I'm slowly catching up with myself on what I accomplished this year and all it's meant to me. I won both World Cup overall titles. I won 9 World Cup races throughout the season. I stood next to my teammates / close friends on the podium in every one of them.
I have worked for this for so long, and in a way ever since I started BMX racing at age 5. None of the steps along the way felt like big leaps, instead it's just years and years of work and support stacked on top of each other that brought me here.
I wanted this title badly throughout this season. I wanted it badly to honor all that work, and because you never know if this opportunity will come again. I wanted it badly for all the people that have showed up for me again and again and put their hearts and minds into helping me be my best. I wanted it badly because trying to master this sport continues to teach me so much about myself and life.
And I did it this year. I'm feeling really proud and grateful for all of it. I know that this process is far from over and there's so much more I can put in. Thank you to everyone who's cheered me along throughout this 2025 season 🫶 // #NFTF @piperalbrecht@michalcervenyphoto
Reflections - a video / musing at the start of the season. Find it on the @stilspoke YouTube, we're hoping this tone is one we can take to a lot more projects this year. And unwrap the gift, whatever that means to you!
Filmed by @piperalbrecht
Edited by @ryder.schwartz
Alright well! time for a reset before the season could get going. I had a small wash out in training that ended with a broken collarbone. I'll be flying home early tomorrow and getting surgery next week.
It's definitely part of the sport, and I've been fortunate to have had many injury free years before this. I'm also so glad I've got my team around me with @specialized_factoryxc and @usacycling , along with multiple Dr. Blevins's in the fam to help me through (@kayleeblev graduated med school today so had to give her something to think about :)
Time to keep stepping, just on a different route than what we planned!
EPIC 9 is here!
Every generation of Epic seems to push the boundary for the whole sport, and I've been with Specialized long enough to really appreciate that process. Now we have the all new 9, which is the lightest full suspension bike ever - all the improvements from the previous 8 are subtle and sharp around race feel.
Feeling wise the bike just carries forward momentum so well and so quietly. The pedal platform, especially with the shock design, feels more direct and stable, and yet this comes through better sensitivity and traction on rough chattery terrain. I could go on about all the little things that make this bike so well suited for modern XCO, but more to share throughout the first World Cups.
I've loved being a part of helping shape this bike with the team at @iamspecialized , and I can't wait to put it on a race course this weekend in Korea! #Epic9 #evolutionofthefastest
Finding the still point is still the main point of it
Last central coast view from this spring to share before the first World Cup week properly starts, and things shift back to that clean simple focus of race mode. Happy to find myself back in that dance this week #NFTF
between the tunnel vision and the drifting finish lines
fidgeting with hope and fear
between the past i compare myself to
and the future I hope will arrive
i can finally see i’ll only find home here
