ISU Professor Establishes Ultracycling Record Crossing Utah

Winston completed the 333-mile ride on May 24–25, 2026, in a total time of 24 hours and 6 minutes.

Winston posted the record in the Women's 50–59 standard bicycle category, and it stands as the first certified women’s time across Utah. Her moving speed averaged 15.2 miles per hour. 

Winston decided to pursue the record after discovering that few or no WUCA women’s records existed across many Western states. “Ultracycling is growing as a sport and it’s heartening to see increasing numbers of women participating, but there could be many more,” she said. “One way to grow the sport is to increase the visibility of women's participation — and records.” She chose Utah West to East for its proximity and its relatively manageable length among the Western state options, explaining, “I felt that the time I posted would be valuable as a first entry where there had been none, and it seemed worthwhile to give other women a mark to chase.”

The attempt began at 5:49 a.m. at the Nevada/Utah border and ended at the Utah/Colorado border at 5:55 a.m. the following morning. The route generally followed UT route 50 to I-70, through some of Utah’s most iconic landscapes. It traversed flat, open desert, climbed nearly 30 miles to Emigrant Pass at 7,900 feet, and crossed the dramatic landscape of the San Rafael Swell. 

The ride grew increasingly challenging through the night. While Winston never felt the need to sleep, she weathered an unexpected rainstorm on the climb to Emigrant Pass, dealt with a persistent headwind in the last 35 miles, and struggled to keep food down for the last half of the ride. “I knew I could keep pedaling, and it was encouraging to remind myself that if I just kept doing that, I would finish,” she said. 

The record attempt was supported, meaning Winston rode with a crew following her throughout. Her crew consisted of three people: Jim Skidmore, her husband and a fellow ISU professor in Philosophy; Amy Drake, a friend and fellow long-distance cyclist; and Adam Skidmore, her son and a rising sophomore at Kenyon College in Ohio. Drake and Jim Skidmore also trained and registered as WUCA officials, alternating crewing and officiating duties to ensure the attempt met documentation requirements. 

Winston said, “Ultracycling support is unglamorous work with hours of driving slowly through the dark, staying close — and alert enough not to run over your cyclist.” She continued, “Jim, Amy, and Adam gave up a night’s sleep to do this for me. I couldn’t have done this without their care and steadiness.”

Winston has built a resume of ultracycling finishes. Since 2023, she has completed five double centuries (one-day, 200-mile cycling events), including Lotoja, from Logan, UT to Jackson, WY, and Seattle-to-Portland. In September 2025, as a solo rider, she finished the Salt to Saint Relay, a 428-mile race from Salt Lake City to Saint George. She trained for the west-to-east Utah attempt on weekday mornings and on weekends so that she could still meet her teaching and other responsibilities at ISU.

Winston earned her B.A. at Wellesley College and her Ph.D. at UC Santa Barbara. She says her education shaped more than her academic career. “People often talk about how sports are an education for life, but in my case, my education and career in teaching have helped me to train for sport,” she said. “Education forces you to trust the process, and to understand that daily struggle leads to growth. That experience carries over to sport.” She added, “Education also gives you the confidence to see a gap and think that, with learning and persistent effort, you can fill it.” 

Founded in 1980, the World UltraCycling Association is the international organization certifying ultracycling records in disciplines spanning 12- and 24-hour events to cross-state, cross-country, and around-the-world rides.

“I hope this record encourages other women to pursue the many cross-state records still unset across the Western U.S.,” Winston said. “But, in the end, what drove this attempt was simple and more personal: I set a challenge for myself and I wanted to meet it.”