of approach. And then she really does bring that to the table.
Joan Hanscom:
Super cool. So changing from the very serious topic of training, you have been the most stylish bike racer on the track this year, right? Everybody’s always like, oh, I love Kim’s kit this week. So what sparked the flamboyant kits this year?
Kim Zubris:
It’s amusing story in that I’m racing unattached for the year. And I was just looking to come in the season, enjoy myself, have a lot of fun out there. And so my initial plan was really still to go all black, plane kit [crosstalk 00:21:38] that was my initial plan. And then I went online and did a little shopping and I came across these kits and it was just amazing, everything about it appealed to me, just the patterning, the colors, it was too awesome to pass up.
Joan Hanscom:
Yeah. It’s been like everybody talks about it. It’s so noticeable, how well turned out you are. We’re all like, oh, that’s a cool kit.
Kim Zubris:
So that’s huge piece of it. It’s fun, it makes racing fun showing up and just get to be myself and a little bit of brightness to the track and switching things up week to week. Yeah.
Joan Hanscom:
If it makes you feel good, right? You race well, if you feel good.
Kim Zubris:
Yeah. That’s exactly it.
Joan Hanscom:
Interesting. Yeah. I’ll have to explore the kit shopping in the off-season. So who’s your favorite kit brand then? What is the brand of the very fancy yellow, the concoction?
Kim Zubris:
All the kits that I’ve been wearing to race this year are called chase.
Joan Hanscom:
Okay.
Kim Zubris:
So take a look.
Joan Hanscom:
Yeah. So for our listeners, we’ll put a link in the show notes with pictures of you in the fabulous kits. And then we’ll link to where people can find them because they’re great. They’re so eye catching and so much fun, and everybody should feel good on the bike and not just wear somber black all the time.
Kim Zubris:
Yeah. That’s exactly it.
Joan Hanscom:
So we’re running down towards the end of this season. There’s three weekends to go left I think, three or four? Three weekends left. You’re in the hunt for rider of the year, which is exciting and fun. Do you have goals after that? Or is it just the season’s over, we go back to off-season training, what are you thinking for after Madison cup? Are you going to race the Madison cup since you know how to race the Madison?
Kim Zubris:
Yes. Madison cup is always fun. So I think you’ll see me out there racing that cup weekend. Yeah. Foremost is getting through right at the year. I think it’s been great. We’ve had some really strong fields and it’s been close the whole time, it’s just exciting. It’s nice to see that play out that way. And a couple more weeks to try and hold the lead to the end. And then from there, it’s reset and see what the next big goal is. I think I still got a lot to put out there and I think there’s room for me to grow and keep improving and racing. And that’s it. We’ll just keep building.
Joan Hanscom:
Yeah ride on. I heard the rider of the year stuff is fun because it’s close. And I have to say that I love that people are going for it. Right. Like you all been racing keirins. It was fun to see you guys, I loved… Elsbeth made a post about I’m a keirin rider now, which was very funny, but you all are serious about getting those points where you could get them. And I love to see that. It means something and that’s super fun and the competition is fierce and it’s super cool.
Kim Zubris:
Yeah. It’s hard to turn down any racing keirin. I feel like any chance you get to be out there and a keirin or the match sprints or jumping in the Madison you’re going to learn something and it’s just fun.
Joan Hanscom:
You all need to teach them how to do the Madison at women’s Wednesday now. So we can have more people racing Madison’s next year. We’re like where’s all the Madison people on? So we need you guys to inspire the women on women’s Wednesday to become Madison athletes.
Kim Zubris:
That would be great to have more Madison action. I think that’s been one of the most exciting races that I’ve been doing. And like you mentioned earlier, Kim and I partnered up with that the end of 2016 and really went for it. And there’s so much that goes on that race. And it’s so exciting. And I think you have riders who want to jump in there and try it. They’re just a little intimidated by it.
Joan Hanscom:
Because it looks like chaos.
Kim Zubris:
It does.
Joan Hanscom:
It looks like absolute madness if you’re not in it. So it does, I can see where it’d be intimidating. Speaking of did you watch the Olympics for the Madison? For the women first time?
Kim Zubris:
I did.
Joan Hanscom:
Like [inaudible 00:26:03], holy moly.
Kim Zubris:
They taught a lesson in how to ride a Madison. Quite impressive.
Joan Hanscom:
[inaudible 00:26:08]. I was like but it was funny because we did in 2019 during UCI, we had Madison here during UCI and there was some real scary stuff happening in those races, like exchanges happening underneath. And Casey and I covered our eyes and were like, oh no, don’t do that. And so it was fun to see some of those same women who were here for UCI in 2019 then racing at the games. And it was less terrifying though still some terrifying moments if you were watching.
Kim Zubris:
It’s still pretty terrifying. I think part of it that’s another race. It’s pretty new for women to participate in, especially outside of Europe. So the progression, even from the first season of world cup racing in I guess, 2016 into 2017 until now the women’s fields really stepped it up and it’s exciting to see how much that’s grown and the room for even further growth is there, it’s going to be exciting to see it progress.
Joan Hanscom:
How about that [inaudible 00:27:12] too, right? Like, wow, that was quite an omnium, right? That was something.
Kim Zubris:
And to have no woman win the gold medal on a track, it’s pretty motivating. And I think, well, I hope it brings out even more women to our races here and really gets people to realize there’s a future in this sport and there’s somewhere to go.
