Photography by JESSICA TURNER
Lauren Stephens’ bicycle tire was flat, and she didn’t know how to change it. She took the hand-me-down vehicle to a bike shop, where Mat Stephens pawned the repair off on another employee so he could chat with the cute new customer.“I had no idea he was flirting with me, but that’s what was happening,” Lauren says.
The two started going on group rides and have been training buddies — and life partners — ever since. After 10 years of marriage, their commitment to cycling is as strong as ever.
Mat ran cross country and swam in high school. He added cycling to his training schedule to compete in triathlons. When he went to college, Texas A&M didn’t have a triathlon team, but it did have a cycling club. He started riding on an amateur team that competed in races across the country.
After college, Mat got a job fitting bikes at Bicycles Plus. The job allowed him to stay connected to the industry while traveling on the weekends for a variety of road, gravel and mountain bike races. When he met Lauren, he introduced her to the world of bike racing and became her coach.
Lauren started racing on the weekends while teaching math full time at Bryan Adams High School. She cycled to work most days from their home in Old Lake Highlands, and Mat made a wooden crate that attached to the bike to hold her books.
“Students who were there at the time remember me as the bike lady,” she says. “Surprisingly, they thought it was cool.”
Lauren quickly made a name for herself in bike racing circles, and professional teams took notice. In 2013, she quit her teaching job and signed a contract to race full time for Team TIBCO Silicon Valley Bank. The competition circuit includes weeks of races in Europe, where she was riding when the pandemic hit.
Her season was canceled, and for a while, the couple didn’t even ride bikes around White Rock Lake. They pursued new hobbies, and Lauren sold sourdough bread on the corner of Lakeshore and Peavy. One weekend, the profits went to Project Echelon, a nonprofit that educates and equips veterans through physical activity.
They took up virtual racing to stay in shape when in-person events resumed. Even as a newcomer to online cycling, Lauren won two stages of the Virtual Tour de France, and her team finished first overall.
As an elite female cyclist, Lauren can go toe-to-toe with many men. In February, the couple participated in a 12-hour mountain bike relay race. Instead of entering the co-ed category, they opted for stiffer competition in the men’s division. She hustled to stay ahead of the pack, and she credits Mat for letting her skip some of the night laps. In the end, the extra effort was worth it to share a smooch at the top of the podium, she says.
“Riding together is something we’ve been doing almost since the first day we met,” Lauren says. “When I think I’ve reached the best I can be, somehow he pushes me to be better.
