A triathlete and former Reynolds track star launches a line of sporty dresses. Ready to try on a Quick Draw McBra?

by Karen Chávez . portrait by Matt Rose

Just because Patricia Pinner is a busy Asheville mom and wife, a ferocious triathlete and a chameleon-like entrepreneur—in short, a woman on the move—doesn’t mean she doesn’t like to move in a dress.

No surprise, then, that her latest venture as a fashion designer is called White Dragon Dresses for Women on the Move. Founder and president of the first all-women cycling team in Asheville, Team Prestige Subaru, Pinner has spent the past decade racing bikes and earning podium finishes—wearing cycling gear more suited to men’s muscles than women’s curves. “When we go to the podium, we’re in traditional men’s attire,” says Pinner, who’s 46. “I decided it was time for a change.”

So began her quest to make that change, transforming her strong, sporty life into the softer world of fashion. This month, she launches the White Dragon line of dresses, skirts and sport bras made of Lycra, the same durable material found in cycling jerseys. Each piece can be custom sublimated, meaning it goes through a printing process using a heat transfer system to embed colored logos or letters into the fabric. This is unlike screen-printing, which lays color on top of a fabric, Pinner says.

The idea behind the White Dragon line is that it’s comfortable, feminine apparel for women—athletes or not—designed to help them feel and look not only sporty but also sexy. (Ironically, the name came from Pinner’s six-year-old son Tommy, who once called the family’s boxer the “White Dragon.”) The dresses come in four styles for different body types: Plain Jane, Swishy Trishy, Sassy Kassy and the Alli Ba Ba, all available in sleeveless, short and long sleeves. She also designs skirts, shorts, tights and the Quick Draw McBra—a brassiere with a clever center storage pocket (it’s still in prototype form). Material in the dresses stretches four ways, dries quickly and wicks away moisture. “This is taking cycling apparel into the mainstream. Instead of the team uniform, it can be the team dress,” Pinner says.

“Tricia’s really stepped out to make these cute and sexier,” says Melissa Gelineau, a longtime teammate. “She’s worked so hard at it. She is an inspiration.”

Pinner sees her customizable dresses going global—mainly because they can act as advertisements on the move. “The possibilities are limitless. These dresses are like a walking business card,” she says. She imagines everything from food to jewelry to car companies sublimating their brand images on her apparel.

She seems to be equal parts marketer and athlete when she describes the creation of the cycling team, which uses images of neon pink hearts, yellow smiley faces and green peace signs in its logos and gear. The team themes are peace, love and happiness, and its motto is: “Believe.” “We believe in ourselves, we believe in each other, we have our individual faiths,” she says.

Pinner floats through life on those concepts, perpetually sweet, but she also competes fiercely for what she believes in, finding a way to rally through life’s toughest trials.

The youngest of five children, Pinner grew up trying to out-win her athletic older siblings. At age 12, her mother died of breast cancer. That same year, Pinner took up running. She is now an Asheville legend, inducted into A.C. Reynolds High School’s Hall of Fame as a track and field star who was the most decorated athlete in the history of the school, male or female, in any sport. “I ran my heart out,” she says. “Running was a great outlet for a lot of frustration. When my mom died, it was the first time in my life I had to decide if I was going to be miserable, or choose to find a way to be positive.”

Pinner continued to strive for it all, competing after high school in racquetball and aerobics. In 2002, she formed the cycling team, competing in mountain and road cycling events. In 2008, she competed in her first Beach2Battleship Iron Distance triathlon—the same distance as an Ironman—a 2.4-mile ocean swim, 112-mile bike, and a 26.2-mile run, placing as the third master female in a time of 11 hours, 30 minutes. (In other words, really fast.) In 2009, she did the race again.

It was in the middle of that second race, she says, that she felt the “creativity that comes from our creator” and was inspired to start the dress line, to write a book and to form a triathlon team.

Pinner, who has a business degree from A-B Tech, took her inspiration to New York City, where Champion System, a cycling and triathlon apparel company, agreed to produce her custom sportswear. She and her husband poured $10,000 into the initial clothing run. Knowing the going will be tough for a new business in this economy, Pinner simply smiles. Her accountant believes in the concept. Bud, her husband of 11 years, whom she first met at age 12, believes in it, too. “All the girls on the team believe in the concept. I believe in it,” she says.

Believing has brought her far. She has just launched her triathlon team, Tri2Believe, open to both men and women, and has written The Jesus Star, a children’s book that delivers the “believe” message. She continues other endeavors, including directing the annual Town Mountain Hill Climb Time Trial Race, organizing a free self-defense class for women each year with the N.C. National Guard, and holding a free mountain biking clinic for women each summer.

What drives Pinner’s spin-cycle life? “It’s just love,” she says. “I love people, I love what I do, I love to run, I love swimming, I love biking. I just love to move.”

Learn more about Patricia Pinner’s White Dragon Dresses and Team Tri 2 Believe at www.tri2believe.com/site.