These Riders Are Brand New to Mountain Biking—and They’re Training to Tackle a 100-Mile Race
In August 2020, pro mountain bikers Alexey Vermeulen and Ryan Petry went on a three-day backcountry trip in Colorado from Boulder to Crested Butte—270 miles, eight major mountain passes, and 34,000 feet of climbing. While on that trip, Petry and Vermeulen realized that COVID-19 had introduced so many new people to cycling, and they wanted to do something to keep the momentum going.
So they came up with a plan for a project to show novice mountain bikers that they, too, can take on tough adventures.
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With this project, which they call “From the Ground Up,” Petry and Vermeulen will take three novice mountain bikers and get them fully prepared to ride the Leadville Trail 100 MTB—a 100-mile mountain bike race that starts in Leadville, Colorado, at above 10,000 feet elevation and requires 11,000 feet of climbing and descending rugged mountain trails and roads.
“The idea came to me while watching [the Netflix series] Queer Eye,” Petry told Bicycling. “I was touched by how far a little effort can go to help people—the guys on the show encourage people to take a few steps in the right direction. And I started thinking about what I could do and how I could tie it into the bike industry.”
Petry and Vermeulen asked for cyclists to apply to the program by submitting basic information and creating a video that explains why they should be chosen. And after sorting through over 1,200 applications, they settled on three winners: Shawna Anderson, 47, from northern Wisconsin; Enzo Moscarella, 34, from New York City; and Roberta Nuñez, 30, from Boston.
Not only will Petry, Vermeulen, and several brand sponsors provide the three riders with all of the equipment and resources they need, but they’ll also coach them along and get them to the finish line. And even though Petry and Vermeulen are well-decorated professional mountain bikers, they decided that the project would be most successful if they had professional coaches join the team. Wahoo Fitness Sufferfest—a coaching and training platform—signed on, and all of the athletes are being coached by Neal Henderson through the Sufferfest platform.
Henderson has given them a mix of indoor rides and outdoor rides to fit their schedules. They’re all starting with shorter rides five times per week, for a total of about four hours per week. He also has them doing strength training, yoga, and mental exercises. The training will intensify over two 12-week blocks. Henderson will push them to their maxes while making sure they don’t overtrain or burn out mentally. The goal is for all three riders to finish the race in less than 12 hours.
Petry and Vermeulen traveled to the Midwest and the east coast the second week of March to get Anderson, Moscarella, and Nuñez all set up with their new equipment. They showed each of the three how to clip into their pedals, and got them excited for what’s to come. The three riders will be on a training plan from their respective homes, and will make two trips to Colorado over the summer for some course riding and to introduce them to what they can expect come August.
“It’s not so much about these guys finishing the race, although I truly believe all three will be able to finish,” Petry said. “The point is to look at where they start and where they finish. The growth as a cyclist and as a person is what matters. I know that we can all do it—in many ways we’re all going into the unknown—but we’re doing it together.”
The opportunity is a dream come true for the three participants who are embarking on this journey. Here’s more about the three riders.
Shawna Anderson
Anderson is a high school special education teacher who works with students and families to prepare them for life after school.
“I found out about the project through a women’s mountain biking Facebook group that I’m in,” Anderson told Bicycling. “I don’t consider myself a mountain biker, but I’m excited to learn. The thing that has me both the most excited and the most nervous is the 11,000 feet [of climbing and descending] ... it excites the hell out of me, but also scares me.”
Anderson said that she’s doing this to challenge herself, above all, but also for her students.
“I’m a middle-aged, overweight, purple-haired teacher who needs to prove to myself that I can still be a badass when I want to be. I am always trying to get my students to reach for their goals—I feel like I haven’t challenged myself to do anything personal in a long time. Now I can say to my students, ‘Look, I had this thing, and I tackled it.’”
Enzo Moscarella
Moscarella, a decorative painter who was born in Colombia and raised in Miami, has been living in New York City for the last seven years. Like so many others in big cities, he discovered cycling during the pandemic as a means of transportation and an escape, and he decided last February that he was going to really start riding.
“I got a singlespeed Schwinn off of Craigslist,” Moscarella told Bicycling. “I started trying to keep up with bike messengers—it was just so cool to see it and then be able to do it.”
Moscarella also had the opportunity to visit Aspen, Colorado, for work last September.
“The hotel we stayed at had bikes that we could use, and that was the first time I’ve really been mountain biking.”
Moscarella said he took a bike out on a trail and intended to be gone for a few minutes, but ended up staying out for over three hours.
“I’m just so thankful for the bike—as a literal vehicle—and as a way to get through so much. This piece of metal with two wheels—I’ve done so much. From justice rides in New York City to exploring in the mountains of Colorado, it’s taken me so many places I’d never been.”
Roberta Nuñez
Nuñez—who was born in the Dominican Republic and raised in Harlem in New York City—is now an ICU nurse in Boston. She’s always wanted to get into mountain biking, but said it’s been very intimidating due to the price tag and the fact that she rarely ever saw women and people of color in the sport.
“In recent years, that has definitely changed,” Nuñez told Bicycling. “There are so many women mountain bikers that I love following, like Kate Courtney. And many POC [people of color] cyclists that inspire me to keep challenging myself, like Stephanie Puello, who recently rode the TransAm, and The Black Foxes, a collective of cyclists changing the narrative for POC in cycling. I think my friends were tired of hearing me talk about trying to get into mountain biking because they recently bought me my first mountain bike for my 30th birthday, though it’s been on backorder for a few months.”
Nuñez said she applied to be part of the “From the Ground Up” project by chance.
“I had been watching some Pink Bike mountain bike videos when an ad for Pearl Izumi [one of the project’s sponsors] came up. I clicked the ad and wanted to get to their webpage via Instagram, but was brought to the ‘From The Ground Up’ application page instead. It was 2 a.m., and my heart was pounding—I couldn’t believe it. I had to apply,” she said.
Nuñez is both nervous and excited about the whole process.
“What’s most nerve-wracking is imagining myself six months from now surrounded by athletes and pro cyclists,” she said. “But I try to keep reminding myself to take it one day at a time and trust the training process everyone involved in this project has put together. I want to enjoy the next six months—no matter how challenging it gets—because I know it will be one of the most memorable times in my life.”
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