Ride, Race, Rivian, Repeat

“How do you balance it all?” This is usually the first question people ask when they learn I work full-time at Rivian while being a professional cyclist. The honest answer? I don’t. “Balance” evokes a sense of ease, and it does not feel easy. I work at Rivian as a program manager in our Product Development organization. I’m also a professional off-road cyclist for Pivot Cycles. I’ve been at Rivian for a year and a half, but I’ve been an athlete my entire professional career, first a runner, now a cyclist. While navigating my job and competition takes as much diligence, intention, and problem-solving today as when I first started, I now know how to translate the lessons I learn in each of the worlds to the other, and I’m lucky to have the best teams helping me, both at the office and on the course. 

Many of my Rivian colleagues know I’m a professional athlete, but few know the time and effort it entails — like how after I wrap up an afternoon of meetings, I pick up the phone to coordinate my race calendar for 2023 with team Pivot. Or how I’m up hours before my first call of the day pushing my threshold power during sets of 15 min intervals. Or how on any given Saturday I’m likely lining up next to ex-Olympians and world mountain bike champions fighting to hold their wheel for 5 hours. During Monday morning team check-ins, my mind is still processing emotions from the highs and lows of that weekend’s race. How can I possibly summarize the Leadville 100 (that’s miles) in a quick round-robin? The sidewall gash halfway down Powerline, a furious dash to Aid 1 with a leaking tire only to find we had no spare CO2, a battle to make up lost time as I approach the climb to 12,000 feet, a wasp stinging my neck while hurtling down Columbine at 35 mph, braving hail and lightning to finish twentieth among pro-women? When answering my colleague’s question, “How did your race go?” it’s often just easier to smile and reply, “Oh, alright.”

I could probably spend 40 hours per week figuring out the logistics for upcoming races–getting myself and my bike there and home, reviewing course maps, strategizing, and planning. But that’s not an option. To mitigate the stress of working until 6 PM the day before a race, I have to be cognizant of what’s coming, define a workable plan, and commit to that plan. It’s a constant practice in commitment and non-attachment; in being uncompromising yet adaptable; in making time and not wasting a moment. It means being ok with missing a pre-race shakeout ride and not being familiar with the course. But whether it’s contributing at Rivian or racing and training, what I’ve found crucial is being intentional: don’t make it optional, figure out what is necessary, and execute. But when the time comes, also accept you may have to scrap the plan entirely. 

Racing is not simply a test of who is the strongest or the fittest, just as being good at work is not about who is the smartest. To prepare, I put in countless hours of conditioning, skill-building, refining my nutrition and dialing in my gear. But racing, of course, never happens in a perfect, controlled vacuum of known variables. It’s often less about what you’ve done perfectly up to that point and more about whether you can manage the chaos of it all. When I get curveballs or face unexpected hurdles at work, I use what I’ve learned from the bike: if you can’t control the circumstances, adapt. The challenges I face in the workplace are rarely simple and often have no perfect answer. In both situations, the goal is to not give up in the face of adversity but to rely on my skills and judgment to keep moving forward. 

Of course, no matter how much effort or planning I put into work or racing, I couldn’t do either without a competent and committed team by my side. At Rivian, these are my brilliant colleagues and team leaders. In riding, I’m lucky to count Pivot as a sponsor, the best coach Chris Mcgovern, my supportive partner Stephen, and wonderful friends who also happen to like tooling around on bikes. Whether it’s helping mesh workout schedules with work obligations or seeking guidance and support when I face challenges outside of my control, I am always leaning on and learning from my teams. Alongside them, I’ve become more open, honest, and transparent about who I am and my values. While I haven’t perfected “balance” and I don’t always share the gritty details of a race, I hope my colleagues recognize how pursuing this passion on two wheels makes me a better teammate off the bike.

Words: Maude Farrell / Photos: Zack Piánko