Living life beyond the race with pro cyclist, Alison Tetrick
It’s time to head off the beaten path with a little wider tires and a little lower pressure.
Alison Tetrick bikepacking the Silk Road in Kyrgyzstan—her account of this trip of a lifetime is a must read on her blog at AlisonTetrick.com
What one has to love about a conversation with Alison Tetrick, is that you know you’ll cover a lot of territory in a short amount of time. Just like she does on a daily basis—whether it’s on her bike, working as a “free-range entrepreneur,” raising money for NICA, or attempting to organize her closet. She doesn’t stop moving, and nine times out of ten her contagious laugh comes along with whatever she’s doing.
When asked how she prioritizes everything she’s juggling, she readily admits that it doesn’t always look pretty. Chaos and spinning plates in the air and balancing responsibilities between being a professional athlete, an entrepreneur, a biochemist, a gifted writer, an online television host, a daughter, a sister, and a kickass girlfriend—for starters.
"The queen might be considered the most powerful piece because she can control a large number of squares at a single point of time." (Quora)
“The bike helps,” she said. Specifically the training structure provided by her coach, Adam Pulford at Carmichael Training Systems. “I’m more efficient the more I have to do. It’s in the off weeks that I tend to be kind of a laser-focused pinball,” she laughed. Yet when chatting with Alison, there was what I would call an endearing calm in what she may describe as chaos, which I gather comes from a relatively recent shift in how she exists and continues to map her journey as one of the strongest cyclists in the world.
Finding balance is something her grandfather would give good advice about—that, and not taking for granted what she could do. A national champion cyclist himself into his late-eighties, he instilled in Alison a drive and a willingness to keep learning. She loved making her Grampy laugh and spoke of his insatiable curiosity, his uncanny ability to remember everything, and how his being a hard nut to crack and her love for a challenge fueled their remarkable friendship, love, and support for one another.
Alison and her Grampy—himself a national cycling champion into his late-eighties.
After eight years racing internationally on the road, Alison made her move to the gravel scene in 2017. She was soon crowned the “Queen of Gravel” during her three-year winning streak as the 2017, 2018, and 2019 Gravel World Champion, and her step onto the top of the podium at the then named DK200 (now UNBOUND Gravel), where she holds the women’s course record to this day.
Along came 2020, where this stranger than fiction year provided an opportunity for a reset, a time to find and give grace, a time when there maybe weren’t big goals to go after but instead there were little things to accept and appreciate along the way. A time to create, innovate, slow down, and feel fortunate to have a good spot to call home and a chance to look at how to do things differently and perhaps even how to “be” differently.
Having been defined as a professional cyclist for more than a decade, there are the goals and the competition and the results and the expectations that come along for the ride. Maybe these look and feel more like those skinnier tires, the ones that run at 100+ psi, the ones where the pressure is so high they could blow at any moment. Being a competitive athlete throughout her childhood, into college, and then adulthood—there was absolutely time for riding that fine line, for feeling that higher pressure both literally and figuratively.
So how does someone competing at the highest level and managing a crap-ton of expectations make a change? Is it possible to do so gracefully and maintain one’s relevancy in an industry and a world you are so intimately connected to, and where your visibility is paramount to much of your professional success? Can you step into that phone booth, spin around, and come out donning a different cape? Maybe one that introduces you as a new breed of superhero?
Unequivocally, yes—when what’s at your very core is calling you to shift gears. When the podiums look different and chasing points is less of a priority than chasing adventures with your life’s plot twist, your business partner, and your life partner all wrapped up in one. Where the wins are defined by new roads winding up to spectacular views, old west saloons where you can grab a beer with the locals, quirky historical markers and far off ghost towns, or discovering the best apple fritters because cookies are overrated (unless they have frosting).
The person that stepped into the phone booth as a competitive cyclist driven for so long strictly by results, stepped out with a new-found confidence in allowing herself to be more than just an athlete, to know that at any given start line it’s okay if she’s not the best, to give herself grace in those moments of unknown or disappointment, and to channel this new energy into giving back to her community that supported a successful career for herself.
If you do follow along with what Alison has been up to over the past year, you may know about a couple of new ventures she has embarked on. If you don’t, you should—if for no other reason than to put a smile on your face with her unapologetic humor, awkwardness, clever use of emojis, and antics often involving cow sightings, dirt mustaches, snack stops, and group ride shenanigans. All the while she manages to provide bold inspiration to just have fun, be yourself, and get on with it.
