Some people think turning 50 means settling down. Don’t exert yourself too much. Try to hurt yourself, y’know.
Yeah, that’s not Carey Lowrey’s way. An Athens, TN veterinarian by day, she’s quick to give a fluffy pet some care, get out of the white coat, and throw on her gear and smash out several hours on the local trails.
A former 5k and 10k runner, Lowrey discovered bikes somewhat by accident, when back issues forced her to take up a low-impact aerobic sport to recover.
“I did my first cross-country mountain bike race in 1999, and never looked back,” she says. That love for XC action led her to explore her ability to ride not just fast, but far, diving headlong into the 6, 12 and 24-hour mountain bike scene.
At age 53, she’s had to dial it back…. if 50-mile races can be considered ‘dialing it back.’
For Lowrey, podium appearances are standard operating procedure for her in her age group. At the same time, she’s all too familiar with riding past women of all ages at any race, including many half her age. She’s also fallen in love with the gravel racing scene, again slaying gals of all ages with her incredible fitness and technical acumen.
“I still love to toe the line with all women, no matter the age,” she says, adding, “My power numbers have slowly declined, but what I lack in that I make up for in experience and mental fortitude.”
Lowrey says her best competition is herself. “I’ve always been competitive in all aspects of my life, and just like the challenge of finding how hard I can push this body. I just love smashing PR’s and finding new limits."
It’s the reason she often finds herself looking to race endurance mountain bike events on a singlespeed. Who wants the ease of gears, when you can just lock into one, and literally run what ya brung? It’s one of the purest ways to ride a mountain bike—and one of the hardest. And it’s the reason she recently bought a new Litespeed Pinhoti III.
As she begins to build up her new Pinhoti III, the choice of a Litespeed was an easy one. She had a Litespeed road bike in 2005 that she loved, but that wasn’t the only reason.
“This might sound corny, but the name Pinhoti, we have a race here in Dalton, the Snake Creek Gap Time Trials, which runs along the Pinhoti Trail. I cut my teeth doing the time trials in 2005, and to date, only one gentleman and I are the only ones to have raced it every year since. One of my fastest times was on a singlespeed, so in building up a new one, it made sense. Plus, the bike has those awesome turkey foot trail signs on them.”
And the new bike brings a new level of performance that her old bikes hadn’t delivered. “I’m really excited about riding a modern geometry, with a slacker geometry and a 120mm fork and tire clearance, I’m excited about the capability this bike is gonna have, especially prepping for a 100-mile race in Michigan in September, then Marathon Nationals in September."
100 miles? Remember what we said about her dialing it back after age 50? Yeah, forget we ever said anything.