AMANDA BATTY | FROM: PARK CIT Y, UTAH | CREDENTIALS: FORMER PROFESSIONAL HATER AND MEDIOCRE BIKE RACER | GO-TO BIKE: SANTA CRUZ MEGATOWER | FAVORITE PIECE OF GEAR: SRAM
EAGLE GROUPSET | HARDEST RIDE EVER: RIGHT NOW, IT FEELS LIKE EVERY SINGLE ONE | BEST RIDE EVER: RIDES WHERE I DON’T SEE LAME-ASS B-LINES FROM PEOPLE TOO CHICKEN TO RIDE THE LEGIT SHIT
| SOUL ROUTE: “THE LOLLIPOP,” AN EQUAL MIX OF EXCRUCIATINGLY PAINFUL UPS AND STUPIDLY TECHNICAL DESCENTS | CYCLING PHILOSOPHY: SHUT UP, WORK HARDER, AND MAKE ROOM FOR EVERYONEGOING FAST
WAS THE LEAST
RISKY THING I
EVER DID
AND I WENT PLENTY FAST. FAST
enough to sustain a 10-year career as a
professional mountain bike racer. Fast
enough to stand on podiums (includ-
ing the national championships).
Fast enough to ride at and past my limits
so many times that the destroyed leg that
led me to decide to end my career was just
one of the thousands of injuries that could
have left me paralyzed or dead.
But here’s the thing: As crazy as people
might have thought I was on the bike, I
always used my racing to back up what I
considered the real risk-taking. I still con-
sider the jump that nearly cost me my leg
to be one of the low-risk chances I took.
Yes, I spent much of my life jumping off
of things and going far too fast on objects
w ith shockingly inadequate stopping power.
But, from falling in love, to chasing a dream
job, to being v ulnerable enough to connect
with other humans, all of life is a risk. It’s
a non-negotiable condition of living: None
of us succeed at ever y thing we tr y, and any
misstep might leave us ruined, altering the
course of our existence forever.
I’m here to say hell yes to that! The risks
I’ve taken just around cycling alone (and
which don’t involve actually riding) are
lengthy and complicated, and may have cost
me dearly or pointed me to new paths (or
both), or still be undecided in terms of out-
come. From losing multiple World Cham-
pionship team spots because of the way I
spoke up about the nonsense of USA CyclingBATTY LOADS
UP HER BIKE
AF TER A DAY
OF SHREDDING
IN MONTICELLO,
UTAH.politics, to starting my own not-for-profit
bike giveaway out of frustration that I didn’t
see anyone doing it the way I thought it
could be done, to demanding publicly and
loudly that cycling be a place for everyone,
I keep hanging myself out there.
Why?
Soon after I decided that the reward of
being known as that “fast chick” no longer
outweighed the unnecessary risks I had to
take in order to keep that useless reputation,
what I had seen as a limitation (no moreracing) rapidly became a fresh perspective
on better ways to take risks, to raise the
bar, to gamble the farm and see what hap-
pens. As I fight these days to push past the
classic role of “retired athlete,” and work
harder than ever to get people on bikes, to
crush stigma and sexism and racism and
transphobia, I have found new energy, found
that I can still survive a worst-case scenario
and turn a mistake into an asset.
As someone who has also dealt with crip-
pling unhappiness and repetitive ❯❯
28 BICYCLING.COM • ISSUE 1 | 2020 Photograph byKIM RAFF