Alison grew up on a cattle ranch along the Central Coast of California, and confirmed the number of cowgirl boots in her closet is indeed on par with the number of bikes in her garage—fancy boots and everyday boots included. We talked about the absolute synergies between riding horses and riding bikes. The monotony, the rhythm, the escape vehicle to explore. We talked about the difference in trust between that of the physics of the bike and that of the horse’s brain and intuition. And we landed on gravel being the wild west of cycling.
Perhaps this is what inspired the 20” x 20” squares of cotton that are making dreams come true for young cyclists in her local NorCal community. Little did Alison know what a difference bandanas would make when she co-founded Saga Ventures in July 2020 with her boyfriend, Blaize, and reached out to fellow cyclist and graphic designer, Sarah Sturm, to help bring her vision for the A.M.T. Bandana Project to life. The proceeds to date have funded five scholarships for NICA athletes in the NorCal GRIT Program (Girls Riding Together), in an effort to get more young girls on bikes. To complement the scholarships, Alison will ride with the girls at a camp in her hometown of Petaluma, California in June, where she’ll surprise them each with an epic swag bag complete with gear and goodies from her sponsors including Specialized, Lezyne, Camelbak, Chamois Butt’r, GU Energy Labs, and more—giving the girls everything they need to get started and feel like a part of a team that has their back.
Her latest endeavor is one not to be missed, and who knows—their crew may be coming soon to a city near you! Meet PreemTV—”here to celebrate cycling and the people that ride, taking you on a journey showcasing diverse disciplines, backgrounds, and locations from around the globe.” As a host alongside Phil Gaimon, Lex Albrecht, Rahsaan Bahati and other international correspondents in the world of cycling, Alison takes us “Into the Field,” to learn and laugh about things like the “50 Shades of Gravel,” “Losing Her Boyfriend in the Woods,” and “Staying Inspired,” when you’re not sure what you’re training or preparing for. PreemTV is about cycling culture, meeting more of the real people in, behind, and in front of the sport, sharing stories about why we love riding bikes, getting scrappy, and ultimately offering more ways to stoke your ride. P.S. It’s not about race coverage.
In the Field with Ali—tune in on PreemTV
Storytelling is nothing new to Alison, and I enthusiastically discovered recently that we share a mutual respect for the Oxford comma. Her evocative writing may be found on Gravelle.Life, Carmichael Training Systems, and on her own blog at AlisonTetrick.com. All in all, the perfect blend of insight, inspiration, humor, and thought-provoking journeys for your mind.
We’d be remiss without sharing Alison’s go-to gear (including pre-ride coffee) for epic gravel adventures, so here goes:
Specialized Diverge (love the future shock squish)
SRAM eTap Eagle AXS (all the gears - 10/50 in the rear, 44t in the front!)
Camelbak Chase Vest (they even make a women’s specific one)
Lezyne Mega XL GPS - never get lost, great battery life
Chamois Butt’r because well, you know. Gravel.
Gu Energy Labs - cause snacks
Equator Coffee - Jaguar Espresso
Equator Coffee & Teas - The Mill Valley location is a favorite if you’re in the Bay Area, or use code EQ4Alison for an online discount.
No doubt that the future is bright and the opportunities endless for Alison Tetrick. But one thing that really struck a chord with me was her vision for her future. What does it look like to strive more for being present, to unplug from the rat race a bit, to be happy where you are while ensuring you leave an impact, to be okay with not always trying to go for more and more? I think this is a conundrum we all face today, and we’re lucky to have people in the world like Ali who keep it real, keep it fun, and do good by others along the way. Seems to me she’s mapping a pretty good path in that direction. Follow along @amtetrick.
Having no fun at all… ever. :)
One of the reasons I created VéloSkiCaffè, was to spotlight my immense respect for the peeps bringing pure awesomeness to those pursuits that challenge and inspire us. Thank you, Ali, for taking the time to chat, and I can’t wait to publish your thoughts on the parting question I left with you at some point down the road—when you’re competing at the elite and pro level, or at any level for that matter, can competition and fun be harmonious, and if so, what’s your approach to that relationship. You gave me a few hints, and this’ll be good! Thanks again, Ali.
