Meet Ashley Frye

We recently connected with Ashley Frye and have shared our conversation below.

Ashley, thank you so much for joining us. You are such a positive person and it’s something we really admire and so we wanted to start by asking you where you think your optimism comes from?

My optimism comes from understanding that joy and competitiveness aren’t mutually exclusive.

Throughout my athletic career, I’ve encountered the perception that being bubbly and smiley somehow meant I wasn’t a competitor, that I wasn’t “tough” enough or that I wasn’t stoic. At Texas State, my coach mockingly called me ‘Smiley Fryes’ and told me that with my personality I will never be a true leader. Later, in professional cycling, my personality was sometimes misinterpreted as a lack of competitive drive, even as I was achieving top-5 and top-10 finishes in both European and US races.

The cycling world tested my optimism. I went from local Colorado races to the European peloton in just four months, facing initial skepticism about my capabilities. But my smile became my strength – it was how I processed pain, handled pressure, and found joy even in the hardest moments. What others saw my joy as a sign of inexperience was actually what kept me resilient in a way. Through every challenge, finding joy in the hard moments became my strength, it made me resilient. My smile was a reflection of the joy I found in pushing my limits, in giving my all, in being a competitor at a high level. This joy helped me stay resilient, turning what others saw as a weakness into my greatest advantage, by staying grounded and true to myself.

But maintaining my optimistic nature wasn’t easy in professional cycling. The environment often demanded a tough, cutthroat personality that just wasn’t me. I struggled tremendously and felt like I was constantly having to prove myself when I shouldn’t have. I had to advocate for myself constantly to the point that it felt personal, like I was the problem. I was broken down raw, in an unhealthy state this past summer. I felt like i was out of my body, I was depressed, I was exhausted. When I am in an unhealthy state I result to coming off more confrontational, impatient, rude – When I acted this way, I was praised for it. Asked where this part of me was coming from and if I could bring this side of me out more often. This unhealthy state of mine was considered tough and I was then seen as a competitor. The problem is, that is not me. That is an unhealthy version of me. When I am in that unhealthy state I rage and have a negative outlook on everything. I realized that I can never be that version of me if I am to be healthy. I did not want to be that person they wanted and I did not want to shape into that version of self.
That’s when I realized that it was personal, it was me. My optimism, my personality, was the problem and I would have to continuously change myself to adhere to the expectations that would continue to be placed on me in professional cycling. That moment is when I chose myself and decided to step away from my professional cycling career rather than compromise who I am.

My light – that natural optimism and joy – is what makes me resilient. I smile to cope. I smile in pain. I smile when competing. It’s my way of staying authentic in a world that often tries to dim your light. I will not shape who I am to fit the mold of what people want from me. I won’t let them dim my light anymore.

This understanding, which took me two years of extreme pressure and high expectations, led me to create 4The Girls Run Club in Boulder, which is now the largest women’s run club in Colorado. After experiencing environments that tried to change who I was, I wanted to create a space where women could be both competitive and joyful and where they could define success on their own terms. In just over a year, we’ve collaborated with major brands like Lululemon, Strava, Skratch, and ASICS, but more importantly, we’ve created a community where women can show up exactly as they are. Recently, I put on an event called The Jogger’s Mile, which exemplified this – an untimed mile where some participants experienced their first track race ever. Seeing women experience their first track mile at the Jogger’s Mile or completing their first 5-mile jog at our weekly meetups with smiles on their faces – that’s what fuels my optimism. It shows that when we create spaces where women can be both competitive and joyful, we create something truly powerful.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

I have always been a go-getter, a fighter, a girl who has always wanted to prove something for really no one but myself. I am resilient. I want to be the person who can and will do something; whatever that something might be, I still don’t really know.

I am a 24-year-old girl who was born and raised in Austin, Texas, with a great family and wonderful community. I grew up as a competitive gymnast, going to 4 1/2 hour practices five days a week until I was 14 years old. I was then presented with my first-ever “big decision” to either be a gymnast and be homeschooled or to quit gymnastics and continue school. I chose school. I have always been someone who looks at the steps ahead and what decisions I have to make in order to continue to climb the ladder of life. Fast forward to only three years ago when I was an undergraduate student at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs, where I was presented with the same question: either continue school and not be a professional cyclist or quit school and move to Europe to be a cyclist. However, this decision was not as black and white; being an adult and not a 14-year-old girl, I chose professional cycling and transferred to continue my education online at Grand Canyon University. Funny thing facing the same question eight years later.

