I grew up in Connecticut but moved to Denver in the fall of 2021 for many of the same reasons other people do - to be closer to all things outdoors and to start new after finishing college. I graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with a degree in Health Information Management. Now, I work as a Process Analyst at a healthcare technology company. I also work part-time at a climbing gym and am the Outdoor Coordinator for Asian Girls Ignite.

I got into biking through a series of incredible opportunities (D2E being one of them!) but was quickly convinced to stay because of the community. Outside of biking, I like to stay active through climbing, swimming, and taking the occasional group workout class. I am a sucker for snail mail, cooking meals for friends, and starting (sometimes not finishing) a new yarn project.

I was born in Columbia, MO, and raised by two Afghanistan war refugees. I experienced quite a bit of trauma growing up and have now dedicated my life to providing trauma-focused therapy to those in need. I am currently a social worker for individuals with disabilities, a group therapist at a rehab center, and am pursuing higher education to fulfill my dream of having my own practice one day! I LOVE ICE CREAM and will gladly share some with anyone who wants a little more joy in their life! I love with every fiber of my being and will always offer my services to anyone that may need them :) I try to keep a positive attitude and spread as much love and joy as possible!

Now in law school, Anna Hulse is balancing her passion for cycling with her studies in environmental policy and water rights. After transitioning from downhill skiing to cycling in 2019, the sport quickly became her obsession, offering both challenge and escape.

Previously working at an environmental policy nonprofit, she relied on long endurance rides to reset during the intense law school application process. After racing a season in a development role, she is now finding the balance between life pursuits and riding for pure joy, continuing to explore her limits on the bike while navigating the demands of her education.

Anna is soft-spoken but witty, a deep thinker who often ponders political theory on long rides. Always curious, she’s driven to learn more about sports psychology, nutrition, and racing, embracing every challenge that pushes her to grow.

Hi, I’m Kate Herrick Madden, a 48-year-old single mom to two neurodivergent boys (autistic and ADHD), a high school biology and anatomy teacher, and proud OG DTE team member living in Salida, Colorado. This will be my 5th season riding with this incredible group of women.

I found DTE through RoamFest and All Bodies on Bikes in 2021 during a season of major life change. Attending an all-women’s mountain bike festival on a whim became a turning point, reminding me of the power and support of women-centered spaces. Seeing the All Bodies on Bikes film for the first time made me feel truly seen as a large-bodied athlete, big, strong, and capable.

That experience led me to apply for a gravel team without even knowing what gravel cycling was and eventually gave me the confidence to apply for Distance To Empty. I went from being new to the sport to riding on sponsored teams and completing multiple events in a single season. The following year was cut short by blood clots in both lungs, and in 2024 and 2025 I stepped back to focus on healing and mental health.

Some of my favorite DTE memories include camping with teammates, crossing the finish lines at FoCo Fondo and Telluride Gravel to cheers after some serious type II fun, and forming deep, lasting friendships. I’m rarely at the front of the pack, but I’m always supported, encouraged, and fully welcomed in all my slow, steady glory. I can’t wait to reconnect with old friends, meet new riders, and continue building something special together.

This will be my 4th season with DTE. I am 37 years young and based out of Fort Collins, CO. I raced my first gravel race, Ned Gravel, in July 2022.

I will never forget team camp my first year. We laughed, learned about maintenance and partnerships, ate good food, challenged ourselves, and took some unforgettable photos. It made me feel like the real deal alongside all of these incredible women. It made me feel like I deserved to be here.

I often look back on the countless events, deep friendships, and long days in the saddle forged through DTE-given opportunities that have shaped me in inexplicable ways. From coming in last alongside another distance rider at a grueling Big Horn, to crying in celebration of grit and strength with other riders, Coke in hand, atop the final climb at Steamboat (Black, 142 miles), Cow Creek being the reward.

Growth has not been linear for me. I had a really strong season with lots of time on the bike, followed by a major injury, an uptick in stress, loss, and all of the fun things life throws your way, like perimenopause. Oof. I have a demanding job, to say the least, and finding time to train has at times felt a bit defeating.

Nevertheless, I am so, so grateful for this space and this group of women who continue to push me to new limits and remind me that it is okay just to show up when I can, to listen to and trust myself, and to be proud of giving whatever I may have in the tank on any given day. I am hoping to continue to surprise myself, inspire others, and show up each time knowing that I gave it all I could, despite it all.

Hi! My name is Chavon, and I’m a Boulder-based gravel and road racer and a proud Distance To Empty alumni rider for 2026. I joined DTE as an ambassador in 2024 and had the opportunity to race as an elite rider in 2025, an experience that deeply shaped my growth as an athlete and my understanding of what a truly supportive women’s team can be.

