Q&A With Ambassadr Kelsey Urban

We are SO PSYCHED to announce our newest Brand Ambassadr!!! Kelsey is the U23 National Cycling Champion (2019) and an all-around epic human.

Kelsey has been on the USA Cycling Team for the last six years and has absolutely crushed it. Originally from Marin, CA, she fell in love with mountain biking on trails around her house. Kelsey is also a passionate environmentalist and mentor to young girls getting into biking.

What are your outdoor activities?

I am a cross country mountain bike racer by profession but I love anything that has to do with fresh air. Aside from cycling, some of my favorite activities include sunset boogie boarding, long hikes, stargazing, or anything that involves snacks.

What’s the piece of gear you’ve owned the longest?

If I’m not using gear consistently, I try and find it a new home in which it can be used more. One piece of gear that I have not repurposed and kept solely for the sentimental value is my first World Championships skinsuit. I’ll never forget the feeling of flying the Team USA colors for the first time.

Where did you first fall in love with the outdoors?

As a little girl, I was privileged enough to have a family able to expose me to the outdoors from an early age. I spent much of my childhood building castles for fairies out of leaves, twigs and rocks. I fell in love with the feeling of crawling into bed exhausted after a day of exploring, full of wonder and curiosity.

If you could change something about outdoor culture, what would it be?

Although our love of the outdoors is largely centered around a love for coexistence and respect for life of all forms, many modern-day outdoor industries have failed to truly enact that inclusion. Whether it be companies without transparent sustainability practices, or another outdoor magazine full of white, able bodied, heterosexual elite athletes, outdoor culture has a lot of work to do in grounding inclusion in more tangible practices. This work is essential not only in ensuring that a wider population can feel welcome in outdoor spaces, but also so that we will all have access to the outdoors for generations to come.

All photos courtesy of Kelsey Urban.