I started running in high school because my high school boyfriend liked running, so I decided why not try running a 5k every other day. I hated it at first, but I found that I could run fast, and I loved competing. I then started to actually like running. I then ran cross country and track at Texas State, where I unfortunately experienced a cycle of running injuries, which many runners have experienced. I think the total amount of stress fractures I had in my 5 years as a collegiate cross-country and track athlete added up to about 10. Making that one stress fracture every semester. Reading this, you might think I have osteopenia, some crazy running form, eat unhealthy, run too much, don’t activate my glutes enough, run too many miles, have something muscularly wrong with me, you name it, but luckily, none of those problems were the root cause for that insane amount of stress fractures, and thankfully I do not have osteopenia or anything structurally wrong.

Unfortunately, I had a horrible experience with the Texas State head coach, who was manipulative and cruel to everyone. He created a toxic culture that I could not succeed in, and my body would break down from the constant emotional stress. However, my experience is not unique, and unfortunately, many collegiate athletes have experienced cruel coaches and men in authority who use their power in a negative way. I then transferred to the University of Colorado Colorado Springs, where I had a great coach and a great team, but my body just seemed to not like running and would constantly break down from deep-rooted emotional stress that was caused by the need to perform. For reference, I could barely run over 20 miles a week without getting injured. After five years of running and constantly getting injured and an insane amount of cross-training, I hated running and everything about it. During those five years, I did wake up every morning and cross-trained 2-3 hours a day, sometimes twice a day. My friends would say I was resilient. I didn’t feel resilient, but I am stubborn, and I will agree. During those five years of mostly cross-training, that’s when I found my love for the bike.

I was constantly cross-training to return to running and stay in competitive running shape. I found that the bike was the best way to stay in shape and the only form of cross-training that I genuinely loved. One day, I decided why not try a local bike race. I caught the bike racing bug and raced as much as I could. My name got out there, and within less than 4 months of doing local bike races, I signed a pro contract for a UCI continental women’s cycling team and went to Europe to race.

I experienced a lot in the past two years of bike racing, and I feel like I lived about 10 years in 2. I experienced some incredibly high highs and some incredibly low lows in cycling, and I have found that cycling is that, a few high highs and a bunch of low lows. I think you can ask any cyclist that,t and they will say the same thing. A road cyclist could race for ten years on the best team and never be on a podium. My coach would always tell me that you could do this for years and never win a race, but you could do this for one year and win one race that will change your life. Cycling is a gritty sport, and I will forever have the utmost respect for all the women in the pro peloton. They are the toughest, most impressive women that I have ever seen, and I am so honored that I was able to race alongside women who are paving the way for women cycling for the past two years. Those women showed me what resilience truly is. They are the definition.

I had never been to Europe, let alone out of the country. I hadn’t met anyone on the team and had no idea who was picking me up from the airport. I just trusted that I would get there and see what comes my way. Now, you might be thinking that I am a go-with-the-flow kind of person, but I AM NOT. I will be the first to say that I am a control freak and have obsessive personality tendencies. So, going with the flow is not something that comes naturally to me, and it is something I push away from and avoid at all costs.

When I got to my first team camp, I knew I had to prove something and well my teammates made that known as well. Not a surprise, for I get it. I was the new girl, and they had already proved themselves. On my first call with the team, they said they would give me a two week trial run. Later that week they sent me a two-year contract. I had one week to sign and one month before I was shipped off to europe. I believe that when doors open or when opportunities are presented, go with your gut, dont look back, and the rest will follow. You make your reality and you go with the punches.

When I was at my first team camp, well, let’s just say it was really tough. All the riders stayed together for months. It was the bachelor mansion on steroids. I learned a lot about myself, about others, and about what it takes to be a pro athlete. I had a great first season with multiple top-5 and top-10 finishes. I traveled the world and raced in insane races that were mentally and physically taxing. My first year of racing, I raced A LOT, I was constantly on the road and extremely burnt out after just one year. My body was exhausted, and I got extremely sick in Italy at the end of the season. What had happened was, I went to use the bathroom in the middle of the night when I passed out and was awoken from my partner who was doing the heimlich on me to where I woke up and threw up everywhere. After I passed out, my partner thankfully woke up to the sound of me choking on my own throw-up up, unconscious. I went to the hospital in Italy, and they found nothing wrong, just weird occurrences. I’m not trying to be dramatic, but I think if my partner had not found me, I might not have woken up.

