The Asylum welcomes Sonya Looney!

Sonya Looney

Sonya Looney is the best thing to happen to professional mountain biking. It’s true. She is to it what Natalie Gulbis is to golf. Kari Traa to skiing. Gretchen Bleiler to snowboarding. Danica Patrick to racing. I can go on. Heather Mitts or Milene Domingues to soccer. Each of these women has helped re-define their sport. Each has succeeded tremendously. They are gifted, dedicated athletes. They also share another quality…they’re hot. They make us notice them, and in turn, what they’re doing. Some of us fall in love with their sport, initially, because we first became enamored with them.

The idea of taking interest in sport because of the opposite sex is not a new concept. My mom thought football was dull, until she noticed the tight ends. (Lucky thing for my dad; it allowed him to watch football every Sunday.) Sonya had several influences in her life that led her to biking. Had one of them not been a handsome pro-mountain biker, we might well be talking about Sonya’s backhand rather than her insane ability to outmaneuver death cookies and babyheads.*

Sonya swung a tennis raquet in high school. She loved tennis, and Pete Sampras. Like any number one ranked athelete/heartthrob, Pete had posters. Sonya had them on her wall. She recorded his matches and watched them, over and over again. During those viewings something happened. Sampras’ greatness rooted itself into Sonya’s psyche. When the conditions were right, it grew.

Pete Sampras is quoted as having said, “I let my racket do the talking. That’s what I am all about, really. I just go out and win tennis matches.” Sonya Looney doesn’t broadcast her success. I searched the web for traces of her boasting her accomplishments. Spoiler alert, it’s not out there. She lets her bike do the talking. The results do get posted though, and they speak volumes. Check out this tidbit: In all endurance competitions Sonya competed in in 2008, she managed to land a place on the podium. Want some more? In 2007 she placed 5th overall in the Mountain States Cup…podium. Same year she had several other top 5 podium spots. Podium, podium, podium. In 2006 Sonya was a 24 hour team national champion. Top of the podium!

It hasn’t been champagne and flower bouquets from the start. Sonya’s first competition was at Sandia Peak in New Mexico, the Watermelon Classic. In her own words she recalls, “I rode a 38lb, $300 full-suspension bike that barely worked. It wouldn’t shift and I walked a lot. I signed up for the sport class initially because I wanted to ride the longer distance, but it took me so long that by the time I finished, it was just myself and the racer promoter left at the venue! Ironically, I was the only woman who wanted to race the sport class (everyone else was beginner or pro/expert), so I ended up winning the state championship by default.”

Sonya’s frustration from the Watermelon Classic didn’t deter her from getting back in the saddle. It spurred her to buy a new bike and to give it another go. The next weekend she entered the King of the Mountain Hill Climb. The experience was much better, and after that she was hooked.

Today, Sonya is focused on endurance events, mostly 50-100 mile distance races. She has her eye on  Marathon World Championships and some international mountain bike stage races. She used to make goals to win specific races, now she only plans to have fun and to ride her best. “Usually when I do that (and provided I’m not having one of those “off” days), the results will happen.”

Sonya wants to help others fall in love with the sport of mountain biking. She wants us to appreciate the sport that has contributed to shaping her as a person. That shouldn’t be too hard to do, with a Sampras’esque poster or two.

To read about Sonya’s adventures on and off the bike, please visit her personal blog at http://www.sonyalooney.missingsaddle.com/09-results/

*Note: Death cookies and babyheads are rocks…some bigger than others.

Sonya’s 2009 results

2009 Rocky Mountain Ultra Endurance Series Overall: 2nd

24 Hours of Old Pueblo (co-ed team) -  1st  – Feb 09

Ouachita Challenge60miler – 1st – Apr 09

Sea Otter Classic – XC[19mi]  31st;  ST[20 min] 23rd – Apr 09

Whiskey 50 miler – 3rd – Apr 09

Front Range 50 miler – 2nd (overall) – May 09

Gunnison Growler 64 miler – 3rd (overall) – May 09

Teva Mountain Games[16.8 mi] – 18th – June 09

Winter Park Hill Climb[5.2mi] – 2nd – June 09

Marathon Nationals/Firecracker 50 – 12th – July 09

Breckenridge 100 - 2nd – July 09

Laramie Enduro 72 miler – 11th – Aug 09

Pierre’s Hole 100 miler – 1st – Aug 09

Park City Point2Point 75 miler – 4th – Sept 09

24 Hours of Moab/24 Hour National Championships – 3rd – Mixed Duo with Yuki Saito – Oct 09

Posted by Sean