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Bayli McSpadden knows she’s playing the long game when it comes to realizing her cycling potential, but that doesn’t make dealing with injury any easier.

The Vail-raised, CU Boulder sophomore suffered a trimalleolar fracture after crashing in a collegiate mountain bike race last October. Instead of cashing in on her hard-earned physiological investments at the season-ending collegiate national championships the following week, she was sidelined for the next two months.

“It was definitely hard,” the 21-year-old said. After eight weeks of non-weight-bearing activities, McSpadden went to California to spend the winter slowly rebuilding her strength alongside fellow Bear National Team riders. She navigated technical trails and the corresponding mental adjustment well, but sometimes struggled to give herself grace for missing most of the fitness base-building period.

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“I’m expecting myself to be at such a high level but not realizing I did have an injury and my training has been a lot different than other peoples’,” she said. “I think understanding that helped me know I just need to keep plugging away and it will come.”

Even though McSpadden doesn’t consider technical skills to be her strong suit, in striving to contend on a national and international level the last three years, she’s inherently taken more risks.

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“I’m pushing the speeds, I’m up with the faster girls and that’s pushing my limits,” said McSpadden, who notched a pair of top-10 finishes at U.S. cross-country mountain bike nationals last July. “I’m trying to take that mindset and be like, ‘you know what,’ this is part of the sport…and you have to commit to the risk.”

McSpadden has moved back to Vail full-time and changed coaches. The workouts her coach, 2022 Leadville 100 champion Hannah Otto, gives her are more detailed, strict and less based on feel. “My training is so different than before,” McSpadden said.

After opening her season with a pair of races in Temecula, California in March, McSpadden competed at the U.S. Pro Cup in Fayetteville, Arkansas April 3-6, placing 13th in the elite cross-country short circuit competition. The next week, she hopped down to Louisiana for the Piney Hills Classic to chase UCI points.

“It was all pretty good,” McSpadden said of the early-season race block. “There were definitely some ups and downs.”

Searching for a bit more zip, McSpadden’s been incorporating longer, race-pace intervals to prepare for the Pan American Championships next week in Soldier Hollow. Her main goals for the season are to podium at the U.S. cross-country mountain bike nationals in July and make a World Cup debut by the fall.

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“Those are definitely big goals, but I think a lot more achievable this year than last year,” she said before adding that she also plans to compete at the U.S. road nationals later this month in Charleston, West Virginia.

“Just to dip my toes in the water and see what I can do.”

Now that she’s back in the valley, she also said there’s a possibility she’ll hop in the local races when it makes sense, too.

“I love the town series. They’re so fun,” she said. “I would love to try Bighorn Gravel. I just got a gravel bike this year and want to race it so badly.”

While much of her training is executed on the road, McSpadden said her primary focus is still mountain biking. Down the road, she said a transition to longer races — such as the LifeTime Series her coach competes in — is a possibility. For now, she’s focused on being patient, taking advantage of learning opportunities and remembering races like the Leadville 100 will be waiting for her in the future.

“These longer races are awesome, but it’s hard to balance with cross-country mountain biking. So, it’s kind of picking and choosing,” she said.

“When I was skiing, I wanted to be good at everything — all disciplines, all the things. I kind of came to biking late. My career is going to be very long and I’m not going to peak until a little later, which is going to be OK.”

Being off the bike has made McSpadden savor being in the saddle, no matter where she’s at in the journey.

“I think the whole injury just made me a little impatient, but it’s also kind of a good thing,” she said. “I enjoy getting up to train every day way more. I appreciate it.”