Nobody Gets There Alone
By: Brooke Darby
Outdoor recreation has seen record participation over the last few years. When you zoom in a bit more, Strava reported that gravel cycling was its fastest-growing sport in 2024. I contributed to that statistic, and over the past two years, it’s become a huge part of who I am.
Like many others in the cycling world, I was a part of the runner-to-cyclist pipeline. Growing up in Western North Carolina, the outdoors have always been a part of my life, but as I’ve grown and changed, so has that relationship. Now, not only is it a place to train, it’s my platform to connect with people and explore my capabilities.
I came out to Colorado for school having never seen the campus, only knowing it checked most of my boxes and looked pretty on Google Photos. I had no idea I was arriving at one of the best collegiate cycling programs in the country, in what may be considered the mountain biking capital of the U.S. Durango is home to World Tour riders like Sepp Kuss and a handful of Olympians who you’ll casually see on group rides around town. Needless to say, the cycling culture is strong, and it feels like everyone in town rides bikes, including all of the friends I made at college.
A Rough Start
In the fall of freshman year, I borrowed a friend’s mountain bike and ended up crashing and getting 32 stitches in my chin. Still, the energy around cycling was greater than the fear that incident instilled in me. By the spring of that school year, my aunt had generously sent me her old road bike, and a friend taught me how to ride clipless pedals in the dorm parking lot. I remember being so focused on getting my feet out of the pedals that I forgot how to use the brakes on the bike. I tipped over time and time again, in front of friends, a boy I wanted to impress, at stoplights in traffic, all the embarrassing instances you can think of before I got the hang of it.
This was one of the most important lessons that helped me progress in cycling: let go of ego and embrace humility. These people had been riding bikes since they could walk, and I wasn’t going to make it far if I tried to act like I was one of them at my first pedal stroke. The shared passion and pride for cycling in Durango continued to inspire me and led me to a gravel bike on Facebook Marketplace, which I bought and immediately put hundreds of hours on. Training felt like arriving at the base of a mountain when everyone else was already halfway to the summit.
The author, right, on her first ride with a used road bike in 2024.
Finding Community
Going to group rides and local races was incredibly intimidating and humbling. I was constantly dropped or finished last. It would have been really easy to base my worth on how I compared to the cyclists around me. I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t frustrating to be years behind everyone in skill and strength. I may have been embarrassed, but it never felt like anyone was judging me or looking down upon me. My friends supported me and cheered me on despite how long they had to wait around at a finish line.
Going Pro
In the couple of years I have been doing this, I have learned that the cycling world has an unbelievable amount of generosity and care for each other. Maybe I’ve just run into the right people, but one connection led to another, and by the end of 2025, I had lined up at no fewer than 15 start lines and found a way to be supported enough to afford to race around the Southwest. I was racing purely because I was enjoying it, and it was fun to see myself improving. And by some stroke of luck, a couple of brands believed in me. I slowly moved up. I so badly wanted to be someone at the top, despite how far off I may have been.
In the fall of 2025, a friend convinced me to skip a week of school and head to Bentonville, AR for Big Sugar Gravel. Here I met the Mach1 team and Nina Machnowski. I was ultimately offered a spot on the team with the idea that Nina would help me transition into the pro racing field, and I would contribute social media and networking support. This team has had the most impact on my trajectory in the sport thus far. Through this community, I’ve found lifelong friendships, built sponsor relationships, and felt more passion for gravel racing than I ever expected. All of these things coming together have made me stronger every race.
Photo credit: Kyle Dawes
In addition to Nina becoming one of my best friends, this year I’ve lined up in elite corrals at races like Sea Otter and Unbound. Those opportunities might look like the result of performance, but I see them differently. I see the countless people who answered questions, encouraged me when I doubted myself, invited me on rides, and believed in me before I had results. An 8th-place U23 finish and 10th-place Elite Women finish at Unbound 100 are the culmination of everyone who has helped me develop in one way or another.
Every once in a while, I think back to the girl tipping over at stoplights because she couldn’t get out of her pedals fast enough. I knew back then this community was something I wanted to be a part of, although I couldn’t have imagined where a borrowed bike, a few patient friends, and a community willing to welcome a beginner would eventually lead me.
Racing has given me a lot to chase, but the people I’ve met along the way have given it meaning.