I was the youngest of three brothers by five years, so I spent most of my childhood playing alone, being Zorro or some other superhero, doing Lego, watching telly and riding my bike.
I grew up playing everything from rugby, football, baseball, volleyball, bike races and boxing. I tried martial arts, loved to ride horses and I'm the youngest of three brothers, so it was a fiercely competitive family.
I'm the youngest of four kids, with three crazy older brothers. Don't let this hair and face fool you - my brothers helped mold me into the feisty, tough woman I am today. I don't stoop down to anyone. I was raised playing football and being the punching bag for my brothers. I guess you could say that is the root of my aggression and athleticism.
I have two brothers and we basically spent our lives playing in the woods, falling in ponds, getting chased by wasps and riding donkeys that we shouldn't have been riding.
At Grudge, we just push each other. Whether it's sparring five rounds or rolling and doing drills, I do most of my cardio at practice. As far as running outside or riding a bike? That's not fighting, so I only do things that are going to help me in the Octagon.
I spent a couple of months just riding a bike doing my own training in the streets.
The answer is hard work. What are you doing on Christmas Eve? Are you riding your bike? January 1st - are you riding your bike?
I started mountain-bike riding two years ago, which is much better than riding a stationary bike in the gym. Mountain biking is a total body workout.
Growing up with three older brothers and being the youngest and the only girl, my mom always made me tough. She's taught me over the years how to be a strong, independent woman, how to carry yourself in a positive way and anything that my brothers can do, I can do.
I spent five years of my childhood in Port Elgin and came back to spend another five years of my young adulthood there as well, including the years in which I was first published.
It's something I find enjoyable. Whether it is a road bike or mountain bike or tandem bike. I enjoy riding a bike.
I have fond memories of my childhood. I spent five wonderful years on a popular TV show, but I didn't have a normal childhood. I was tutored for grades 4-11.
At one point, I worked up a list of five requirements for a superhero: superpowers, a costume, a code name, a mission, and a milieu. If the character had three out of the five, they were a superhero. But that's just my definition.
I don't ride a sport bike. If I'm riding a sport bike and trying to do tricks, and going 200 miles down the highway, that's probably pretty stupid. But when you're riding a Harley or a chopper, and you're riding with a group of people and you're not on the highway and you're cruising, you're relaxing.
I think that the superhero-as-metaphor involves a superhero being some sort of intellectual, emotional, or other such concept writ large. But I don't know that it's a necessary part of the appeal that the superhero be superior.
While it is a very hard and sometimes very cruel profession, my love for the bike remains as strong now as it was in the days when I first discovered it. I am convinced that long after I have stopped riding as a professional I will be riding my bicycle. I never want to abandon my bike. I see my grandfather, now in his seventies and riding around everywhere. To me that is beautiful. And the bike must always remain a part of my life.
I was born in Evanston, Illinois. I spent my elementary and part of my junior high school years in a D.C. suburb. And then I spent my high school years in Minnesota. And then I spent my college years in Colorado. And then I spent some time living in China. And then I spent three years in Vermont before moving down to Nashville.