Meet Tracey Jacobs | Massage Therapist/ Elite bike racer/ coach

We had the good fortune of connecting with Tracey Jacobs and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Tracey, how do you think about risk?
I approach risk with curiosity. Risk is inherent to growth, it is inevitable so, I know I will come up against it all the time. I choose to look at risk with a curiosity. I say to myself something like, “What would happen if I tried …..?” “What would happen if I did it this way?” Taking a risk is a step. It will not always be perfect but, being brave to take the step into the unknown, knowing it may be sloppy and rough doesn’t matter because then the next step comes and so on until the thing is learned and honed. Knowing that taking a risk is inherent to growth and expansion, though it is somewhat unknown and potentially filled with uncertainty, having the mindset that it doesn’t have to be perfect helps motivate and open up to the experience.  

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?

I race bikes. I’ve been racing for 20 years. Mostly I race road and gravel events on the national and international level.  I have raced as a professional, amature and masters athlete, currently hold a UCI and Cat 1 USA Cycling license.   I have done all kinds of cycling-track, cyclocross, road, gravel, mtn biking. This last year I won 4 USA National Championships in Time Trial, Road race and Criterium and Gravel and then I won UCI Worlds in Gravel in Italy. I have won many Colorado State Championships in several disciplines and 2 times USA National Champion in Road Racing.  Training and racing is my passion.  When I am not doing either of those, I have a personal coaching business with a handful of male and female cyclists that I train.  I run clinics on bike handling, group skills, race tactics and techniques, mindset and nutrition throughout the year and I direct an amature Women’s cycling team, Groove Subaru Excel Sports Race Team.  Aside from that I have a part time massage practice in Boulder Colorado and am a mom.

I didn’t start racing bikes until I was 34 years old. That is late! But, I had talent there I didn’t know I had. I was brought up in a serious ski family with my mother being an Olympic ski racer for Canada and World Cup winner.  Though I was brought up in a ski family, my passion was in dance.  I attended a conservatory style college out of high school and continued to pursue my career in dance until I was 37 years old.  When I was introduced to bike racing I placed 3rd in a road race as a young masters athlete.  That inspired me to continue in the sport and find out what I was made of.  I was intrigued by experiencing success based on what I was made of, not what I looked like(like in dance).  This began my journey as a bike racer to see what I was capable of and what I was made of on the inside. At the time that I got into cycling I was a mom and was working part time as a massage therapist. As my son grew up, I was able to train and race more.  Because of my life in dance, I really loved the lifestyle of training, rehearsing then performing which is a similar structure in competitive cycling.

I didn’t know anything about endurance sports and given my age and talent I worked with a personal cycling coach and data like power, Hr and structured training to get me up to speed as quickly as possible. I loved stage racing and jumped into the biggest, longest stage races in the country at the time (tour of the Gila, Cascade Cycling Classic, Sea Otter, Mt. Hood Cycling Classic for example). I was not on a team that raced the national calendar so mostly rode as an individual or on a composite team.
It was a steep learning curve. I had no intention of winning these races against the best and youngest in the country but I did go for my best and always raced to win. This taught me alot about racing at the pointy end. It was not easy. I had to mentally and physically deal with many obstacles. Some normal things like being a female endurance athlete including having a menstrual cycle, being a mom, having to work. Also, being a solo rider in a huge national peloton, trying to be in the mix to wina race takes a lot of guts.  I had to read the race, race smart, race well.  I made many mistakes but learned through racing how to race better.  I had to spend time practicing skills and techniques to be a better bike racer both in races and in training.
A few things I learned along the way was to never judge an athlete by their looks. Early on a team manager of mine told me never to judge a girl by her looks and it is so true. Doesn’t matter your body shape or your looks, you can have snot coming out of your nose and be breathing audibly heavy and you can win a race. Unlike dance which is very externally focused, cycling is all about how you handle the bike and what you are made of on the inside. My curiosity is always what CAN I do? What am I made of? I’m always curious about breaking my own ceiling and raising my own floor as an athlete. It’s become my motto now. Everything from preparation to starting and finishing a race, to post race, resting and doing it all over again. Everything is connected.
Also, winning is not about having the best power. If a race was based on power, we wouldn’t have to race. Racing is interactive. How does an athlete navigate the unknowns in the race and put their training and knowledge to the test and bring their best. Part of it is mindset, part fitness, part skill and technique.
What I’m getting into now is coaching and directing women in racing.
I teach clinics for women mostly on bike handling , technique and group skills and to all levels. I have worked with teams and clubs on gravel and road as well as individuals on the bike. This comes easy to me after spending alot of my life teaching ballet and contemporary dance as well as choreographing. I understand how teams have to work together to make the wins and how an individual has to work to be a good team player and a winner of their training and races.
I love the process both physically and mentally of being your best and this is what I teach my athletes.

