And when they start riding a lot of them have full time jobs and are taking vacation days to get by. All of a sudden it becomes so addictive because you're out there with a bunch of women just like yourself, well educated, taking your vacation days, not making any real money, but we're having a blast. And that's US cycling.

Thank God for running. It is the ultimate detox for me, whether my poison is bubbles, a foul mood, or a bad attitude. If I combat inertia, get out, and get moving, eventually every kind of toxin works its way out.

I would love to end my European campaign with the World Championship stripes on my back. But everything else that I have in my mind right now is to continue working with and having my little camps for women cyclists.

If people are looking at me in my hometown, then every woman that races against me in the peloton is as well. I can tell you, every one of them now believes that they can do it. When I go to a Cascade or Nature Valley and they race against me, the girls that are say 30 seconds from me at the races are all of a sudden saying 'I'm 30 seconds from gold I mean why can't I do this.'

I'm not the kind to go out and tell people 'Oh yeah I'm a gold medalist.'

When it comes down to it, determination has a greater impact than giftedness.

Cycling is such an endurance sport. I don't think it's the worst thing ever to start when you're in your twenties.