© Bartek Wolinski

Last year, American cross country mountain biker Kate Courtney took her first elite world title, overtaking Annika Langvad on the rooty closing stages of the women’s elite cross country race to win gold at the 2018 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships in Lenzerheide, Switzerland. It was her debut season as an elite athlete and her win (by 47 seconds!) marked America’s first gold medal in the event for 17 years.

I’m massively excited to have Kate (who is also the US national champion) on Lessons in Badassery today. She may have only stepped up from U23 racing last year, but with 9 wins in 2017 alone she’s already the consummate pro – helpful, humble and a dream guest. Enjoy the read.