Spencer Paxson
Kona Bicycles Endurance Team
DISCIPLINES: XC + Marathon XC
and sometimes: CX, Enduro, Gravel/Backcountry
HOMEBASE: Bellingham, WA
A true Pacific northwesterner, Spencer Paxson grew up in Lake Trout, WA, and he now calls Bellingham, WA his home. He’s raced it all, mountain, cyclocross and even some road. Paxson is devoted to the mastery of mountain biking. He’s a multi-time US National Team member, and in 2012 was an Olympic Long Team member. In-between he’s made many noteworthy national and international podium appearances, all while working his day job in the renewable energy industry.
In 2015 he competed in his first major Games (PanAm Games Toronto) and finished the season as the second-fastest American at World Championships and 40th fastest rider on the for the Summer Olympics in Brazil, and many two-wheeled adventures in between.
For the last two years he has blended cycling with life pursuits and the joys of parenthood. And still, the adventures never stop.
Spencer Rides
Shimano XTR M9020
YEARS ON STAGES: 3
BEST THING ABOUT STAGES: “I’m a numbers nerd! My previous career was in the energy industry, developing renewable energy power plants, so I appreciate being very technical in anything that I want to succeed at.”
“Training with power has given me a deepened, more informed connection with my rate of perceived exertion (the “old school” going-by-feel scale). I am now better at training by feel and can more precisely intuit how I am responding to training. I progress my training more efficiently, am better at going hard when I need to and easy when I need to, and ultimately feel more consistency and lasting effects of my training throughout the year.” – Paxson
PAXTON’S DASH:
“I’m a fan of using data to get better at training by feel. Therefore my Dash is set up with a “data” screen that includes %FTP based on 3sec pw, lap time, lap avg pw, lap NP, cadence, and HR. A second screen is for “feel” and displays just ride time + lap time. A third screen is trip stats (for long days) and includes distance, total ascent/descent, avg speed, time of day, and kilojoules.”
Spencer Paxson’s Marathon XC workout
BEST THING ABOUT TRAINING: I like the rituals the most…from the tiniest moments to the way the whole process blends into daily life…like early mornings and automatically going through a checklist of getting ready, knowing how to dress and pack without thinking too hard about it, and the post-ride refueling!
BEST THING ABOUT RACING: I love how every race is completely unique, yet another opportunity to test myself against the same things; dueling with the track, the other racers, and myself.
BEST THING TO JAM TO WHEN TRAINING: My tires at just the right pressure skipping across roots, rocks, and dark, wet soil
FAVORITE POWER WORKOUT:
I have many “favorites” but it depends on the discipline I’m training for. To stick with cross country mountain bike, one of my favorites is to mimic the first 10-15min of a cross country race, performed on a “practice track”, combining a short max-effort start into an nearly-maximal steady state effort, directly into a section of sustained, technical singletrack, then repeating based on how much time you need for your given event.
2014
5th – Pan American Continental Championships, Brazil (March)
6th – US Elite XC National Championships
2nd – BC Bike Race Overall
3rd – Transyllvania Epic Overall
10th – US ProXCT Series Overall
Member of US World Championships Team, Hafjell, Norway
2013
4th – US Pro XC National Championships
5th – US Pro Short Track XC National Championships
2nd – BC Bike Race Overall
Member of Kona Bicycles Product Development Team
2012
Member of US Olympic Long Team for XC Mountain Bike
7th – US Pro XC National Championships
6th – US Pro Marathon XC National Championships
10th – US Pro Short Track XC National Championships
Top-10 in US Pro XCT Series Overall
Konaworld “House of the Big Wheel” marketing campaign
2011
Member of US World Championship Team, Champery, Switzerland
7th – US Pro XC National Championships
Top-10 in US Pro XCT Series
2010
7th – US Pro National Championships
8th – US Pro National Series Overall
Member of US Team, World Championships in Mt. St. Anne, Quebec
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