A former swimmer and student at Whitman College, this vivacious young rider is very new to the world of cycling but has already achieved so much. In her second year as a professional cyclist Mara won the US National Road Title and placed fourth in the Time Trial, took a podium placing in the Montreal World Cup, won Tour of the Gila and represented her country at the World Championships.

On her first year in Team Columbia-HTC Abbott won and led the Redlands Classics and achieved her first European win when she won a mountain stage in Giro della Toscana.

I love the outdoors. I love climbing mountains, adventuring. Rhythm. Wind. I love being able to challenge myself and immerse myself in a task. I enjoy single-minded pursuits. I love to meet people with common interests. Moving FAST. Learning, improving, having the opportunity every day to accomplish something great. Excitement. Feeling alive! Being part of something larger than myself through teamwork. Space from everything. Singing out loud when I ride alone.

• What are you doing when you're not cycling?

Playing with my kitten, being outdoors, yoga, arts and crafts, and I just finished up my bachelor's degree in economics

• What do you like about riding for Team Columbia-HTC?

I like the fact that there is such a level of talent and mutual respect within the team that it holds each person accountable to accomplish their very highest level of excellence.  Team Columbia-HTC to me represents professionalism and greatness!

• What is your greatest childhood memory on 2 wheels?

Either mountain biking on camping trips at Big Creek Lake or having to bike commute to swim practice every morning in the summers but getting to eat cinnamon rolls at the Great Harvest with my dad afterwards.

• How did you get into cycling?

I mountain biked a bit in high school, but I had always been first and foremost a swimmer.  When I went to college at Whitman College in Washington State, swimming was only an option as a seasonal sport, so in the spring I began riding with the collegiate road team.

• What has been your biggest challenge as a pro cyclist?

Learning how to do something as challenging as racing in an environment so distinct from where I grew up.  Even though many of the areas in Europe that we spend time in are not THAT different from the states, it is the details that you notice under pressure!

• Share a memorable pro career moment:

When we were staying in this random place in the Czech Republic and I wanted to make coffee and I had my French press but no way to heat the water, so I wandered down the hallway and found the Russian team who leant me (after a mimed description of trying to make coffee) this scary coil I could put in the water to heat it, and it worked!!

• What is your most embarrassing moment?

Totaling my car in front of the President of Whitman College's house.  He waited with me for the tow truck, brought me inside, introduced me to his family, gave me hot chocolate and drove me home.  When I wrote him this fall to let him know how much I had appreciated my Whitman experience in retrospect, he wrote back saying how excited they all were about my cycling success... and that he still remembers the first time he met me.

• What is the last song you listened to before you turned off your Ipod/Zune?

What is Love by Haddaway, off the Night at the Roxbury soundtrack

• What is the best book you have ever read?

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
Illusions
Eat. Pray. Love.
The Autobiography of Malcolm X

• What is your favorite comfort food?

FUJI apples
Colorado Peaches
Rocky Ford Cantaloupe
Fresh Corn on the Cob

• What can someone do that really bothers you?

Not recycling!
Pessimism