After the Glory Days: Michelle Dobbs
Today, Michelle Dobbs spends more time in the saddle of her bike than in her sneakers. But if you had asked the 2016 indoor NCAA 800m champion and eight-time All-American what she thought she’d be training for a year after her graduation from the University of Chicago, she would have said running without a second thought.
Michelle Dobbs winning the Indoor 800m title
A spurt of injuries in her senior year was the first sign she might have to change course. By then, Dobbs knew she would have to undergo hip surgery for labrum repair upon graduation. She also began experiencing a breathing issue that made workouts and competitions painful and emotional. Rather than slogging through an indoor season with pain, Dobbs did something unexpected.
“I still loved competing, and I still wanted to compete. But it was really draining for me,” Dobbs said. “That's part of the reason I ended up joining the basketball team. I wanted to try something different, and I really missed basketball and had played it all the time growing up.”
Dobbs wasn’t sure if she’d be able to return for the outdoor season, but the physical and mental break that basketball allowed gave her the energy to compete for the track team one last time. In her final collegiate race, she assisted her team’s 4x400m relay to a school record-breaking performance and an All-American finish at nationals. Although Dobbs was happy with how her final season concluded, the hip surgery still loomed. She wasn’t sure what her physical capabilities would be like after or how difficult the recovery process would be.
“Mentally, at that point, I said to myself, whatever comes from the surgery, my focus is on being able to be outside and do things like go hiking without pain and see what else I might be able to do.”
The outdoors was a huge draw for Dobbs when she visited Denver, Colorado, for a job interview before graduating. She moved there in 2017 to start a software engineering job and enjoy Colorado’s stunning mountain vistas. Once there, and after recovering more from her surgery, she dabbled in training for running but struggled to find training partners for the middle-distance events.
Around that time, Dobbs and her partner had their bikes stolen. Dobbs' eyes began to open to the cycling world as she researched extensively before purchasing a new ride.
“In preparation for getting this new mountain bike, I decided to ride my road bike a lot and just get time on the bike. And then I was like–wait. This is amazing. Instead of just going for a 20-minute jog and having a sore foot afterward, I can ride my bike for three hours, not really be that tired, and see all this beautiful nature around Denver,” Dobbs explained. “It just felt so empowering and amazing‘.”
Dobbs’ love of cycling quickly grew as she learned more about the other cycling disciplines beyond road and mountain biking. In addition to cycling being easier on her body after years of running injuries, she found it mentally stimulating to explore her physical limits in a new way.
“It’s an addicting learning curve at the beginning of a new sport. You get better so much quicker,” Dobbs said. “After college, my goal with running couldn’t really be to be the best I've ever been anymore. It felt like I was having to constantly recalibrate my goals, and I wasn’t super motivated.”
Meanwhile, her cycling career quickly took off. In 2019, Dobbs participated in her first criterium, an intense and sprint-based cycling event where competitors navigate tight turns on a closed course for a set time or distance.
“Suddenly, I was the best I'd ever been at something again, and now—four years later—I still feel like I’m at the beginning of my cycling journey.”
While Dobbs is still honing her cycling skills, she’s picked up several accolades in just this last year alone. She now trains and competes for the Flow Formulas Racing team and was the Cat 3 Colorado State Criterium Champion, the Cat 2/3 Omnium champion for the Tour of America’s Dairyland cycling series with three stage wins, and fourth place finisher in the General Classification for the Tour of the Gila with one stage win.
Dobbs points to the balance present in her life now as the biggest difference between competing as a cyclist compared to her time as a collegiate runner.
“In college, it was hard because I didn't know what my life looked like if I wasn't able to achieve my goals as a student or athlete. Until very late in my senior year, I had no idea how what was going to work out job-wise,” Dobbs remembered. “That instability kind of caused me to put much more pressure on the athletic side, I think.”
Dobbs currently works as a software engineer at Strava. Her identity is no longer rooted in being a collegiate athlete and is more evenly spread across her work, relationships, community, and hobbies.
Her advice for recent graduates searching for a new athletic outlet?
“Figure out what parts of your life make you happy. The challenge for me in finding joy in post-collegiate athletics was learning what piece of it all made me feel engaged,” Dobbs advised. “For some people, that’s the training piece, or being outside, or finding other people to work out with. Figure out what makes it worthwhile for you because I certainly wouldn't recommend that every single person goes and tries to find the next sport to compete in.”
Even now, Dobbs keeps an open mind about who she is as an athlete. She recommends this flexible mindset to adapt to changing goals and priorities in life.
“I regularly ask myself, is this still going to be the thing for me? Should I pivot to something else in a couple years? Who knows? But be open to finding new things that can make you happy.”
Dobbs hopes to one day make the Team USA track cycling pursuit team. Team pursuit is a highly technical event where four cyclists sprint 4,000m in a tight pack and complete the distance as quickly as possible while staying in formation. Dobbs is currently focusing on training for her next velodrome camp which will take place in November.
But given Dobbs’ aptitude for picking up new sports—and making a statement in each of them—we wouldn’t be shocked if she’s competing in a new sport the next time we hear from her.