41SU N DAY, J U LY 26, 2009T H E E X A M I N ER
By Elinor Flynn
Special to The Examiner
When her youngest son left for
college in 2004, stay-at-home mom
Kay Tsui needed something new to
focus her energy toward.
She had been biking a hilly, 14-
mile circuit near her Vienna house
for exercise but had never thought
of herself as a serious athlete.
Once left with an empty nest, Tsui
began thinking about taking her
cycling to the next level.
"I decided I might want to try
racing," Tsui said. "But I was 55 and
trying to get into it for the first time.
I thought, `Maybe I'm in over my
head.' "
The encouragement of friend
Evelyn Egizi, who directed a local
cycling team that Tsui later joined,
was instrumental in getting Tsui to
her first race in July 2004: the Giro
di Coppi in Barnesville, Md.
Two of her three children, posters
and flowers in hand, watched from
the sidelines as their mother com-
peted against women half her age.
Despite a fall into the grass
midrace, Tsui placed fifth overall.
"I couldn't believe it," she recalled.
"I saw then that I was sort of the frus-
trated athlete pouring everything
into my kids. I thought, "Now I'd like
to see what I can do.' "
Following her early success, Tsui's
coach encouraged her to enter the
2006 Masters National Road Racing
Championship in Louisville, Ky.
Tsui arrived at nationals "a new-
bie" with low expectations. She
ended up winning all three competi-
tions in her age group: The five-mile
road race, which is a group race on a
paved road; time trials, in which bik-
ers are staggered and timed across a
short section; and criterium, a group
race on a half-mile to one-mile course
that is repeated several times.
This summer, Tsui completed her
fourth national championship, racing
for the first time in the female 60-64
age group. Once again, she took first
in all three events.
"Because it came so late for me,
it's really special," Tsui said of her
championships. "It's my time now."
More than just a sport, biking has
provided Tsui with a new sense of
identity and self-confidence.
"For 30 years I was always some-
body's wife or somebody's mother, I
was never just me," said Tsui, who
has been divorced since March.
"When I started biking I got this
group of friends who just knew me
as me. It sounds old-fashioned, but
it was very liberating."
Biking, however, hasn't been with-
out its hurdles.
In November 2002, Tsui broke her
collarbone riding near Middleburg,
Va., an injury that still bothers her.
Then in 2005, during a road race
in Pennsylvania, a biker fell in front
of Tsui, causing her to crash.
Though she managed to finish the
race, the fall left Tsui with a broken
rib and punctured lung.
It also marked a turning point.
She now only competes in
time-trial competitions, except at
Nationals, her least favorite but the
least hazardous of the three races.
Tsui plans to compete in three
more time-trial races before the com-
petitive season ends in late August.
At the Virginia State Champion-
ships, she is going to break her own
rule and also bike in the criterium
race against women of all ages. Tsui
has not done a criterium race since
Nationals, and said she wanted to get
one more under her belt before the
end of the year.
"I'm a little nervous," she said. "I'll
be racing with younger women but
I'm going to try it."
Tsui's last race, held on Maryland's
Eastern Shore, will be a time trial,
and she is focused on making it a
personal best.
"I expect to win that, no problem,"
Tsui said. "But I'm really racing
against the clock."
Stay-at-home mom finds new life in competitive cycling
PERSONALBEST
UPCOMING EVENTS
What is your workout routine?
In the fall, I do long rides that aren't
necessarily hard. From November to
March, I ride outside when I can and
do an indoor training program two
to three times a week with my coach
and seven other women.
We put our bikes on stands called
"trainers" that are linked by a com-
puter, which puts different amounts
of resistance and allows us to race
different courses, even the Tour de
France.
After Christmas we start getting
really serious about how hard the
workouts are.
We can bike for hours, but we have
to push ourselves way high for short
intervals in order to really build our
fitness levels. Training starts to vary
in March depending on what races
people are focusing on.
Tips for new athletes
For cycling in general you just have to
put in the time and put in the miles,
and you will see great rewards. It takes
time to build up your fitness, so you
have to stick with it.
I think what made the biggest differ-
ence with me in racing was there was
a woman who was the director of the
first team I joined, and she took me
under her wing and got me to that first
race. If it wasn't for her I don't think I'd
be in racing. So find a buddy who has
done it before and can help you get
over that first hurdle.
