Three days after my accident, I decided I wanted to get back to mountain biking and I picked out what type of adaptive mountain bike I wanted. While in the hospital and rehab, I met with adaptive mountain bikers on video calls and began to learn about advocacy within the adaptive mountain biking world. Three months after my accident, I was given a mountain bike by sponsor Pearl Izumi. I couldn’t believe it! At that moment, I decided I wanted to give back to the community.

I recognize that my path to adaptive mountain biking is rare. The cost of adaptive mountain bikes can be $16,000 and more. Since, I was already connected to the mountain biking community, it was much easier for me to enter into the adaptive mountain biking world and begin my new sport. Before my accident, I was involved BIPOC advocacy within the mountain biking space so it only was natural for me to continue my advocacy and now including my new identity as a Disabled individual. After my entry into the adaptive mountain biking world, I continued to be given opportunities, the chance to travel far and wide, and to speak in many different places and on many different platforms.

After being given the opportunity to achieve a pre-injury goal of racing SBT GRVL in Steamboat Springs Colorado though Ride for Racial Justice, it came to me, I wanted to bring a team of para athletes to the race the next year. DirtBound was born. DirtBound has become the container for me to give back to the community and to help create an inclusive corner of cycling.