Jennifer Petrehn

As a young kid biking meant freedom to roam my small hometown in Iowa. My 14^th birthday brought a hybrid that I used as a teen, commuted to class at university and actually kept in my garage for 25 more years; but I didn’t get into road cycling until my mid-30’s. We live in Kansas and my husband was starting to cycle more seriously, and our daughter was getting old enough to stay home for longer periods of time. So, I picked up my first entry level road bike and started to give it a try.

The story quickly turned into N+1. Less than a year later; I was upgrading my road bike and starting to think about getting into Triathlon. Completed a couple of sprint Tri’s, some podiums at regional events and I was hooked. Another year later I was adding my TT bike to the mix. After a few seasons of short course, I started training and racing for 70.3 distance. While all that was great – it seemed everyone I knew was starting to ride gravel. Next thing I know – I’m the proud owner of a gravel bike and immediately went to Unbound and BWR. On the horizon, I’m looking to outfit my gravel rig to learn more about bikepacking. The trick is trying to balance road, triathlon and gravel events while working full time & having a family.   Over the years, I’ve grown to love the relaxed fun group rides, the 5am hard trainer sessions, the solo long days and everything in between.

The challenges ahead, and mostly interest discussion topics of mine are:

• Women saddle comfort
• Nutrition as a lifestyle
• Strength Training for women