{"id":178772,"date":"2020-07-29T10:21:39","date_gmt":"2020-07-29T10:21:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/?p=178772"},"modified":"2020-07-29T10:21:39","modified_gmt":"2020-07-29T10:21:39","slug":"former-pro-explains-how-to-ride-a-pump-track-with-three-kids-around","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2020\/07\/29\/former-pro-explains-how-to-ride-a-pump-track-with-three-kids-around\/","title":{"rendered":"Former Pro Explains How to Ride a Pump Track with Three Kids Around"},"content":{"rendered":"

For someone, a child being born into the family means the end of cycling. That is not a case of Katarina Tothova, though. An ex-professional downhill cyclist for the national team and a mother of three, she takes her kids to pump tracks regularly. Simon, the youngest, has only six months and sleeps in a portable car seat right next to the track so his mother is near to cuddle and comfort him if any need wakes him up. Meanwhile, the two other kids, Zbysek (4) and Katarina (2), are enjoying their bikes, learning to keep balance<\/a> and how to rush over the rolls.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Born in Slovakia, Katarina moved to the Czech Republic when she was just four as her father used to serve in the former Czechoslovak military and was transferred to another unit with his entire family. In her early years, Katarina, who’s now 33, fell in love with mountain biking. She learned the first bike-handling skills on a BMX track during her premiere ride on a full-suspension bike, which she experienced on the day of her very first downhill (DH) race back in 2004. \u201cIt rained the night before and water running down the slopes changed the track to a muddy slide. I was more stumbling than riding,\u201d Katarina recollects.<\/p>\n

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Katarina with her kids at the track<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Only three years later, she joined the Czech national DH team and headed to the Swiss World Cup race in Champ\u00e9ry, which was soon about to become infamous for a tremendously terrifying track. Only a few riders made it down without crashing on the incredibly steep trail full of mud and stones that gave Katarina a lesson in humbleness. More World cup races around Europe followed, yet without a bigger success.<\/p>\n

From DH tracks to pump tracks with kids<\/h4>\n

A shoulder injury in 2009 forced Katarina to stop racing for a while and another shoulder dislocation and ligament rupture made her reconsider her career. \u201cEven though cycling had meant a lot to me, I saw that my time had been running and decided to step down from the national team,\u201d Katarina says. She started focusing on local races and family planning. This was when she met her current partner Radek and three kids followed soon. Every time she wants to have a ride, she needs to take them along with two bikes, one balance bike, three helmets and a lot of snacks for everyone. She packs everything into a car and sets off to get to the closest pump track, which is accessible by a 15-minute drive from her home.<\/p>\n

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Riding hard<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n