Kacey is one of the most iconic female riders. She’s the girl that surprised everybody, the girl that won the first Red Hook Crit ever; it was the birthday party of her friend’s brother Hannah (David Trimble).

We take the chance to talk with her before Milano… the last chapter of the RHC Series 2015.

A little bit of Kacey Manderfield Lloyd

I’m from Michigan. I’ve always been athletic and spend most of my younger years playing soccer year round. When I was 18 I started riding bikes and that quickly turned into racing, which lead to a scholarship in North Carolina and my move to Pennsylvania to be near the T-Town velodrome. I loved PA so much I stayed so I can take advantage of the riding culture and inexpensive fresh farm food! I enjoyed my years as a serious cyclist and traveled around the world, seeing many amazing places and meeting even more great people. Now I ride for fun and fill most of my time building the business my husband and I started, Long Tail Creative.

Cycling at 360º

I love to pedal a bike and admittedly I like to win. Like many people I loved riding as a kid and then someone got away from it a bit as I grew older. Lucky for me I stumbled back into it when I was finishing high school and it created a lot of opportunity for me. I have a passion and a need for speed in racing — I wouldn’t say I’m a sore loser, but I sure do like to win and I’m ridiculously competitive by nature. Outside of racing I love the therapy of riding and the function of it. I’m always looking for a more efficient way — how to fit the most dishes in the dishwasher, how to organize a space, smarter/faster workflow processes — and riding is an enjoyable efficiency in many ways. I also have a passion for the people of cycling. I have meet so many amazing people through cycling, including my husband, and I think they are probably the most valuable thing cycling has brought me.

Kacey outside cycling

I’m in the middle of a full house renovation, and I love it! Well, to be honest I would love it more if I had a bit more money to spend. Regardless, I love getting to design something the way I want it and how it will be most efficient for my lifestyle. I also enjoy the process of working with my hands and watching something become a reality. At some point I’d love to get ahold of some old properties to manage renovations on — restoring their charming characters while bringing modern efficiencies and style in.

RHC Series

We go way back! I ended up at the first Red Hook Crit by accident when my friend Hannah Trimble, David Trimble’s sister, needed a ride to NYC from the college we attended together in NC. I agreed to drive with Hannah to NYC and the next thing you know I was packing a track bike and pretty nervous about riding on the streets in the city. I fell in love with the race style and how different it was from anything else I’d ever done on a bike. I’m honored to have been able to race various RHC’s over the years and I’m having a lot of fun also working the event now.

RHC Brooklyn Nº1 vs. RHC Barcelona Nº3

My first victory was special and unexpected. Of all the races I’ve ever won (National Championships included) the first RHC win is still one of my all time favorites simply because I was terrified, way outside of my comfort zone and ready to quite multiple times — yet, I somehow held it together and managed to stay in the race and strategize a sprint.

My Barcelona win was special in a different way. I’m now familiar with the format and comfortable with it in general, unlike my first year in Brooklyn. I’ve also had a new challenge this year with both racing and working the events. A lot of time and detail work goes into everything behind the scenes at a Red Hook Crit and that means long hours and not much time to ride/relax/recover. In general I’m not as well trained as I used to be and I rely heavily on experience and ‘old miles’, which means I have to gauge my efforts wisely and build a strategy during the race based upon how I feel and what I think I can realistically do. To pull it all off for a win was exciting, especially with the Rockstar Games crew (my sponsors) and my mom there to watch and cheer!

Women’s RHC

It’s growing and we hope to continue seeing more women join in. All the first time riders I’ve spoken with have been very excited and enjoyed the event. I’d love to see more sponsors step into the women’s side of things and help the ladies make it to the entire series.

Any tips for women that want to join thin kind of races?

Give it a try! The atmosphere is unbeatable and it’s suitable for various ability levels, whether your goal is to win, finish top 10 or even just get on the start line. It’s like anything else, you have to start somewhere and from there you can create new goals and work toward them. To get ready ahead of time I would recommend spending some time on a fixed gear with no breaks. If you’re a track rider, take the track bike on the road a few times and practice back pedaling a bit (those muscles are different than the ones you use on the track!). If you’re a city fixed gear rider who usually rides with a break, try using the break a little less to prepare for a Red Hook Crit style race. If you have local fixed gear crits available in your area, go try them out as practice and training before the Red Hook Crit.

Any motto…

“Find your passion. Take chances.“

I believe in doing things you love and you have passion for — your work and efforts are always better when you have passion behind them. Taking chances is part of the game. If you always play it safe you’ll never realize your full potential in anything.

Thanks to…

Hannah Trimble for her spunky friendship that lead me to NYC for the first RHC.

David Trimble for starting and continuing all this craziness.

My parents for always supporting a wild child.

My husband, Gabe, for putting up with me and embracing the adventure. (He also works the RHC series and is the announcer for the event).

The Rockstar Games team for sponsoring me as an athlete and for all the work they also put into the event — it’s pleasure working with them as an athlete and as event staff.