# SAMSARA: Heart Pounding Stories *Discover the stories that inspired a room full of riders. * By [News from RBC GranFondo](https://blog.rbcgranfondo.com) · 2026-06-12 --- **If She Can, Maybe I Can Too** =============================== ![](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/53e6f88e0fff089c97e6f40daff23d1f4ffcad50daa70a71367c49c2300e5318.jpg) Earlier this month, Storytime brought together a room full of women connected by cycling, but not necessarily by the same experiences. Some arrived with years of riding behind them, while others were still discovering where they fit within the sport. Some came looking for inspiration, others for practical advice, and many simply for the opportunity to spend time around people who understood the unique mix of challenge, excitement and uncertainty that often accompanies a new passion. Sitting down afterwards with Event Director Riya Chak, it quickly became clear that what unfolded was about far more than cycling. The stories touched on motherhood, confidence, identity, recovery, self-belief and belonging. Bikes appeared throughout every conversation, yet they often felt less like the subject itself and more like the thread connecting a much larger conversation about growth. **A Shared Pattern** **\[RIYA - IMAGE\]** ---------------------------------------------- Reflecting on the evening, Riya kept returning to a pattern she had noticed across every speaker. "What stood out to me was that every woman who spoke had overcome something." On the surface, their journeys had very little in common. They came from different backgrounds, were at different stages of life and approached cycling in completely different ways. One was preparing for childbirth. One was discovering a completely different relationship with cycling than the one she had been introduced to. One was rebuilding confidence after years of self-doubt. Another was learning how to continue participating in a sport she loved while managing the effects of a concussion. Yet beneath those differences was a shared experience. Every woman had encountered a moment where it would have been easier to step back. What united them was not their athletic ability or cycling achievements. It was their willingness to keep moving forward despite uncertainty. The lessons were about trusting yourself, finding confidence, overcoming self-doubt and discovering what becomes possible when people refuse to let circumstances define what they can or cannot do. **Cindy's Story** ----------------- ![](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/462110692411e0316c6ac5cfa92debd0fbd437635b7f9daeea3b206ca82f6735.jpg) One story that remained particularly vivid for Riya was Cindy Truong's. At the time of the event, Cindy was nine months pregnant. Her due date was the very next day. Yet as she spoke about training, preparing for events and continuing to ride, there was remarkably little drama in the way she told the story. For Cindy, it had simply become part of her life. The reactions from those around her were often very different. Family members struggled to understand why someone in her third trimester would continue training. Those concerns came from a place of care, but they also reflected cultural expectations around pregnancy and physical activity. What impressed Riya was not simply that Cindy continued training. It was the confidence with which she navigated those expectations. Having grown up in an Indian family, Riya immediately recognised parts of her own experience in Cindy's story. While the details were different, both women had encountered versions of the same question: why as a woman would you choose to spend time on a bike? For many, particularly those from cultures where family responsibilities and traditional expectations play a significant role, cycling can seem difficult to justify. Long rides take time. Training requires commitment. Events often involve putting personal goals alongside professional, family and social obligations. From the outside, those choices can appear confusing to people who have never experienced what cycling provides in return. What resonated with Riya was that Cindy wasn't rejecting those expectations. She was simply making room for something that mattered to her. She had done the research, understood the science and made informed decisions about what was right for her and her family. In many ways, that confidence mirrored the journey countless women experience when they decide to pursue something for themselves, even when the people around them don't immediately understand it. Listening to Cindy speak, the story stopped being about pregnancy and became something broader. It became a story about trusting your own judgment, defining success on your own terms and finding the confidence to continue down a path that may not make sense to everyone else. That idea resonated throughout the evening, because in different ways, every woman who shared her story had done exactly the same thing. **An Invitation to Begin** -------------------------------- ![](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/378fafa2fb532ee157165d9846f0104b773151d008a53f3b061c4406c6f9b226.jpg) A very different lesson emerged through Alicia's story. Road cycling can often appear intimidating to newcomers. The distances seem vast, the equipment appears expensive and the culture can sometimes feel dominated by performance metrics and technical language. For someone standing on the outside looking in, it is easy to assume they do not belong. As Alicia described her experience riding the Medio route, Riya noticed a visible shift in the room. For many attendees, it was the first time they had considered that participation did not have to begin with the biggest challenge available. The Medio represented something powerful: an entry point. People could suddenly picture themselves participating. They could imagine crossing a finish line that felt challenging but achievable. More importantly, they could see a version of cycling that felt accessible. What resonated most strongly was Alicia's relationship with the sport itself. Introduced to cycling by highly performance-oriented colleagues, she entered a world where conversations about FTP, watts and training metrics were commonplace. The riders around her were serious athletes. Some would disappear for lunchtime rides and return discussing power numbers and performance gains. One colleague regularly competed in demanding multi-day cycling events. For many people, that environment would define what cycling looked like. Instead, Alicia found her own version of the sport. She spoke about enjoying the atmosphere of events, the scenery, the aid stations and the simple pleasure of spending a day on a bike. She talked about crossing a finish line feeling energised rather than relieved. The appeal was never just the challenge itself. It was the experience surrounding it. For Riya, that perspective highlighted one of the most important truths in cycling. There is no correct way to participate. Some riders are motivated by competition and performance. Others are motivated by community, adventure and enjoyment. The beauty of the sport is that there is room for all of them. **Different Paths, Same Community** ----------------------------------- As the evening continued, another theme emerged. Cycling