Karen Dodge is very fast on a bicycle — extremely fast. In 2005 she was a national champion. But you’d never know it to meet her. Though she’s since “retired” from bike racing, there beats within this slim, demure thirty-something woman the heart of a fierce competitor.

The competitive fires are banked for now and Dodge has relaxed into a less dramatic role as a Park City working mom. Whether she’s coaching clients at her Pilates studio or out for a leisurely ski or bike ride with friends, her easygoing, down-to-earth personality is refreshing. It’s a trait that has come in handy for this grassroots, Midwestern woman on her journey westward.

Dodge was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, one of Carol and Heinz Kalhoff’s six children. She describes herself as a typical middle child. “People think I’m outgoing, but I’m actually a bit shy,” she confesses. “Still, I think I’m an adaptable, approachable, fun person.”

She grew up playing outside with her four brothers. She loved soccer, flag football, riding a bike and playing kick-the-can far into the night with neighborhood friends. “I have many special memories of laughing with my family,” she recalls. “I think the most entertaining time was the evening meal, where we all listened to the stories of the day, good and bad. I can say I experienced a lifetime of emotions at the dinner table.”

Dodge excelled in high school sports, especially soccer. She graduated from McAuley High School, a private, all-girl Catholic school in Cincinnati, and went on to the University of Cincinnati.

A confessed fitness fanatic, Dodge studied to become a fitness trainer while still in high school. She certified with The American Council of Exercise at age 18.

“I loved being fit and I loved teaching classes,” says Dodge, who honed her skills as a strength training and Pilates instructor.

“I think taking care of your body is essential. Everyone feels better if they get 30 minutes outside or with Pilates or strength training. Thirty minutes is all you really need every day, just to clear the head.”

During college, Dodge worked part time at several wellness centers in the Cincinnati area. “I had one job with the Environmental Protection Agency teaching wellness and fitness training to their staff,” she says. “Believe me, trying to get a bunch of scientists motivated to exercise was really a challenge.”

Dodge tired of college after two years and took a job as a flight attendant with Comair, a Midwestern regional commuter airline. There she met her husband, a Comair pilot. She married at 23 and within a year had a son, Jake. For the next several years she worked as a stay-at-home mom.

“I got back on a bicycle when my son was about four years old. I started riding at local charity events with a few friends,” she says.

When her husband took a job with Delta Airlines in 2000, the young family moved to Utah. “We settled on Park City because the town offered us everything we were looking for in terms of recreational opportunities,” she says.

Within a year she took up bicycle racing in earnest. “On a whim I went to a bike race in Ogden and entered as a ‘Category 4’ racer, basically a novice,” she recalls. “I got out in front of everybody at the start and rode alone for quite a while. But I was inexperienced and the group gathered me up. I didn’t win but I caught the eye of J.R. Smith, a bike-racing coach in Salt Lake City. He said I really needed to do this. I credit him with my success as a racer.”

Dodge joined the Salt Lake-based Wasatch Women’s Cycling Club and began training and racing. ‘I was already 32 years old, but I kept getting fitter every year,” she says. She was soon racing one step below professional. “We raced all over the place in Utah, California and Arizona. We went to the Nationals and the Hewlett Packard Classic stage race in California.

“The funniest story was when we raced at the Chums Classic in Hurricane, Utah. For some reason, Genvieve Jeanson and Team Rona showed up to this small-town race in southern Utah. She’s kind of the Lance Armstrong of women’s bicycle racing. Anyway, we caught a glimpse of her at the start line and them she just took off. I didn’t see her again until the finish.”

Dodge’s racing career peaked in 2005 at Deer Valley, where she won the Masters National Criterium Race in her age class. A few days later she placed second at the National Road Race.

Sadly, her racing career drew to an abrupt halt after that. “I guess I just wanted to focus on other areas of my life,” she explains. “I’d accomplished everything I set out to do and it was time to let it go. Her marriage also ended as she set out in search of new challenges.

Dodge likes to test herself. “I’m not afraid to try anything new that challenges my ego or confidence. I’m learning the ropes of running a small business, and that’s a real challenge,” she admits. She has also competed in adventure races, mountain bike and cyclocross races, and four triathlons. She took second place in the Echo Triathlon.

While committed to growing her nascent Park City fitness business, Mindful Body Pilates, LLC, Dodge has a long list of other things she wants to do. “I’d like to learn German, Spanish and French and travel the world,” she says. “In my heart, I want to contribute and help people that really need it, whether it’s a personal relationship crisis or a worthy charity or a mission of some kind.”

But Dodge hasn’t completely turned her back on bike racing. She still supports the Park City Iron Man bike racing team, consisting of local and Salt Lake City female racers. “My racing career was fun and I was fortunate to have that opportunity. And who knows, one of these days I might do it again.”

VITAL STATISTICS

Favorite things to do: Ride her bike to the Park Silly Sunday Market; attend the Park City Film series.

Favorite foods: Sushi. “I also love Skyline chili and Graeter’s ice cream, but I have to go back to Cincinnati for that.”

Favorite music/performers: Coldplay, Sting, Oakenfold, Janet Jackson

Animal companion: Gommit, a hefty male calico cat

Park City pet peeve: “We need a larger pool at Ecker Hill with more swimming lanes!”