Please tell us about yourself!
I’m from a small city in the USA – Radford, VA very close to pretty much where I grew up. I am married to Scottie Weiss (@THESWPLACE) current Master RR World Champion & Master TT World Champion. We met at the age of 12 while speed skating on the same team at a local rink near here. We traveled together with our families at a young age, competing and racing at speed meets around the southeast once a month. We were at that point Best Friends then it just went from there! Now we have been married 16 years and had our son Noah in 2009. What a blessing he has been for us both. We all absolutely love riding our bikes together, on and off Zwift. Noah was riding his bike at 2 years old! I work full-time at a very busy Pediatric office as the Front Office Manager.
We have a son named Noah too! He’s almost 11 and loves to ride as well. Please tell us why you Zwift and what got you started.
I love Zwift because it is convenient as a mother working full time trying to get my training in. And being married to a retired Pro racer, he still races at that level so with our schedules Zwift has been amazing for us both. I started in 2014 as a beta tester, Scottie had been asked to test it out so I was lucky enough to do so also.
What does your Zwift set up look like?
I have my trainer set up in our spare living area upstairs in our house. I use a Kickr for my trainer. We have a 30inch TV screen connected to our PC. It is an awesome set up. When you indoor train most of the time you have to be comfortable.
Yes! Agreed! How often and where do you prefer to ride on Zwift?
I ride Zwift 6 days a week now. I started my training in 2013 only a few days a week 30 mins at a time. Then as a Christmas gift in 2013 Scottie arranged and surprised me with a membership to “CIS” Training System! I am now up to nearly 200 miles a week, sometimes if I am lucky I get more!
I ride everywhere on Zwift… I love all the courses! It depends on my training for the day as my training is really specific to the work I need to do that day or week. Workout mode is great, I build workouts based on my training plan and it simplifies everything so I can concentrate on the ride.
I also do some Zwift group rides. My Coach leads the Monday “BTW” and the Wednesday CIS group ride so I do those every week. Soon I will be at the end of this training block so I may join the Zwift Academy once again this year. Those group rides and workouts are amazing.
What’s your must-have piece of equipment for riding?
Comfortable cycling bibs/shorts! If those are not good… oh goodness it’s going to be a long, rough day! I’m lucky that Scottie is a partner at Starlight Apparel! They have actually implemented some ideas and feedback I’ve given to help continue the success they are having across the full line of items! Starlight Bibs are my very favorite!
I’m going to have to check those out! Thanks for the tip! How has Zwifting changed your IRL rides?
Zwift has helped me get so much stronger for my IRL rides, it is absolutely amazing! I have done 90-95% of my training on Zwift due to a busy lifestyle!
What is some advice or info you wish you knew sooner in your cycling journey?
I wish I could have started cycling sooner because I had no idea that I had the passion and love for it as I do today!
You raced in the first CVR World Cup in Las Vegas and are slated to race in the CVR World Cup in London on June 6th. Have you changed your training since the Vegas race at all to prepare for the London race?
You could say I’ve basically been training for the London race since that first race! I definitely want to place higher than 6th this time.
Thanks for sharing a bit of your story, Catrina! I look forward to seeing you race the CVR World Cup in London on June 6th! Ride on!
To watch Catrina attempt to place higher than 6th in the CVR World Cup London, stream it here: http://worldcup.cycligentrankings.com/stream/
Starting time is 17:50 UK time on June 6th. You’ll see her husband Scottie Weiss racing as well at 20:10 UK time!