Part of our 10 Women Who Inspire Us series, celebrating 10 years of Gutsy Girls Adventure Film Tour Australia
From Canberra data analyst to ultra-distance bikepacking racer, Steph has spent the last few years proving that you don’t need to be a professional athlete to achieve extraordinary things. Whether she’s traversing Tasmania, racing 4,300km along the Continental Divide, or organising events to welcome newcomers into the world of bikepacking, Steph embodies the spirit of persistence and the joy of reconnecting with nature. In this interview, she shares how buying a bike at 23 changed everything, what it takes to push through 22 days of racing, and why every inspiring adventurer was once a beginner.
Meet Steph
I’m Steph, a keen bikepacker from Canberra. By day I manage a team of data analysts, and after hours you can usually find me somewhere around town on a bike, or plotting a weekend adventure somewhere in the mountains! Over the last few years I’ve spent a bunch of time exploring amazing places on my bike, including riding from Melbourne to Canberra through the high country, racing the entire length of the US along the Continental Divide, traversing Tasmania, and lots of weekend missions in between. I’ve also spent more time recently organising events for beginners to get out bikepacking as well, so I can share the joy of bikepacking with more rookie adventurers! A fun fact about me is that when I’m not being active on the bike, I’m a total couch potato at home (life is all about balance I guess). My favourite adventure snack is a bag or two of Allens snakes, ideally the yellow ones!!
1. What first sparked your love for adventure, and how did that moment change the trajectory of your life?
From a kid I always loved being out in nature, to the point where my siblings and cousins used to tease me for being a nature nerd. My family wasn’t particularly outdoorsy so that love of nature lay latent for a long time. It wasn’t until I bought a bike at the age of 23 to get to work that I had this lightbulb realisation that a bike was the perfect vessel to get out and explore back roads off the beaten track, surrounded by nothing but big mountains, beautiful bush, and birdsong. It felt like I was reconnecting with my inner kid, giving myself the chance to notice a beautiful mossy rock, or the patterns in tree bark, or a cool cloud. I realised I loved the adventure not only for the big epic moments, but also for all of the small things you notice along the way. It was love at first ride, and I can’t imagine how life would have panned out if I’d never picked it up!!
2. When you look back at your journey, what has been the most defining or transformative experience in your career so far?
Racing Tour Divide has definitely been the most transformative. Tour Divide is a 4,300km bikepacking race from Banff, Canada to the Mexico border along the Continental Divide. I spent on average 15 hours on my bike every day for 22 days. It was my biggest ride to date and taught me so much about resilience; doing something that pushes you to your physical and mental limits so much means you have to make the choice every single day to keep pushing on despite fatigue, mental doubt, physical discomfort, and the overwhelming desire to stop moving and enjoy a moment of stillness. I came out of the experience in awe of what my body was capable of, but also how much you can achieve when you let go of the whole journey, which can feel overwhelming, and instead focus only on what is immediately in front of you. I feel like I now have so much faith in my ability to do big scary things by breaking it down into bite-sized pieces.
3. Adventure is full of risk and uncertainty—what fears have you had to confront, and how do you move through them?
My nature means I think a lot about everything that could go wrong, which can be both a good thing and a bad thing. It’s a good thing to be aware of what the risks are so you can be adequately prepared; I was scared of bears in grizzly country so carried bear spray and knew how to use it, I get really scared of being stuck in thunderstorms in the mountains so try and make safe choices about when to ride on and when to seek shelter. Even on a less dramatic scale it’s scary setting out on a big adventure when you’re not sure you’ve bitten off more than you can chew. Thinking of risks can be a bad thing when you overthink it too much, and end up being so crippled by fear you lose sight of how special it is to be out there doing what you love. In all instances I just repeat the mantra ‘I got this’ in my head. I’ve done the prep, I’ve planned what I’ll do if something goes wrong, so now I just need to trust in my abilities to handle things!
Images of Steph racing in the Tour Divide
4. The adventure world is still heavily male-dominated. What has been your biggest challenge navigating that, and what has helped you stay grounded and confident?
I think the biggest barrier is in getting started; when you’re not part of the majority it feels like a big thing to put yourself out there and be a rookie who makes mistakes, and you can feel self-conscious that you don’t belong. I feel very lucky that I put myself out there and joined a group ride for my first ever gravel ride, and met some amazing people who were so inviting and taught me a lot. It took me a few years after that to realise I’d gone from being a total rookie to feeling confident enough to do anything. I was creating routes, fixing my bike, descending with more confidence, and asking for help less. Confidence is built one brick at a time and the more you do something the more it feels natural. Laying that first brick is often the hardest part. That’s why I’ve turned to organising events to get women into bikepacking; all you need is someone to show you how it’s done in practice, show you that you belong, and a bit of persistence will get you feeling like a pro in no time.
