Empowering Women's Cycling With Regroup Racing's Lindsay Allison Gaesser
Regroup Racing's Lindsay Gaesser talks bikes, building community and what's needed to get more women into cycling.
January 20, 2025
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INTERVIEW
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.
WORDS & PHOTOS
Regroup
To paraphrase the song, Senator Kyrsten Sinema doesn't like bikes. She loves them. Although, as she told us when we caught up on the phone recently to talk about her life and cycling, the phenomenon that is the US Senator for Arizona didn't start riding bikes until 2013. Sure, there'd been a bike before, but only in an a-to-b way. What kickstarted her passion for the bike? "I decided to do an Ironman," she says. There was only one problem. The Senator would need to put in some serious miles even to have a chance of completing the cycling portion. And learn how to swim.
Few people would sign up for an Ironman without knowing how to swim. Kyrsten did. But, as her colleagues would no doubt attest, when it comes to Kyrsten, there’s no roadblock she can’t roll through. So, how did she find herself on the line for one of the most challenging events on the calendar? “Well, I saw the Ironman down in Tempe and wanted to do it!” she says, laughing with a surprising gentleness between streams of straight-talking gusto. It’s a beguiling and slightly terrifying mix that must really move things along at the office.
“In October 2012, a month before I was elected to Congress, I did the half-Ironman relay,” she continues. “It was 70.3 miles, and I did the run portion, while my friend did the cycle portion and another the swim. As I was running and meeting the other people, I realized they had done all three sports while I had only done the run. Insane!”
At the end of the race, while others reached for silver blankets, Kyrsten demonstrated the sort of energy reserves that would put her in good stead for the long rides to come, hurrying home to shower, change and “head out to campaign.” That night, when she got into bed, she told herself that next year, she’d do the lot – swim, run and cycle. “Then I thought, I’d better learn how to swim. And probably ride a bike more.”
Would the Senator say she’s naturally competitive? “Just a tad!” she laughs. “It was pretty absurd, but in the end, I did fine.” Four Ironmans later, she’d “gotten a lot faster and better.” And then she retired.
While Ironmans had given Kyrsten a feel and fever for the road, an introduction to gravel riding took her in a whole new direction, fueling a passion for the trail that now encompasses even wider tires, full suspension, and flat bars—gravel grinding and mountain biking.
“When COVID hit, I had just purchased my first gravel bike,” she says. “And I realized I loved gravel riding – loved it. I’d always preferred trail running to street running, and gravel riding is to cycling what trail running is to street running.” What is it about gravel biking that she loves so much? She thinks for a moment. “You’re out in the desert; you can hear the desert doves, smell the dirt and see the cactus – it’s beautiful.”
As kissing cousins, going from road to gravel is an easy transition. But it’s a long way from the asphalt to the alpine. So, how did the Senator find her way to mountain biking? “I blame Adam at Regroup,” she laughs. “He definitely talked me into it. When it comes to me and bikes, that is not a hard thing to do.” Neither is enjoying the easy speed and freedom of being out in the desert Arizona affords.
While we’re on the topic, I take the opportunity to ask Kyrsten what off-road cycling is like in Arizona. “Adam and I did a ride about a week ago and left around midday, which isn’t something you would normally do here in Arizona, but we’d gotten caught up over coffee and were messing around with our bikes. Anyway, it was surprisingly crisp. We rode for almost two hours and no joke, we must have commented about how beautiful it was about 37 times,” she says. “Maybe 40. There was no one around. It smelled clean and crisp like only the desert can. The sun had started to shine. It was one of the most beautiful days of the year. It was incredible.” And even though Kyrsten likes riding in other places, noting Colorado and Utah as favorites, she says there’s something very special about Arizona. “It’s the juxtaposition of the desert, the trees – it’s very hard to describe, but the effect is palpable and unique.”
"What I like about the bike is it's a time just to be human. And when I ride with a group, we talk about life, which is not often politics, despite the media portraying people as politics-obsessed. In my experience, they're not. People are just living their lives."
KYRSTEN SINEMA
To politics for a moment – don’t worry, we won’t be here long. Does the Senator benefit from the chance to talk and easy back-and-forth being on the bike enables? “I try to avoid talking about politics on the bike. Plus, my colleagues are too old to ride!” More laughter. “What I like about the bike is it’s a time just to be human. And when I ride with a group, we talk about life, which is not often politics, despite the media portraying people as politics-obsessed. In my experience, they’re not. People are just living their lives.” She talks about the danger of politicians living in bubbles, not speaking to people who reside in real life. “I often tell my colleagues just to get in an Uber and listen to the driver,” she says. “Because what the driver is talking about is not politics. And the same goes for what we talk about on the bike. It’s real, and it matters.”
I wonder, though, when the Senator has time to ride her bikes. Isn’t her schedule a little hectic? “Oh, I plan my cycling way in advance! “I’ll text Adam and be like, ‘I’ll be home in three weeks on a Tuesday. Can you go ride?'” As to the challenge of staying fit while shouldering a heavy travel schedule, Kyrsten makes judicious use of an indoor trainer at her homes in Arizona and Washington. “Yep, I ride my Kickrs several times a week, wherever I am,” she explains. “If I’m at a hotel, I’ll jump on a Peloton or whatnot to keep my fitness up. But when I’m home in Arizona, given the chance, I go ride gravel or mountain.”
And does she bring the same fusion of fashion and color to the bike as she so famously does in Washington? “Ha, of course! I like my kit to match my bike, helmet, socks, water bottles, and hydration pack if I wear one. The whole thing has to match.”
With our time running down, I fire off a few fast questions only a serious cyclist could confidently answer. Favorite ride snack? “I love untapped maple sticks – especially the raspberry one. Other than that, a raspberry/lemon or a cherry/pistachio Skratch bar.” Favorite 2-hour loop? “100%, the loop we ride at Brown’s Ranch” she says without a pause. “I could ride that every single day.”
Best bike right now? “Oh, right now, my mountain bike, a gorgeous Orbea Oiz. It feels like you can take it anywhere. It rides like a cloud.” And the most critical question – her favorite Regroup beverage? “Dealer’s choice!” she laughs. “I’m such a creature of habit that ordering a drink is my chance to let someone else decide and force me out of my comfort zone.”
With retirement from headline politics on the horizon, I ask Kyrsten what the bike holds for her in 2025. “At the moment, nothing is set in stone,” she says. “Although I will say that because of scheduling, I didn’t get a chance to do a single gravel race this year. But in 2023, I did two Belgian Waffle rides, Steamboat and the Last Best Ride in Montana, and I had a ball at all of them. So for 2025, I’d love to do more gravel and mountain bike racing, especially the Cedar City Belgian Waffle in Utah.” Why that one in particular? “The terrain is gorgeous, and it brings me great joy.”
We’ll see you out there, Senator.
