What are your goals for 2025?

Athletically, I’d like to get back on the podium at some of the national events. The space has become more competitive and it’s at the point where you really must have the cleanest possible race to make it happen. I think it’s a good thing because it makes those podiums all the sweeter.

Personally, with all these race trips, which often feel like (mostly good) work, I’d like to do a better job at capturing bits of joy along the way. A random hot spring or an overnight camp on the drive home, to give a couple examples. Especially with also running the FoCo Fondo and 501(c)(3) Friends of FoCo Fondo, these micro-opportunities to decompress are essential.

How did your upbringing shape who you are today?

I grew up playing soccer at such a great time for women’s soccer. There was a women’s pro league, my dad would take me to Sac State games, and, of course, who can forget the ‘99 Women’s FIFA Cup!! I was blissfully ignorant of a lot of the inequities in sport until I got to college.

I like to live life with the belief that we create the world in which we want to live, and that it’s better to try, or do things imperfectly, than to do nothing at all. That mindset has allowed me to do loads of things to serve women’s sports and my community more broadly. I don’t feel the burden to solve women’s sports sponsorship and participation at a global level, but I do know that the things I’ve done and do help more women to feel confident in sport. Especially with social media providing infinite opportunities for comparison, I think a lot of people are scared to make that leap to move toward that scary thing that they really want. To them, I would say that I promise that micro movements add up over time.

One thing I REALLY appreciate about First Endurance is how they show up for women’s athletes.

How has your training and nutrition evolved over your career?

When I first started racing, it was all about long intervals (2x20 min threshold), how small you were, and how little you could eat on the bike and stay alive—an absolute recipe for disordered eating. Although I was never tiny, I still didn’t have a period for 10 years.

Although things started to change for me years before, Stacy Sim’s Roar really helped me understand so much more about myself as a female athlete, helped me focus more on fueling and good power, and worry less about weight. We’re all living in different bodies—size, musculature, metabolism, etc.—with different needs. I love that mine can power me through some crazy s*** as it is, and it’s my job to make sure it gets what it needs.

At home, I center most of my meals around a year-round CSA (Community Support Agriculture) that’s about two miles from our house, and I take the First Endurance Multi-V Pro to fill any gaps as we move through the growing seasons in Colorado.

How do you stay motivated during long, grueling training sessions or races?

More than anything, I go into it with the right attitude or it’s going to be extra long. But otherwise, I do math. Percentage of intervals complete, miles to the next aid station, fractions?

What role does mental toughness play in your performance, and how do you cultivate it?

From road cycling, I internalized the idea that if you are suffering, everyone else is, too, and you just have to hang on and call their bluff or die trying. The same applies for gravel.

What has being an endurance athlete taught you about life outside of sport?

Sport really teaches you how to dig deep and to put in consistent work for the things that are important to you. When you are chasing a big dream, you can have that work ethic to back up the difficult work of moving toward that objective. It makes it easier to deal with the challenges and failures along the way (like a bad race or learning about burnout by burning yourself out!).

For me, it’s allowed me to sustainably grow FoCo Fondo and launch 501(c)(3) Friends of FoCo Fondo into my vision that bikes are for the people.

What advice would you give to someone who’s just getting started?

You get to choose how you show up in cycling. There are SO many nuances to cycling if you dive in nerd first, but really, it’s just like riding a bike. Focus on enjoying the wind in your face, the sun on your back, and having an adventure. Pick up that shared knowledge as you are ready to expand your experiences. There are infinite ways to consume the sport, and you get to steer your own ship, whether that is through competition, exercise, transportation, or just sheer joy.

What’s the most valuable lesson you’ve learned from a loss or failure in your career?

With the sheer duration of gravel events, and how few you do per year, having race-ending mechanicals is SO heartbreaking. Yeah, sometimes they might be your fault, like a bad line or decision, but sometimes they are just random and cruel.

I think with all failure, it’s good to give yourself a set amount of time to be bummed, maybe have a good little cry on your own, and then, if you are able, finish it out for yourself. Afterwards, confide and maybe have a good little cry with your confidant and then move on.

I don’t think that dwelling on failure in sport or life is helpful. Yeah, you failed. The question becomes: what are you going to do about it?

What’s your “kryptonite”?

Heights: it’s not real vertigo, but I feel like gravity pulls me to the center of the earth and I lose my balance. Single track near a cliff? Nah, dawg.

Do you listen to music or podcasts when you train? If so, what is your go-to playlist or podcast? Does it change on intervals vs. easy endurance?

Nope, I rawdog it.

What is your go-to interval session or segment that lets you know you are ready for a big event?

I LOVE doing 200k of Awesomeness ahead of Unbound. It’s a great, “busy” route that you can divide up mentally into chapters. In normal winter years, it’s just becoming accessible in May.

The fact that I can do this from my door is just incredible. People in Red Feather Lakes are super welcoming to cyclists and are just pumped to hear you rode there from home. A lot of it covers terrain that so many enjoy for their own outdoor recreation, and I think that is a bond that ties us together.