Meet Nancy Ellis, Director of the SWCCC

Nancy Ellis, SWCCC Director

How did you first get involved with cycling? My husband Scott started racing before we were married, and it took about six months of his teammates asking me to watch their keys/kids/dogs etc. before I got sick of that and started racing (and officiating)!  That was many years ago (24+). What about collegiate cycling? As both promoters and officials, we worked with collegiate riders back East.  When we both went back to school at the University of Arizona for advanced degrees, we both competed at NCCA races.

How long have you been conference director? Officially since 2007

Describe a typical race weekend; what do you do? On race weekends in AZ, most of the time I am officiating in addition to addressing any conference director issues, so I am probably running around like crazy.  When it is an out-of-AZ race, I get to relax a bit, just dealing with any collegiate issues that arise; I also like to score the riders myself so they can get an “unofficial” view of the points right after the race.

Do you ride very often?   5-6 days a week (depends on what race is coming up and how my coach wants to torture me), plus I run half marathons. Race?  Yes, as long as I have been riding (I’m a Cat 2 now).  Because there aren’t too many USAC officials in AZ, I work the majority of the races, so a lot of time I jump off the judges’ stand and try to race without a warmup, which doesn’t help my performance at all! Road or mountain?  Road  (ended up with too many injuries during mtb races!)

What kind of bike(s) do you have?  Road (several); TT; track; mtb & a commuter

What’s your favorite part of the job? I really enjoy working with the collegiate riders, especially those just starting out.  I love seeing them progress through the ranks, and become more successful in both collegiate cycling as well as other USAC cycling events on local, regional, and the national scales.  I also appreciate the ones whom not only are collegiate cyclists, but who are interested in other aspects of cycling, including coaching, promoting and officiating. Least favorite? Riders who think their attendance at Nationals is a “given” drive me nuts.  The sponsored pros/semipros/etc. who can’t be bothered to show up for any collegiate events and then demand spots for Nationals over riders who have made collegiate cycling a priority leave a bad taste in my mouth.

What are some of the unique challenges of running the Southwest conference? It is the smallest conference, and several of the schools only compete in one discipline (mtb or road), so the fields are relatively small each season; the conference does not have any collegiate-only events.   As a result, the conference only has 3-4 events per season, including the championships.  The SWCCC has only had CX events sporadically over the last several years, and the closest track is in San Diego.    

Why do you keep doing it? When I first moved here, the collegiate cycling programs in the conference were much larger, and collegiate racers had an opportunity to race every weekend.   I would like to help build up these numbers again within the conference, but it will take time.   With last year’s re-alignment and the increasing attendance at mtb events this fall,  I think we have made good progress so far.

What is special about collegiate cycling? Honestly, I think it is how a college attendee who maybe hasn’t ridden a bike since he/she was a pre-teen gets on a bike again and then makes the effort to train and put in lots of miles and has the desire to try racing.  It’s not an easy sport to succeed in, and yet these men and women keep training and keep coming back.  And probably for every one that makes it to the A level, there are 3 or 4 that stay in the Bs or Cs and try their hardest to support their clubs, whether it is through racing or by standing on a corner all day as a marshal.  I love seeing the dedication each race weekend. 

What is your paying job? I’m a multimodal planner for a local city, which basically means that I plan and implement all bike routes and facilities, pedestrian amenities and trails.  On some days, it means that I actually get paid to go out and ride my bike or to go hiking!

Tell me three things about yourself that don’t involve cycling. I am an award-winning cross stitcher. I have a business designing jewelry and conducting genealogy research. I am a huge football (Buffalo Bills, don’t laugh) and hockey fan.