From the time Raylyn could walk, she grew up dribbling a basketball. Basketball was her life. She grew up playing all the team sports as well as competitive swimming. She ran xc and track in high school in the basketball off-seasons, but basketball was always her real passion. She played all four years of college as point and shooting guard closing her career as an All-American. After University, she started a career at Pfizer in microbiology and then transitioned to the chemistry side as an Analytical Scientist while also coaching high school basketball. In parallel to her working career, she started to dabble with triathlon, and competed in several olympic age-group national championships. And then… she found her love for bikes, and most specifically cyclocross!

The sport of cyclocross is so unique to anything she had ever done, but it was like the compilation of her athletic career compounded into this sport where you had to hop on/off the bike, run with your bike on your shoulder, and also be able to go full-throttle for 50 minutes while finessing muddy ruts. She dove headfirst into the sport in 2017. In 2020, she realized that if she wanted to take her abilities to the next level she would need to quit her job as a scientist. She was able to focus and reduce a lot of the stress around juggling vacation time and being able to travel to all of the races that she needed to be at. 2021 was her inaugural year directing and racing for the Steve Tilford Foundation Racing team - she found herself winning the 2021 Pan American Championships, and placing 2nd at Nationals. Her goal was to qualify for her first Worlds Championships in Fayetteville, AR. Not only did she qualify, she finished 15th.

She’s excited to see how far she can take her abilities in this sport while advocating for the sport of cyclocross and paving the path for the next wave of athletes. Right now she is driven to help cultivate strong communities through the sport of cycling by mentorship and development of young athletes. She wants to focus on mentorship through encouragement of education and life outside of the bike. Building stronger communities through healthy, educated, and well-rounded individuals that have passion and love for racing their bikes. Finding true fulfillment in life by being present in each moment, and seizing every opportunity to make the most out of each day.