Mackenzie Boltz
Biking down Buffalo Creek trails, senior Kaycee Daniels finds no better way to enjoy nature.

“It is a beautiful trail and I love it because it is so peaceful also easy to ride,” said Daniels.

During her sophomore year her dad forced her to join the Castle View Biking team. At first she hated the idea, but she began to love biking. Biking became Kaycee’s life and she wouldn’t have it any other way. She learned fast that biking was not easy and it was going to be a challenging sport.

“A lot of people think it’s kind of an easy sport but it’s not at all you have to know your body and your bike so well to be good at it and it takes a lot of hard work and endurance,” said Daniels.

The placement of the endurance races are usually not near hotels so the venues turn into huge camping grounds. And many of the people who are in the race, camp on the venue with their other competitors

“I’ve met a lot of cool people by camping next to them and the next day when you’re racing they are supporting you and I need all the support I can get,” said Daniels.

Kaycee does a lot of endurance races, which can go up to 11 hours or more. After a few hours your hands start to go numb from holding onto the handlebars so if becomes really difficult.

“You have to stay sharp especially in descents or you could crash and seriously hurt yourself. When your mind starts to wander and you’re not focused it’s hard to re-focus because you get so tired,” said Daniels.

About 6 months ago Kaycee was injured and it affected her cycling career a lot. Kayceee had a fractured spine which was causing massive inflammation which affected her ability to walk and stand without pain. She had to take a break from biking to rest and heal from all the damage. It was very hard for Kaycee not to bike, but she knew to get better she had to take a rest.

“I had to take 6 months off of the bike was terrible I spent all summer bored and really down because I literally couldn’t do anything. I literally couldn’t do anything, I was only supposed to lay on the couch and take anti inflammatories until I got better so it was really difficult,” Daniels said.

       “A lot of people think it’s kind of an easy sport but it’s not at all you have to know your body and your bike so well to be good at it and it takes a lot of hard work and endurance,” said Daniels.