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Written by Cody Newcome
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The days of Team Ultimate were filled with memories of training rides together, races around the United States, and fun times together as teammates and friends. Team Ultimate started in 1993 when Marilyn Wells, Kim Morrow, Brenda Brashears and Dorrie Bowley all began racing together as a team sponsored by Ultimate Support (a company out of Fort Collins, CO). It was in 1995 that I was invited to race with them as their newest and youngest rider. It was an honor and quite a unique experience to train and race with these talented and successful women.
My first memorable experience on the team was in the Spring of 1995 when I went out to California for a month to race at Redlands, Visalia, Merced and then to train in Santa Barbara for a week. This was the first time I had raced with the Senior women and was overwhelmed and awestruck to be riding next to professional racers. Later that Spring I had the privilege of going to the East Coast with Marilyn, Brenda, and Kim to race in the Tour DuPont. It was during one of these criteriums that Brenda was leading into the final lap and edging her way up through the pack to make position for the final sprint. As she went into the second to last corner she clipped the curb and ended up flying threw the air and into a parking meter. Brenda was taken to the emergency room and stayed in the Richmond hospital for days as she recovered from breaking her femur in half and puncturing a lung. It took the rest of the year for Brenda to slowly recuperate from her crash and that meant that we were left to face my first PowerBar Women’s Challenge without her.
PowerBar, the infamous women’s stage race in Idaho, was an experience for me like none other. At 19 years of age and entering my first major stage race I was paralyzed by the fear of the unknown, and at the same time, energized by the sights and excitement around me. It was during this race that I was in awe to everyday be riding next to racers like, Dede Demet and Allison Dunlap. Throughout the race Kim and Dorrie held their own while I hung on by the skin of my teeth during every stage. It was half way through the entire stage race that I encountered a mechanical problem that ended all of my suffering and exhaustion. On a cold and rainy stage throughout the mountains of Idaho we were climbing up one of the beginning hills of the race course when I stood up to climb and my crank snapped in half. Miraculously, avoiding crashing I was able to stop and flag down the mechanical support to help me. Obviously, the only thing they could do was to give me an entirely new bike. The problem is that the only bike they had was too small and had baskets on the pedals instead of clipless pedals. Needless to say, the pack of riders was miles up the road by this point and I was left to chase them by myself, through the rain for the next 55 miles. I made it to the finish but not within the time that was needed in order to stay in the race, and I was disqualified and sent home early. My young ego was shattered and although I was a bit relieved to be rescued from the torture, I was disappointed not to be able to finish my first Women’s Challenge with my teammates.
The next season, Emily Robbins, joined Team Ultimate and it was in 1996 that we raced together again in the early season California races and then later in the spring on the east
coast. One of our highlights as a team was racing together (Kim, Emily and Cody) at the Olympic Trials Series. Again for me, I was just in awe that I was there racing amongst Team Saturn and all the big name professional women. Race results were not of the highest concern for me as I reveled in the experience. Then in the summer of 1996 Emily and I again attempted the Women’s Challenge, which was by then called the Hewlett Packard Women’s Challenge. Thankfully, we were joined by women from Russia and Holland which in the end allowed us to enjoy more success then we would have otherwise. It was these races that looking back stand out to me as the most memorable in my time racing on Team Ultimate.
As a team we met with varying success. Each of the members certainly were talented racers and maintained respectable resumes. Between all the members we enjoyed many wins, World Championships, national team membership, Tour de France racing, and lots and lots of memories. Team Ultimate fizzled out in 1997 and all of the members went their own way. As far as I know, none of the women continue to race, although I’m sure we all continue to ride for fun. I think most of us have moved on with our lives and those days are only a distant memory. Yet, the love we have for bicycling and each other will remain forever. We are grateful for Ultimate Support for making these years possible for us and for God’s faithfulness during this time in our lives.
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