Distance runner turned professional cyclist Leah Thorvilson learns from competing abroad.
By Syd Hayman
Photography by Kai Caddy
As a longtime distance runner, Leah Thorvilson was an accomplished athlete. But when it came to entering the competitive cycling scene a few years ago, she was a bit of an underdog.
Thorvilson made her way to Arkansas from Robbinsdale, Minn., after accepting a track and cross-country scholarship from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. After finishing college, she worked at local running stores, embedded herself in the local running community and eventually made the capital city home. She won the Little Rock Marathon five times — from 2009 to 2012 and again in 2014 — and ran in the Olympic marathon trials in 2012.
But a series of running-related injuries required a step back. Thorvilson’s injuries — a torn hamstring, torn meniscus and worn femur — led to four surgeries in three years and required a break from high-impact activity. She had to give up the sport she loved most. The injuries were “telling my entire identity, ‘You can forget running,’ ” she said.
Itching for another sport involving the outdoors that wouldn’t be harsh on her knees, she saw cycling as a great fit. Up until then, her cycling resume included time on a 10-speed bike she owned as a kid and flipping over a retaining wall while on a ride with her cross-country coach. But Thorvilson was driven to keep up her endurance and athleticism.
Throughout 2015, she strengthened her skills on an indoor training platform, and in 2016 entered the Zwift Academy competition, the first global talent-identification contest held by the online cycling training program. Her strong performance led to a professional contract with European women’s cycling team Canyon-SRAM and two years racing in countries such as Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy and Spain.
Thorvilson found similarities between running and cycling when it came to endurance, but that’s where the comparison stopped. With running, Thorvilson could largely rely on her physical fitness. With cycling, her strength needed to be coupled with strategy and a new sense of awareness.
“You can’t be riding thinking of protecting yourself. You just got to let go and just ride and learn how to read a race,” she said. “I think that held me back a bit just because it’s hard for me to not, especially having had these injuries that put me out for years at a time. I don’t want to be hurt again.”
While others had been training since their preteen or teenage years, Thorvilson pedaled into the industry later than average, at age 38. She was the oldest of her teammates and the least experienced, she said. There were times in the early days of her contract when she felt she wasn’t cut out for the competition. Then she reminded herself of how much she wanted to succeed and how far she had come.
Looking back, her proudest cycling accomplishment is surviving and growing during her two years with Canyon-SRAM.
Winning the Zwift Academy competition with just a year’s cycling under her belt “was a very unconventional way to go pro,” she said. “And while I would trade that for nothing, it makes it very clear why there’s a process for going through [racing categories], why there’s a rank to move up to. If you’ve been on a bike less than a year, you really don’t belong in the world tour peloton. You just don’t.”
Since her contract with SRAM ended in 2018, Thorvilson has spent much of 2019 guest riding in various races. Though she hasn’t done much racing in Arkansas, Thorvilson still maintains local involvement. She serves on the Big Dam Bridge Foundation and has ridden with Little Rock Roadrunners and Central Arkansas Velo (CARVE). “I love having a home base here. I love having a place where I can come and not be living out of a bag, and just take a deep breath and everything is familiar,” she said.
In Europe, Thorvilson often enjoyed long rides through picturesque towns that featured a stop in a middle-of-nowhere cafe for a bite to eat. In Little Rock, she has her own take on getting that experience. Her favorite local rides include making her way down Rebsamen Park Road and up to Kavanaugh Boulevard, with a coffee break at The Meteor Cafe. In West Little Rock, she’ll ride through the Pinnacle Valley area and make a stop at The Bramble Market for a kombucha and a snack.
Central Arkansas is doing some things right when it comes to cycling, Thorvilson said: The cycling community continues to grow, and it’s tight-knit and supportive. But the scene could benefit from more inclusivity, she explained.
“From a racing perspective, I wish there were more women involved and interested and supported. Locally, I think the passion for it is there,” she said.
Competing with Canyon-SRAM gave Thorvilson more confidence when it came to adventuring and taught her that her identity didn’t have to be closely aligned with one sport only. “I’m definitely mentally and physically stronger than I thought that I was,” she said.
For 2020, Thorvilson has signed on to Femme Équipe, a domestic elite women’s team that she’s ridden with as a guest. Thorvilson is also gearing up for next year’s CrossWinds Classic in North Little Rock and the Joe Martin Stage Race in Fayetteville.
“The people I got to meet, the experience I got to have and the places that I got to go, how many countries I’ve been to now riding my bike, I wouldn’t trade it for anything,” she said.