Photo courtesy of Bromont Velo

In August 2002 Tass came out of a two-year retirement from mountain bike racing to take second place in her age division in the Master’s World Championships Mountain Bike Race in Bromont, Quebec, Canada. The Master’s Championships are for riders 30 and older, divided into 5-year increments. Tass, who just turned fifty in 2002, raced in the 50-54 age group. “Before flying to Quebec, I figured even though I haven’t been racing lately, there can’t be many women over 50 who could beat me,” laughed Tass. “But when I arrived and saw my competition during training I knew I had to have a good race to get on the podium.” Luckily Tass does better on trickier courses, so she made up time on the many drop offs, and areas with loose rock and off-camber roots on the trail.

Lydia Barter from Massachusetts (center) won the race, and Marlene Van Heerden from South Africa (left) took third. Tass is on the right Over four hundred riders from 23 countries took part in the event. This was Tass’s fourth time racing in a World Championship mountain bike race. Tass's racing sponsors are Trek bicycles and Smith sunglasses.

Photo courtesy of Bromont Velo websit

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