Esme Darla Lynn Ahles is one of our school’s most dedicated Freshmen mountain bikers. Her love for the sport began with her family. “When my older sister was in high school, she was on the mountain biking team, and my dad was a coach,” Ahles said. “Since they both loved it, I got into it too—and my dad is still coaching now.”
She started riding when she was seven years old, but began racing seriously about a year and a half ago. Ahles is part of a club team called Racer X, which trains from March to August. During the season, she practices every Tuesday and Thursday, and even trains on her own two to three times a week. She also enjoys going on rides with her dad and her friends from the team.
Ahles says she loves mountain biking because it challenges her.
“It pushes me past my limit,” she said. “I love the people I ride with, and I love being out in nature.”
This year, she raced at State, which she described as “a whole different experience.” There were four times as many racers as usual, which made it more intense. Even though she crashed at the beginning of the race, Ahles still finished in the top five and earned a medal. “I’m proud of myself,” she said. “You can always improve, but with everything that happened, I’m happy with the result.”
Outside of biking, Ahles stays active and busy. She’s a black belt in Taekwondo, likes to swim, and is also part of Speech and Debate, Student Council, Key Club, and Yoga Club. She enjoys reading, writing, singing, and even volunteers with her therapy rabbits.
Ahles’ goals for next season are to beat her race times and work on pre-race nerves. She also wanted to give a special shoutout to Rachel Leatherman for always supporting and believing in her.
With her hard work and positive attitude, Ahles shows what it means to do your best, on and off the trail.
