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STAGES ATHLETE: emma maaranen

Emma Maaranen is a professional mountain biker focusing on MTB marathon and stage racing. At 45 she is one of the oldest women in the pro ranks and is proud to be rewriting the rule book of what is possible in the sport of cycling! When not on a bike she is coaching aspiring mountain bikers or working for her local trail association both building trail and working on advocacy.

DISCIPLINE: XCM and Stage

BASE: Bend, Oregon

BIKE

Emma Maaranen rides the Power Meter and Dash M200
 

WHAT POWER METER DOES EMMA RIDE? L sided crank arm on all my bikes except my fat bike because it does not clear and my commuter because... commuting!

WHAT'S ON YOUR DASH? I've never had a head unit with color before and I really like the color-coded power zones and workout displays. Key on my display is power (obviously), cadence, ride time, miles, and time of day. For interval workouts I have my workout graph, power, cadence, lap NP, and interval time to go. For racing I have power (3 sec.), HR, elapsed time, miles, time of day.

BEST THING ABOUT STAGES: Power data is clutch for keeping an eye on my progress and mitigating fatigue. I'm no spring chicken so decoupling of my HR and power data is an indicator that I need a bit more rest. If I respect the rest, I'm able to make gains and that's really cool!

PROFILE

Favorite Race Moment
Best race ever has not been raced yet, but the last one I did was special. Not a big race, but a local glory race is the Sisters Stampede in OR. This is "the race" for the PNW XC crowd, and I was the defending champion. There was a lot of hype leading up to this race putting a lot of attention and media on me. I also was in the early days of coming back from being overtrained. High pressure and a lower FTP than I have ever had since I started using power made me focus on what I could do and control in the race. I knew I had less fitness than the other women, but also that I am a boss descender and am good at reading races. I used tactics at a chess grand master level which got me to the top of the last descent at the front of the pack! At that point I knew the race was mine to win if I just descended smart and mechanical free. I defended my title and was so proud of finding a way to do magic when it looked out of reach just a few days before.

GET TO KNOW EMMA!

WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE WORKOUT? I know nobody likes long threshold workouts, but I like long threshold workouts. Give me 4x20min w/ 4min RBI of threshold work and I'm out the door to climb Mt. Bachelor with a gleam in my eye! A million short VO2 intervals on my plan... I've got to steady my resolve to head out the door.

WHAT'S ON YOUR DASH? I've never had a head unit with color before and I really like the color-coded power zones and workout displays. Key on my display is power (obviously), cadence, ride time, miles, and time of day. For interval workouts I have my workout graph, power, cadence, lap NP, and interval time to go. For racing I have power (3 sec.), HR, elapsed time, miles, time of day.

POST RACE CELEBRATION: A dip in the closest river or lake!

FAVORITE POST RIDE MEAL/SNACK: Anything salty

SOCIALS: 

       Instagram: @emmamaaranen

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