Haylee Johnson
and Lilli O’Donnell

By Alex Kochon

Haylee

Age: 15
Family: Heath, dad; Linda, mom; Lindsey, 14, sister
Residence: West Sand Lake
Primary sports: Road biking, cyclocross, alpine skiing, gymnastics

Lilli

Age: 11
Family: Ryan, dad; Staci, mom; Chase, 9; Jack, 7, brothers
Residence: Delmar
Primary sports: Cyclocross, mountain biking, road biking, alpine skiing

Other kids just don’t get it. It’s not their fault; the concept of a 15-year-old riding their bike 70 miles as part of a weekly training regimen isn’t easy to grasp. It’s also difficult to fathom an 11-year-old riding through and carrying her bike over mud, sand, grass, and manmade obstacles to win a national championship. 

Yet that’s exactly what Haylee Johnson, 15, of West Sand Lake and Lilli O’Donnell, 11, of Delmar do. Last June, Haylee raced to fifth in the 33-mile road race among 15- and 16-year-old junior women at the USA Cycling Amateur Road National Championships in Clay County, Florida. She went on to compete at the 2021 USA Cycling Cyclocross National Championships in December in DuPage County, Illinois, where she placed eighth in her age group. This success came in her first full season of racing road bikes in the summer and cyclocross (hybrid between mountain biking and road biking) in the fall.

Also last year, her best friend Lilli (who primarily races mountain bikes and cyclocross) got more into cyclocross and ended the year with a national title. At the Cyclocross National Championships just outside of Chicago, she beat out the other 11- and 12-year-old junior women on a multi-lap, 3.5-kilometer course in about 23 minutes, finishing 47 seconds ahead of the field.

Lilli, a sixth grader at Bethlehem Middle School, said most kids her age have no idea what she does outside of school – which generally involves riding bikes with her family, friends, and coach, Andy Ruiz, vice-president of the Capital Bicycle Racing Club.

“I was on the announcements for my school and [another student] heard and was like, ‘Oh so that’s what you do,’” Lilli recalled of having her cyclocross accomplishments recognized. “But I don’t think they know how hard it is.”

Haylee, a sophomore at Columbia High School, said most of her peers don’t really understand her athletic extracurriculars, either. “People that I’m in class with don’t really know what I’m doing, to the level that I am,” Haylee said. “They know I bike and when I talk to them about it, they’re like, ‘Oh, cool I like to bike, too.’”

Most days after school and even weekends in the winter, Haylee spends about an hour spinning on the bike trainer inside. It’s not the most interesting form of training, but it gets the job done. Come March, she’ll be back out on the roads with her dad, CBRC team members, and Andy, her coach, riding 30- to 70-mile or longer distances about twice a week.

“Haylee rides with adults. She’s that strong,” Andy said of Haylee’s participation in CBRC group rides. “She has no problem drafting, descending, and cornering at high speeds in a group. As she’s maturing, she’s getting stronger and stronger.”

Lilli rides her bike to school most days, even on a recent -5-degree morning. It’s only about a quarter of a mile, but it still shows her dedication. While she spends her winter weekends racing with the Gore Mountain alpine ski team, she does indoor bike-trainer workouts with the Niskayuna Mohawk “Mountain Goats” mountain bike team twice a week. In the summer, she rides almost every day, often on the Wright Lane Trails near her house. Her father, Ryan, is the founder of the local Flow Riders youth mountain bike program (Adirondack Sports, July 2021). 

“Lilli is probably one of the most talented technical riders that I’ve ever seen in all of my years of coaching, already,” Andy said.

While he kept it to himself, he was confident Lilli would finish in at least the top three at cyclocross nationals. She previously won eight out of 15 sanctioned cyclocross races last fall and moved up from racing against juniors (and winning races by four or five minutes) to bumping up to the Category 4 and 5 women’s class – where she still won most races. By the end of the season, she was upgraded to Cat 3. Lilli also competed against older kids in local NICA (National Interscholastic Cycling Association) mountain bike races last summer.

“The way she was dominating her peers in New England and around the Northeast and beating women that were considerably older… I was a little surprised,” Andy said. Winning nationals required a little bit of luck, he added, since so much can happen in a cyclocross race: crashes, flat tires, etc. It was a particularly windy and cold day when Haylee and Lilli competed. 

“It snowed a little,” Haylee recalled. “It was very slippery. In the Northeast, the conditions are unpredictable. I got to train in the mud. I raced in the mud. I had some experience with how to handle the bike in conditions like that.”

Andy said he was impressed with Haylee’s national results in both road cycling and cyclocross in her first year of full-fledged racing. “In 2019, she did like four races, so for her to go and get fifth, I was a little bit more surprised that she did that,” he said of Haylee’s finish at road nationals. “It was awesome that the training paid off and she was learning to race tactically.”

“We were just going there for experience so I had no idea I was going to win but I think the conditions and course really favored me,” Lilli said. “What’s nice about cyclocross is there’s basically people cheering for you every turn and the environment there is really cool.”

It certainly helps that Haylee and Lilli have each other. They met about two years ago when Lilli started cycling with CBRC. Lilli noticed that Haylee laughed at her jokes so she introduced herself. “Ever since we’ve been hanging out at races and everything,” Lilli said.

Despite the four-year age gap, the two have found they train well together and enjoy each other’s company. “It’s great to go ride with somebody who understands you, who you can talk with, and have fun,” Haylee said. “We’re both really dedicated, and I think we get along so well because we want to see each other do well.”

“She’s definitely better [than me], but it’s nice riding with her because it gives me more of a challenge,” Lilli said.

According to Andy, Haylee is more reserved and Lilli is more outgoing personality-wise, which makes them a special combo. “Haylee and Lilli are some of the most dedicated kids that I coach in this area,” he explained, adding that there are other promising young juniors on his team. “Haylee and Lilli have stood out, especially how young they are, and what they’ve accomplished in a short amount of time. That’s what makes them super unique.”

Alex Kochon (alexkochon@gmail.com) of Gansevoort is a freelance writer, editor, and outdoor-loving mom of two who enjoys adventuring in the Adirondacks