The Road Less Traveled : A 680 Mile Leadboat Odyssey

"I've always been driven by my curiosity. Curiosity about what's around the bend, but also curiosity of what I am capable of. These curiosities led me to endurance sports, and eventually endurance mountain biking as that was the best platform where I could push my body while exploring the most terrain. They say pursue a career doing what you love, and that landed me on start lines chasing podiums for the past 6 years. It's not that I don't love racing and competing, but that has never been why I chose this sport. Faced with a lack of motivation, realizing the idea of lining up for a result every other weekend wasn't the life I wanted, I began to think if there could be another way to make a career out of what I love. 

I still don't know where my limits lie, and there are definitely more trails and roads to explore, so this year I'm getting back to the roots of why I began riding my bike. The LeadBoat Odyssey began as a crazy idea, but the more I thought about it the more excited I became. I'll be riding my mountain bike 130 miles from my home in Boulder to Leadville on a backcountry, high alpine route. A few days later I will compete in the Leadville 100, immediately following I will ride 120 miles to SteamBoat Springs where the next morning I will line up to take on the 140 mile SBT GRVL. Following this I will ride my gravel bike 180+ miles back home to Boulder on unexplored gravel roads. Transportation, adventure, pushing my limits, and the community are the reasons I love riding my bike, so I designed this challenge and my season around these concepts. By not touching a car on the entire 680 mile journey, choosing routes that I have never been on before, having friends come along to support, and setting the goal of a top 10 at both events I check every box. 

This will be the hardest thing I have ever done, and I am more motivated than ever to put in the hard training and make the sacrifices it will take to have a shot at completing it. Instead of preparing with endless intervals and riding the same roads over and over, I will be setting ambitious goals on other epic rides and challenges that I have never been able to justify making time for amidst a busy race season. Each challenge and ride will blend performance and adventure and require unique equipment choices. I'm can't think of a better partner than WTB as all of their products blend performance technology with adventure ready design that I will surely be putting to the test all season long. I can't wait to document this journey in hopes that others get excited about dreaming up a unique ride of their own that checks their boxes, whatever those may be."