Meet the Mellow Velo
I am the world’s worst bicycle racer.
I might be the cyclist you once were: battling it out off the back, hanging on by sheer grit, powered by heart, racing no one but myself throughout my first years in the pack. I am not here to haunt you; I am here to remind you of who you used to be. I am training-illiterate, unsupported, exhausted and sore. I am the Cat 5, newbie, DFL, damn-slow, hell-yes, ear-to-ear-grin cyclist just doing this for fun.
I might be the cyclist you want to be: going headfirst into something I’m not prepared for, racing for the sheer love of speed and the desire to improve. I am here to explain that – as a general rule – you should never be intimidated by skinny dudes in tight shorts who shave their legs. I am here to show you that finishing a race DFL is cause for pride, not shame, because you started, hung on and crossed the line whereas so many others did not, have not and never will. I am here to be your guide, make your mistakes, endure your embarrassments.
Welcome to Mellow Velo | Contact: MellowVelo1@gmail.com | Twitter: @MellowVelo1
Katherine Fuller, Mellow Velo’s alter ego, is 24 and grew up in San Antonio, Tex., a place where summer months that never dip below 100 degrees make hardened cyclists. She is the Field Programs Coordinator for the International Mountain Bicycle Association and writes the “Cat 5 Files” column in She Pedals Magazine. Katherine and “the Mr.” left their native homeland and moved to Golden, CO, in July 2010, where they are enjoying the mountains and the local brews. Katherine races cyclocross for Team TOMS p/b KindHuman Sports, rides road and is probably the worst mountain biker ever to work for IMBA.
History: I got my first road bike at 13, did several sprint triathlons, then abandoned cycling for music, academics and flying airplanes. Time that could have gone to riding went instead toward getting my pilot’s license by age 18.
I did some mountain biking in college, but it was several years after my last long ride that I graduated with a journalism degree in the face of massive layoffs in the news business. I pushed aside a stack of job rejection letters to follow in my dad’s footsteps by cycling across the U.S. He rode from Oregon to Washington, D.C. in 1976 with Bike Centennial, now the Adventure Cycling Association. I rode from California to Georgia in 2008 with a group of nine people raising money and awareness for affordable housing.
The bike trip resulted in a job and a passion for the bicycle and the open road. Cycling 70 miles almost every day for two months was a tough way to get back in the saddle, but I was hooked.
This site connects me to the cycling community and helps to remind me that cycling is an evolution, one that requires steady dedication and should be enjoyed at every turn of the pedal.
A huge thanks to VeloLoser for designing the Mellow Velo logo.
