Payson McElveen

Payson McElveen is one of the world’s leading mountain bike cross-country marathon riders. A US national champion and five-time collegiate title winner, he is inspiring other riders to think about the sport he loves in new ways through his immensely popular films, “The Adventure Stache” podcast and through innovative physical challenges including his YouTube series “Trail Town”.

Born and raised as the son of a mountain bike racer in Austin, Texas, he soon followed in his father’s footsteps and started riding a bike when he was four, racing just ten years later at the age of 14. A natural on his bike from the start, he became a member of USA Cycling’s National Team when he was 17 years old and chose to attend Fort Lewis College so he could live in the mountain bike hub of Colorado’s Durango. After graduating in 2016 he set out to pursue his dreams of becoming a professional mountain biker, and later that year won the six-stage Mongolia Bike Challenge – regarded by many as the hardest mountain race on the planet.

McElveen’s breakout season then followed in 2017, with a string of major victories including a win at the USA Cycling Marathon Mountain Bike National Championships. His impressive form continued with more results on home soil, including a third place at the US National Cycling Trials in 2019 and first at the Land Run 100 in Oklahoma.

As well as racing, McElveen plans to launch his own non-profit organisation giving back to the sport and regularly raises funds to the World Bicycle relief. Truly passionate about bike racing, he continues to enjoy racing nearly any distance, but the long endurance races are where he remains most at home.