Joan Hanscom:
Do you ever listen [inaudible 00:27:38]. I’m a podcast nerd, which is why I’m doing a podcast. A podcast nerd, and there’s one called Freewheeling and it’s Abby Mickey, and then and other Loren [inaudible 00:27:50], and a bunch of other former pro women do this podcast called Freewheeling. And I was listening to the one they did today, which was about the track racing at the Olympics. And they were all like, I don’t know anything about track, but man, it’s wicked cool. And so it was so fun to hear this podcast that is normally focused on the women’s European Peloton on the road, talking about how rad track was.
Joan Hanscom:
And I just hope, like you said that if women roadies are listening to this podcast, that then they decide, oh, I’m going to go try this out because that omnium race was bananas. All of them, all of the different events were bananas. And yeah there’s a gold medal at the end for us. And what a redeeming factor that gold medal was because otherwise, I think USA cycling had expressed goal of many more medals than they brought home. And so it was nice to see Jen bring one home in the end of the color they were shooting for. So hopefully that means they invest in the women’s program more. They invest in development more hopefully.
Kim Zubris:
Yeah, I hope so. I hope that’s the start of something bigger.
Joan Hanscom:
Yeah. Because it would be nice to see and generally speaking for the US it was the women that brought home all the medals, which was super cool. We made our medal count on the female athletes at this game, which was super cool. So we all, yeah. Girl power there we are. Girl power.
Kim Zubris:
It was cool to see too in that women’s field so many of the riders that had been here in T-Town over the years, racing and training, it speaks to the quality of what we’ve got going on here too.
Joan Hanscom:
It was really fun to be sitting there watching and going, oh wait, she was here. Oh, he was here [inaudible 00:29:38] 2019. Let’s be honest. It was a little insane here. It was bonkers, but it was so fun then to see all of those folks that were here for a month all of a sudden on the biggest stage in the world, it was super cool. But before we stopped talking about the Olympics, how about those German women in the team pursuit? Right? Was it six seconds they improved the world record by? Six seconds is a lot of seconds.
Kim Zubris:
And they looked good doing it. They were so smooth and really just… I think that’s another one to watch too if you’re a team pursuit rider, how nice of a ride they had.
Joan Hanscom:
But they lowered the world record three times in those games because that technology is that training, like in your opinion, what lowers it was a really fast track, obviously. What do you think? What was your expert opinion on why they were able to beat that world record so dramatically?
Kim Zubris:
I think it’s all of the above and just the four person women’s team pursuit at 4k this is the second quad that event has been with four riders. And so it’s also relatively new in that. Add on top of that, all of the technology on the bikes and the skin suits and the aerodynamics of other riders and then just really strong women.
Joan Hanscom:
Yeah. And what’s interesting about the German is they’re all roadies. Those women all rode a full spring classics campaign. They weren’t just like GB, it’s like they’re in the track box hard, right. They’re just track riders. And one could argue that our team pursuit team is… They’re pretty focused on just the team pursuit too. I mean, they have obviously Megan and Lily race on the road too, but they really are focused. And I wonder if those German and they’re on different teams too, they’re not on the same trade team even. If the German women racing on the road, was that a factor who knows? But it was super cool to see like they were…
Kim Zubris:
Yeah, there’s a good depth on the team as well. Having four really strong riders out there makes a difference and yeah exciting to see.
Joan Hanscom:
Well, that was thrilling to watch. You’re just like mouth open, like whoa.
Kim Zubris:
Are they going to do it again? And then they do it again.
Joan Hanscom:
Holy moly, they’re going to go. They’re going to lower it again. Yeah. That was nuts. I don’t know. I just remember when I worked at USA cycling Derek Bouchard-Hall because he race the team pursuit, I think in Sydney. Right. 2002 Sydney, I think. Right. 2000, 2002. I can’t remember. But he was on the team pursuit squad for those games. And he was talking about how the women’s times now are faster than what they rode and that’s just nuts. Like, yes. That’s amazing like progress in a short span of time. Right. It’s super cool.
Joan Hanscom:
So yeah. Interesting to hear your thoughts on all of that. Yeah. It was fun watching. We had a little after party here on Saturday after the last night of UCI, we had the commissaries and we had Andrew and my boss and Moura, we were all glued to the TV. We all… We stole beer from the beer stand and ran over and sat in the office and watch the women’s omnium. And that alone is cool that folks were sprinting out of our UCI night here to go watch them as omnium and that was pretty fun too.
Kim Zubris:
[inaudible 00:33:20].
Joan Hanscom:
You’re right. Well, I know you’ve got to go coach women’s Wednesday. Is there anything else that you want to tell our listeners, anything exciting that you want to share? Words of wisdom you want to leave our listeners with? Motivational thought just do it. Don’t be afraid of the track.
Kim Zubris:
Yeah. That’s, really it. I think just…
Joan Hanscom:
Race aggressive.
Kim Zubris:
Yeah. Get out there and own it. And it’s exciting to have more people racing. And I guess that I started in the class and then I raced on Saturdays and then I moved up to Tuesdays and really just that whole progression to… I saw what I wanted to do, which was be out there racing the pro races Friday nights and just… You might not get there immediately, but build to that. And if you want it go after it and that’s how I ended up racing. If you want it go after it.
Joan Hanscom:
Yeah. I love that. So that’s where we’ll end today’s pod. We’ll end it if you want it go after it, which is I think a pretty awesome way to end. So thank you Kim, for being on our pod this week, and this has been The Talk of The T-Town podcast. If you liked what you hear, if you would be so kind, please leave a positive review or hit the hearts or the likes or positive comments, and that will help us grow the podcast and we will be back next week.
Joan Hanscom:
Thank you for listening. This has been The Talk of The T-Town podcast. I’m your host, Joan Hanscom. Thank you for joining us for this week’s episode. Head over to our website@thevelodrome.com where you can check out the show notes and subscribe. So you’ll never miss an episode.