Ingrid Alongi
Cat 2 Road, Cat 2 Track, Cat 3 Cross
Ingrid Alongi found her way back to cycling in 2009 after over 15 years away from the sport. A Boulder, CO native, she had the opportunity to begin racing in the kid’s version of the early Coors’ Classics — the Red Zinger Mini Classics at age 12. She eventually made her way to the US National team in high school. The lack of support for college aged women in cycling in the early 90′s made a “normal life” more appealing, so she focused on school with an undergraduate degree from CU and a graduate degree from San Diego State University. She is a software engineer by trade and is now Co-Founder/CEO of a software consulting company, Quick Left in downtown Boulder. She now holds 4 Master’s National Championship titles on the track, including Best All Around Rider at Master’s National Track Championships in 2012.
Personal Goal: To contribute to a well rounded and cohesive team, to continue to improve and have fun climbing, to figure out how to not lose by .2 seconds in an individual pursuit at Master’s Nationals (it’s happened twice now, in 2009 and 2012), to offer encouragement to young and beginner riders on both road and track.
Nickname: @electromute on Twitter
Hometown: Boulder, CO
Current Home: Boulder, CO
Racing Disciplines: Individual 2k Pursuit, 500mTT, Sprints and team events on the track; Crits on the road and even though the placing is nothing to write home about, individual time trials on the road.
Strengths: Consistency, predictability and an overall good attitude
Racing Since: 1986-1993, 2009-present
Favorite Race: 2012 Master’s National Track Championships–final round Match Sprints–A textbook, purely tactical and unlikely win. Lookout Mtn Hill Climb (I know, right?)
Hobbies: Running a software company where my hobby is bike racing.
Status: Married to Andy Carlson, also an early 90s former US National Team track racer (points race, team pursuit, madison). It took almost 20 years to finally connect, he was worth the wait.
Favorite Post Race Drink: One cannot live without the Naked Coconut water with hot summer temps. It saved me.
Favorite During Race Drink: plain water, given the length and heat of my primary races. I loaded up on Powerbar Power Gels prior to racing for the extra carbs/glycogen I need for my fast twitch muscles.
Bikes: 2012 Tiemeyer Signature custom track bike in hipster blue and black. 2011 Dura Ace Focus Izalco Pro 1 with 165mm Ultegra cranks (in the most gorgeous matte red/orange I’ve ever seen on a bike).
Racing Highlights:
Frostbite TT 6th
ERock Crit 5th
Deer Trail RR 4th
Master’s State Crit 7th
CO State TT 7th
CO State Endurance Track Champion
2012 Master’s Track Nationals Best All Around Rider (35-39) including; Sprints — Gold, 500m TT — Silver, Individual Pursuit — Silver, Team Pursuit — Silver, Scratch Race — Bronze
Rollers or trainer: Rollers for the track bike, trainers for the road bike
Bibs or Shorts: Shorts because pre-race jitters and porta potties made bibs cumbersome, but now with a few seasons under the belt, graduating to big girl bibs, more confidence and less jitters
Skinsuit or kit: Skinsuit, not just for crits or TTs anymore–you can wear them in your indoor training classes and look fast riding stationary, and as a base layer in winter since vests now have pockets!
Speedplay, Look or Shimano: Time — It’s my one hold over from the 90s. Love the wide platform for power transfer and the stability
Carbon or Steel – Carbon — Definitely a convert despite past experience with “steel is real” from the 80s/90s
If you could ride your bike anywhere, where would it be? Last year, I responded Italy, but since then I got to ride around Denmark in a very non-bike racer setting and I loved it. The bike commuter with basket was just a wonderful experience. Seeing a new city–especially a bike friendly one–by bicycle is incredible.
