Name: Joanne Grogan
Hometown: Hinesburg, VT, USA
How did you get into cycling? I have always ridden a bicycle out of function (living rurally, uni/work commuting, fastest mode of transport). I moved to the USA from Ireland at age 23 and functional bike riding was ‘more difficult’ (aka got a car) so I started recreational mountain biking which morphed into riding downhill/park riding. I got into racing probably the total opposite to most by picking up cyclocross at the suggestion of a friend. Those first cyclocross races led to racing cyclocross, mountain and road bikes and led me to a very successful few years of racing, training and traveling to race at the professional/elite level. I picked up riding indoors as part of my training in the winter months as my racing at the elite level demanded focused pre-season training.
How many years have you been racing on Zwift? I joined Zwift in 2016 primarily out of curiosity about how the gamification of riding could help break the mundaneness of riding indoors. Well, it worked lol. I quickly was doing meetups with IRL teammates and joining races as motivation for hard training efforts (think 20-minute threshold work with 10 laps of Crit City). It was not until 2022 that I picked up ZRL racing.
Are you part of a Virtual team? Yes, I joined Coalition in 2022 after a message via Zwift Companion app from a then Coalition team captain (looking at you Hollie).
What do you love most about racing? I love the mental challenge of racing: how you show up, goals, ability to transform in the race, reading tactics, acting on strategy. The roulette of how racing can make you perform, sometimes way above your expectation and sometimes below is what keeps me coming back for more. It can create a lot of internal retrospection that helps as a tool in my daily life and vice-versa.Â
What is your favourite style of race (e.g. points, scratch, iTT, TTT, Chase, duathlon)? I am most definitely a points racer/hunter. Nothing better than making your eyes cross with a good sprint then doing it all over again 3 minutes later.
What is your favourite Zwift women’s race series? ZRL is very close to my heart as it brings so many women together. I’ve very much enjoyed the stage race format such as the Tour de Boudicca. Racing back-to-back days brings me back to my IRL racing days where your performance is not just individual or race-based but more so on how you prepare, recover, recon, etc so you can perform at your best over the stages and for your team.
What is your most memorable racing experience, inside or outside or BOTH? Oh gosh, there is A LOT to choose from.
Outside: stage 2 of a 4-day road stage race. I was coming back from injury and was racing as a team floater/junior mentor aka no goals. As we approached the first QOM of the stage, I drifted back in the pack to check on one of our younger riders and ensure she positioned herself to not get dropped once the surge started for the line. As the surge started I surfed wheels and before I knew it I was in contention for the QOM points…. This was the day I 110% experienced the power of pack positioning and draft. It was eye-opening and let’s just say, I never looked back.
Inside: same, same ha, but really I’ve had so many memorable races with my Coalition ZRL teamies, we build each other up and commend each other on achievements, whether podiums or PBs. It is a really great environment for harnessing the power of positive vibes.
But really, the most memorable experiences actually come from pre and post racing: crazy travel adventures and mishaps; friendly jenga sessions trying to fit all the bikes in the car; missing highway exits to races because you were chatting so intensely with your teamies; team dinners; working the pits for a teamie in the muddiest cyclocross race ever; cleaning up after the muddiest of cyclocross races; borrowing team kit because you left your entire kit bag behind you. I can go on.
What is your favourite food to eat post race? I’m not one for having an appetite post race so I’m a protein shake post-effort gal and then go for the classic tea and a sandwich, yes rather boring.
What advice would you give to a woman entering her first Zwift race? Show up with an open mind and come with a plan A, B and C in preparation for how things pan out. Ultimate goal is to finish and come away feeling good, so setting yourself up for that is a good starting point.
Any upcoming race you are looking forward to? Nothing huge on the calendar this year but I’ll be back at it for cyclocross in the fall months and in the meantime I will enjoy a bunch of community gravel events, some local glory racing and group rides.
Where can people follow your racing adventures? I’m all about the Strava for IRL adventures, and always lots of photos, gotta keep the fan club happy.
