ABOUT CYNTHIA

Cynthia Carson is an Ultra Endurance Cyclist and seeker of adventure. She started racing on the road in College but has since found her true love of off-road riding. After years of short criterium and road racing, she picked up a gravel bike and dove in head first to Gravel racing.

In 2021, Cynthia started her journey into the world of Ultra Cycling with a first place at Rockstar Gravel 250 followed by a fourth place at Unbound XL. She was hooked and found herself planning a big season for 2022. Cynthia has found herself in the top step at some of the biggest ultras in the world including Unbound XL, Badlands, Across Andes, Atlas Mountain Race, GranGuanche Gravel, Transcordilleras, and Memory Bike Adventure. 

Outside of racing Cynthia organizes a gravel race called Gravista, runs a YouTube Channel focused on ultracycling, and owns a videography business. 

A forever snacker- Cynthia has a competitive spirit and loves adventure. She plans to take Ultra Cycling as far as she can with a full calendar of races in 2024.

2024 Race Schedule

Atlas Mountain Race in Marrakech, Morocco- February 9th

Midsouth in Stillwater, OK - March 18th

The Traka 560km in Girona, Spain, May 1st

Gravista in Buena Vista, Virginia - May 11th

The Transcontinental across Europe - July 25th

Across Andes in Patagonia, Chile - November 24th

2024 Partners

Race History

Atlas Mountain Race 2024

The Atlas Mountain Race is a fixed route, unsupported, single-stage cycling race that starts in Marrakesh, crosses the Moroccan Atlas before taking riders through the Anti-Atlas and on to Essaouira. The clock does not stop and there are no prizes. It follows gravel, single and double track and old colonial pistes that have long been forgotten and fallen into disrepair.

Cynthia took the Women’s win and finished 15th overall. She came across the finish line in 4 days and 19 hours.

See more details on the AMR website & dotwatcher.cc

Unbound 2022

Unbound is one of the biggest race in the US and one of the first gravel races to dominate the scene. Unbound XL 350 has seen some of the highest level ultra racers compete for the win.

Cynthia competed in the XL in 2021, and the 200 in 2019. She wanted more and returned to Emporia, Kansas for another shot at the XL distance.

Cynthia took the win breaking the record for the fastest known race in the XL for Women going 22 hours and 30 minutes.

Transcordilleras 2023

An ultra cycling race across the most geographically complex country in the world and one of the most biodiverse on the planet. Cynthia raced from Cali, Colombia to Bogota crossing the 3 great Colombian mountain ranges in approximately 538 miles and more than 68,241 feet of accumulated elevation gain.

Cynthia took the Women’s win and finished 4th overall. She came across the finish line in 90 hours and 30 minutes.

See more details on www.transcordilleras.cc

Badlands 2022

Badlands - the premiere ultra gravel race in Europe. The route is 500 miles with over 50,000ft of elevation gain.

On a whim Cynthia signed up for Badlands. She was curious about testing herself in an event longer than 24 hours. Cue Badlands!

Cynthia came in second in the Women’s race and finished 20th overall. She came across the finish line in 62 hours.

See more details on www.badlands.cc & dotwatcher.cc

Barry Roubaix 2022

We’ve all seen those horror movies. You know, the ones where the crazed killer is lurking in a dark house where the phone line has been cut and the victim just keeps going further into the house as opposed to just running out the front door? Yeah, that victim is you and the Psycho Killer 100 course is the masked murderer lurking behind the door.

Cynthia went for the “long” 100 mile route and took the win in the Women’s field and a top 15 overall.

Across Andes 2022

Across Andes is a 620 mile bikepacking race with 52,000 ft of elevation gain on some of the most challenging and remote gravel and paved roads in Chile.

Cynthia took the Women’s win and finished 13th overall. She came across the finish line in 68 hours and 30 minutes.

See more details on www.acrossandes.cc & dotwatcher.cc

Rockstar Gravel 2022

RockStar VA is a bikepacking event from Rocktown (Harrisonburg) to the Star City (Roanoke). There are TRAIL, GRAVEL and PAVE route options.

The route crosses many of Cynthia’s training roads and has a special place in her heart for being her first ever ultra race.

Cynthia raced the 250 mile 30,000ft Gravel route in lightening speed. She took first, beat her previous record, set a new FKT, and went sub 24 hours.

Rockstar Pavé FKT

Cynthia was back at it again with Rockstar. She took on the Fastest Known Time on the Pavé route. Only 166 miles with 10,400 ft of elevation, it was all about speed.

