NAME:
Wendy Skean
SPONSOR/TEAM:
Hammer Nutrition
HOMETOWN:
Mountain Center, CA
Where are you from?
Where are you from?
Mountain Center is a rural mountain community 45 miles from Palm Springs.
What kind of bike do you ride?
What kind of bike do you ride?
A Turner with Fox suspension, Avid Juicy brakes, Shimano XTR components, and Stan's American Classic wheel set.
What do you love about it?
What do you love about it?
It never brakes down in a race and it is bright green so they can find me if I get lost.
Solo or team competitor? Why?
Solo or team competitor? Why?
Solo because none of my riding partners will even consider such an undertaking.
Done any ultra-endurance stuff before?
Rockhopper Classic Stage Race - 1987
Coyote Clunker Classic Stage race - 1987,88 Pedal the Peaks - 1994 - 5 days, 450 miles
12 Hours at the Summit, Big Bear, CA - 1997,98,99,2000,2005 Leadville 100 - 1996, 97, 98, 2004, 05 Solvang Double Century - 2000, 01, 02 SilverRush - Leadville, CO 2001 Moab 24 Hours - 1996,97 - 1st Womens Masters Team Canan 24 Hours - 1997, 1st Womans Masters Team Montezumas Revenge - 2000, 02 Vision Quest - 2003,04 Norba National Marathon - Big Bear, CA Five time 24 Hour World Solo Champion - Age Group 2002, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2008 Eight other 24 Hours of Adrenalin solo races Breckenridge 100 - 2006 Old Pueblo 24 Hours solo- 2004,2005,2006,2007,2008 Whiskey 50 - 2005,2006,2008
12 Hours of Temecula 2008 Series - solo (Ed: "Damn")
Favorite food?
Done any ultra-endurance stuff before?
Rockhopper Classic Stage Race - 1987
Coyote Clunker Classic Stage race - 1987,88 Pedal the Peaks - 1994 - 5 days, 450 miles
12 Hours at the Summit, Big Bear, CA - 1997,98,99,2000,2005 Leadville 100 - 1996, 97, 98, 2004, 05 Solvang Double Century - 2000, 01, 02 SilverRush - Leadville, CO 2001 Moab 24 Hours - 1996,97 - 1st Womens Masters Team Canan 24 Hours - 1997, 1st Womans Masters Team Montezumas Revenge - 2000, 02 Vision Quest - 2003,04 Norba National Marathon - Big Bear, CA Five time 24 Hour World Solo Champion - Age Group 2002, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2008 Eight other 24 Hours of Adrenalin solo races Breckenridge 100 - 2006 Old Pueblo 24 Hours solo- 2004,2005,2006,2007,2008 Whiskey 50 - 2005,2006,2008
12 Hours of Temecula 2008 Series - solo (Ed: "Damn")
Favorite food?
Salad and dark, dark chocolate
Movie?
Movie?
Dr. Zhivago
Book?
Book?
Walk West , It is about an adventure I would have loved to have done.
Worst experience on a bike?
After an exhilarating ride on the Monarch Crest Trail while training for Montezuma's Revenge I crashed and separated my shoulder and cracked several ribs. On my first ride back and training for 24 hours at Hurkey Creek, while trying to be careful, I crashed again. This time spending 7
days in the hospital with a severely bruised pancreas.
Best Experience on a bike?
Worst experience on a bike?
After an exhilarating ride on the Monarch Crest Trail while training for Montezuma's Revenge I crashed and separated my shoulder and cracked several ribs. On my first ride back and training for 24 hours at Hurkey Creek, while trying to be careful, I crashed again. This time spending 7
days in the hospital with a severely bruised pancreas.
Best Experience on a bike?
2002 Solo World Championships in Silver Star, BC. This was a beautiful setting and the weather couldn't have been better, until the middle of the night. An unpredicted cold storm hit with such
force it blew down tents and sent racers running for shelter. I was on the course when it hit and it was the first time I had ever ridden through so much rain ( being a So. Cal. gal.) When I got into the pits they were nearly deserted. My son would not hear of me stopping. In ten
minutes I gobble down a potato, drank chicken noodle soup and was back out riding. It was a challenge and exciting. Stuart Dorland had added age groups to the categories for the first time that year and I wanted that jersey(I wanted that jersey, I needed that jersey). I was being
chased and on the last lap had only a few minute lead. I had never raced so hard and looked behind me so much to see if I was being caught. Coming across that finish line in first place at age 56 in the 45+ category was the most satisfying experience I have had on a bike.
Tell us about your LBS(Local Bike Shop):
force it blew down tents and sent racers running for shelter. I was on the course when it hit and it was the first time I had ever ridden through so much rain ( being a So. Cal. gal.) When I got into the pits they were nearly deserted. My son would not hear of me stopping. In ten
minutes I gobble down a potato, drank chicken noodle soup and was back out riding. It was a challenge and exciting. Stuart Dorland had added age groups to the categories for the first time that year and I wanted that jersey(I wanted that jersey, I needed that jersey). I was being
chased and on the last lap had only a few minute lead. I had never raced so hard and looked behind me so much to see if I was being caught. Coming across that finish line in first place at age 56 in the 45+ category was the most satisfying experience I have had on a bike.
