Meet Kimberly Garvie, IMCCC Director
Email
Print 
How did you first get involved with cycling? The summer before college I started going to weekly group mountain rides in my town and had a blast riding with 45 year old guys and swapping stories over pizza. I could keep up ok even though my fully rigid mountain bike was way too big (23”). Spring semester of college a friend of mine pointed out a used road bike in the auto section of the classifieds. I traded a check for the bike in a Kmart parking lot. I didn’t know what to “do” with a road bike so tried a triathlon. It was off the coast of Maine in spring and I had no idea why everyone was wearing head to toe black. I was purple and numb after flailing in the ocean for an hour without a wetsuit. Then I learned I could use my road bike for these things called “road races” and tried a few each summer after that. I have also biked for 2 years total in Japan (world’s best kept riding secret) and my cross bike has been up Mt. Fuji.What about collegiate cycling? Bates College did not have a cycling team until my senior year and even then the team only went to a few races. Before that I had no idea collegiate cycling existed and was kicking myself for not getting involved sooner. I came into graduate school a Cat3 with mostly road racing under my belt and proceeded to participate in the craziness of Rocky Mountain collegiate cycling. I had never driven more than 5 hours before so when we were scheduled to race in Durango (about 9 hours away) I asked the team if we were flying! Well countless hours of driving and miles of racing later I can definitely say some of my greatest memories are from those first few years on the Wyoming collegiate cycling team. Along the way I even discovered I’m a pretty decent mountain biker.
How long have you been conference director? Fall 2010 and Spring 2011 I worked alongside Ira Tibbitts as an assistant director. We tag teamed the spring calendar and I did most of the scoring. This summer I took on the director position after Ira stepped down to finish graduate school, although he still helps out quite a bit.
Why did you decide to get involved? I have been battling various injuries/health issues for quite a while and figured it would be a good way to stay involved with the sport since I was no longer able to race.
Describe a typical race weekend; what do you do? I started officiating last spring, so I donate my officiating to the host team. I also do all the results and scoring. The riders are still getting to know me so I am looking forward to them coming up to me more with questions this spring.
What about during the week? What kind of conference duties do you take care of then? Phone calls, lots of email, trying to keep the website up to date, results, reaching out to potential new teams. Upgrades come springtime.
What are some unique challenges or requirements of managing the IMCCC? There are quite a few. First of all the conference is starting its third year after breaking from the RMCCC due to long driving distances. This means there is almost no legacy when it comes to putting on races, especially on the mountain side. Also, when scheduling races we have to be sensitive to the fact that a large proportion of riders in the conference have made a personal decision not to race on Sundays. To accommodate this we usually have a short race Friday evening and a road race and TTT on Saturday. And there is always the constant presence of winter.
What are your goals for the conference? Our road calendar has been full, but almost nonexistent on the mountain and cross side. For 2012 I would like to see at least 3 mountain and 3 cross races. Also, with road nationals in Ogden for 2012 and 2013, a very realistic goal is to double the number of teams and riders in the conference over the next two years.
Do you ride very often? I definitely don’t ride much, mostly due to a back injury and a prior shoulder injury. I am slowly trying to get into shape. Race? I miss racing dearly (road and mountain) and hope to be able to race at the end of 2012. Road or mountain? My passion is mountain biking but I miss road racing more because of the tactics.
What kind of bike(s) do you have? BMC Fourstroke01 full suspension mtb, Trek 5500 road bike, Voodoo cross-bike turned commuter, cheap old Belgium frame fixie. I haven’t had a new bike since 2006 and at this rate it will probably be another 5 years.
What’s your favorite part of the job? Getting to know the riders and seeing teammates take care of each other has been very rewarding. I have also enjoyed watching the conference grow, even in this short period of time. Coming from the RMCCC, I have seen what a fully developed conference looks like and the IMCCC has tons of potential with the endless mountains and wide range of climate within its boundaries.
Least favorite? The cold. Anyone who knows me knows I cannot tolerate being cold.
Why do you keep doing it? According to climate change predictions, it should be getting less cold each year. This has yet to be the case.
What is special about collegiate cycling? The developmental aspect of collegiate cycling is wonderful –watching a wobbly first-year rider (with underwear peaking out of their bike shorts) work hard and go on to graduate from college a confident A racer is a beautiful thing indeed.
Do you have any good stories (funny, heartwarming, dramatic) from being a conference director? I went to Beaver Meadows this fall with a few IMCCC racers. We did not fill up before leaving Laramie, and were almost empty by the time we got there (and still had to drive 70 miles back) because the gas station I used to go to was no longer functioning. Luckily we found a tiny old fashioned gas pump tucked into a side street in Red Feather for $12 a gallon (ok, so it wasn’t quite that much) so we did not have to siphon gas from any Rocky Mountain teams. If we did, that would have been funny.
What is your paying job? Paying job? What’s that? I am grateful for my current part time job teaching and developing online economics courses. Been looking for fulltime 2 ½ years now. I consider myself “underemployed”.
Tell me three things about yourself that don’t involve cycling. 1) I love spending time outside with my finance Charles and our two dogs Oliver and Morgan. 2) Since moving to Utah I have learned how to knit and make my own liquor. 3) My favorite thing in the whole world is a hot bath (and when I say hot, I mean at least 112.)
This Article Published November 9, 2011 For more information contact:
