Does anyone have a road bike or fast TT bike(s) that Michelle Howe (my wife) can borrow for US Pro Nationals in mid-May? Sponsor? Loaner? Steeply discounted used? Combo?

Her goal is podium in TT, RR, and/or Criterium. Bike sizes 54-56 will probably work. She's 5-9.

TLDR: Wildest of unforeseen circumstances (it involves cartel) mean we can't afford buying fast bikes - even used - right now. That might change overnight if we find the right investor(s), but right now, no.

Resource-intensive and extreme opportunity cost, 2023 was an epic challenge, previously unimaginable to us. Harrowing. Life-altering. Hard. Just hard.

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Reason we’re asking: We started a startup and "rescued" a child from a drug trafficking (read: meth, fentanyl, manipulative gaslighting, money laundering, the whole nine yards) & abuse situation that we couldn't un-see. Investigative, legal, a psychological costs were large. We stopped working for almost 6 months. We're now broke and the debt from finishing up the legal battles and psychology care costs continues to accumulate. Michelle meanwhile had a long string of injuries, fought hard emotionally, and is coming back stronger and fitter than ever. Total tangible costs approach $100k. Opportunity cost from ceased work exceeds another $100k. (We didn't have $200k to begin with).

Her most recent results are 5th in the 2021 US Pro TT, detailed far below, and a victory in her first race post-injury @ Austin Rattler MTB60 in Nov-2023.

Conclusion. We could use a little help if you’ve got a bike or connections. We appreciate you sharing this with anyone you think might be interested in coming alongside us. We are willing to think outside the box. It’s just not wise or prudent for us to spend big on new bikes this year. She's fitter than ever and US Pro's matters a lot to her and I can't stomach her going and not getting a podium spot because she's on ancient beat up bikes. (a 2013 and a 2018, mechanical with 40k miles on it)

PS. Happy to share more info if you’d like to know the (very long) back-story, but I deleted the 1600-word essay. It needs to be more of a book. Let's just say, getting a kid out of a trailer where they use and traffic meth and fentanyl is ... complicated, involved, and resource-intensive. We're glad it's almost over. Final trial is 2 weeks after nationals.

PPS. We have social media followings and can post / promote things, but mostly we're just grateful to borrow a bike if someone's got it. Just for assessment of Michelle's 'potential' as she returns to competition, here are the women she competed against, in case you're a capitalist like us and need a little incentive. 2021 US Pro Nationals Time Trial Results below. She was on an 8-year old bike with a wild-guess night-before bike fit.

1. Chloe Dygert - (WR, 12x World Champ, 2x Oly Medalist)
   
2. Amber Neben - (3x World Champ, 3x Olympian, 4x Pan Am TT Champ)
   
3. Leah Thomas - (Nat'l TT Champ, Olympian)
   
4. Tayler Wiles - (3x Nat’l TT & RR podium, Redlands champ, long-time pro)
   
5. Michelle Howe
   
6. Emily Newsom - (3-time top 6 at Nat'l TT Champs, long-time pro)
   
7. Lauren De Crescenzo - (Unbound 200 Champ, 2x Gravel Worlds Champ, gravel famous)
   
8. Veronica Ewers - (2x Nat’l medalist, 4-year Pro, in part because Michelle helped her podium in 2021)
   
9. Lily Williams - (1x World Champ, 1x Olympic Medalist)

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Dr. Alex Harrison | Founder & CEO | Sport Physiology & Performance PhD
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