“Devastated, she was removed from the course in tears. After she apologized to the other riders, including one who was badly injured, McGowan quickly signed up for every training opportunity she could. That included sessions at the Kissena Velodrome in Queens and a road racing clinic with the Century Road Club Association in Central Park, which she learned upon arrival was actually a race. “It was like five in the morning and there was a woodpecker, just going at it,” she laughs. In that race, McGowan weirdly found herself in the lead toward the end and decided to break away. “I was like, ‘Oh, nobody else wants this?’” But the finish was farther out than she had remembered, and she was caught a few blocks from the line. Still, her efforts earned her fifth place. She knew she had done just one thing wrong, but the podium was within reach. From that moment she was hooked” read more