After being sick I was all good for the next couple of months and was gearing up for my second year as a pro and second team camp. I went over to europe this time knowing what to expect and what was expected of me. We were training hard, but I was experiencing a lot of pain in my stomach and upper abdomen. Fast forward a week later, we went to a hospital in Spain and found out that I had pancreatitis. I spent the next three days in the hospital in Alicante, Spain and then flew back to Colorado. Another frustrating setback.

I came back strong and had a great season with strong results that I am proud of. I lived in Girona, Spain like many cyclist and lived out the cyclist dream traveling and training all across Europe. However, I constantly faced with the pressure to perform that every athelet experiences. I came to the realization on one training ride in Girona that I don’t have to keep proving to others that I am good enough or feel the need to shape into the “competitor” that cycling culture expects you to be. I decided in July that I would “retire” come fall of 2024 and go on to do normal adult things.

A couple months ago, I was talking to an old family friend who raced back in the day. When I told him I was done with racing after two years he looked me right and the eyes and said he knew exactly how I was feeling and that two years is plenty. There were few words exchanged besides that, but that was the first time since I decided to leave cycling where I felt seen and heard.

Before that conversation, I felt the need to justify why I was leaving after two years. And I know for some people it might seem crazy. It was a really hard decision to make, especially when I knew I could continue to excel in the sport, but I’m just not 100% in it, and every pro athlete knows you have to be dedicated to the sport and willing to sacrifice so much of yourself day in and day out. I think I did that well for two years, but now I’m ready to move on to normal adult things. And as Zac Efron said, you gotta “Get’cha Head in the Game” and I’m done keeping my head in the game. I am forever grateful for the Cynisca Cycling team who gave me a chance and took me on a wild ride.

My story is not really unique, and thankfully I have not faced many trials or serious trauma. I had to be resilient and the constant “come back” that I have had to face and the pressure placed on me from sports and myself to be perfect and come back stronger than before. I remember in high school my cross country coach told me that, “There is always someone working harder than you.” That might have been the best and worst thing to tell me for I always have felt like I need to do more and be better. I have had many people say that I am not good enough and that I can’t do something. That my body doesn’t look a certain way and my favoroite, that I am not “tough” enough or I just didn’t have the grit to be a top competitor. Many people told me that when I was cycling that I wasnt tough enough. I thought that was a funny thing to say for any athlete to get to the level that I was competing at, we all had to be tough. Sure some more than others.

I have always been someone who has a pretty outgoing personality. I am loud. I like to dance randomly. I like to sing really loud in my car with my friends. I like to smile and laugh a lot. I would say I have a light, and there are lots of people who like to dim lights. I have experienced a lot of people who have tried to dim my light over the past several years. Truthfully, my light had been dimmed, but I finally feel like since I retired that I am starting to bloom again. I experienced this light dimming in sport and it inspired me to start an all women run club that focuses on the jog, called 4The Girls Run Club. This run club is now my community, made up of inspiring, powerful, light-giver women.

4The Girls is my personal passion project that I started in November 2023 when I had just moved to Boulder and didn’t have many girlfriends. Boulder is known for being an endurance hub, which is great, but that also makes a lot of the run clubs very elitist – basically, lots of runner boys who try to come out and win the run club, hah! 4TG is all about supporting women of all abilities in their jogging journeys. We focus on “the jog,” and that can be whatever you want it to be! We focus on providing a space that is inclusive, supportive, and encouraging to the girls of Boulder and have successfully done this for a little over a year now, continuing to grow and expand in the Boulder area and empowering women to get out and JOG. We meet weekly for jogs at 6:00 am from a local coffee shop here, and we have begun to do more events collaborating with Lululemon, Strava, Skratch, ASICS, Fractel Hats, and more! The run club has become a big part of the Boulder community and continues to expand and grow, with the mission to expand into other cities in Colorado and hold more events. I put on our first-ever event a month ago called The Jogger’s Mile, and it was held on a local Boulder track where anyone could show up. It was an untimed mile to make it more inclusive, and there were prizes for the best dressed, the cheeriest cheerleader, etc. My goal is to have a jogger’s mile series in the spring/summer to offer more inclusive events. What was really cool is that this was some of the 4The Girls Run club community’s first time ever running on a track! And some first time ever running a mile. It is so awesome to see women getting out and moving, and a great way to do that is by jogging! Next up for 4The Girls Run Club is a Jogger’s 5K in late Febuary!

