When Worlds Collide with Kendall Park

Today we’re sitting down with someone whose path into bikepacking is truly one of the more fascinating evolutions in the sport: the incredible Kendall Park.Kendall’s story starts far from endurance riding. Long before multi-day pushes through rugged terrain and the patient, measured rhythm of ultra-distance events, Kendall was a football player and strength athlete built for power and explosiveness. Her roots are in weight rooms and locker rooms, in a culture shaped by strength, fast-twitch movement, and ‘force = mass times acceleration’. And somehow, that foundation—one built around strength, and physical dominance—eventually set the stage for a surprising and deeply intentional shift into the slow grind, long days, and mental steadiness of endurance cycling.Kendall’s move into bikepacking is as extreme as it gets. She’s not just testing the waters—she’s taken on some of the toughest events out there, including completing the Iditarod Trail Invitational twice, racing Unbound XL, and tackling (get it? tackling) North-South Colorado. These aren’t just rides; they’re multi-day, physically punishing tests of endurance. Going from short, explosive bursts on the football field to this kind of sustained, grueling effort speaks volumes about her adaptability, focus, and personal determination.In our conversation, Kendall and I explore what it really looks like to transition from a strength-based athlete to an endurance athlete—how your identity shifts, how your body adapts, how training philosophies flip on their head, and what it takes to exchange one form of discipline for another. We talk about the cultural contrast between the gym and the bikepacking world, the habits she carried over, the challenges she faced, and the ways her strength background still shows up in her riding today.Kendall is forever learning, and also pursuing her MD & PhD in computer science and medicine, so of course, as an analytical person, Kendall and I dig into the training science that fuels her approach. Kendall is thoughtful, detail-oriented, and incredibly intentional with her work. She breaks down how she blends strength principles with endurance demands, how she structures training now, and how she prepares herself for the demands of ultra racing.And of course, we dive into one of the defining chapters of her endurance novel: DOOM 2024, where she spent 6 days, 12 hours, and 3 minutes battling one of the most notoriously brutal courses in Arkansas. Out there, Kendall wasn’t just contending with relentless climbs and unforgiving terrain—she was carrying the weight of losing a close friend from high school, processing that grief mile after mile. She also faced inclement, incoming weather, forcing her to seek shelter and steady herself—physically and emotionally—while deciding how to move forward safely. Yet even amid all of that, she found genuine trail magic: unexpected kindnesses and small, grounding moments that helped her stay present and keep going. We talk about how she held her commitment when everything pushed back, and how her “finish-first” philosophy continues to guide the way she races.