5. What does strength look like to you—physically, mentally, or emotionally?
Strength to me looks like persistence in the face of challenge, whether it’s big or small. Lining up at a start line for the very first time even when you feel inadequate is strength in the same way that riding 400km in a single day through lots of physical discomfort is strength! All of us can be strong without needing comparison to others. What matters is making the choice to do something that you find challenging.
6. Who are the women (or people) who have inspired you the most, and how have they shaped the way you show up in the world?
Two people come to mind: Lael Wilcox and Jenny Graham. Lael is an absolute legend of bikepacking races and has won so many events, and does it with so much positivity even when things go wrong. She makes time for others and dedicates so much of her energy into organising events for women, it’s inspiring. Jenny Graham is another inspiration for her sheer relatability. I first came across her during one of the previous iterations of Gutsy Girls, where there was a film about her setting a new record for riding around the world. While some in the ultra-cycling world are amazing they can also be unrelatable because they seem superhuman. Watching Jenny’s movie, it struck me how she just seemed like a normal everyday woman; working in children’s services, with kids of her own, who also just happened to have the drive and willpower to set off on an amazing round-the-world adventure. It made me realise that you don’t have to be a professional athlete to make big dreams come true, you just need to have the drive and the passion!
7. What keeps you going on the hard days—when the weather, the world, or your own doubts feel stacked against you?
I always try to remind myself that a tough day on an adventure still beats a good day at work!! Adventure is a choice, and in making that choice you accept that it’ll come with adversity. You don’t always get to pick and choose only the good bits! Over time I’ve come to appreciate that having a tough time is sometimes what triggers the most intense feelings of gratitude. I remember one particularly tough day riding the Hunt 1000 from Melbourne to Canberra, where after a very tough 12 hours on the bike I experienced the most epic sunset of my life complete with a massive rainbow, and out of nowhere a dingo started frolicking along next to us. I went from deep suffering to immense gratitude in two seconds, at how lucky I was to be able to spend so much time outside experiencing the world.
8. How has adventure changed the way you see yourself, your body, and your place in the world?
Adventure has completely changed what I think of myself and my place in the world. Before I got into the ultra-distance riding I thought there would be a limit to how long your legs could keep spinning, but came to realise that provided you eat, drink, and sleep, you can literally ride forever!! It’s incredible what the human body is capable of when you put yourself to it. More importantly though it makes me feel so much more connected to the world. There’s something awe-inspiring about being a tiny human pedalling up huge mountains, completely at the mercy of the weather. It makes you feel delightfully tiny and connected to the world in a way that’s hard to explain.
9. If you could tell young girls or emerging adventurers one thing about pursuing big, wild dreams, what would it be?
Every inspiring person you see completing big incredible adventures was once a beginner! Think of your wildest dreams and step back from there to take those very first baby steps; first night sleeping in a tent, first time riding a bike with cleats, first time riding 100km, first time having a cry at the top of a mountain because the view is so good… all those firsts stack up quickly and before you know it, you’ve achieved something special.
What’s one adventure you hope to take in the next few years?
This year I’ll be taking on Silk Road Mountain Race, a 2,000km bikepacking race through Kyrgyzstan. It’s one of the hardest bikepacking races in the world but more than anything, I’m drawn to it because it’s got the most stunning mountains and vast wild plains I’ve ever seen, and it’s been at the top of the bucket list for a really long time! There’s no better feeling to me than feeling tiny surrounded by massive beautiful mountains.
Steph’s journey reminds us that adventure isn’t reserved for professional athletes or those born into outdoorsy families. Sometimes all it takes is buying a bike to get to work and suddenly discovering a whole new world. Her story is a powerful testament to the idea that confidence is built one brick at a time, and that the hardest part is often just laying that first brick.
As we celebrate 10 years of the Gutsy Girls Adventure Film Tour Australia, Steph embodies the generosity and accessibility we admire in a Gutsy Girl—taking the time to organise events for beginners, sharing her hard-won knowledge, and proving that with persistence and passion, anyone can achieve their wildest dreams. Whether you’re contemplating your first overnight bike trip or your first ultra-distance race, remember: every inspiring adventurer was once exactly where you are now.
Good luck in Kyrgyzstan, Steph. We’ll be cheering you on!
This interview is part of our 10 Women Who Inspire Us series, celebrating a decade of Gutsy Girls Adventure Film Tour Australia. Follow along as we share the stories of incredible women who are redefining what’s possible in the world of adventure.
Get ready for the 2026 Gutsy Girls Adventure Film Festival coming this July/ August!
