{"id":30890,"date":"2025-07-29T03:23:08","date_gmt":"2025-07-29T03:23:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/30890\/"},"modified":"2025-07-29T03:23:08","modified_gmt":"2025-07-29T03:23:08","slug":"steamboat-raised-cyclist-takes-gold-in-endurance-mountain-biking-national-race","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/30890\/","title":{"rendered":"Steamboat-raised cyclist takes gold in endurance mountain biking national race"},"content":{"rendered":"

Taking the gold at the USA Cycling Endurance Mountain Biking National Championships is a big deal for cyclist Wren Capra \u2014 but it\u2019s not everything.<\/p>\n

The Steamboat Springs-raised athlete, 19, traveled to Roanoke, Virginia to participate in her second national championship event on July 16 \u2014 but she didn\u2019t compete solely to win.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnlike a lot of people, I race so that I have an incentive to train, rather than training because my reward is to race,\u201d said Capra. \u201cI really enjoy racing, but mostly, I love the process that goes into it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Capra\u2019s first-place short track win, in a time of 19:57, is a testament to her love of the sport, which was sparked a couple years ago after joining rides with Steamboat Velo, a local organization that helps foster the community\u2019s love for cycling through group rides and events.<\/p>\n

After taking time off from cycling due to family issues, Capra started officially training for competitions only last year. Now, she\u2019s a two-time endurance mountain biking national champion.<\/p>\n

Capra said her history in Nordic skiing<\/a> helped her gain confidence in developing strategies and competing. After she started biking, Capra transferred her ski racing skills to biking.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnlike (Nordic) skiing, I can go anywhere on my bike,\u201d said Capra. \u201cI\u2019ve been able to explore all over Routt County, and I just started falling in love with it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The mid-July endurance mountain bike race was Capra\u2019s second time competing at the national level, following her win in the same race last year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Wren Capra, 19, is now a two-time national champion in endurance mountain biking after her July 16 win in Roanoke, Virginia.Elizabeth Lindsey\/Courtesy photo<\/p>\n

In addition to being a two-time endurance mountain biking national champion, Capra also came in second in the cross-country bike race and sixth in the marathon mountain bike discipline in the same category. <\/p>\n

Capra attributes her success to the people and sponsors who support her, including her team, Avout, a Denver-based team comprised of racers from across the country.<\/p>\n

At the core of it all, Capra simply loves the journey.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy success has caught me by surprise,\u201d she said. \u201cI just love being outside. I love exploring and adventuring and meeting new people. Racing is an outlet for that because it allows you to ride in new places and push yourself so differently than you\u2019re able to alone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Capra noted that one thing she loves about biking is getting to know her surroundings. As a geography major at Middlebury College in Vermont, Capra is excited by discovering new terrain.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I ride in Steamboat or at school, I have a real sense of place,\u201d she said. \u201cI know which roads go where and I know what\u2019s on those roads \u2026 When I go to new places, being able to establish that mental math in my mind is so satisfying and interesting to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

In every moment of the competition, Capra does it for the love of the sport.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe best part (of a race) is when I make a point to warm up or cool off on the trainer so that I\u2019m able to ride the roads around the venue,\u201d added Capra.<\/p>\n

Moving forward, Capra plans to compete in the Gravel National Championships on Sept. 20 in La Crescent, Minnesota.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen the pieces come together and you\u2019re able to execute smooth riding and a fast race \u2026 that makes the time investment worth it,\u201d said Capra. \u201cI\u2019m just so proud that I was able to pull everything together and give it all I\u2019ve got.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Taking the gold at the USA Cycling Endurance Mountain Biking National Championships is a big deal for cyclist…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":30891,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[445],"tags":[49,48,635,82],"class_list":["post-30890","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-cycling","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30890","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30890"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30890\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30891"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30890"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30890"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30890"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}