The Senator Slays: Kyrsten Sinema on Her Cycling Obsession
The fast-moving US Senator for Arizona talks bikes, gravel and why riding in her home state rocks.
December 13, 2024
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INTERVIEW
Empowering Women's Cycling With Regroup Racing's Lindsay Allison Gaesser
Bikes, building community and what's needed to get more women on the road
WORDS / PHOTOS
Regroup staff
Did you know that Regroup sponsors a women's cycling team? It's called Regroup Racing, and it's the initiative of community-building superstar, racer and all-round whirlwind Lindsay Allison Gaesser. If you race locally, you may have seen members of the team whizzing by, all pale blue and white kit, Orbeas and flashing smiles. The Regroup Racing team seems to run on fun. But like all good stories, the cycling prospects for the women on the team were not always so sunny, as Lindsay told us when we caught up in the fall of 2024 to talk about how the squad got started, women's cycling, her journey to the bike and building community.
“Before Regroup, I was on a mixed team for another shop in Scottsdale,” she begins. “I had two teammates, Anna and Christine, and it was like pulling teeth trying to get anything going that might drive the women’s racing side forward. And all we wanted to do was race. It became a real headache!” Handily, Lindsay’s partner is friends with Regroup’s founder, Adam, and, unbeknownst to her, had relayed some of Lindsay’s frustrations. In one of life’s neat moments when everything aligns, Adam expressed an interest in starting a women’s racing team and wondered if Lindsay might like to head it up. “We arranged a meeting, and I brought along my pitch deck with a few different scenarios based on what Adam may have wanted to commit to. I shot for the moon!” she laughs. “Adam took a look and, in his lovely, understated way, said, ‘Yep, I can do this.’ I was stunned that it was so easy and took it as a sign that Regroup is where we should be.”
Did she bring her friends over from her existing team, or did she intend to build a new team? “I spoke to Anna and Christine and told them what had happened at the meeting, and they were really happy to come along to build a fresh team at Regroup. So it was us three!” I mention to Lindsay that it might be pretty instructive to other women looking to build a bike racing team to explain her next steps, how she went from three to a fully fledged group of female racers. “I had a few people in mind – they were triathletes, but more importantly, they were part of ambassador teams for whatever brands they were repping, so there were no in-person meetups. They lacked a sense of community that I knew Regroup Racing could provide.” What was their reaction when she approached them? “That it sounded fun!” she replies. “Most of these ladies are really good friends of mine, so that helped. They did, of course, voice some concerns that they had never raced bikes before, at least only as part of a triathlon, but they were all game to give it a go.”
Slowly but surely, the team grew, culminating in ten women riding for Regroup in 2024. “We structured things so we had the Race team, and then a Collective team, novices that could step up to the race team when ready,” explains Lindsay. “The Collective comprised women who had never raced bikes before or were transitioning into cycling from another sport. It was the perfect vehicle to build confidence without the commitment to race. Having said that, most of the Collective team did race this year.” How did she get her teammates race-confident so quickly? “We hosted monthly team rides, focusing on race simulations, tactics, pace lining – everything from basic group riding to more advanced skills, like how to launch or reel in a breakaway.” It all sounds pretty comprehensive. “To speak to its effectiveness, one of the ladies on the Collective rode her first Criterium race last year, and she ended up having a blast.”
What’s the women’s racing scene like in Arizona? “We’re very crit-heavy. The problem is, there’s a stigma around crits – the crashes, the drama. And if women think that’s all there is, it’s a real bar to getting them into the wider racing environment. And there are lots of women who want to start racing.”
I’m interested to learn when Lindsay started racing and how her passion for cycling developed. “I started as a runner before an injury pushed me to cycling,” she says. “I dabbled in triathlons but didn’t like swimming, so I decided to commit to cycling.” Later, a trip to France and Italy and a road bike rental beside Lake Como accelerated her interest into a passion. “I had a whole week of amazing rides, amazing weather, amazing roads – it was cycling heaven!” she beams. “And because you’re in Lake Como, you have to go up and over mountains to get anywhere, so it was a huge week of climbing too, which I loved. Once I got back, I started getting up at 4 am just to watch the Tour de France, which had just started. I was hooked!”
