Introducing Kathi Krause of Dirt Rock n Root Training

Kathi Krause, owner and head coach of Dirt Rock n Root Training, LLC, began her cycling career on the velodrome before progressing through criteriums, road racing, cyclocross, and cross country. Eventually, she discovered her passion on the Pro Downhill circuit, where she spent a decade on various teams and earned three Masters World Downhill Championships, five Masters National Downhill Championships, and numerous other accolades—including a win at the prestigious Kamikaze Downhill race in 2004 and a 2nd Overall finish in the Hawaii Winter Downhill Series.

In 2011, after 25 years of racing, Kathi became a certified instructor and founded Dirt Rock n Root Training. Since then, she has led training camps along the East Coast at locations such as Mountain Creek Bike Park, Beech Mountain, Snowshoe Mountain Bike Park, Whiteface Mountain, Plattekill Bike Park, Highland Mountain Bike Park, and at Cranx, Ray’s, and The Wheel Mill Indoor Bike Parks.

Beyond downhill racing, Kathi runs a Technical Trails Series in Northern New Jersey to help riders build confidence on rocky, technical trails. She also serves on the coaching teams for the Ladies AllRide Tour, Michaux Mountain Bike School, and the Sundance Midwest Women's Mountain Bike Clinic, and has also coached at Cranx, The WheelMill andRay’s Indoor Mtb Park Women’s Weekend

DRRT’s mission is to bring more women into mountain biking and promote the sport as a lifelong passion. For the past decade, Kathi has been dedicated to building a supportive community of female mountain bikers, connecting like-minded riders who train and ride together.

Although she retired from racing in 2008, Kathi dipped her toes into some racing at the 2010 Megavalanche in France where she finished 15th in the master women’s race and she also took 2nd overall in the 2014 Hawaii Winter Downhill Series. When not coaching, you can find Kathi out crushing rocks on the rocky NJ trails close to home or shredding the downhill trails at her home mountain - Mountain Creek Bike Park.

Kathi's Racing Highlights

World Masters Downhill Champion (1999, 2001, 2002)
World Masters Downhill Silver Medalist (2000)
NORBA Masters National Downhill Champion (1998-2002)
1st place Kamikazi Downhill, Mammoth Mountain 2004 – Pro Women
2nd OverallGravity East Downhill Series, Pro Women, 2007
2nd Place – US Open of Mountain Biking, Vernon, NJ 2003
2nd Overall – Ironhorse DH Series, Mount Snow, VT 2007
2nd Place Overall — Hawaii Downhill Series 2015
SouthEast Dual Slalom Champion -1997
Plattekill Extreme Downhill Series Champion (1998, 2001, 2002)
8 Times NY/NJ State Track Champion (1986 – 1993)
NJ State Cyclocross Champion (1998)
1994 & 1995- NORBA #1 ranking, North Atlantic Regional Cross Country - Vet Women
1994 NJ and NY State Champion, Cross Country, Senior Women