05/17/2008

Live in Las Vegas An Interview with female DH phenom, Marla Streb

I never realized how nerve racking meeting you hero can be. I hadn't contemplated actually meeting Marla Streb and how I would react. It isn't even that I was nervous I would make a bad impression, I was nervous she wouldn't be able to live up to all the expectations I had for her. Like she wouldn't be as smart or down to earth or funny or fast or fantastic as I had pictured her. Well Marla didn't let me down. She was actually exactly as I had imagined her and better. She doesn't let you down she just builds you up more. She is truly the most awesome, inspirational woman I have ever had the pleasure of meeting.

Your 2004 season was phenomenal. How do you continue to put together such successful seasons every year?
Well they have actually been improving every year. I am a slow learner and I have finally figured out what it takes to put together a good downhill run. You know I thought I was learning and you think I just need to go faster, I need to go faster, but for me and the way I ride I needed to slow it down. I finally figured that out and was able to control my speed in the last two or three years. I really figured it out. I know it sounds crazy but you want to stay on your line and you want to ride it exactly how you rode it in practice. You don't want to ride any faster. It's a real misconception that people say practice slow and race fast. So I guess I am finally learning so it's good.

Was this your last season in downhill racing?
No. I'll probably to do some downhill races next year. Some select ones.

Oh really? I read somewhere this was your last season. Where did I read that?
It might have been on Velonews website. I am going to mix it up a lot next year. I think for me I have been doing it for so long that the Norba circuit is like doing the same old thing. The Norba circuit…I mean I want to help them improve. I am on their board now.

I hear the Norba attendance has really fallen away?
The attendance really has fallen away. It's much more of a participatory sport then a spectator sport and people are finally coming to grips with that. The key is for us to show up at the races that are huge, the big festivals like the Chequamegon has 15 000 to 20 000 people. There are big events that are really fun like 24 hour races and things like that. That's where I want to go is where all the people are but at the same time I still want to help Norba become healthier. So I am going to get a Redbull event and I am writing a road century book, my second project. It's very different from downhill mountain bike racing yet Rodale Press approached me and I took the project so it's like a four year contract to do a bunch of road centuries. All I have to do is show up and ride a hundred miles. I don't have to race so I can just show up and socialize. I just want to kind of have fun and having the pressure of winning or trying to win all the time takes a toll.

So married Mark finally, why?
Well we got married for tax purposes. Hahaha…. No I'm just kidding. We got married because we've been together for a long time, 15 years and really it's kind of a gift to our parents. We both come from catholic families. Both Mark and I are recovering Catholics. We're not into it but they are and I think it makes them happy. We did it Vegas style which is like drive though in a limo and we were wearing clown suits and it was really silly. It was done very late at four in the morning and it was a lot of fun. We try to keep things fun and unconventional and it really was. We'll try to have a traditional reception next week involving the families, like 80 people and a dressy kind of thing.

So is settling down and having some children part of the project?
Good question. We've finally stared talking about having kids this year. I think Mark sensed I was done racing and I've achieved all my goals. I am 39 so I probably have 14 eggs left so we got to hurry up you know. I am just kidding…..haha… I was a late bloomer though and didn't get boobs till I was 21 so I have a couple extra years. You don't have to put that in there. But we might, we might, we might adopt, we might not have kids because we love to travel. So it just depends, if it happens it does. That's why I want to shy away from racing because if I do say get pregnant I can still do all my events in that condition basically as long as it's not too hot. I know people that ride all the way to the last week and she rode two days after she gave birth but that's a little ridiculous. But anyways, so it's possible.

Sounds like a good plan. So everyone I know has read your book and loved it. Is it ever weird that everyone knows so much about your life? I mean I feel like I know so much about you, does that make you feel strange?
Well people don't act differently, they look at me differently. Sometimes their long silences between sentences and I think maybe their little wheels are turning about some story I told but it was really therapeutic to write that. It took about two years and I wasn't going to get into all the deep dark secrets and I actually didn't even scratch the surface. I had to tone it down a lot just because of my parents. I basically lied through out my whole teenage years, you know it was just one ruse after another and I can't come to grips with telling them all that stuff. Every time you go to jail you try to keep it a secret. So I wouldn't want to give little kids the wrong impression too, I was pretty bad. You want to sort of be a role model and we are supposed to be inspiring girls so you don't want to talk too much about drugs or alcohol, though I did, but the moral was you don't need all that stuff.

I think your book has made you a huge role model for women in cycling. All the Kamloops girls were so excited I was going to be interviewing you.
Wow thanks! You guys live in a great epicenter. It's so cool.

So how much do you get up to Canada?
I wish I could more and you are not going to believe this, I have never been to Whistler. I always hear about it and people always shake me by the shirt and say "you've never been to Whistler?" I know it's supposed to be great. I have been to Grouse several times and I have never been riding down the city streets of a big city and seen a young girl with a downhill helmet riding a freeride bike on the sidewalk and I saw many of them in Vancouver. I was really impressed. Canada is awesome. I would love to be a Canadian citizen sometimes, especially with our current president. But we don't have to get into that.

What do you see in the future for women's downhill racing?
Right now the women don't look like they are dominating the racing as much, it's really I think dropped off. There isn't a lot of new talent coming up. I think a lot of guys don't give them enough credit and don't nature them. Say the girlfriend learning curve you know. I don't know I think it's up to the guys that ride to psych the girls up for riding and not make it seem so dangerous or scary. It's all about taking baby steps and maybe the guys shouldn't ride a down hill bike on her first ride while she rides a regular cross country bike. That way the girl doesn't hate it. A lot of it is people just need to encourage the women to try it, it's not as bad or dangerous as it looks and I don't know why there is a trend but for freeriding there is more and more women getting into it but for racing I am not sure. They are not as competitive some times, I think it's a mindset.

Maybe competitive in a different way?
Ya. Right! Right! With beauty products or whatever! But the freeriding it's taking off

Are you writing more books in the future for us to enjoy?
I hope so. I am not a natural writer it takes a lot of effort for me to write and I tend to like a micro manager of my own words. It's a struggle but the more I do it the easier it's getting. The second book has actually been a lot easier then the first one because it's not personal. It's more like a how to inspirational. We hope to travel the world on our sail boat and riding all over the world so I'd like to write some more travel adventure stories now.

Just in case you only thought Marla was a World Champion Dh Racer, she's also: a Biomedical research assistant, Rebull Rampage Judge, Pro XC Race, Single Speed World Champion, Accomplished Pianist, Toured all of Europe by bike, and Author.

Good luck to Marla on her adventures around the world and a big thanks to her for putting up with me gushing all over her. I hope she continues to inspire others as much as she has inspired me.

Cheryl Beattie NSMB and Bicycle Café Kamloops