Tell us about your LBS(Local Bike Shop):
Velo Bum in Rancho Mirage, CA.; Tri-A-Bike in Palm Desert, CA; and Otero Cyclery in Salida, CO have all been a great help to me.
Tell us about your favorite 'local' ride:
Tell us about your favorite 'local' ride:
My favorite local rides are all in Colorado where I hope to live when I retire.
Tell us about your favorite ride EVER:
Tell us about your favorite ride EVER:
In the summer of 2007 I went to visit my son in Salida, Colorado. He had a ride he had wanted me to go on. We drove to Georgia Pass and started the ride to Kenosha Pass. It had rained the night before so the roots were slippery and water from the grass and leaves made it seem like it was still raining. I have a love affair with aspen trees (even planted some in my yard) and the
aspen forest we rode through were magnificent. It was a push up to Kenosha but coming back down was the most fun I have had on a bike. We swooped through the aspens and out into meadows. It was exhilarating. I went back in 2008 and rode it again.
Describe a sponsor or company you admire and why you admire them:
aspen forest we rode through were magnificent. It was a push up to Kenosha but coming back down was the most fun I have had on a bike. We swooped through the aspens and out into meadows. It was exhilarating. I went back in 2008 and rode it again.
Describe a sponsor or company you admire and why you admire them:
Hammer Nutrition has made it possible for me to compete at the level I am. Their products and helpful attitude are supreme.
Who will play you in the Breck Epic movie and why?
Tinker. In drag.
What do you hope to get out of this experience? Expectations/goals/etc.
I am a very goal oriented person. I need bigger challenges to work toward. I started endurance riding in 1994 and since then have taken baby steps to get where I am today. I have always wanted to do an epic ride but they have always been to far away for the time I had. From the
first time I heard of the Breck Epic I was excited. I had ridden the Breck 100 in 2006 and thought it was an awesome course with beautiful scenery. What would be better than five days of this kind of riding. It was close and in the state I hope one day to make my home. Many people believe that a 65 (2 days before race) year old rider can't and shouldn't take on such a challenge. I want to prove to myself that I can fulfill my dream of an epic and show others that it is possible for them too if they work at it. I have already started my training for this dream race. I expect to finish and be the first 60+ women to do so.
What do you hope to get out of this experience? Expectations/goals/etc.
I am a very goal oriented person. I need bigger challenges to work toward. I started endurance riding in 1994 and since then have taken baby steps to get where I am today. I have always wanted to do an epic ride but they have always been to far away for the time I had. From the
first time I heard of the Breck Epic I was excited. I had ridden the Breck 100 in 2006 and thought it was an awesome course with beautiful scenery. What would be better than five days of this kind of riding. It was close and in the state I hope one day to make my home. Many people believe that a 65 (2 days before race) year old rider can't and shouldn't take on such a challenge. I want to prove to myself that I can fulfill my dream of an epic and show others that it is possible for them too if they work at it. I have already started my training for this dream race. I expect to finish and be the first 60+ women to do so.
Feel free to blatantly self-promote here. A quote you like, a direct appeal to the voters, some hateful vitriolic slander for your political opponents (see: Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly, Ann Coulter…) This is your space. Decorate it however you'd like.
I am not your typical entrant for this type of race. I have been teaching first grade for 29 years and will turn 65 on July 3 and have gray hair. I started riding in 1985 and started racing in locally in 1986. I started solo endurance racing in 1996 with the Leadville 100. In that race I only made it 75 miles. In 2005 I became the first and only woman over 60 to finish Leadville in under 12 hours I did it in 11:24. That was 30 minutes faster than I had done it in 1997. Since then I have challenged myself to longer and more difficult races each year. I hold the record for the oldest woman to finish Vision Quest. An extremely challenging 50 mile race with 11,000 ft of climbing and a time limit. I felt very honored when Roy Wallack and Bill Katovsky wrote the book "Bike for Life" and included my name in the Table of Contents in Chapter 1. I plan on riding for life and continuing to challenge myself. I am realistic and know that someday in the far future epics will be out of my class. Now they are not and I want the chance to fulfill my dream.
Links to your work?
I am not your typical entrant for this type of race. I have been teaching first grade for 29 years and will turn 65 on July 3 and have gray hair. I started riding in 1985 and started racing in locally in 1986. I started solo endurance racing in 1996 with the Leadville 100. In that race I only made it 75 miles. In 2005 I became the first and only woman over 60 to finish Leadville in under 12 hours I did it in 11:24. That was 30 minutes faster than I had done it in 1997. Since then I have challenged myself to longer and more difficult races each year. I hold the record for the oldest woman to finish Vision Quest. An extremely challenging 50 mile race with 11,000 ft of climbing and a time limit. I felt very honored when Roy Wallack and Bill Katovsky wrote the book "Bike for Life" and included my name in the Table of Contents in Chapter 1. I plan on riding for life and continuing to challenge myself. I am realistic and know that someday in the far future epics will be out of my class. Now they are not and I want the chance to fulfill my dream.
Links to your work?
You can google "wendy skean" and see my work.
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