Cynthia took the FKT from a Guniess book of world record holder. She averaged 18.1 mph for 9 hours, 12 minutes and 19 seconds.

She holds the Fastest Known Time for both the Gravel and the Pavé. Looks like she’ll have to go back sometime and race the Trail route to claim all three.

Memory Bike Adventure 2023

The Memory Bike Adventure is a 720 km long route which links several landmarks and key places along the front between Austria and Italy from 1916 to 1918.

The route starts in Bassano del Grappa (Vicenza) and finishes in Asiago after crossing breathtaking and historically relevant areas like Fiume Piave, Monte Grappa and Monte Pasubio.

Cynthia took the Women’s win and finished 6th overall. She came across the finish line in 75 hours.

See more details on www.enoughcycling.com

GranGuanche Gravel 2023

One of three epic island hopping routes. The GranGuanche Gravel is an ultra with four ferries and five islands.

Cynthia took the Women’s win and finished 9th overall. She came across the finish line in 77 hours.

See more details on www.granguanche.com & dotwatcher.cc

Badlands 2023

Known as the premiere Gravel Ultra in Europe, racers take on the Sierra Nevada Mountains and Europe’s only Desert. The race is 750km with 16,000m of elevation gain.

Cynthia took the Women’s win and finished 8th overall. She came across the finish line in 45.5 hours. This is the first year a women has finished in the top 10. Cynthia also took the fastest time by over 10 hours.

See more details on www.badlands.cc & dotwatcher.cc

Press

Articles

Videos

Podcasts

Everyone’s over here taking off season and my ultra self just did the hardest workout effort I’ve done all year. After the let down of getting hit by a car and not racing Transcontinental, I wanted to end the season on a high (🏔️ in Pa
I love going fast on my bike. @bigsugarclassic on Saturday was FAST! 6 days after lining up for Ranxo and then flying halfway across the country it was time to race again. I was reunited with my @3tbike extrema Dora the Explorer and excited to rip
And that’s a wrap for my time in Europe (and China) this year! I am lining up for one last race across the pond in ponts for Ranxo, the Gravel Earth Series final. It’s been a wild summer from my highest peak on the pico Valeta at 3400 me
I’ve been trying not to get caught up in the weeds and look around recently. The @orangesealacademy and Dennis have been making sure of it with a proper 10 hour endurance ride this past week before I set off for China today! Thankful for the
Meet shrek. My new @3tbike RaceMax Italia made in Italy 🇮🇹 with the Verde green of the flag. Tomorrow we line up to race a 700k road ultra called Ride Across Girona by @tarmacways.cc . The tracking link is in my bio! I’m looking forward to
August isn’t over but it’s been eventful so far. Here’s a little about what I’ve been up to! After the car accident in Austria, @3tbike helped me get a new bike up and rolling. I did my best to make the new bike identical, bu
I raced my bike this weekend and I finished third place! But this isn’t really the story I want to tell. It’s been 5 weeks since I was hit by a car. Yesterday I ran into a friend who when asked how she was doing said “I’m ok
Two weeks ago I was hit by a car going in reverse. I was riding around a sharp turn on a descent going 30km an hour when I slammed into the rear window and door. I dented the door, broke the glass, and picked up some large chunks in my face as a souv
I decided a bit last minute to hop into the @octopus_gravel event this past weekend. With a little room in my schedule and a great training opportunity I lined up for a “race” that included 3 times sections and 7 different climbs out of A
Switzerland, you have my heart! 🇨🇭 #gravel #bikes #womenscycling #Switzerland
It’s been a bit since I spoke about how I set goals for racing. El Piri @lesperitdelbikepacking has been on my radar since the winter. But with @thetranscontinental around the corner, it was hard to justify digging myself into such a deep hole
Taking it one day at a time but still planning on bikes all summer. I will be lining up for an ultra race through the Pyrenees next Saturday called El Piri @lesperitdelbikepacking My goal here is to practice most of my setup for the Transcontinent
Welp. This photo encapsulates biting off more than I can chew? Those are rolaids by the way. It’s been about a week since I hit the deck. It was a silly moment where I touched a small rut I didn’t see while drafting at speed in the midd
Insta >> reality. All fun AND games here in Kansas. After spending the weekend in Bentonville and weathering the tornadoes and massive storms I loaded up and drove to Emporia for some prep in the Flint Hills. Can confirm the north route is as