Name: Katherine Santos
Age: 20 years’ old
College: Marian University
Major: Marketing & Entrepreneurship
Discipline: Cyclocross
My name is Katherine, but everyone in the cycling community calls me KK. I having been racing bikes for just over 6 years now. This is the first opportunity I have had to race for a professional-level cyclocross team. I am going to have to say this is the coolest thing I have ever done! The season started out with Jingle Cross and Cross Vegas. I wasn’t really sure what to expect going into Jingle, but I was excited to finally be repping for the new team. Both races seemed to go well, and I learned a lot throughout the entire weekend. Both races were hot, dark, dusty, and incredible. I was called names like Amy, Becca, and Erica during each one of these races… all I could do was smile. To be compared to the greats is an absolute honor. The foundation has given me a new love for racing. I race my heart out now for Amy, and for the legacy she left behind. I get to inspire, teach, and influence juniors especially young female bike racers in a new way now. In combination, I am balancing school and racing a full collegiate mountain bike schedule. It is a bit tricky, but I think I have it pretty well figured out now. I started racing bikes because I was inspired to do something great and be something great by people like Georgia Gould, Amy Dombroski, and Katie Compton. I wanted to be a bike racer that made a difference in the community and was known for something more than just the results similar to how those women. I am thankful the foundation has allowed me the opportunity to follow these dreams. I am thankful to the sponsors that make it all possible as well. Every result, every smile, every victory I have this year, is for Amy.
