Margaret Day Switches Gears in Quest to Be Best : Former World-Class Swimmer Goes All Out Into Mountain-Bike Racing

Twelve years ago, Margaret Day--then known as Margaret Browne, 15-year-old world-class swimmer--set her sights on becoming one of the world’s best backstrokers.

With vigorous training, her sights became realities. She set national age-group records, placed fifth in the 1978 World Championships, and, from 1976-80, was ranked as one of the top 25 swimmers in the world.

Today, Margaret Day is setting her sights on becoming one of the world’s best in another sport: Mountain biking.

Mountain biking?

OK, so it’s not the glamour sport of the ‘80s.

But the ‘90s? Perhaps.

The way she’s going, Day, who won the National Off-Road Bicycle Assn. championship at Sun Valley, Ida., Sept. 5, and placed fourth in the cross-country division of the World Mountain Bike Championships at Mammoth Lakes last Friday, might be remembered someday as the pioneer for women’s mountain bike racing.

Day, who grew up in Corona del Mar, began mountain biking five years ago. It was something she picked up between her short stints in competitive kayaking, triathlons and outrigger canoe paddling.

Her husband (then workout partner), Jeff Day, encouraged Margaret to give competitive mountain biking a try. Jeff Day--who spent a summer running across the United States in 1977--discovered the sport more than 10 years ago, long before it became popular with the masses.

Jeff was an expert mountain biker, he was familiar with miles and miles of riding trails, and he had a mountain bike custom-built for two.

In Jeff, Margaret saw the perfect coach.

In Margaret, Jeff saw the perfect mountain biking mind-set.

“Margaret’s totally unaffected by danger, she’s completely fearless,” said Bill Leach, a longtime friend.

“Before she even started mountain biking, she said she wanted to see how fast she could go down Goldenrod (a long, steep windy street in Corona del Mar)--without putting her brakes on.”

Is she fearless? Day’s not quite sure.

“I don’t know about fearless. Well, maybe kind of. . . . I mean I’m not totally fearless. I guess I have a lot of nerve, though. But I’m not some stupid madman, you know, like that image mountain bikers have.”

In 1983, Day entered her first race, a novice competition at Crested Butte, Colo. She won, but her interest in racing wasn’t piqued again until last summer.

“I didn’t want to compete in something unless I went all the way,” Day, 27, said. “But then last year, I started riding my bike more, and got in better shape. I just decided I would see what I could do.”

Day planned to aim for the National Off-Road Bicycle Assn. national championships at Durango, Colo., last September, but family finances--she and Jeff own an indoor plant maintenance business--were limited.

So Day decided, in spite of her relative inexperience, that she would try to secure a sponsor.

At her next race--the world championships at Mammoth Mountain--Day entered the pro division, usually reserved for top-level--and professionally sponsored--riders.

In three races (cross-country, hill climb and downhill), Day took three seconds. Doing so, she upset many top-name riders.

“The next thing I knew,” Day said, “I was signing a 16-month contract with (a major mountain bike manufacturer). I came home and said, ‘Jeff, um, I guess I’m going to be racing next year.”

And so she has.

This summer, Day competed in more than 35 major competitions around the nation. Three weekends each month were spent on the road, traveling and racing.

The toughest series--The Tour of the Rockies--involved riding 11 races in nine days, all at elevations higher than 7,500 feet. Day took third overall.

“It was going to be death, and I knew it,” Day said. “That series really took a lot out of me. All the racing started to wear me down.”

Still, she managed to outdo the best when it counted.

Her national championship came after accumulating the most points through six national series races from Auburn, Ala., to Durango, Colo., to Davis, W.Va.

It was at Durango where she had her most satisfying victory.

Said Day: “The nationals last year were at Durango on the same course, and I didn’t do very well (she placed fifth). So this year, I was determined to do better. To come back and win it . . . it was the greatest feeling.”