Liberty Bell High School graduate Cody Cupp now rides for Floyd’s of Leadville Racing, competing mostly in Western states.
Mountain biking is a recreational activity for most people. For Methow Valley native Cody Cupp, it’s a profession and way of life.
Cupp’s primary source of income is found in the dirt and gravel long-distance races of the Belgian Waffle Ride series and other events that often cover 70-100 miles in one race.
As a kid growing up in the valley, Cupp, now 28, competed on a Math is Cool team, played youth and Babe Ruth baseball and basketball, and continued at the high school level for Liberty Bell, graduating with the class of 2012. The mountain bike thing was always there, though. Cupp missed several baseball games one spring season after sustaining an arm injury crashing his bike while trail riding. He would recover from those injuries, but not from his addiction to mountain biking and fitness.
After high school, Cupp went to college at Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado, where he earned a degree in accounting. He was a member of the Fort Lewis College mountain bike team, where he had some successes and caught the eye of several professional riding teams. Currently, he rides for Floyd’s of Leadville Racing, signing on in July 2022.
We caught up with Cupp in late April between races in San Marcos, California, and the Monterey Peninsula. The race in San Marcos was, by Cupp’s standards, not one of his more memorable events.
“I hit a rock early in the race that flattened one of my tires”, said Cupp. “I had to ride for a few miles like that before I got to where someone could help me.”
By the time he was able to get back to full speed, Cupp was back in the field and wasn’t able to advance beyond 24th place. Still, he was in the top portion of the 165-rider field in the 207-kilometer (128.7 mile) race. Cupp’s time in that race was one second over 7 hours.
A 25th-place finish was in store for Cupp at the Sea Otter Classic north up the coast at Monterey a week later, a shorter race by almost half. He completed the 67 miles in 4:23:51. That would be averaging about 15 miles per hour over rocks, up and down hills, road shoulders and nothing that really resembles a flat track.
Variety of races
There are several series that he races over the season besides the Belgian Waffle Ride series. This past weekend Cupp found himself back in Colorado, for the Grand Junction Rides and Vibes on May 5-6. Cupp placed 5th in the Saturday “Filthy 40” race, a 40-miler that starts at 4,603 feet of elevation and tops at 6,573 feet, but goes up and down over the 40 miles with a total elevation gain of 5,334 vertical feet, the bulk of that between the 20th and 27th miles of the ride.
The variety is an attraction for Cupp as he tours mostly the Western states, representing his team, Floyd’s of Leadville Racing. “We race on everything from mountains to deserts and by the ocean. There is a real variety and I like that. It’s never boring,” he said.
He was working for an accounting firm last year when Floyd’s contacted him about riding. “I was mostly interested in racing part-time,” Cupp said. “But when they offered to have me ride for their company full-time, I couldn’t pass it up.”
“If it was only about the money, I wouldn’t do it,” said Cupp. “I really enjoy the sport of riding, the competition. I always have.”
He will venture into the Pacific Northwest for a race on Vancouver Island over Memorial Day Weekend, May 26-28, which is not a holiday weekend in Canada. Tentatively, Cupp also plans on racing in Cedar City, Utah, and in Mexico on Nov. 26 near the city of Querétaro.
For the short term, he hopes to keep riding for a few more years, aware that sooner or later, he will have to retire from the full-time schedule. “I’ll probably go back to accounting when I’m done racing full time,” he said.
Cupp still has roots in the Methow Valley and the Northwest where his parents reside. He has a sister who lives in northwestern Washington. But his home, for now, is found in Durango, close to the Rockies, trails, fishing, and really good mountain biking.
