Virginia's Blue Ridge TWENTY24 athlete Marlies Mejias Garcia took a solid victory at the GF Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic. With over 1,000 competitors Marlies finished 1st woman and was 17th overall. She will head to the USA soon to compete with her teammates in Speedweek and Arlington weekend.

Marlies is coached by KX3 Lifestyle and Coaching co-founder, Nicola Cranmer 

"Tough race for me during last weekend’s UCI Esports World Championships on Zwift Never have I suffered more during a race. At least I had the best cheer squad! Also was super stoked to see 3 USA teammates in the top 10. Feeling incredibly humbled and thankful to have had another opportunity to represent the U.S. We’ll try again next year."- Shayna Powless (KX3 Athlete L39ion of LA athlete) 

Valley of the Sun was my first race of the season and with the team. After the tt Melisa one of my teammates (and also a KX3 athlete coached by Coach Emma White) was in first and so the juniors were tasked with keeping her in the GC. We got to work as a team (not perfectly of course) to try and bring back some attacks in the road race. The crit was where we got to do more stuff. Most of the juniors had specific jobs and mine was to attack whenever I could. I had so much fun in this race I got to attack around seven ish times, not all of them were good attacks but they were still helpful. I’m the end thanks to my other teammates also doing their jobs well and Melisa’s hard work we finished with her still at the top of the gc! Overall a pretty successful race with a lot of firsts." - Mahika Peterson, KX3 Athlete

Mahika is coached by Coach Kaitie Keough 

In the last 15 years as a bike racer, there is one person that has without a doubt or any hesitation, had the most influence on me, my career, and my life.

I have been coached by Kristin Armstrong for almost nine years. Since I started racing for HotTubes Junior Development team at 16, through medaling at the Tokyo Olympics this past year at 24, she has helped me through it all. Even in that time, because of the distance, our crazy schedules, and just not finding the need to meet up in person, we saw each other only a handful of times in those nine years. With everything that I have been through, highs and lows of the sport, changing teams, a college degree, World Championships, COVID, Olympics, retirement etc… she has been through it all with me. Inevitably, that makes a relationship pretty darn strong!

When I learned about the Order of Ikkos medal, there was no question in my mind that I would present it to Krstin. I had a conversation with USAC and told...

It all started with a game of “Would You Rather.” We’d had our fill of screen-time, yet we still needed some form of entertainment on the night before the 2022 USATF Cross Country National Championships. Having eaten a giant bowl of carbs smothered in creamy pesto sauce, served with a side of buttered carbs and a salad (a pre-race meal more suited to running a marathon than a measly six kilometers), I felt too sluggish to even stand up. Sprawled diagonally across San Diego Mission Bay Resort’s bed and nestled amongst four pillows, I turned to Jenny.

“One kind of chips for the rest of your life: would you rather have potato chips or tortilla chips?”

“Hmmmm….I dunno…” she said.

“Potato chips,” said Jack, her son. He didn’t even hesitate.

“Only vanilla or only chocolate for the rest of your life: which would you rather?” 

“CHOCOLATE!” We all agreed on this one.

The Would You...

KX3 athlete Shayna Powless shares one of her recovery tips.  "I have been racing for many years and I absolutely love being able to share my knowledge of the sport with others."

My first tip is focused on recovery. Recovery is an essential part of maximizing performance and is just as important as the training itself! One thing that everyone should incorporate into their recovery routine is to drink a protein shake within 20 minutes after a workout. Whether it is an easy or hard workout, a protein shake gives your body the amino acids it needs to repair and rebuild muscle tissue. The 20-minute time window is important because you want to begin the recovery process as quickly as possible after exercising. I personally love to use the Clif Chocolate Recovery protein mix (but any chocolate recovery powder works, or even chocolate milk ) with either water or almond milk. If you are at home you can mix it up a bit and add raspberries or your favorite...