STAGES ATHLETE: Kate McLaughlin
Kate discovered her passion for mountain bike and gravel racing just a couple years ago after being a competitive runner most of her life. While her focus is on endurance racing, she loves technical, steep mountain bike terrain. Her favorite achievement from the 2022 season was cutting almost an hour off her previous Leadville 100 MTB time, coming so close to breaking the 8-hour barrier. She's stoked to incorporate more power data into her training this year with support from Stages.
DISCIPLINE: Mountain Bike, Gravel
BASE: Boulder, Colorado
WHAT SHE RIDES
Kate rides the Dura-Ace XTR, GRX and SB20 SmartBike.
BEST THING ABOUT STAGES: I've had the opportunity to try various power meters, and Stages' are far and away the most reliable and consistent ones I've used. Using Stages power meters in training allows me to track progress, which is one of my favorite parts of training in general. The reward of seeing personal power records in a race is rewarding beyond measure.
BRING IT ON, 2023
What she looks forward to in 2023
GET TO KNOW KATE
FAVORITE POWER WORKOUT: Love a good tempo-with-surges workout up a long climb! 2x40min tempo broken up by 30-second surges every 5 minutes...now that's a beautiful workout.
FAVORITE CROSS TRAINING: Running will always have a piece of my heart, so I like to keep it in the mix. I also really enjoy strength workouts at the gym. This really helps with technical mountain biking.
FAVORITE HYPE SONG: Space Ghost Coast to Coast by Glass Animals
FAVORITE PIECE OF GEAR: Besides my Stages power meter? Rapha's MTB trail jacket - packs into its own pocket
GO-TO POST RACE CELEBRATION: I have weird cravings after races, but it usually involves salty food (and an IPA on occasion).
FAVORITE POST-TRAINING FOOD: Recovery shake, usually involving chocolate and peanut butter.
INSTAGRAM: @k8_mclaffin