I have a big passion to help women overcome the obstacles of what they can do and how far they can go no matter their age. I understand the importance of having a personal coach after having several coaches as a cyclist and as a dancer working with many teachers, mentors and choreographers and how that is a huge part of becoming your best, working with data and then simply the long game that you cannot skip which is racing your bike and finding out who you are as an athlete by practicing.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.

I live in Boulder now so I’d start there. Strolling on Pearl St, going into the classic shops like Into The Wind, Peppercorn, coffee at the Trident Bookseller, lunch at the Kitchen or Lindsey’s, a visit to Boulder Bookstore. If it is Winter, bundling up and strolling during the holidays is fun with the lights and then getting a hot beverage or libation at the hotel boulder ado when the tree is up.

Definitely getting on bikes and riding all the bike paths in Boulder, riding through the CU campus and from south to north, going along the foothills is fun. Stopping at any cool coffee shop along the way. also hopping on the creek path and riding up Chapman to the flagstaff amphitheater.

Definitely visiting Chautauqua. They have shows and the restaurant there and just simply hiking flagstaff is a must.

Taking a trip to Gold Hill and Brainard lake to see the trees and the rocky mountains-the flatirons. Hiking the anemone trail is another favorite.

If my friend is a skier, gotta ski my favs-Loveland, the local Eldora mountain, Vail during holidays is fun too.

Red rocks is always a great place too.
If my friend was a cyclist, we would hit many of these places on bike. There are routes that are a must do! The 5 canyons of Boulder including Flagstaff(my favorite training ground), the gravel roads(the Roubaix), Lookout mtn and red rocks by bike is super fun, Jamestown, lick skillet and gold hill to the peak to peak(epic ride day). Any of the big group rides that happen and include many pros both male and female. Always stopping at the hubs for coffee, snacks, bathroom breaks including Lyons, Nederland, gold hill store, Jamestown, niwot.
Visiting Colorado is all about the great outdoors.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?

Gosh, there’s many people who have helped shape my path, influencers, guides and mentors. Coaches, teachers, friends, peers, family but, the one person’s voice that often comes to mind when I’m up against tough decisions is Bessie Schoenberg, the great choreographer, dancer and teacher of the 20th century, one of the greats at the center of modern contemporary dance.  She was teaching The Choreographers Workshop at the famous Jacobs Pillow Dance Festival in the Summers. I was hired by her to be  one of 4 of the dancers that her choreographers would set work on.  I was hired back every summer until she passed.  I worked for her for 3 years.  We would sit and talk during daily breaks. She told me never to let anyone take me away from my dance, meaning, you should never give up what you love because someone else wants you to. And she said to be diverse and try all kinds of things with an open mind and curiosity because everything that we experience, informes our work, helps to shape who we are.  
For a young woman that was very profound. I was in my 20’s and there was alot of pressure to find a partner, have children. Women often have to give up what they want to be moms, wives. Bessie’s words became part of my compass, directing me to stay true to what was important to me, my heart, my passion.

Other: I’ve come to realize my life is centered around the physical.  Everything that I do and am is rooted in physical excellence, expression, action and healing the body.  When I am not training and racing, I work as a massage therapist.  I also coach male and female athletes in cycling, I love cooking and yoga and I love being in nature no matter the season.  An integral component to living is experiencing the world and each other through the body/mind.  My “why” in everything I do is rooted in having the fullest and best experience in body and mind everyday all the time.  The question I regularly ask myself is,” what CAN I do?  What am I capable of?”

Image Credits
Ryan Muncy, Phillip McInturff,