Can you be a pro athlete and an environmentalist? Earth Day reflections from a pro cyclist trying to be both

Like every good millennial in the outdoor or bike industry, we wake up each day feeding the contradiction that is our existence. A sentiment that is both hyperbole and also not, because ultimately, each of us participating in the thing we love is sort of squashing the thing we love. Dramatic yet true: each ride, each product, every social post is celebrating the outdoors while also killing it.

I’m not a scientist, geologist, biologist, economist, or any other kind of “-ist” with data-driven credentials on the future of our planet. But I am a professional athlete and environmental advocate — someone who spends most of her days outside and cares deeply about keeping those places wild and intact. So, in recognition of Earth Day, I wanted to share a reflection on the paradox of living a life outdoors that ultimately harms the outdoors — and how I try to navigate the tension between loving it and preserving it.

This notion is harder than you think. We are all a walking (or riding) contradiction. It’s impossible not to be one —don’t worry, you’re not in trouble, we’re in this one together. By purchasing a bike, a kit, tyres, components, shoes, helmets, sunglasses, a bike rack or a vehicle to get to a cool riding destination, you’ve left your mark on our planet. Even worse, we’ve been sold the comforting idea that recycling somehow offsets it all — a way of repenting for our environmental sins. Just toss your empty bubbly water can in the right bin, rinse out the yoghurt container, and carry on feeling like we’ve done our part. But the hard truth is that recycling may just be one of the most successful greenwashing campaigns of all time. I won’t go deep down that rabbit hole, but I will say this: maybe take a moment to look up who paid for the first big ad campaign about recycling, and come to your own conclusions.

I digress, you’re here because we all love bikes, and here I am talking about washing out yoghurt cups. I don’t have a simple, ‘do these 10 things to save our planet and we’ll all live happily ever after’ list, because the idea of “saving our planet” is a little less sexy than that. Instead, here’s a list of the things I’ve done, the things I want to do more of and the things I want to do less of. And perhaps we can all work together to save our beloved outdoors?

• Take care of your stuff! It’s both economical and environmental to make what you have last longer. If you don’t have the know-how yourself, your local bike shop is a wonderful resource.
• Buy nice stuff. We all get suckered into buying that new cool thing that everyone has. But maybe do a quick internet search and see what it’s really made of, if it will last or if it’s just a fad.
• Carpool to rides, races and events. Or better yet, ride there! Check out this guy who is riding to all of the LTGP races…from Canada!
• Share resources. This is for all of my fellow pros out there: we get a lot of stuff, we have a lot of support. Let’s be nice and share these things. Do we really need to fly more people all over the place? Do we need to dispose of that barely used tyre? People love to give me s*** about driving a school bus from one race to the next, but in that bus I’m schlepping not only myself but also a few fellow bike racers, a mechanic, a lot of gear and even my place of lodging.
• Why so much team kit? This is a big one for us pro athletes. Do we really need 10 new jerseys and bibs, 20 pairs of socks of the new team garb, or can we get away with less? Perhaps re-use what stays the same?
• We throw away a lot of wrappers - ride food comes in small, single-use packaging. If you want to recycle — even though I just called it a greenwashing campaign — there is a cool company that takes old nutrition wrappers and recycles them. And if you ride and race your bike a lot, then you know just how many wrappers you amass!
• The least glamorous — but maybe most important — piece of advice last: get involved.. Join your local trail-building associations, advocacy groups, bike clubs, group rides or shop meetups. These are your entry points into real community, real connection, and real change. If your town needs safer roads, more bike lanes, better trails, or funding — this is where it starts. Show up. Speak up. And vote in local elections to get people who care about bikes and the outdoors into decision-making roles. That’s how we make change happen.

I know that the topic of climate change, the environment, or the future of our planet can become politicised quickly, and I certainly don’t want to be yet another person yelling into the void that is the internet about politics. I’m here as a fellow cyclist, another bike racer, a professional athlete, to encourage you to keep doing the thing you love. Keep riding your bike. Take care of it. Take care of the places you ride it and take care of each other. That’s really the best we can do. Happy Earth Day.