contains far more diversity than many people realise. Throughout the discussion, references were made to riders such as Melanie Katcher, whose achievements represent a highly performance-oriented side of the sport. Her dedication and ability inspire many people, and her name surfaced repeatedly as an example of what is possible through commitment and hard work. Yet what was striking was how naturally her story coexisted alongside Alicia's. One rider might be motivated by competition and measurable progress, while another is motivated by adventure, friendship or simply spending a day outdoors. Listening to Riya reflect on the room, it became clear that nobody seemed interested in ranking those motivations against one another. Every attendee could see a version of themselves reflected somewhere in the room. Some connected with Cindy's determination. Others connected with Alicia's focus on enjoyment. Some were inspired by high-performing athletes, while others found comfort in hearing stories from people still discovering their confidence. The evening created space for all of those experiences to exist side by side. **The Confidence Question** --------------------------------- ![](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/d2326edfa736f565245215d610aad6fe2d56d8b7b509b2db2782dec0aeeff3b6.jpg) Perhaps the most emotionally charged story came from Michaela. She spoke openly about being introduced to cycling through a former boyfriend whose approach to the sport left little room for encouragement. Rides that should have been enjoyable often became exercises in comparison. She recalled being dropped, made to feel slow and left carrying the belief that she simply wasn't built for cycling in the way other people were. Over time, those experiences began to shape how she saw herself. The issue wasn't just pace. It was identity. She had internalised an image of what a cyclist was supposed to look like and how a cyclist was supposed to perform. If she didn't fit that image, perhaps she didn't belong. Listening from the audience, it was difficult not to recognise some version of that feeling. Most people have experienced a moment where they looked at a room, a sport or a community and wondered whether everyone else had received instructions they somehow missed. What made Michaela's story powerful was not that she eventually became stronger or faster. It was that she stopped measuring her worth against somebody else's expectations. Her journey back into cycling began when she stopped trying to become someone else's version of a cyclist and started becoming her own. For Riya, that honesty resonated deeply. It reminded everyone in the room that confidence rarely comes first. More often, confidence is the result of participation. People begin before they feel ready, and only later realise they have become the person they once admired from a distance. **What We Carry** ----------------- ![](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/983c63298d49f4f4e667f4c8a2546487d5f771a6c49ceca10a2d923ce04dbccf.jpg) The evening's moderator, Charissa, added another dimension to the conversation through her experience managing life after a concussion. Her story was not about overcoming a challenge once and leaving it behind. Instead, it was about learning how to adapt while continuing to pursue the activities that bring meaning and joy. It was a reminder that many people carry challenges that are not immediately visible, yet continue showing up anyway. Her reflections reinforced an idea that surfaced throughout the evening: obstacles rarely disappear before people begin. More often, people learn how to move forward while carrying them. Whether those challenges are physical, emotional or psychological, growth tends to happen alongside difficulty rather than after it. **After the Event Ended** ------------------------- By the time the formal presentations concluded, something interesting had happened. Almost nobody wanted to leave. Conversations continued throughout the room as attendees gathered in small groups, exchanging Strava accounts, discussing future rides and sharing stories of their own. What had begun as five speakers presenting their experiences gradually evolved into dozens of conversations happening simultaneously. For Riya, this may have been the most meaningful part of the entire evening. "You could hear it happening," she recalled. "People were connecting." Several attendees from Storytime would appear again at a cycling clinic the very next day. Riders who had been strangers only hours earlier were already becoming familiar faces. The event may have started with five stories, but it ended with many more. Community is not a slogan or a marketing message. It is the decision to stay and keep talking after the formal agenda has ended. It is recognising familiar faces at another event the following week. It is the exchange of encouragement between people who met only hours earlier. **The Bicycle as an Invitation** -------------------------------- ![](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/9a2ad820722b9be70ea417e92638c87dad22bc6daa08e00ae4b570180286f9d0.jpg) Reflecting on the evening as a whole, Riya kept returning to the idea that cycling itself may only be part of the attraction. "The bike is almost the excuse," she said. For some people, cycling becomes a source of fitness. For others, it becomes a source of confidence. For many, it becomes a vehicle for friendship, adventure and connection. The rides become memories. The events become introductions. The shared challenge creates common ground between people who may otherwise never have crossed paths. Looking back, the stories shared during Storytime differed dramatically in their details, yet they all pointed toward the same conclusion. Every journey began with someone deciding to participate before they had everything figured out. Before they felt completely ready. Before they knew exactly where it would lead. Whether it was Cindy trusting her own judgment, Alicia discovering her version of cycling, Michaela rebuilding confidence or Charissa adapting to new circumstances, each story began with a choice to say yes. Everything that followed grew from there. _Inspired? Signing up for a supportive and memorable cycling challenge like the RBC GranFondo Whistler might just be the move that changes everything._ [REGISTER NOW](https://linktr.ee/reregisterwhistler) ![](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/ae6cb426675616e782e6cdfc4d32566fd8aa3e0152a4e31a1567ad38d7356379.png) _We acknowledge the land on which we gather is the unceded territory of the Coast Salish Peoples, including the territories of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations._ [![](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/ea1249d40a3ac650b54ad1a25dc86e38d02c3ab8b5da99d2fd405dc9a9429c40.avif)](https://www.rbcgranfondo.com/event/whistler) ### Thank you to our partners [![](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/229d49f72021a0014be3ccb76dc073312134497722d789035483acf9bbfffb48.jpg)](https://www.rbcgranfondo.com/event-resources/whistler/partners) _We gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the Province of British Columbia._ --- *Originally published on [News from RBC GranFondo](https://blog.rbcgranfondo.com/samsara-heart-pounding-stories)*