5 Things I Learned About Gravel and Life from Laura King

We met Laura King in the second episode of the Girls Gone Gravel podcast. I had been following Laura on social media for almost a year and was excited to learn more about our podcast.

Listen to the entire podcast here.

Be confident in your own body.

If you haven't followed Laura, she recently gave birth to her first child and rode her bike throughout her pregnancy. Just a week after giving birth, she was back out on her bike. As you can imagine, she was an enigma to many of her doctors. For her, it was the combination of years of training, giving her confidence riding skills and the ability to listen to what her body needed rather than a one-size-fits-all approach that is often prescribed to women. She was very clear that this isn't the path for everyone.

I have a good friend who is also a fantastic cyclist. She thought she would ride throughout her pregnancy, but her body didn't respond. Running became an outlet, and recently she's transitioned that to walking because of the signals she's getting from her body. The point is, we should know and own what is right for our bodies.

During significant life transitions, we all struggle with the fear of losing our identity.

Laura has had two huge transitions in the past few years, first moving from California to rural Vermont and then transitioning to motherhood. She was candid about the fears she experienced, especially in the transition to motherhood. Even if you don't have children and like me, never plan to have them, I think we can all relate to this struggle right now. As a global society, we are all in the middle of a vast transition as a result of COVID-19. Most of us have lost something that we felt grounded our identity -- a job, freedom, an event that we were excited about -- and we are struggling with the fear of what our lives will be like in the future. The conversation with Laura reminded me that it's okay to struggle with this fear, and it's okay to be honest about it as we process with the people we love.

Change is rarely as bad as we make it out to be.

There's a delightful moment when Laura talks about bringing Hazel home from the hospital; you'll have to listen to hear it, that reminded me that the anticipation of change is often worse than what happens. It was another good reminder for me in a time of change and uncertainty.

Gravel is about the community.

Laura is the race director for an event called Rooted Vermont. If you aren't familiar with the King family, Laura's husband Ted was a professional road cyclist, and he tends to win (or be at the podium) of a lot of events. Laura is an accomplished cyclist with top finishes at some of the country's toughest races. They are a fast couple, but when she talked about creating Rooted Vermont, the community was the foundation fo the event. They created what they call 'Mullet Protocol' - business at the front and a party at the back. All riders were equally valued and celebrated.

We should all create finish lines that celebrate every single rider

Laura talks about the last finisher at Rooted VT and how the entire community heard that she was coming and headed to the finish line to cheer her in. We tend to believe that most people come to events to go fast, but most people come to challenge themselves or enjoy the day. Everyone should be celebrated for their accomplishment. After hearing about this race, it went on my bucket list, and I have to say, I don't think I'd mind being the last person to cross the finish line!

The Rooted Vermont video is worth the watch - you can see the last finisher coming in around 3:28.

PS - Laura has great resources for pre and postpartum women on The Pro Kit