After several seasons focused primarily on gravel, I’m shifting gears in 2026 to pursue a long-time goal: road racing. I’ve moved into the P1/2 field in road and am excited to line up at national-level races like Redlands and Tour de Bloom.

Gravel is still an important part of my journey. In 2026, I’m aiming to qualify again for UCI Gravel Worlds at Highlands Gravel, target a 40–44 age group win at Gravel Nationals, and return to Worlds to race on the international stage. I’m proud to be a master 's-aged athlete going after big goals and racing alongside incredibly strong women in my age category.

One of the most meaningful lessons I’ve taken from DTE is that women can be both competitive and deeply supportive. Experiencing that culture—and receiving Starla’s mentorship—gave me the confidence to help launch a Colorado-based domestic elite women’s road team, Sonic Boom Elite. DTE showed me what’s possible when women are supported to grow, take risks, and pursue big goals.

Favorite Event: UCI Gravel Worlds (Netherlands) in 2025 — a fast, dynamic race and an unforgettable international experience. Traveling, preparing, and experiencing the event alongside my teammate Lindsey Lavender made it especially meaningful, even though we raced in different categories.

Favorite DTE Memory: Sharing a truly wild Airbnb at Unbound. Being together at one of the biggest races in the world and taking care of each other through the chaos and excitement of race week was a highlight of the season.

I joined DTE in 2025 as part of the award program and development team, drawn in by the community, the energy, and the opportunity to grow as a rider. I’m 28 years old and split my time between Denver, Colorado, and London, England. I’ve been racing for three years, and because I’m still so new to the sport, every event somehow becomes my new favorite. Highlights from 2025 include Adventure Fest in Fruita, FoCo Fondo, and Gravel Nationals.

One of my favorite DTE memories was a training ride with a mix of development team riders, a NICA rider, and other women from the community. It was this multigenerational, inclusive group, all of us hammering and flying down Left Hand Canyon. It felt like the heart of what cycling community should be, connection, effort, and pure fun.

I started riding bikes as a commuter when I moved to England, entered my first gravel race shortly after, and the rest is history. Looking ahead to the 2026 season, I’m excited to continue racing through my own privateer program while staying connected to DTE. Being a privateer feels a bit like being a pirate on the open seas, not entirely sure where I’m headed, but having Starla and the team behind me gives me the confidence to go for it. When I’m not training, you’ll usually find me out on my bike chatting to anyone and everyone, or posted up at a café with a coffee and a pastry.

Greetings from Fort Collins, CO! I’m 52 and returning for my 4th year with DTE as an alumnae rider and past Pursuit Awardee. Being part of this program has been truly transformational and has served as the motivation I needed to commit to my gravel cycling aspirations after some medical setbacks.

It’s never too late to try something new and put yourself out there. DTE was the key to bringing back my confidence and trying things I never thought I could do. My main goals have always been to show up, ride safe, and have fun. I’m all about #bikejoy!

My favorite gravel race has always been FoCo Fondo, the local gravel race here in Fort Collins. I love all the training rides they offer and the inclusive community surrounding the event. DTE challenged me to step outside the comfort of Fort Collins and explore all the great events in Colorado.

I love riding Adventure Fest, there is nothing like desert riding in Fruita. I also love riding in Steamboat, whether it’s big events like SBT GRVL or bikepacking with friends, it has always been one of my favorite places to ride.

It’s impossible to overstate how much I love mountain biking. I feel alive and at home on the trails. Climbing, bombing, cruising, I love it all.

I’m Erin Hall, and I live in Fort Collins. I joined DTE in 2025 as an award athlete, and it has been such a privilege to be part of this amazing, supportive group of women. Everyone on DTE inspires and impresses me. Every time I zip up my DTE jersey, I feel unstoppable.

I officially started training and racing in 2024 at the age of 60. I needed something healing to focus on as I got to know the intense grief of losing a child. Riding doesn’t take the grief away, but it gives me many reasons to appreciate life.

My favorite race of all time is the Dakota 5-0 in Spearfish, South Dakota. My husband and I started taking our two boys to this race in 2010, and it became an incredibly special annual tradition. My favorite Colorado race is the Apex Stage Race in Colorado Springs. I love the challenge of multi-day events.

Now at 61, I’m looking forward to another full season of racing and proudly representing Distance To Empty. Let’s go!!!

I'm a Washington DC native who found her way back to Colorado to pursue a doctorate in physical therapy. As a pelvic health physical therapist, I'm passionate about my work. Outside the clinic, I enjoy crocheting, silversmithing, and indulging in cookies with my miniature schnauzer, Alfie.

In 2018, a climbing accident left me with a spinal cord injury, changing my mobility. But biking became my newfound source of freedom and independence. From learning to ride on an Oregon beach to pedaling on recumbent bikes at Craig Hospital post-injury, biking embodies movement, autonomy, and a return to the mountains for me.

