EAST MOLINE, Ill. — It's the BMX Gold Cup Championships this weekend at East Moline Speedway, however one rider stands out from the rest. Kittie Weston-Knauer is like every other rider, except she's 75-years-old.
"I love the challenge," Weston-Knauer said. "And this is a challenge that keeps me thinking, keeps me being active, keeps me out here amongst all of these young folks. And I can call them young folk because I'm 75 and there's nobody my age with me."
Kittie says her secret to staying so youthful is simple; she lives a clean and healthy life. Kittie began racing BMX in 1998 and has also competed in more than two dozen RAGBRAI bike rides across Iowa. She's a self-described eternal optimist, always smiling from ear to ear, but it hasn't been all rainbows and sunshine.
"I had an accident in 1993 racing my bike," Weston-Knauer said. "Flipped over, broke my neck, C4, C5 cord syndrome, left me totally paralyzed. The surgeon told my husband, 'I don't know if she'll ever regain full use of her arms and legs.'"
At this point though, quitting wasn't an option for Miss Kittie.
"When you fall off of a horse, you get back on the horse, so I got back on my bike," she said with a smile.
Put the racing aside, this is a woman with an unmatched joy for life. Weston-Knauer, who is a retired high school principal, says her students used to make fun of her because she was always smiling. Her answer was, "Why not, life is good."
"Never, ever let anyone steal your joy," Weston-Knauer said. "This to me, hey, you couldn't ask for anything better."