Kerry Martin is no stranger to the Cascade Cycling Classic.

In fact, the longtime Bend resident has raced in the iconic Central Oregon stage race on several occasions, the last of which was in 2005.

And she rode well, finishing in 18th place overall and as the top nonprofessional Oregon rider in 2004, and placing fifth in the Cascade Lakes Road Race stage in 2005 — behind none other than 2008 Olympic time trial gold medalist Kristin Armstrong.

“I think that’s overall my best stage type of accomplishment for that level of racing,” Martin says of that top-five result.

It would be realistic to say that Martin is not expecting any of those types of results in this year’s women’s professional race in the Cascade Cycling Classic, which starts on Tuesday evening with the Tetherow prologue west of Bend. After all, she has mostly been away from bicycle racing for the past seven years, doing some traveling and then becoming a mother to two kids. And at 44, she will be one of the older riders in the field.

“This one’s probably going to be an experiment in the whole racing at this level when you’re a mom, working, and still nursing a 14-month-old,” says Martin, a real estate appraiser, with a bit of a laugh.

Martin will be competing for race title sponsor Bend Memorial Clinic’s team in this year’s CCC. Not only will she, being a mom and in her 40s, be somewhat distinctive in the women’s CCC field, but she will likely be the sole participant in that classification to hail from Central Oregon. (Another Bend rider and Martin’s BMC teammate, Brenna Lopez-Otero, also hopes to ride in the women’s race but as of late last week said she had been unable to secure the time off from work. If Lopez-Otero cannot compete in the women’s race, she plans to ride in the Category 3 men’s race, which begins on Friday.)

“Well, I’m done having kids … and I obviously like competing in races,” Martin observes, addressing why she decided to return to the Cascade this year. “I like it because it’s local, so I don’t have to go travel anywhere. I can sleep in my own bed.”

She is also using the CCC as preparation for the 2012 USA Cycling Masters Road National Championships, which will return to Central Oregon for the second consecutive year later this summer. Martin expects to target the road race in her division at the nationals.

“I’m not going into this (the CCC) thinking this is going to be my best performance,” Martin says. “This is more of just like, let’s get some hard riding under my belt. With the kids, it’s harder for me to travel, so I couldn’t really go out of the area to some of the other races we’ve had.”

If nothing else, though, at least Martin is familiar with many of the stages in the Cascade, whose road race and circuit courses play to her strengths.

“When I’m fit, the climbing is my best skill,” Martin explains. “That’s kind of why I like Cascade, too, because it’s a lot of climbing. It separates things out. It’s not like you’re just on these long, flat hard races, which at the high level I wouldn’t enjoy.”

Still, Martin finishing among the leaders would be a surprise, probably even to her. She admits that, especially with two kids these days, her training has been somewhat inconsistent.

“Hopefully my age will bring wisdom that will balance out the lack of fitness,” Martin notes. “We’ll see. I’ll probably not be saying that when I’m climbing up out of McKenzie Pass thinking, ‘OK … where’s my fitness? The age isn’t helping. The wisdom isn’t helping.’ ”

Of course, if Martin reaches that mental state somewhere during the CCC, maybe then she can turn to her competitive background. Before Martin started racing bikes, she was a distance runner — and an accomplished one at that. Martin qualified for the 2000 Olympic trials marathon before plantar fasciitis in one of her feet prevented her from racing. So she started attending spin classes to cross train and then rode in the popular Cycle Oregon multiday touring ride, also in 2000. By the next year, she began riding in cycling races, completing her transition from runner to cyclist.

“You just cover a lot more ground, and it’s more tactical than running,” Martin says of cycling. “Running’s very like a time trial. It’s just all about your pace. … And cycling is, you don’t necessarily have to be the most fit or the strongest athlete, but if you’re smart, you can win. It’s more of a mind sport than running.”

And so this week at the Cascade Cycling Classic, Martin will get the chance to test her body and mind in ways she has not tested them in quite some time.

“Maybe it’s a little crazy experiment,” Martin admits. “We’ll see how I feel after I partake in this whole thing.”