About Me

Hi, my name is Stephanie and I am the creator of Trailwind Adventures. A resource for all things cycling.

I was born in 1989 in a very small town in Southeast Iowa. My childhood was idyllic. I and my sister would ride our bikes up and down our gravel road and into our small town on any given summer day. With a couple of bucks in our pocket from our Mom, we would stop into one of the two gas stations in town to get ourselves a soft-served ice cream cone on a hot summer day. I’m sure this is where my love of biking actually started.

There was a brief time in my teen years where I did set aside my biking days for the typical teenage stuff like crushes, hanging with friends and learning to drive. That didn’t last long though because my mom would later take me to the used bicycle shop in a town a few minutes from ours to get me a used bike for the start of my college years on campus at University of Northern Iowa.

This is where my love of cycling grew a bit more. Discovering bicycle trails for the first time lit a fire in me. A passion I never knew. It fed my hunger to get away from the “city” lights and back to my country, outdoor-loving roots. I use city lights loosely as Cedar Falls is anything but a big city but to me, it felt that way coming from a town of 600 people.

The year was 2012. The year I graduated college. Shortly after graduation, I would later move to our capital city of Des Moines to start my career as a Web Designer. I would live here for 7 years. Here is where my love grew to a passion for cycling. This is where I learned and grew as a cyclist. So many lessons have been learned since 2012. I am still constantly learning new things that involve my passion. This is why I decided to start Trailwind Adventures to share what I have learned and continue to learn with all of you. My hope is that you will join me in this journey and share in my passion for cycling. Maybe you and I can learn a thing or two together. Here’s to the start of a great adventure!

Currently, I live in Fairfield, IA where I work as a Senior Web Designer. and live with my two cats, Bear and Johnny. I am a board member of the Jefferson County Trails Council. I run the SE Iowa Cyclist group on Facebook and help plan bicycle events in town through the town’s chamber.  My new favorite things are gravel riding and stand up paddle boarding.