Date: Fri 30-Jun-1995

Publication: Bee

Author: KIMH

Illustration: I

Quick Words:

Allison-Sigler

Full Text:

ALLISON SIGLER

SPORTS FEATURE

B Y  K IM  H ARMON

It was inauspicious. It was forgettable. It was the type of experience that

might have had another kid looking for something better to do on a warm summer

night.

But Allison Sigler, who finished last in every heat - or modo, as the cyclists

like to call it - in her first BMX National Race in Cape Cod seven years ago,

hardly gave up.

"I didn't even expect to go on to Nationals at all," Allison, now 18,

remembered. "I just wanted to race like my brother raced, to get a state plate

and stuff like that, but, then, a lot of my friends starting racing in the

Nationals. I was keeping up with them and I said, wait a second, I want to

race in the Nationals, too."

Things have gone a lot better since then, though. Allison is now ranked No. 8

in the country in the 16-and-over division and, in the same division, is the

best there is in the state of Connecticut.

At The Track

Allison, the daughter of Joe and Susan Sigler, got into the sport of BMX

racing the way a lot of kids might get into one thing or another . . . by

watching an older brother and sister.

It was her many days and nights, nine years ago, watching her brother Brian

competing at the local tracks in Bethel and Trumbull, that led Allison towards

a life in BMX.

For half a season, as a nine-year-old, she raced as a beginner along with a

few other girls and lots of boys, and in that division she competed in her

first race.

"It was fun," Allison remembered, "but none of the boys talked to me because I

was just a little girl."

It wasn't long, though, before she started racing the older girls. While the

boys were defined as beginner, novice, and expert, girls were lumped into one

pool simply because there weren't enough female racers to fill up different

divisions.

After a year and a half of practice, Allison began to see the light . . . the

National light.

"All my friends raced in the Nationals and they always came back excited,"

said Allison. "You have such a good time competing and seeing all your

friends. I have friends from Florida and Ohio . . . from all over the place.

It's a social affair as well as a competition and I just wanted to be part of

that."

She convinced her parents, as an 11-year-old, to take her to that first race

in Cape Cod, that first race which might have been a inauspicious and

forgettable beginning on the national circuit, but was actually the start of

something pretty exciting.

"I did really, really bad," Allison recalled. "I came in last every single

time. I was just slow, but I was really scared because in Connecticut you race

one girl at a time and at the Nationals you race six or seven girls at a time.

I just wasn't used to that."

Family Adjustments

The Sigler family, too, wasn't used to the expense of two kids competing in

BMX and needed an alternate source of income to help pay the way for Brian and

Allison to keep riding.

The family's interest in the TC Cycle Shop came about when Allison first

started racing the Nationals. The Siglers bought the business and started

running it out of their basement. Now it's the family business, located on

South Main Street right beside the Fireside Inn.

But because Allison is among the best in her division, her family didn't have

to purchase her a bike. That came from her sponsor, T&T, which also sponsors

her racing team.

A racing team which, by the way, has done well for itself in competition. At

their last Nationals, the T&T team earned in the neighborhood of $200, which

has been applied towards new uniform pants.

The Competition

The Nationals is generally a three-day affair, starting with practices on

Fridays (very necessary, because all the tracks are different) and races on

Saturday and Sunday. If there is more than six people entered in a division,

the races are broken up into modos, with the top four (based on points earned

for each finish) going on to race in the final.

There are Nationals all year long and each racer earn points for each

Nationals, with rankings fluctuating throughout the year depending on how many

Nationals each racer competes in.

The Grand Nationals determines the final rankings for the year and after those

points are figured each racer earns a national plate he or she will compete

with for the following season.

Allison finished ninth out of 20 girls in her first Grand National as a

14-year-old, but last year, in the 16-and-over division (a limitless division

for girls, with racers in their 20s and 30s) finished fourth out of 47 girls

at the Grand Nationals, her best performance so far.

Currently she is ranked eighth in her division, a level she hopes to, at best,

maintain when the 1995 Grand Nationals in Kentucky have come and gone.

"There are a lot more girls this year because they are offering money prizes,"

said Allison, who has taken home as much as $130 from competition this year.

"It's attracted a lot more girls from California who race in different

associations, so, for me, if I make top 10 in the nation I would be happy.

Right now I'm ranked eighth and if I can stay there I'd be very happy."

Allison prepares for each Grand National race by competing in as many

Nationals she and the family can get to (there next one is next month in

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), and by racing three or four times a week in either

Bethel or Trumbull.

She has been No. 1 in the state for the past five years, but the lack of

competition had something to do with that, Allison admitted, while her

increased training was what helped her become more successful on a national

level.

"Before, I never really trained," said Allison. "I raced, but I never trained.

Last year I started going to an exercise physiologist. I ran on the treadmill

and started some weight training. That's why I did a lot better last year."

Coming To Grips

With Diabetes

And she did a lot better despite having, every day, to deal with diabetes.

She was diagnosed as a 14-year-old, when she was a freshman at Newtown High

School, and since then has had to make serious changes in her lifestyle so she

could keep racing.

"I had a lot of trouble racing just because I wouldn't be feeling good," said

Allison. "I was definitely eating the wrong kinds of foods for racing and for

my health. So my exercise physiologist put me on a new diet plan and ever

since then I have been a lot better."

It was a struggle, though, early on.

"I would come back from a race and I'd feel like I couldn't move," Allison

explained. "My legs hurt and I was having the jitters, but I never understood

how it could be related to my health. And then my doctor started watching my

blood glucose while I was racing. He started testing me four or five times

during the races to better control it."

Allison is in control of her diabetes and in control of her racing career,

which may have to take a back seat - at least for a little while - to her

studies when she attends Salisbury State University (Maryland) in the fall.

"My parents figure I'm going to quit next year because I'm going to college,"

said Allison, who was a Markette for four years at NHS. "But I really hope I

can race over the summer, when I come home, and maybe going to a National over

the winter when I have a break. I don't know if I can be as serious, because I

really do want to focus on my studies.

Salisbury State is quite athletically-oriented, she said, and with the 30 or

40 other students in her major - exercise physiology - she will be able to

train and keep fit for the times when she will be able to fit in a National or

local race into her schedule.

And who knows where the world of BMX will take her. Her boyfriend, Matt Sylvia

of Stamford, is a 20-year-old professional, so logic can't rule out that idea,

but even if she simply ends up in the Cruiser division with other racers in

their late 30s, at least Allison Sigler will be riding, still, a long time

since that one weekend when she, an 11-year-old girl, finished last.