Christie Tracy

Christie works in finance/data analysis for Environmental Resources Management (ERM), is happily married to her (incredibly patient and supportive!) husband of 19 years, Jamie, & they have recently adopted the most adorable pup on the planet: Scooby!

She races IRL for Panaracer/Factor p/b Bicycle X-Change Elite Gravel Team (Gravel & Road Disciplines), and Holland Racing (Ultra Discipline). Until this year, IRL Training and Racing, along with her career commitments, have monopolized her time and she had only used Zwift as a training tool in bad weather, or during recovery from injury. . but then the ‘Rona happened, and Christie found herself searching for a way to stay motivated to train, and to satisfy her need for competition. . enter Zwift Racing! She raced as a bit of a lone wolf for a while, but yearned for the camaraderie and teamwork aspect that she was missing, so when invited to join Saris +TPC (formerly Team Infinite), she jumped at the chance, and couldn’t be happier with that decision!

If there was one hashtag to describe Christie, it would be #AllIn. . . It’s the only way that she knows how to operate, and it’s both a blessing and a curse when it comes to training and racing. . . Going to attack with 10 miles remaining and solo in for the win? #AllIn is a FANTASTIC mentality to have! Going to endo over your handlebars and break multiple bones? #AllIn is maybe not such a great idea. . .

Christie has always been athletic, but didn’t discover cycling until her mid-30s. She’s played Soccer, Basketball, Volleyball, and pitched fast-pitch softball throughout middle and high school. She won bodybuilding and figure competitions in college (she was a disaster in those crazy heels!), and has coached CrossFit and Olympic Lifting Classes. The thing is though, she was always “just okay” at those sports, but never really “great”, so she continued to search for a sport that came naturally. . . until she discovered cycling accidentally in 2012 when a CrossFit friend dared her to enter a local Sprint Triathlon to “Show those crazy endurance athletes that a CrossFitter could win a Tri.” She borrowed a straight bar road bike that was 3 sizes too small from a friend, and raced her heart out in New Balance Tennis Shoes and hot pink compression calf sleeves. . .with zero training. . . She came nowhere even remotely close to winning, but fell in love with the feeling of freedom that she felt on the bike that day. She went to the bike shop the very next day, bought her first road bike, hired a coach the next week,entered the Cat 4 Women’s TX State Road Race Championship as her first USAC bike race a few months later,and never looked back. . . We told you: ALL IN!

Christie would tell you that she’s just “okay at bikes”, but in no means genetically gifted. . she doesn’t think she is spectacular at any one particular discipline on the bike, but has been told by friends that she can “suffer harder” than anyone they know, and she considers this to be her super power. That dark place in your head that you go to at the end of an FTP test when you don’t know if you can possibly hang on another 5 seconds? That’s her happy place, and she’s quite content there. Following her #AllIn tendencies, Christie tried valiantly to “go Pro” for a bit, but quickly discovered that US Pro Racing involved a LOT of Crits... and she very much prefers Road Races and Time Trials. She discovered that her strengths were much more suited to long/hard Road Races of attrition, and Time Trials where she could live in her happy place, so she shifted her focus to these disciplines. In 2017, she discovered Ultra Distance Time Trials . . . once again. . .wait for it.. . ALL IN!!

In late 2018, she discovered gravel racing, and do we even have to say it again?? ALL IN. Her Ultra Distance TT Engine was a great fit for gravel racing, and she soon found herself on the top of local gravel race podiums and chomping at the bit to take it to the next level. Her “dreams were realized” when she was picked up by Panaracer/Factor for the 2020 season. . .and then. . .The ‘Rona #whompwhomp.

Christie has found, however, that Zwift Racing has done wonders for her formerly lacking top-end, and feels that she is a much more well-rounded racer now than she was at the start of the year as a result. She’s very much looking forward to the return of IRL racing, but has definitely developed an affinity for virtual racing as well, so she’ll be working with her coach to develop a training/racing program with room for both in the future.

Since 2017, Christie has won multiple TX State, US Masters National, and World Championships in the Time Trial, Road Racing, and Gravel Disciplines, and also set multiple Ultra Distance TT Course Records, often beating even the fastest male competitors!

Unfortunately, it hasn’t been all champagne, flowers, and podiums though. Christie has had to deal with her fair share of setbacks as well. She has broken her collarbone requiring surgery 3 times. . . she’s broken multiple ribs, fractured vertebrae, collapsed a lung, taken a ride in a Life Flight Helicopter, fractured her iliac crest, and most recently, in January 2019, broken her femoral neck (hip), requiring emergency surgery and a LONG year of rehab/recovery/PT.

Christie’s favorite part about Zwift Racing so far is the relationships that she’s developed with her Saris + TPC Teammates, and the way that they have gelled so quickly as a fairly new eSports team. She loves nothing more than going into a race with a full roster of teammates and a carefully developed race plan, and going #AllIn together to execute the plan and earn results for the team!