Amanda Cordell

chick has skills!

Amanda moved from a small town Pennsylvania to SLC about 6 years ago in the pursuit of a more adventure driven lifestyle. She skied a bunch of pow and pained through a few summers before she decided to jump on a bike to pass the time until winter. Now she is currently working on building a career as an athlete in the bike industry. Amanda races downhill and enduro as a first year pro and holds the title of Cat 1 National Champion in Downhill for 2013. She has big plans to get more females involved in riding and pushing the possibilities of what women can do on a bike. She leads a community named Ladyshred SLC, which facilitates communication about rides, clinics, and events that are targeted toward women in the Salt Lake area. She will also be teaching clinics at Wasatch Indoor Bike Park starting in October!

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Linea

Q&A

1.) You went from skiing to biking. How was that transition?

It was a really smooth transition since both sports are pretty similar in most aspects. Hucking on my bike is actually a bit easier for me since you don’t have that added element of decreased depth perception like you do in skiing. With the snow it’s hard to tell the distance from take-off to landing, where with dirt it’s pretty clear where you need to go and how long it’s going to take to get there. At the end of the day it’s all about having fun with friends and both are pretty conducive to that end goal.

2.) How do you get into the "zone" before a race?

This is one of my biggest areas for improvement. Anyone who has ever competed in anything knows that it’s completely different than just being out with your friends and doing what you love. It’s human nature to overthink things and when in a competitive environment, that’s really the last thing you want to be doing. I usually try to separate myself from people and listen to music. I try to approach my race run as just another practice run to turn some of the pressure off. I also read a lot of mind training books. My favorite is “The Inner Athlete” by Dan Millman. Having a race routine is also very important.

3.) Biggest thing you're attracted about biking?

It’s hard to narrow it down to one thing. A lot of people think that I am an adrenaline junkie but that’s not it at all. Throughout my athletic career I’ve learned that success at any given thing is completely relative. For a beginning mountain biker, success may be riding an entire trail without falling but for a more advanced rider, it could be perfecting a new trick. I guess what it comes down to is that I am extremely drawn to the feeling of progression on my bike and in life in general.