Maize Wimbush, 15, eclipses 5 feet 8 inches and recently shattered one of road cycling’s long-standing glass ceilings. Known to friends and fans as “aMAIZEn,” last year Wimbush became the first Black female cyclist to win a U.S. national championship title in the junior women’s age 15 to 16 road race.
This historic accomplishment was most surprising to Wimbush since she favors criteriums over road races. Her parents, her most ardent supporters, reminded her: “You put in the work.”
Wimbush has been putting in the work since she was 9 years old. Soon after getting her first bike at the age of 4, she wanted to ride with her dad, who’s an avid road cyclist. She remembers pleading to ride with him on weekends. However, he would tell her that he and his cycling friends would be riding much faster than she could manage. Wimbush continued her campaign to cycle with her dad, and for her 7th birthday she received her first road bike, a 24-inch Felt. Two years later, she was already competing.
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Today, Wimbush still rides with her dad, but the tables have turned. “She can drop me when she decides to,” her dad, Mark Wimbush, told Bicycling.
Her Trail Blazers
Wimbush’s career ambitions have been shaped by several trail-blazing cyclists. When asked which cyclists she admires most, she effortlessly proclaimed: “Nelson Vails, Justin and Cory Williams, and Ayesha McGowan.”
Her admiration for Vails, the first Black cyclist to win an Olympic medal in track cycling, continues to grow as her interest in track cycling develops. Having practiced at the Lehigh Valley Velodrome, commonly referred to as T-Town, in Breinigsville, Pennsylvania, Wimbush is looking forward to spending more time developing her skills to become a competitive track cyclist.
Wimbush’s love of competition parallels her admiration for the Williams brothers. She revels in their dominant effect on criterium racing and the broader cycling scene. “What Justin and Cory have built is motivating, especially for someone who is very entrepreneurially-focused like me. With their creation of L39ION and the success of the team, they motivate so many people to race crits,” she said.
Her commitment to racing and acute focus on breaking down barriers easily explains why Wimbush admires McGowan, too, the first Black American woman to become a professional road cyclist. “Ayesha is so motivating, she inspires me by the way she rides and her positive attitude. She laid the groundwork for future Black female cyclists who want to go professional and race in the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) Women’s WorldTour—those are my goals!” Wimbush said.
Wimbush’s aspirations don’t end there. She wants to be the first Black American female road cyclist to compete at an Olympic games—and she’s aiming for 2028. “That would be lit!”
A Dedicated Team Player
With such big plans, this self-professed late sleeper is exceptionally disciplined. Applying the mantra “the early bird gets the worm,” Wimbush reminds herself that her training plan won’t complete itself, so she must get things done. With a 12- to 15-hour weekly training plan, Wimbush prioritizes her sleep by training outdoors in the evenings during summer months and indoors in the afternoon during winter months.
Regardless of time, she manages to balance her solo training sessions with her team training requirements. After honing her cycling skills with the Getting It In Cyclists youth cycling team, Wimbush recently transitioned to the Virginia’s Blue Ridge Twenty24 junior cycling team. Out of the 27 juniors on the team, Wimbush was selected as team captain for the 15- to 16-year-old juniors. In this capacity, she is supported by an experienced team of professionals where she develops not only athletically, but also hones her leadership skills by helping her teammates strategize road race tactics and map out their own goals.
Influencing Cyclists Across the World
Wimbush was previously featured by Bicycling as one of the most influential young Black cyclists to follow on Instagram. And her cycling endeavors extend beyond racing and her current team role. Closer to home, Wimbush loans her Felt road bike to kids in the neighborhood who are interested in road cycling.
This past February, Wimbush was the youngest featured cyclist for Zwift’s Black Celebration Series, among icons like Rahsaan Bahati and David Lipscomb. “Maize Wimbush’s Windup” workout was available for a full week. The 52-minute workout is one of Wimbush’s favorites and consists of a mix of intervals that helps her to “get used to high power and aids with future recovery time,” she said. Throughout that week, scores of Zwift subscribers logged on to the platform with hopes of riding with the junior national champion. Many cyclists may have rolled through Watopia with her unknowingly.
Still a Regular Teenager
She admitted that not many people outside of cycling are aware of her historic accomplishments, and Wimbush would like to keep things that way. Staying under the radar may prove challenging not only athletically, but also academically. A self-professed independent worker, Wimbush’s work ethic in the classroom parallels her commitment on the bike. With a 4.18 grade point average, she is not only an honor roll student but also a recent National Honor Society inductee.
At home, Wimbush declares that regardless of her accomplishments, her parents treat her “exactly the same” and like that normalcy. With a small circle of friends who keep her grounded, Wimbush enjoys regular teenage activities, such as listening to music, fashion, and art. Her love for music ranges from popular melodic hip hop—Kanye West, Lil Dirk, and Playboi Carti—to instrumental Arabic classics, to rapping over country-music beats.
With a fashion palate as eclectic as her musical preferences, Wimbush opts for underground and understated fashion designs over more mainstream brands. Her other hobbies include “messy” abstract art, styling hair, and dancing. Like cycling, each hobby has its place in her life. “You can’t get better at something if you don’t practice it,” she says.
What’s Next?
With practice comes progress. Reflecting on how far she has come, Wimbush remembers riding in the Armed Forces Cycling Classic at the age of 8 and being more concerned about having fun and showing her parents that she could ride with one hand, rather than winning. Keeping cycling fun is Wimbush’s priority.
As she prepares for the USA Cycling National Championships, Tulsa Tough, Harlem Skyscraper, and the Intelligentsia Cup, her priorities are to have fun, remain focused, and continue putting in the work. She fully expects that challenges will arise with a full racing schedule, however she is very conscious that “cycling is more mental than physical, the pain is only temporary, and mental will keeps you going,” she said.
Like her role models, Wimbush has managed to strategically navigate through pelotons and life. With a laser focus on her future ambitions, this young trailblazer is determined to continue breaking barriers.
Taneika is a Jamaica native, a runner and a gravel cyclist who resides in Virginia. Passionate about cycling, she aims to get more people, of all abilities, to ride the less beaten path.
