Joshua Sheppard, 25, of Grosse Ile Township competes Sept. 21 in the Marji Gesick 100-mile mountain bike race in Ishpeming and Marquette.
By SUE SUCHYTA
Sunday Times Newspapers
GROSSE ILE – Bicyclist Joshua Sheppard, 25, of Grosse Ile Township is pedaling his way to success and better health across the country as a competitive mountain bike racer.
He said he got into mountain bike riding by way of a motor sports background, riding snowmobiles in the winter and motocross in the summer.
“As cross-training, I got into cycling, mountain biking and road biking three to four years ago,” Sheppard said. “As I sort of phased out of racing the motor sports stuff, I’ve really gotten into racing mountain bikes.”
He said he never saw himself becoming an endurance athlete. Growing up, he played football and did motocross in the summer for fun.
Sheppard said when he decided he wanted to get into better shape as he hit adulthood, he hired a personal trainer who specialized in motor sports and endurance training.
“From there, everything kind of took off,” he said.
Sheppard said he has always worn a helmet and can’t imagine going without.
“There are just so many variables that could go into something going wrong, like cars or a popped tire, and you end up on the ground and hit your head off the ground,” he said.
Joshua Shepard, 25, of Grosse Ile Township competes Aug. 10 in the 100-mile Leadville Trail Mountain Bike Race in Colorado.
Sheppard said he rides five to six days a week during the season, on the road four days a week and on a trail one or two days a week.
He said if he gets caught in a light rain, he’ll usually ride through it, but if he knows it is going to rain all day he’ll train indoors on indoor cycling bike, or go to the gym.
Sheppard said this is the first year he went to Colorado to compete in the Leadville Trail 100-mile mountain bike race, which he said is one of the biggest mountain bike races in the world, and the largest in the United States.
“Every top cyclist that races usually had raced Leadville,” he said.
Sheppard said that unless you are a pro, one has to enter a lottery system to be chosen for Leadville, and this year he was selected.
“This was my first year branching out of the state of Michigan,” he said. “Next year I plan on doing part of the Life Time Grand Prix.”
The Life Time Grand Prix consists of multiple world-class off-road cycling events, which in 2025 will include the Sea Otter Classic in Monterey, Calif., Unbound Gravel in Emporia, Kan., Leadville in Leadville Colo., Chequamegon in Cable, Wis., and the Little Sugar and the Big Sugar Gravel in Bentonville, Ark.
Sheppard said the transition from amateur to pro status is about race results, how much time one spends on the bike, and the progress one makes.
“It’s a process that I’m still learning, to be honest, but over the past two years I’ve kind of made that jump,” he said. “Right now, I’m still technically an amateur racer, but I race at the expert level, so my next step would be to go to the elite/pro men’s field, so I would like to be at that level by 2026.”
Sheppard said it’s really about how much time you are able to commit to the sport.
He said cyclists experience something similar to a runner’s high.
“You hit a point when your body’s feeling good and everything’s clicking, you just kind of feel unstoppable and when you have those days it’s really all about mentality,” Sheppard said. “When you are strong mentally, you’re going to be strong on the bike, but if you’re not strong mentally and you are going into a race or even a training day, it’s going to be a long day.”
He said he’s seen plenty of deer while out riding, which is to be expected in Michigan, but the scariest thing he ever came across was a snake on a trail in Florida.
Sheppard said all mountain bikers crash at one point or another, and it’s almost a rite of passage, but he hasn’t experienced anything too serious.
He said he’s a certified nutritionist and personal trainer, and nutrition and eating are an important component of mountain bike racing, and as important as the racing itself.
“If you’re not fueling your body right, your body won’t be able to last as long as you need to push it for,” Sheppard said.
He said he drinks Tailwind Endurance Fuel, which is a carbohydrate and electrolyte beverage, and GU Energy Original Sports Nutrition Energy Gel.
Sheppard said if he’s doing a 100-mile race he’ll add in solid foods as well, such as energy bars.
He said he stays away from gluten and dairy for the most part, because his body doesn’t perform at his best when he eats them.
Sheppard encourages people to have fun with mountain biking and to not take it too seriously.
“Just get out there and ride your bike as much as possible, and if you want to enter into some races, do it and see how you do,” he said. “Just keep it fun, because once you stop having fun, there’s not much of a point to it.”
Sheppard said coaching and skills clinics will help one learn the fundamentals.
He recently finished a race Sept. 21 in Ishpeming and Marquette, the Marji Gesick, which is 109 miles long, is one of the most difficult mountain bike races in the United States, and has a 50 percent finish rate.
Sheppard said he was 39th out of 480 entrants, with 225 finishers.
“I was pretty pumped on that performance, and it kind of made me realize I am up there and getting close to running with the elite men’s field.”