Who am I right now?

I am a graduate student, an instructional designer, a spin instructor, the creator of 4The Girls Run Club, a cross country & track collegiate coach, a retired professional cyclist, and someone who has no idea what they want to do with their life! I am just a girl!

I currently live in Boulder, Colorado, where I spend too much time at coffee shops ordering $8 almond milk lattes with honey and cinnamon. I love coffee, I love hot girls walks, I love meeting up for runs with the girls, I love creating, I love education, and I love creating spaces where women can shine their light and where success is not defined by results, but instead defined by staying true to oneself and challenging yourself to be optimistic in a world that tries to dim your light.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

1. Authenticity and Self-Trust

Trust your gut! Learning to embrace my authentic self proved crucial throughout my journey. Initially, I tried to conform to others’ expectations of what a “serious athlete” should look like. However, I ultimately realized that my best performances came when I stayed true to myself and, honestly, when I just had fun. For those early in their journey in sport or in their career, my advice is to resist the pressure to change your authentic self to fit others’ molds. I continuously feel the need to apologize for who I am. My advice to myself and others is to stop apologizing for who you are. Take time to understand your natural strengths and tendencies, and build upon them rather than fighting against them.

2. Resilience Through Adaptability

My path has been marked by constant adaptation—from gymnastics to running to cycling, from managing multiple stress fractures to navigating the challenges of professional cycling in Europe. What made me resilient wasn’t just pushing through hardship but being willing to pivot and adapt when necessary. Coming back from injury my senior year of college, I went to regionals as an alternate and had to race the open race after the real race for everyone to watch. It was a joke and honestly humiliating. My dad has never advised me to stop something; he will advise, but he has never told me what to do. After that open race, my dad said to me, “I think it is time to pivot. You are an incredible athlete, but it is time to try something new.” Six months later, I was offered a pro cycling contract.
I’d encourage you to view setbacks not as failures but as opportunities to reassess and potentially redirect your path. Sometimes resilience means knowing when to persist and when to change course. Build your adaptability by staying open to new opportunities and being willing to make bold changes when your gut tells you it’s right.

3. Leadership in Community

One of the most valuable skills I developed was identifying gaps and taking the initiative to fill them. This was exemplified when I created 4The Girls Run Club after recognizing the need for a more inclusive, supportive environment for women runners in Boulder. I was nervous at first that no one would show up. Four women showed up the very first day, all of whom did not know each other. Some were new to running, while others were avid runners. They all were looking for a space that was inclusive to women runners. That’s when I was affirmed that this was something special and filled a gap. I’d encourage you to develop your problem-solving skills by looking for ways to improve the spaces you’re in. Don’t just accept the status quo—if you see something missing in your community or field, take the initiative to create solutions. Find ways that you can lead in your community in something that you are passionate about.

How can folks who want to work with you connect?

I am actively looking for partners and collaborators who align with 4The Girls Run Club’s mission of creating inclusive, supportive spaces for women in running! Our club has already established successful partnerships with brands like Lululemon, Strava, Scratch, ASICS, and Fractel Hats, and we’re excited to continue growing our collaborative network.

We’re particularly interested in connecting with:

Brands and Companies that share our values of inclusivity and women’s empowerment in sports, especially those focused on:
– Athletic wear and running gear
– Nutrition and wellness products
– Local Boulder and Colorado businesses
– Companies interested in supporting women in sports

Event Partners who can help us:

– Expand our Jogger’s Mile series
– Create new inclusive running events
– Provide venues or resources for community gatherings
– Support our expansion into other Colorado cities

Community Leaders and Organizations who:

– Work with women’s groups or running communities
– Share our passion for making running more accessible
– Can help us reach new audiences and create meaningful connections
– Want to help expand our presence beyond Boulder

If you’re interested in collaborating with 4The Girls Run Club, please reach out!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.strava.com/clubs/4thegirlsrunclub
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/4thegirlsrunclub?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=ZDNlZDc0MzIxNw==
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashley-frye-14b448135
• Other: My personal instagram:

  https://www.instagram.com/ashleyyfrye?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=ZDNlZDc0MzIxNw==

Image Credits

Grace Williams

Kai Caddy

kacechen