I'm an East Coast native who found her way to Colorado in 2022. With a background in biomedical engineering, I'm passionate about female leadership in tech, mentoring, and embracing my Indian heritage.

In my spare time, I love running, exploring new foods, cheering on sports teams, and traveling. Despite cultural barriers, I've pursued various athletic passions, from biking and randonneuring to snowboarding. Now diving into gravel biking, I'm eager to connect with the community, push my limits, and empower others who share my background. Biking isn't just a hobby for me—it's a space of growth, connection, and empowerment.

Hi! I’m Annie Leithead, and I really love to ride my bike. In addition to toodling (and often racing) on two wheels, I moonlight as a medical student. My dream is to be a physician serving rural Coloradans in a mountain town.

I find solace on the bike, it’s an opportunity to synthesize the day and photosynthesize a bit of sun. I hold the taste of a mid-ride espresso in equal importance with the breathlessness of crossing the finish line in a hard-fought effort. More succinctly, I believe all riding is good and important. To me, this is the ethos of DTE: spreading the love of the sport through both competition and visibility.

My favorite event is FoCo Fondo, and my favorite DTE memory is racing FoCo Fondo this past year with so many teammates. Yahoo! I’m proud to be a part of this program since joining as a pursuit rider in 2025.

Here are some photos for you. I think the podium photo has a bit more personality, but business is business, so I also included a more straightforward kit photo. Use whatever works best for the website and your vision!

I'm originally from the UK and moved to the US for a research position at UT 13 years ago. After living in Austin for a decade, I relocated to Golden, CO, where I work full-time in the tech industry and enjoy life with my husband and 6-year-old daughter.

Cycling has been my sanctuary, especially after a breast cancer diagnosis at age 36, just months after giving birth. Despite undergoing over 20 surgeries, chemotherapy, and radiation, I refused to let cancer define me. Two years ago, faced with the news of cancer spreading to my spine, I embarked on intensive treatment, leaving me temporarily wheelchair-bound.

Today, I'm grateful to be in remission and back on the bike. Selling my e-bike, I purchased a gravel bike to reclaim my fitness and participated in the SBT GRVL race, completing the 60-mile course and raising funds for a local non-profit. While I may not reach the peak of my previous fitness, I've gained a new appreciation for resilience and the healing power of exercise. My journey inspires me to advocate for the role of outdoor adventure in cancer survivorship.”

I love to spend my time riding and racing mountain bikes, fly fishing, and skiing. I first got into cycling after years as a Division I runner and all the stress fractures that came with it. I traded my running shoes for a bike and never looked back. The sport gives me everything running did and more.

I love the strength and empowerment I feel on my bike, along with the community it has given me. I joke that every friend I have is somehow related to bikes, and it’s not really a joke. Living in the mountains, I revel in all the miraculous places I can pedal to on my mountain bike. In 2022, I rode the Colorado Trail with my best friend and felt more connected to the earth, my bike, and myself than ever before.

My journey in cycling continues to evolve, with new opportunities and adventures at every turn. For now, my goal is to be an advocate for female grassroots racing and riding in my community and to continue trying new things on the bike. I’m most excited about being a DTE ambassador because of the other women I’ll learn from and grow with.

I’m Zoe Zwecker, 27, currently living in Maine and working in clean energy while learning how to move my body in a sustainable way. I began racing in Maine on my public high school’s mountain bike team as the only girl. I went to college in Colorado, where I continued racing but mostly grew my love for the sport through goofy exploration and skill-building out West.

I found an amazing group of badass female riders, fell fully in love with biking, and fell in love with Colorado, too. After graduation, I moved to Boulder to chase some semi-pro bike dreams. I committed to training, gathered sponsors, and went to big races.

I joined the DTE community in 2024 as an ambassador, and one of my all-time favorite memories is racing Breck Epic alongside DTE teammates. I’m so excited to continue being part of this community and supporting the mission to get more women on bikes and advocate for equality in sport.

I believe strong networks of support allow us to reach our full potential, while a lack of connection and belonging can quietly limit growth. For a long time, I had big goals and the willingness to work hard, but I was missing a true sense of community, a place to learn, be supported, and belong.

That search led me to become a Distance To Empty Ambassador. I didn’t want just a group of riders, I wanted a team in the fullest sense, a place to receive mentorship, show up imperfectly, and do hard things alongside other women who continue to choose growth and resilience. As an ambassador, I’m here for connection, shared effort, and building something deeper than what social media or one-day events can offer.

On the bike, I’m drawn to ambitious pursuits in the mountains and desert, including long-form adventures and stage races like Breck Epic and Moab Rocks. While big rides are exciting, my deeper focus is on building sustainable habits that support long-term growth, consistency, strength, and longevity in the sport.