What's the most memorable place
you've biked?
I'd say France. I've been on about
five cycling-focused vacations in the
southwestern part of France, and you
just can't beat it. � Elinor Flynn
By Elinor Flynn
Special to The Examiner
When Personal Best last
checked in with Kerry Bowling in
November, she had just run her
first marathon in a time of four
hours and 45 minutes, meeting
her goal of finishing in less than
five hours.
Despite her success in the
Marine Corps Marathon, Bowling
doesn't have any plans to race 26.2
miles again -- just balancing her
roles as runner, wife and mother
of two is hard enough.
"The training is very time-con-
suming, and in order to do it right
you need to train five or six months
out, and so I'm not looking at doing
another marathon anytime soon,"
she said.
But she'll settle for doing half-
marathons.
In March, Bowling ran the
Yuengling Shamrock half-mara-
thon with a friend who wanted to
race for the first time in honor of
her father, who had recently died
from leukemia.
"It wasn't my fastest race, but
I was there to support my friend,"
she said. "She thought she'd finish
in three and a half hours, but I got
her there in under three."
Last fall, Bowling began a gradu-
ate degree in secondary English
composition, but has had to put it
on hold this year.
"It just didn't work out doing it
with the kids' schedules," Bowling
said. "And my husband's job is so
unpredictable."
Bowling's next race will be the
Army 10-Miler through down-
town Washington, which she has
been doing with husband Jeremy,
an Army captain, for five years.
Bowling calls the race "really inspi-
rational."
"You'll see guys with one leg or
no legs racing. You think, `If that
guy with one leg can do it, I can
do it.' "
CATCHING UP WITH ... KERRY BOWLING
COURTESY PHOTO
Kay Tsui of Vienna, center, began cycling competitively at age 55 after she was left with an empty nest.
COURTESY PHOTO
Kerry Bowling, left, after running the
Marine Corps Marathon.
TIME OUT WITH ... KAY TSUI
ADVENTURE RACING
� Aug. 1: GO Urban Adventure
Race, George Washington
University, noon. Two-person
teams receive 12 clues to lead
them to locations where they
will have to participate in a
mental or physical challenge.
Info: gourban.org.
GOLF
� Aug. 24-28: Virginia State
Golf Association Senior Ama-
teur Championship, Virginia
Beach. The tournament held
at the Princess Anne Country
Club is for golfers ages 55 and
over. Stroke play is used to
determine the top 32 players,
who then compete for the
championship in match play.
Entry deadline is July 31. Info:
vsga.org.
� Aug. 28-31: Virginia State
Golf Association Public Links
Championship, Lorton. This
tournament will be played at
the Laurel Hill Golf Club and
will feature 36 holes of stroke
play qualifying the first two
days. The top 16 qualifiers
then will play match play.
Entry deadline is Aug. 7.
PADDLING
� Aug. 1: Paddle for the Bay,
Norfolk, 6 a.m.-noon. This is
an annual racing event for
outrigger canoes and kayaks
that benefits the Chesapeake
Bay Foundation. Race catego-
ries include outriggers, single
kayak and paddle board. Info:
cbf.org.
RUNNING
� July 29: 3K and One-Mile
Track Championships, Wake-
field High School, 6:30 p.m.
The D.C. Road Runners Club
hosts this meet in Arlington.
Info: dcroadrunners.org.
� Aug. 1: Friends of the W&OD
10K, Old Vienna Train Station,
6:30 p.m. The race is a flat,
out-and-back course on the
W&OD Trail. Info: marathon
charitypartners.org.
SWIMMING
� Aug. 9: Open Water Swim
Clinic, Gunpowder State Park,
8 a.m. This two-hour clinic will
teach swimmers and triath-
letes how to sight and navigate
buoys, pace themselves and
feel comfortable outside a
pool. Info: triuscoaching.com.
TRIATHLON/DUATHLON
� Aug. 2: Culpeper Sprint
2009, Mountain Run Lake
Park, Culpeper, Va., 8 a.m. The
race consists of a 750-meter
swim in Mountain Run Lake,
followed by a 16-mile bike and
a 5K run. About 100 spots are
still open. Info: setupevents.
com.

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