Patterson Feels ‘Heat’ at Finish : Cyclist Had to Sprint to Keep Up With Escort

Casey Patterson raced her bicycle over the Rockies, through tornado weather in the Midwest and across arduous stretches in the East. Starting from the Golden Gate Bridge, she rode 22 hours a day for 11 consecutive days. In the final miles of the race, in Washington, D.C., Patterson encountered one more challenge.

As the cyclist entered the capital Thursday morning, she was escorted over the last 10 miles by a police car and motorcycle.

“I don’t know what this cop was thinking, but he decided he’d go faster and faster,” Patterson said. “I was going as fast as I can ride a bike. We were hauling. It was the most amazing way to finish a 3,000-mile race, in a flat-out sprint.”

Patterson, a 43-year-old Topanga mother and former librarian, survived the finish to win the women’s division of the 3,117-mile Race Across America.

It was a surprising victory: Patterson has been racing bicycles for less than two years and in last year’s race pulled out at the halfway mark. This year Patterson led almost from the start and won with a comfortable three-hour lead over Cheryl Marek of Seattle.

She finished the race in 11 days, 21 hours and 15 minutes. For the effort, she was rewarded with a plaque and a trophy.

“I expected to do well, but I never expected to win,” Patterson said. “I never really and truly believed it until the finish.”

The men’s winner, Mike Secrest, of Flint. Mich., crossed the line Wednesday after 9 days, 11 hours and 35 minutes.

Sixteen of the original 33 riders had dropped out of the race suffering from fatigue or injuries as of Thursday morning. Of the seven women in the field, only Patterson, Marek and Marie Costellic, of Mount Pleasant, Pa., were expected to finish.

During the ride, Patterson stopped only for brief sleep, a change of clothes or to use the restroom. She ate meals of a powdered nutritional drink, rice cakes and celery. A support crew of nine people followed in a motor home and van.

“I want to take a bath,” Patterson said, an hour after finishing at the Washington Monument. “I also want a Big Mac.”

The victory culminated a year of obsessive training. The race itself was alternately exhilarating and agonizing.

The Rocky Mountains, Patterson said, were gorgeous.

But across the Midwest, the weather turned ferocious. As Patterson entered Indianapolis, tornado-warning sirens wailed and the streets suddenly became deserted. Earlier in the race, several riders at the rear were forced out by tornadoes in Kansas.

“There was no way I was going to stop,” Patterson said.

She rode through the night, watching the Indiana sky.

In West Virginia, Patterson labored through endless rolling hills and humidity. Having led by as many as 75 miles since the Continental Divide, she was deprived of any competition to spur her on.

“It was making me crazy. It’s really hard to stay motivated, to have good form and go fast,” she said. “I’ve never really tested myself before. This race does that.”

In the Appalachian Mountains, the racers hit heavy rain and fog and were slowed to a snail’s pace of 10 miles an hour.

Then, of course, came the wild finish. It suited the unusual way in which Patterson has thrust herself into the world of long-distance bicycle racing.

For most of her life, Patterson had kept fit but had never been athletic. Two years ago, her 23-year-old son Kye, a mechanic at a local bicycle shop, convinced her to start riding mountain bikes.

“He said, ‘Mom, you really ought to try it. You’ll like it,’ ” Patterson recalled. “He was right. I was hooked.”

Patterson soon switched to road bikes and began training extensively. She rode 450 miles a week, including one all-night ride. She drew on savings and other “resources” to support her new-found hobby. Her ex-husband and her two other children--Mary, 10, and Charlie, 9--thought she was crazy.

“It’s an obsession. I admit it,” Patterson said. “There’s no casual way to get involved in this kind of riding.”

Then last spring, scant months after taking to the road, Patterson won a 500-mile race in Arizona.

This promising and shocking introduction to racing eventually won her family over and earned her sponsorships from bike and clothing manufacturers. It cost Patterson almost $12,000 to ride in this year’s Race Across America. Much of that money she will recoup in bonuses from her sponsors, she said.

At a time in life when most athletes have long since retired, Patterson has burst upon the big time. She laughs at this thought.

“Isn’t that something?”