career
highlight: winning the 2003 24 hours in the old pueblo
fave
race: durango- the fans are awesome! and so is the terrain!
fave
place to ride: montana, beartooth loop
fave
food: dark chocolate (Ritter Sport Dark with Hazelnuts!)
fave
drink: Mocha Valencia (that would be a latte with choco
and orange!)
fave
book: currently Skinny Bitch; The Lamb, by Christopher
Moore. Sophie's World by jostein Gaarder, 100 Years of Solitude
by Gabriel Garcia Marquez are some others. Ed Abbey and Dharma
Bums by Kerouac.
fave
music: No Doubt, Gorillaz, Dave Matthews, Bebel Gilberto,
Red Hot Chili Peppers and YoYo Ma, especially the Tango compilation.
Sarah Harmer, Paul Weller.
fave
movie: Amelie, with Audrey Tautou
first
comp: won the medal for fastest girl in kindergarten
most
admired mtber: leigh donovan, because she rocks on a bike,
and she is not afraid to be feminine!!! you rock, leigh!!
other
sports: motocross,
surfing, rock climbing, yoga (ashtanga preferred!).
my
current favorite web sites: Seventh
Generation, non-toxic living; do-not-zzz.com
(very cool! my fave), litkicks.com
(info on Am Lit, namely the Beats),
dailyzen.com (a good dose of zen+cool cards to send),
dalailama.com
(a great site about the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet... great
insights on living) netflix.com
(rent DVDs for a fixed price per month- you get 3 at a time,
keep them as long as you wish! never a late fee!!!!). For
enterprising women: Stellar
Connections
+++
Tonya's
Book Club
Me
Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris Careful if you read this book in public- Sedaris'
style and wit will have you laughing out loud. Especially
if you have ever listened to any of his live readings...
This is a book full of short reality-based stories told
in dynamic and ever surprising style. If you like roller
coasters, you'll love Sedaris!
My
favorite story is about the metro in Paris... how American
passengers mistake Sedaris for a French Villain... I
can't type. I'M cracking up! Must Read!
-tonya
Top
Nationals Finish
Cross
Country
Short
Track
2004
11th/Big
Bear
7th/Big
Bear
2002
2003
23rd/Vermont
?
2001
27th/Deer
Valley
16th/Mammoth
Tonya
Renee Bray, MBA
My
passion in women in cycling... to empower women
to do things they never thought possible, to help women
set and reach goals in life, and in cycling. In the
past 15 years of my life, I have been involved in the
Outdoor Industry. I began mountain biking around that
time, working in bike and mountaineering shops, riding
radical mountain trails in Montana. Shortly after starting
my racing career, I began to teach women. I didn't want
to see women struggle and give up on mountain biking.
I wanted to see women having fun and getting dirty-
and loving it! I am here today to continue this mission-
to get more women on bikes. To let every woman know,
it's ok to be tough, and a woman... soft skin, hardcore!
I offer coaching and private lessons through CycleTherapy...
a program developed to help bring mind+body+soul together
through cycling~ holistic cycling!
Tonya
is currently sponsored by Ridley
Bikes and Sinclair Imports for Cyclocross. She
is riding the uber-awesome SuperCross! "I have
two races under my belt with the SuperCross, and I
can say that it is the perfect women's cyclocross
bike! It's super light, a great fit, and just floats
over the grass. And when it's time to run-up or hop
over the barriers... the light weight and small frame
are easy to make the jump even with my little legs!"
says Tonya of her new SuperCross.
"i
love riding mountain bikes, i love racing, but i love
teaching just as much." tonya has been producing
mountain bike clinics, specifically for women, for 6years.
The best part about the clinics? "Seeing a group
of 10 women riding past bunny-hopping, all for the first
time!"
In
2000, tonya earned her Masters in Business Administration
from Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio, along with her
professional mountain bike license. tonya, who enjoys dabbling
in marketing and entrepreneurship, decided to take the road
less traveled and opted not to go into the corporate world
of desk jockeying, but opted for the lifestyle of fitness,
health and outdoors.
"Since
i became a pro mountain biker, my entire lifestyle has changed.
One of the most important things that i have learned is how
to eat sustainably." This means buying in bulk whenever
possible to cut down on waste and save money, buying organic
and preservative/additive free food. Being in tune with the
earth is important, as someone who wishes to keep trails open
to mountain bikes. "It kind of goes along with the adage,
'live simply so others may simply live.' I try to be conscious
of recycling and overconsumption on a daily basis."
tonya
feels that the ones who are privileged are the ones who should
be a sustainable living a business example to the rest of
the world. "it seems that greed keeps people from living
sustainably. i think all of our social and economic problems
stem from greed. but i can't say i am fully exempt."
But being a professional mountain biker lends itself to sustainability.
"We live day to day, dollar to dollar, and those dollars
have to feed a hungry bunch of mountain bikers!"
most
importantly, though, tonya sees her mission in life as reaching
out to women of all ages to see them empowered to reach all
of their life goals. "you CAN do it. dream it, do it.
this idea was put into my head by my parents. they never let
me feel like i couldn't do something. in fact, i was encouraged
to do anything i wanted. i was fortunate to have more opportunities
than most growing up. some of the activities i participated
in include ballet, flute, oboe, horse back riding- 3-day eventing,
and more. my parents led me to believe i could do anything.
one of those things they knew i could do was earn an MBA.
however disappointed they were when i opted to race bikes
instead of work in the corporate world, i think they are really
proud of my accomplishments, and enjoy telling people their
daughter is a pro mountain biker."
visit
our women's motocross team site- mxchick.com! thanks to my
motocross sponsors:
