We love to help our community, and when we learned about Sierra, we were excited about the opportunity to help her reach her goals. As you’ll see below, Sierra is an incredible individual- it takes someone really special to do what she does in her profession, and it’s really awesome she’s pursuing racing now. We asked her to put a few words together about herself:
My name is Sierra Thomas. I’ve lived in Auburn for about 3.5 years and started mountain biking about 2 years ago. I grew up in Winters, CA; a small town similar to Auburn. I have been involved in sports my entire life. I am a full time Pediatric ICU nurse at Sutter as well as a per diem Pediatric ICU burn nurse. I have three amazing step children and an even more amazing partner who supports me in all my crazy adventures. We both genuinely love to help people.
I found mountain biking about three years ago when a good friend of mine invited me out for a ride around Lake Natoma on his old bike. It was fun, I was sore. I had never really ridden a bike like that before, let alone ridden a bike since I was a kid. The following year I was able to semi-permanently borrow the bike, and we went on monthly rides. It was at this point that I realized the therapeutic value of mountain biking in my life. Working as an RN is more often than not stressful, and can be emotionally taxing. Mountain biking makes it all disappear, especially during races! There is no other place your mind can be other than the trail you're on, the next technical feature or jump, and your next move on the bike. It has been the most cathartic, therapeutic, and physically healthy thing that I have immersed myself in. I am so grateful for the amazing community of people it encompasses. This year I plan to race all of the CA Enduro Series races (two are local!), as well as some downhill races as long as my work schedule permits. Thank you for all of your support!
Sierra will be leading some rides from the brewery, and the first one is coming up on February 20th @ 9am! We are working together on a bike jersey for Crooked Lane, be on the lookout for that soon! Follow Sierra’s cycling adventures on Instagram @sissypantsmtb.
