Coach Profile

About Elaine

Coach Elaine Bothe loves dirt, rocks, mud, corners and going fast -- uphill and down. As a serious racer and passionate teacher in mountain biking, cyclocross and road, her enthusiasm and skills-teaching experience build confidence in her clients, helping them establish and meet goals for training, fitness or racing.

Elaine mentors at local races and clinics as well as coaches a popular beginning women’s MTB skills clinic with a local Portland short track series that has produced strong Cat 1 and 2 racers of all ages who have fun and win races. Past mentor-ees include National Championship medalists in MTB XC and Single Speed XC, regional endurance MTB winners, and OBRA State Champions, as well as people who have more fun in their regular rides because they can train efficiently, choose lines, descend, corner, brake and climb faster and with confidence.

Elaine bolstered her natural teaching instincts with an International Mountain Bike Instructor Certification. Building fitness and strength alongside technical confidence, step by step, is Elaine’s approach for both racers and people who just want to enjoy the ride. She aims to instill basics such as balance, body position and speed control as second nature in her clients. Aspects such as logs, muddy traverses, rock drops, cyclocross barriers, punchy hills, high speed corners or slow speed switchbacks become fun playgrounds rather than scary obstacles.

Elaine’s experience working full time alongside her own training and racing gives her insight into helping others navigate their own busy lives and trying to make time for exercise. Her attention to detail and race experience translates to helping her clients make informed decisions about race preparations and strategy. And as a reviewer of cyclocross and mountain bicycles and gear, Elaine’s mechanical and technical knowledge helps educate her clients about equipment decisions and set up.

Elaine has been riding for decades, highlighting her national racing career with an age-group medal in the 2011 US National MTB Cross Country Championships and top-10 Category 1 age-group finishes at Sea Otter XC and the US National Super D Championships.

Regional race efforts resulted in multiple podiums in open Pro/Cat1 Portland MTB XC Short Track Series and two season overall podiums, wins in the same series in age group competition and Oregon State Championship open Category 1 wins and podiums in XC and Short Track. Elaine was the OBRA Best All Around Masters 40-44 Woman in 2009. Road and cyclocross accomplishments include multiple masters women race wins and podiums. Endurance activities include the Seattle to Portland Ride in one day and the Test of Endurance 50 MTB XC race.

Elaine also enjoys hiking, cross country skiing and motorsports. Elaine gardens and cooks, always finding new and tasty ways of fueling her race-driven appetite. She also enjoys art, architecture and writing. She is a regular contributor of several online magazines, including CrossBikeReview.com and is currently ghost writing a book on interior design. She shares her home with her husband Mark, two cats and 19 bicycles.

Testimonials

"Elaine has a natural teaching ability that makes learning a positive experience. She's very methodical in her thinking even when it pertains to a activity that is physically demanding. I find that when she's explaining something, whether it be how to corner on gravel downhill or finding the best line to follow, that something that seemed obscure to me now seems elementary. She will break things down into steps rather than try to explain everything at once and overwhelm me. ... Elaine is also one of those people who makes you feel comfortable asking any kind of question no matter how simple the answer may seem to someone with more experience. To me, that's what makes the learning process enjoyable. A person can have a lot of knowledge to share but if they don't make you feel comfortable enough to ask the "simple" questions then what's the point." ~Trish