Lauren Gregg’s Race Diaries, Episode 1
Hey, riders! My name’s Lauren Gregg. I’m excited to be partnering with ENDURO Mountainbike Magazine to bring you stories from the road about my life as a pro rider. Right now, it’s the off-season and I’m busy snowboarding, but I’m also spending lots of time drinking copious amounts of coffee and stuck in front of a computer planning and coordinating a rad season of adventures to share with you!
Let me give you a little background about who I am, and what I’ve got planned in 2016. Born and raised in Los Angeles, in 2009 I discovered mountain biking and it totally changed my life. I moved out of the city and into the mountains of the Western US and started racing cross country. After a couple years of hard work, I was racing on the Pro XC circuit. It was a great experience, but after my last season I was looking for a change. I hung up my XC bike, got a dirt jumper, and just messed around at the dirt jumps and on the pump track. Descending has always been my main passion, and after getting a trail bike and falling in love with mountain biking all over again, I wanted to try racing gravity. Enduro started gaining popularity in the States right around this time. I was ready to start competing again, but instead of going for DH, I decided to give enduro a try instead. As they say, “the rest is history…”
Finding True Love in Enduro
I love enduro – it’s the perfect race format for me and what I love to do on my bike. Shredding down a gnarly trail and feeling stoked (but lucky) to be alive at the bottom – that’s what I live for. But I also love the physical challenge and fitness of riding, too. My first year racing enduro was a challenge as I transitioned over from XC. There were lots of crashes and challenges along the way, but the season ended with success – I was able to take the 1st Place Pro Overall title in the California Enduro Series.
I was stoked to realize I had a future in the discipline. It was a great switch for me, and it’s been awesome seeing so many more fast female riders getting into enduro. The circuit really is a fun and welcoming environment, and although the competition is fierce, it’s also like one big family. It’s great watching the sport progress and seeing more and more people getting stoked about enduro and mountain biking in general. There is still a lot to learn and plenty of crashing and progression in my future, but now, two years later, I couldn’t be happier or more excited about the program I’ve got going for 2016.
Cheers to a killer 2016!
I’ve got a lot of rad plans in the works, and it’s going to be my most exciting, adventure-filled year yet! I’ll be travelling all over for preseason adventures, so keep your eyes out for riding stories from around the globe before the race season kicks off.
I’m also stoked to be partnering with Ford this year and converting a Transit van into my super sweet home on the road. I am so excited for #vanlife! Having a house on wheels is going to be a real game changer, and I can’t wait to be totally mobile and able to park at my favorite trailheads around North America all summer. Got a sick trail I need to check out? Let me know and the Transit and I will be on our way to your doorstep. I’ll be sharing the whole conversion process with you, plus my experiences living and racing in the Transit. With nothing to hold me back or tie me down, I can’t wait to discover what new experiences lay ahead. Yes, living in the van will have its own set of challenges, but I’m stoked for the big adventure and total freedom of life on the road.
Life on two wheels
So many times over the years I’ve thought to myself, “What the hell am I doing? Why don’t I just go out and get a normal job?” Sure, it’s been a struggle. There have been times I’ve had to choose between paying for food or paying for gas to get to a race. There have been times that a desk job sounded much more appealing than fighting to seal a tubeless tire with a floor pump without having had a shower or a roof over my head in a week. However, now that it’s all starting to come together, and looking at my year in front of me, I couldn’t be more grateful for this life on two wheels. I’m living my dream, and I would love to help encourage more people to take some chances and spend more time doing things that inspire them the way mountain biking inspires me.
My season is jam-packed with riding on the other side of the world, EWS races, trying to reclaim my title in the California Enduro Series, and training and racing. I’ll be sharing it all here with you through ENDURO Mountainbike Magazine. I always want to hear from you, too. I love interacting with riders on the trail and online – shoot me a message and let’s connect! I am excited to ride with lots of you and see plenty of friendly faces at the races and on the trails. Cheers to a killer 2016!
Enjoyed this episode? Take a trip to the first part of Lauren Gregg’s Race Diaries: Introduction
Follow Lauren on her adventures: Instagram | Blog | Lauren Gregg Official Website
Words: Lauren Gregg Photos: Scott McClain, Hannes Mautner, Abner Kingman, Steffen Gronegger
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