Grad school in Boston followed, but because the roads weren’t conducive to road cycling, Lindsay turned to the trainer and a whole lot of Zwift. After school, she moved back to Arizona at the same time as the pandemic began. “And the roads were empty,” she says. “Amid so much negative stuff, I could at least ride and be outside. It felt safe.”
Fast forward to 2022, and with racing re-established, she jumped into a few events for the first time. “I grew up as an athlete and played Lacrosse, so that competitive drive has always been there. I love group rides, but racing is different.” How so? “You get so many endorphins, so much adrenaline; anxious nerves, but the good kind. I love it.” Why does she think she thrives in the race environment? “When I used to enter running races, one little thing could ruin your day. But in a bike race, anything can happen, even if you’re not feeling your best or get a mechanical. You can still get a good result – even a win. It rewards smart racing. “More democratic, in a sense? “Yeah, I think so. It’s interesting because there are so many pieces to a bike race, but you can control more. For example, if you don’t have the legs, you can sit in the group, manage your effort, and maybe plan an attack on your terms.”
We don’t wish to embarrass Lindsay, but a little bird told us she won her last race of the spring season and a crit, too – not her favourite race format. “I am not built for crits!” she laughs. “I won on a breakaway, which was the only way I could have won.” How did it go down? “I sat in and my teammates played cat-and-mouse off the front. They’d already told me they didn’t have the legs for a sprint, so we decided to keep it open. Anyway, when it got to the second to last corner, I gunned it and kept accelerating. I turned around, saw the gap growing, and realized this was it! This was the move!”
"So many rides are unapproachable, or essentially informal races. I'm interested in creating spaces for women cyclists, which by their nature work best as female-only rides."
LINDSAY ALLISON GAESSER
Outside of Arizona fly-bys, you might also have seen Lindsay and fellow Regroup Racing members at our Sunday Sabbatico shop rides, leading and showing new riders the ropes. But what you see at the shop is only an extension of the community-building Lindsay has been doing amongst the women’s cycling community in Arizona for the past few years. “Cycling is such a male-dominated sport, so in 2021, I started an IG account called @phxwmn, a one-stop shop for female cyclists in the Valley to find and join a group ride. It was also a neat way to connect women who had moved to the area with other local female riders. They’d DM me, and I’d see where they were and who lived nearby and help them find community. And separately, I also started hosting women’s rides in partnership with Regroup.”
Between work, the race team and driving the women’s cycling community forward, Lindsay has her hands full. How does she keep the plates spinning? “It’s a bit of a challenge,” she laughs. “But it’s worth it if we want to see more female cyclists.” What barriers does she think remain to getting more women into cycling? “So many rides are unapproachable, or essentially informal races. I’m interested in creating spaces for women cyclists, which by their nature work best as female-only rides.”
After a slow start and word of mouth, Lindsay’s rides became big events, so big that she had to outsource rides to other women in other parts of the community who wanted to start rides in their areas. “It gave those women leadership opportunities and drove further female engagement in cycling.”
When the pandemic struck, and Lindsay found herself temporarily unemployed, she also turned her community-building efforts towards gravel, starting a series of female-only gravel camps. “It was a positive thing for me to do mentally and physically,” she says. “We’d go down to Patagonia, Arizona. I’d rent an Airbnb for the weekend, and we’d all cook and ride together, so it had these lovely summer camp vibes. Later, we’d hang out by the campfire, and because it was only women, we’d talk about some of the female-specific challenges we might face in cycling. It was lovely.” Three years later, Lindsay is still organizing camps through her business, Grvl Camp. “I’ve made so many friends. And places like Patagonia never get old!”
It’s pretty clear that the women’s cycling community in Arizona owes a great debt of gratitude to people like Lindsay, riders who do the hard yards to make the world they want to see: a place where female cyclists feel welcome, valued, who enrich cycling culture and take it to new places, for the good of all.
As we finish up our conversation, we return to the topic of the Regroup Sunday Sabbatico rides, and I ask Lindsay what new attendees should expect. “It’s a great vibe. The pace is relaxed and there are designated regroups, so you can go hard if you want to, but everyone comes back together. That’s really important. It’s a lovely route and because everything about Regroup is suffused with Adam’s mid-west warmth, so is the Sabbatico.” Plus, there’s coffee to start, and more coffee and snacks upon your return, right? “I forgot the best part!” laughs Lindsay.
