As 31 elite women lined up on the start line of the 2026 Gravel Worlds race on 22 August, many multi-thousand-dollar carbon bikes with perfectly trued wheels and carefully selected tyres could be seen in the sea of steeds ready to take on the 150-mile course through the plains of Nebraska.
But looking carefully through the start line melee, one bike stood out from the rest. Professional triathlete Amanda Macuiba, 32, pushed off to tackle the 9,000 feet of climbing aboard a $500 Marin gravel bike that she’d purchased on Facebook Marketplace the previous week.
“I would be a liar if I said I wasn’t a little underprepared,” Macuiba admits. “But I had faith that my body and my years of racing experience would get me through the race – even if it got a little ugly.”
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No bike? No problem.
Macuiba is no stranger to elite competition. She competed in collegiate running, and now races as a professional in the sport of triathlon with multiple podium finishes to her name in half- and full-distance Ironmans.
When Macuiba had the opportunity to pivot from racing Ironman Maryland in September to lining up as an elite at Gravel Worlds (the long-running Nebraskan gravel race not to be mistaken with the much-newer UCI Gravel World Championships), she readily took on this new challenge.
“I love how gravel biking has different focus points [than road racing],” Macuiba says. “It’s not just about how close you are to someone’s wheel; it’s also about navigating the terrain and handling technical sections…I find gravel to be fun and refreshing compared to road cycling.”
While Macuiba’s late entry into the elite wave at Gravel Worlds was accepted, she was facing two big challenges: she hadn’t done any gravel-specific training in months and, worse, no gravel bike to race on. She has a custom gravel bike in the works, but it wasn’t going to be ready in time.
Some may have let this stop them from pursuing Gravel Worlds, but not Macuiba.
“I didn’t feel comfortable asking a friend to borrow a bike given the length and technical terrain of Worlds,” Macuiba says. “So I turned to Facebook Marketplace, and the $500 Marin bike I ended up getting fit my budget and was close enough for easy pickup with less than a week to go for Worlds.”
Macuiba adds with a laugh, “I refuse to call the bike a bad bike. I thought what better thing for [the bike] and I to bond over than both being a bit over our heads with Worlds.”
With a bike now secured, Macuiba decided to rely on her years of aerobic endurance training, hoping it would translate to the 150 miles of dirt awaiting her in Lincoln.
The $500 Bike
(Image credit: Amanda Macuiba)
- Brand: Marin Nicasio+
- Year: Unknown
- Size: 52
- Frame & fork material: Steel
- Tyres: 650b x 47mm (with Super Glue jammed into the cracks)
- Drivetrain: 1 x 9 speed Microshift mechanical
95 Miles and Lessons for A Lifetime
When the race got underway, Macuiba was pleased to keep up with the elite peloton for the first 10 miles, until the gravel-specific skills and tactics of the race came into play.
“I learned the harsh lesson that one bad corner will cost you the entire peloton,” Macuiba says of her race experience. “But it also gave me so much respect for the other elite women. I tried to channel any humiliation I felt into absolute respect for the skills these elite women possess.”
At mile 53, Macuiba crashed hard while attempting to corner at a high speed, planting the bike derailleur-side down into the dirt and rock. Despite Macuiba being physically OK, the bike was not.
Mechanics at the mile 54 aid station attempted to fix the bike’s shifting issues caused by the crash, but with little success. Macuiba had to manually push her shifters back into place after every click, and eventually, could only shift between two gears in the middle of her cassette.
“By mile 95, my knees were aching from grinding uphill at 50rpm and I was weary of spinning out on every downhill,” Macuiba says. “I thought to myself, ‘I can’t do this for 55 more miles.’ Plus, I could have used more calories, and my body and mind were growing weary. I decided it wasn’t safe for me to try to continue and made the tough call to DNF.”
Despite DNF’ing, Macuiba says she comes away from the race with a wealth of new information that she “couldn’t possibly” have learned without giving Worlds a go on her $500 steed.
“I took any feelings of embarrassment or imposter syndrome and told myself that physically, I can belong [in the elite field] if I work on my technical riding and get some better gear,” Macuiba says. “As I waited for my teammate to pick me up [from the DNF point], I reminded myself that my elite application for Worlds was accepted for a reason.”
“I would absolutely do this again”
Macuiba unflinchingly says she would do this entire experience again.
“I would absolutely do [Gravel Worlds] again,” Macuiba says. “And when I get that finisher medal, no matter what place I’m in, I’m going to be really freaking stoked. I can’t wait to re-prepare myself for a big gravel race like this in the future.”
Macuiba says that if she could impart any post-race wisdom to other cyclists, especially those new to the sport, it would be that “waiting for everything to be perfect will never be worth it.”
“Waiting for the perfect day where everything aligns is unlikely to ever happen,” Macuiba says. “Embracing the imperfect days will make you a better athlete mentally and physically – and I think that’s why we do sport at all.”
Even if you feel twinges of embarrassment or nerves taking on a new challenge, Macuiba encourages cyclists of all abilities to push through those feelings and enjoy the new adventure.
“As I stood on the start line with these incredibly elite women and their really nice bikes, I did feel some embarrassment,” Macuiba says. “But I thought, ‘You’re already here, so just do your best,’ and I ended up having such a cool experience that I would never have had if I waited for the perfect circumstances.”
As for the $500 Facebook Marketplace bike? After it gets some TLC to recover from its battle wounds, Macuiba plans on keeping the bike and loaning it to family members so they can experience the joy of riding and trying something new and different, too.
