MENTIONS |
ARTICLESMountain bike nationals: Urban ready for next challenge as Marin riders head for West Virginia
by Dave Allen, Marin IJ on July 7, 2017 As a first-year professional on the international mountain-biking circuit, Kentfield’s Kelsey Urban is living the dream, traveling the world to do what she loves most. The glamour, pride and joy are hard earned this year. Her family, friends, teammates and coaches have been impressed with how Urban, 19, is dealing with all the challenges in moving up to face off against many of the world’s top cross-country racers. “She is inspiring,” Whole Athlete coach Dario Fredrick said of his only Marin-based team member. “Kelsey is making ‘the big jump’ this year and sometimes that means the results aren’t there. But her positivity and optimism are a reminder of what I love about working with young people in this sport. She has the talent and enthusiasm to continue to succeed.” Urban, who rides in the under-23 category, is one of several young Marin riders bound for the USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Championships July 18-23 in Snowshoe, West Virginia. Other riders include Bear Development Team members Savilia Blunk (Inverness resident, 17/18 category), Eli Kranefuss (Mill Valley, U23), Dylan Fryer (San Anselmo, 17/18), Julian LePelch (Mill Valley, 17/18) and Mina Ricci (Mill Valley, 17/18). Urban and Blunk are “training buddies” going back to their early days. Urban and Kate Courtney, the top-performing Marin-based woman in the U23 category, both attended Stanford this year (Courtney just graduated) and went on training rides near Palo Alto. The sense of community among competitive athletes is a reason why Urban was drawn to the sport. “(Courtney) has been a strong leader and mentor for me,” said Urban, who made the tough decision to leave Redwood High during her junior year in order to race internationally. “I missed out on things like prom and homecoming, but I’ve never regretted the decision. I started racing seriously and it was going pretty well. I knew this was a chance to take it to the next level and I went for it. I wouldn’t trade this opportunity for anything.” In her final season as an amateur, Urban made a splash in 2016 by winning the 17/18 category short track national championship. She finished on the podium is several big national-level events, while earning a spot on Team USA and placing as the top American (25th overall) at the World Championships in the Czech Republic. In March, Urban got her first pro victory, winning an event in the Central Coast Cross Country series. Despite the win, she is confronting more than she ever expected. Urban was diagnosed with Autonomic Nervous System Dysfunction, which can impede the blood flow in her body and make her hazy during races. Through meditation, legal medication, chiropractic care and symptom awareness, she is able to manage the condition. “I’ve learned to race with it, but it can be a bummer in some ways,” she said. “I manage it as much as I can and I’m told I may grow out of it.” Kelsey’s mother Cammie Urban marvels at her daughter’s continued love for the sport and ability to complete. Cammie, a top ballet dancer as a youth, is still a racer and team director for Whole Athlete. Like her husband Chris, she grew up mountain-biking on Mount Tam. They introduced the sport to Kelsey and their son Cole and watched the kids fall in love with the natural aspects of the sport. “Kelsey has written poetry about Mt. Tam. It’s such a part of our family life,” Cammie said. “The mountain is our happiest place.” A top performance at nationals and continued success during the summer could result in another call from Team USA and the World Championships. “The challenge is there for Kelsey,” Fredrick said. “She has the potential to finish high at nationals and really make her case (for selection to the World Championships). She has a specific mindset of what she wants to accomplish at every race and improvement is always the goal. I am very confident that Kelsey will do everything she can do to be at her best physically and mentally for nationals. That’s when it gets fun to watch her do her best.” Racing to the top: Mountain biker pursues passion
by Shauna Perigo, Redwood Bark on January 29, 2015 When Kelsey Urban lined up at the starting line for the 2014 Cross Country Mountain Bike National Championships, she had never been more nervous for anything in her life. Poised to take second place, as she had at the other Pro Mountain Bike Cross Country Tour (Pro XCT) races across the country last summer, Urban knew she had to keep her mind steady in order to secure her spot on the podium. “We all lined up and I was so nervous. I wanted to cry. I was terrified,” Urban said. “Then my teammate Haley Batten, who’s one of my best friends, and I started out, and there was another girl there, and we kind of dropped the pack pretty fast. I just remember, I didn’t look back, but I just remember being like, ‘Oh my god, oh my god, we’re at the front. This is crazy.’ And then the other girl fell away and Haley and I were just riding together. There was so much adrenaline and I was so stoked.” Urban ended up placing second in the Cross Country race at Nationals for the 15-16 age group. Batten, her teammate at Whole Athlete, a nationally-ranked Cross Country Mountain Biking team based out of Larkspur, placed first. Urban also placed second in the Super D race at Nationals for the 15-18 age group, a race she described as a mix of downhill and cross country. “I knew if I could keep my mind about me and have a good, clean race, I was capable of achieving the result that I did. It was just super exhilarating to see all the work I put in pay off in that one moment,” Urban said. Urban was then chosen to travel to Canada as part of the United States team, where she placed second and third in her two races. “At those other races at the Pro XCT Series, the leader of the United States team, Marc Gullickson, watches all the juniors and the pros, and then if you perform well, he chooses two girls and four boys and then you go abroad,” Urban said. This semester, Urban will travel to Europe to compete in two World Cups, causing her to miss both school and the Redwood races. “I’ll be doing the Pro XCT Series around the United States, and then I’m going to be racing two World Cups in Europe in the Czech Republic and Austria, and then I’m shooting for World Championships in September,” Urban said. Urban, a junior , attended Redwood and competed for the Redwood Mountain Biking club up until this semester. She recently transferred to Tilden Preparatory School across the Richmond Bridge in Albany so she would have more time to focus on training for her upcoming international races. “It was really hard because after school I would go train for two, three hours and then I would get home and I wouldn’t have that much time, and it’s better to train in the morning,” Urban said. “I could make it work, but it was just really tight. [Tilden Preparatory School] is really adjustable so I can go away for a long time, for a few weeks, and Skype into my class or just put it on hold and resume it when I come back.” Urban has grown up in a household dedicated to mountain biking. Not only does her mom coach and compete with her team, but she also won Nationals Super D and Cross County in her age group, the same races Kelsey competed in, and placed fourth at Worlds in her age group. Urban added that she has been riding basically since “when she could walk,” and competed in her first race at age six. “It was definitely mountain biking because that’s what my parents were doing,” Urban said. “They started racing really competitively. They both went to World Championships when I was in third grade and everything, so that definitely had a huge impact on me. We’d go on family vacations and just go biking all day for six hours when I was five.” Although she has no definitive plans yet, Urban said that she will continue mountain biking in college and go pro as long as she continues to love the sport. “I love the sport, but racing, the whole training, is very all-consuming,” Urban said. “I’ll do it as long as I still love it entirely. If I’m still loving it, then I’d love to go pro during college and race for as long as I can.” Mountain biking wins consecutive state by Deirdre Shepard on May 27, 2014 The coed mountain biking team capped off its season by winning the State Championship on May 11 for the second year in a row. The team was led by sophomore Kelsey Urban and senior Sarah Ogden, who placed second and third respectively in the state in girls’ varsity, and Teddy Hayden, who won the freshman boys’ race. Sophomore Kelsey Urban and senior Sarah Ogden race at the state championship. The race was held at the Laguna Seca Raceway in Monterey, a course that senior Grady Polisson said was difficult. “There was no flat area. It was all up and down, and it was really bumpy throughout,” he said. “It was pretty bad. It was really hot, and it was all open, and there was no shade.” Sarah Ogden said the course was known for being physically demanding, and that an especially steep section is known as “Hurl Hill.” For the second year in a row, the team finished in second place behind Drake at the NorCal Championships before going on to win State. “We didn’t think we were going to win,” Polisson said. “Everyone was kind of relaxed and wasn’t worrying about racing. It was our upbeat mentality that really helped us win.” Polisson credited Urban’s marked growth as being a major contributing factor to the team’s win. “Kelsey came out of nowhere,” Polisson said. “She was racing JV [at the beginning of the season.] She improved so much this year. She did well as a freshman, but this season she’s been training a lot more.” Mother and daughter connect through mountain biking
by Hall Darden, Redwood Bark on November 12, 2013 Dense fog covered the Pine Mountain trails while cold crisp air brushed against the faces of Cameron and Kelsey Urban last Wednesday, as the mother and daughter mountain bikers worked their way down the hill. Riding together through the Tamalpais trails, mountain biking team coach Cameron Urban and team member Kelsey spend many hours of the week together, training both on their own and at official practice. “This has opened a window for the two of us to stay so connected for something that has nothing to do with my age or her age. It’s just a shared passion,” Cameron Urban said. “I love the way [mountain biking] gets you out in the magic of nature, into places you can’t get on feet,” Cameron added, with sophomore Kelsey at her side in a recent interview. “She is definitely my main coach. She has taught me most of the stuff I know,” Kelsey said. “It’s a great bonding time. You never have enough time to catch up with each other,” Cameron said. Cameron Urban raced competitively for four years in the beginning of 2000. She ended up on the U.S. Women’s Masters mountain biking team and placed fourth at World Championships. This will be her second year as Redwood’s mountain biking coach. |