Finding Finsty: Off-Road with Russell Finsterwald

“I think my spirit animal is the cockroach,” laughs Russell ‘Finsty’ Finsterwald when asked to characterize the kind of rider he is. “Sometimes I feel like I’m just surviving out there, trying not to get killed.”

As a member of the MAAP Privateer program, Finsterwald is one North America’s top mountain bikers and gravel riders, with five US national MTB titles to his name.

In recent years he has turned his hand to gravel riding and has found plenty of success with several wins to his name including the Belgian Waffle Ride in California back in 2022.

When the race nears its end, survival mode switches to killer instinct, he says. 

“If you can make it to the end and be confident in the amount of fitness and endurance you have, that is where you can put in a late race attack and sometimes those can be successful. Any time I’ve won a race it has come from a late race attack, so that seems to be my strength.”

Finsterwald races in the Privateer R.F Pro Jersey that was designed by the team at MAAP with his input.

“It’s super nice stuff! I’ve always been part of a team that has a clothing sponsor and I think, with those, you’re not always in the top of the line clothes. That is something I’ve noticed with MAAP, it is all super nice clothing. You’re stoked every time you put it on.”

Finsterwald grew up in Colorado, where he still lives, and so has always had access to enough MTB trails to keep a rider busy for a lifetime. Despite that wealth of off-road opportunity, he’s always dabbled in other disciplines, racing road, track and cyclocross through his youth. Gravel came later on.

Finsterwald describes himself as a “mountain biker with a gravel problem”. While MTB may be his first love, it is safe to say that he is now firmly established in the gravel world too.

He says he was tentative going into his first gravel race at BWR California.

“I wasn’t convinced gravel would be fun because in my mind we were just being tricked into being road racers.”

In some respects, gravel racing in 2024 does bear a resemblance to road racing – with increasingly strategic approaches, hybrid tarmac / off-road parcours chosen for UCI Worlds, and team dynamics becoming a bigger factor. All that notwithstanding, there’s still enough skill factor to keep things fresh and fun.

“Gravel is its own sport and you do have a lot of carry over from MTB. The skill side of things you can use quite often and yeah, BWR California was a big one to send me down that path.”

Fun and success absolutely go hand-in-hand for Finsterwald. He says that is one of the big reasons he didn’t go down the road route even though it was likely a more lucrative career, he just didn’t experience the joy he got when riding on the dirt tracks.

“It is a really hard job at the end of the day. Riding 30 hours a week, you kind of have to be pretty selfish. You miss a lot of family activities and don’t always get to hang out with friends, so, yeah for me on the bike it has got to be fun otherwise there’s no point in doing it.”

Finsterwald is fortunate in that he doesn’t let the low moments get him down for long. If it was a bad race for whatever reason, he says he takes a couple of days and gets back training again and he’s “stoked” once again.

Even the privateering side of things. Most would see running one’s own race programme as a raft of added issues and complications. Finsterwald, by contrast, really enjoys the extra dimension it brings.

“Race weeks are a little busier but, in a way, I like it because it gets me out of the house. I’m one of those people that, before a race, if I’m just sitting in a hotel room I start to get really nervous about what’s coming. So it’s great for that as it keeps my mind off the race and the stressing a little less. It has been fun engaging with the community a little more.”

Finsterwald has some results in gravel he is extremely proud of, but two stand out.

“For me, Big Sugar was my first big gravel win in the US. I was really proud of how I raced that race. I was super aggressive all day so that gave me a lot of confidence.

“I think it was my second year of racing gravel full time so it really gave me confidence that I belong here and I can do this. It was just fun. I had a really good time racing my bike that day.

2022’s Belgian Waffle saw a change in mindset.

“BWR California was the other because I went into it with the mentality like ‘I’m here to win’ and that was the entire goal. I feel like I executed everything in that race that day perfectly. I’d say that was one of my bigger wins as well so pretty stoked on that one.”

Of course, when it comes to privateering, two races loom largest: Unbound and Leadville. The aim is to podium them both before he hangs up the wheels.

“I think they are the biggest races in the US and it’s cool that one is MTB and one is gravel and if you can do that at both then it shows that you’re a really well rounded rider.”

After that, Finsty says he wants to try out some ultra-endurance, bikepacking or FKT races. FKT stands for ‘fastest known time’.

“I haven’t really put much thought into that yet. Right now I’m still focused on being the best racer I can be, but it is on not-so-distant horizon now as I get older and older. I’m definitely looking into that space to see what might be next. A lot of different things excite me there.”

As someone who grew up within the USA Cycling development structure, Finsterwald has some useful advice to impart to younger riders.

“I had a lot of super cool experiences as U23, training and racing out of Europe. Really good memories from there but at the same time, I was also really worried about results the whole time.”

If he could tell his younger self something?

“I would probably tell myself just to enjoy the process and don't stress about the bad races too much. Everyone forgets about them. You forget about them. Don't stress about the bad days and just enjoy the process.”

Doing bits – quick ones with
Finsty

Crested Butte, Colorado is my favorite place in the world to ride.

It’s kind of the birthplace of mountain biking. Anytime you're on dirt up there, I'm stoked.


I'm not the most competitive person. 

I think I get all that energy out in the bike races.

In off-season I hike 14ers.

They’re 14,000ft peaks we have here in Colorado. There's 58 of them and I've done 54.


Landscape photography is a hobby I’m keeping on the back burner.

Right now I am prioritizing racing and to get those amazing shots you have to be up at dawn, compromising your sleep.

I shoot with Sony A7 mark four.

It’s a mirrorless, not huge, but not tiny. I need to get back into it!


The bad days aren't what shape your career.

It's the good days that count, don’t even worry about the bad ones.

You can now rep Finsty's special edition jersey in the Privateer Pro Capsule along with this season's other MAAP Privateer athletes. Discover the women's and men's designs while stocks last.

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