Follow two MTB rookies, Finn Iles and Kate Courtney, on their journey to be the best in the elite level. Get an inside look at the world of UCI Mountain Biking as the fastest riders on two wheels battle for World Cup glory. New episodes every Friday starting November 2nd.
She managed to get a bachelor's degree in human biology from Stanford while on her ascent, too. I sat around drinking beer my entire 20s, 30s, 40s.....it's not about me though.
KC definitely took to the UCI by storm. She is a unicorn coming from the SF Bay Area where trail access is not great. Awesome to see SF Bay Area product make it to the world class XC ranks and win.
@chrisclifford: Do you have a link to show those stats? Most of the EWS racers I see are overwhelmingly from Europe. However, you may be right on the metro area but it still is hard to believe that it is Marin County.
@tacklingdummy: no stats, just my own calculations. Marin has Matt Koen, Marco Osborne, Teddy Hayden, Mark Weir, Jason Moeschler, Jeff Kendall-Weed (lived in Marin when he was racing) and Mary McConneloug. All have raced or currently race in the EWS. That’s one EWS racer per 30,000 people. There are definitely more from Europe, but they come from a much larger area. I know this doesn’t count for EWS stats but Kate Courtney is from Marin too
@chrisclifford: It is just that Marin, Santa Cruz and Bay Area in general is not very DH friendly because of the urban setting and low difficulty of technical trails. Europe, BC, and North Shore has much better highly technical trails for better training grounds and more acceptance because mountain biking is so much more popular in those places.
Watched the Rob Meets episode of KC, was a bit turned off...seemed a bit entitled, not appreciative of the moment, where the Rob meets with Finn, he seemed genuine. So-this could be good-or a train wreck.
If I'm a Specialized brand manager, I'd fight tooth and nail to hang on to Kate and Finn and match any offer from other brands. Nothing secures your prestige like having young champions on your roster.
Assuming the rumors are true and she is going to Scott, it will get changed when the official press release happens, not before. We have only seen Jolanda Neff do an official team change announcement so there is still a long time before all the team change shenanigans have been worked out.
What I think is interesting is the main rider for the previous series rode for Specialized and now it appears that it could once again be Specialized riders as the main people (even though it is a red bull project), which makes me wonder if Kate Courtney is going to change to Scott or not. That said, I feel like Jenny Rissved's hiatus from racing definitely let a void in Scotts Roster after having a strong womens and mens team. I honestly can believe the rumors either eay.