Most importantly, cycling has helped me build confidence, self-trust, and the ability to move through challenges with intention. I’m grateful to be part of DTE, a community that brings us fully into our bodies, helps us process experience, and reminds us that doing hard things together makes us stronger.

I joined Distance To Empty in 2024 as an ambassador, because I was searching for something deeper than a cycling team. I wanted a community of women who understood what it meant to ride while going through something, women who show up with compassion, grit, and heart. I found that kind of understanding and support in DTE.

I began racing bikes in 2018 after recovering from neuroinvasive West Nile Virus. My first event was the Courage Classic, a comeback ride that helped me rediscover strength, purpose, and belief in my body again. Since then, gravel has become my primary focus, with dreams of expanding into mountain biking and adventure riding in the years ahead. After a major crash in 2024, this season is about rebuilding my body, confidence, and skills in my own way and in my own time, honoring the idea that healing is part of the journey, not the end of it.

Off the bike, I live in Fort Collins, Colorado, where I work as a holistic pet health coach, helping pets and their families live long, strong, joyful lives together. At 54, I’m grateful to ride alongside a team of women who support one another through every mile and remind me that faith, healing, and adventure are always worth the ride.

Hello, my name is Rachel, and I can’t talk about who I am without talking about my family. If you spend five minutes with me, you’ll quickly learn that the two most important parts of my life are my wife and our dog. Together, we make up a sometimes chaotic, often adventurous, and always joyful little family.

We joke that we have the best worst luck. We’ve faced our share of challenges, but those experiences have made us stronger and more connected. Their love and support have taught me to believe that I can do hard things and that choosing not to pursue a challenge out of fear is a disservice to the strong, capable woman I know I can be.

As a Distance To Empty Ambassador, that mindset carries directly onto the bike. I come from a road cycling background and am continuing my transition into gravel, chasing new adventures and building new skills along the way. The dirt is calling, and I’m ready to ride, grateful to represent a community that believes in growth, courage, and showing up fully for the ride ahead.

I’m an East Coast girl at heart and spent most of my life in Virginia before moving to Colorado in August 2022 from Arlington, VA, and I absolutely love it here. I live with my husband, our 9-year-old son, and our two dogs. I love being outside and am on a mission to help my son fall in love with mountain biking, one ride at a time.

I’ve always loved biking, but I never had a strong community to ride with or learn from. Becoming a DTE Ambassador has given me exactly that, a supportive group of women who push each other, share knowledge, and make the sport feel more accessible and welcoming. Through DTE, I’m continuing to build my biking community and grow my confidence and skills on the bike. This season, I’m excited to line up for a mix of mountain bike, cyclocross, and gravel races, no road racing for me.

Off the bike, I work part-time as a Program Manager for the nonprofit &Mother, an organization dedicated to breaking down the barriers that limit a woman’s ability to pursue both a career and motherhood. I’m deeply passionate about making biking more inclusive and accessible for moms and for anyone who may feel hesitant about getting on a bike. I’m grateful to represent DTE and help create spaces where more women feel confident showing up and riding.

I grew up as an Army brat with parents devoted to the mountains, so no matter where we moved, we found a way to make our pilgrimage to nature. That connection has stuck with me all my life and ultimately culminated in my love of cycling.

I’m a part-time teacher, photographer, full-time mom, and outdoor enthusiast. My husband and I live in Fort Collins, where we try to explore straight out our backyard as often as possible. I keep busy with my seven-year-old daughter and five-year-old son, who are both finally pedaling their own bikes with gears, so the riding world is really opening up for us as a family. We are passionate about being outside and spending time enjoying our wonderful state and beyond in our Sprinter Van, named Mosie after an amazing elephant (if you haven’t read the book Modoc, it’s a must).

We are primarily mountain bikers who love to end a long ride with a beer at a local brewery, but we’ve also caught the gravel bug. We enjoy sharing our love of cycling and outdoor experiences with our kids, and many of our family vacations are centered around trying new bike trails or ending with a weekend race. Bike culture is truly central to our lifestyle, as both my husband and I are active on local cycling teams, and we help coach our local kids’ cycling club called Wolfpack.

I have loved being a part of DTE for the past two years in an ambassador capacity. The amount of support and positivity is contagious and has encouraged me to sign up for events I hadn’t considered in the past. DTE truly embodies the idea of women supporting women, and I can’t wait for more shared experiences this year with the DTE crew.

Once a DTE member, always a DTE member. While some of our riders eventually move out of state or out of the country, or take a step back from bikes and racing to focus on school, careers, or family, they never leave the heart of this community. DTE is built on shared experiences, mutual support, and the understanding that life moves in seasons. Whether someone is lining up at the start line, riding for joy, or simply carrying the lessons learned here into the next chapter of their life, they remain part of what we’re building. This is a community that values people over results, connection over competition, and belonging no matter where the road leads next.