Remembering Amy Dombroski

The cycling world was shocked today with the sad news that American cyclist Amy Dombroski was killed on the roads of Belgium during a training session. 

Amy used to be a regular on the cyclocross circuit as it made its annual swing through the Boulder area and as a transplanted Boulder resident, she could be seen on the local roads and trails in the summer.  Two years ago, in an all-out effort to improve, she passed up the comforts of the USA cyclocross racing season and moved to Belgium for half the year to fully immerse herself in the intense cross culture there and to race against the best in the world every weekend. Sadly, she had just returned to Europe this past weekend to start her third winter on this pursuit.  

Amy was always a hit with spectators and was known for her big smile.  I'll always remember her for her grit and determination while racing.  As a smaller rider than most of her competition, she had to work harder but that never seemed to be an obstacle to her passion for riding and racing bikes, all year round.  On a Longmont connection, she gave several cyclocross clinics here to a local cycling club at Rogers Grove (including some instruction for kids) and raced to 5th place in the muddy 2009 Blue Sky Cup over at the Xilinx campus.

A few pictures that I took from when Amy Dombroski used to race here.

Boulder Cup 2008 at the Boulder Reservoir, Amy in the red:

2009 Blue Sky Cup, Longmont:

Boulder Cup 2009, Boulder Reservoir: