Alan Kauppi 🇺🇸

Lynchburg, VA, USA

STRAVA | ZWIFTPOWER }

From the Blue Ridge to the Pain Cave: Alan Kauppi’s SISU Story

Before dawn breaks over Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains, chances are Alan Kauppi is already riding. While most of Lynchburg is still quiet, Alan is deep into his morning routine—water bottle filled (no coffee, ever), Apple Music spinning up a mix of 70s and 80s classics, and his Zwift avatar rolling out on a Pinarello Dogma F that just happens to match the SISU Racing kit perfectly. It’s a small detail, but for Alan, cycling has always been about finding joy in the details—progress, people, and the simple satisfaction of turning up day after day.

Alan didn’t come to cycling through a straight line. A former runner, he was sidelined by knee tendonitis and spent more than a year struggling to stay active. In 2020, determined not to be the kind of doctor who told patients to exercise without doing it himself, he dusted off an old road bike and started riding again. Winter cold and limited daylight soon pushed him indoors, and in early 2021 Zwift entered the picture. What began as a practical solution quickly became a passion. Progress followed—low C to low B in a matter of months—but it was community that truly hooked him. Spotting a forum post looking for riders, the word SISU jumped out. With Finnish roots on both sides of his family, the name resonated. Alan was the seventh rider to join. He’s been there ever since, watching a small idea grow into a global team.

On the bike, Alan knows exactly who he is—and who he isn’t. He’s a climber and an endurance rider, happiest tapping out steady watts on long ascents rather than gambling everything on a bunch sprint. That self-awareness has been transformative. Instead of chasing results that don’t suit him, he races with intention: iTTs, climbs, TTTs where teamwork matters more than ego. It’s a mindset that’s brought both contentment and consistency. Six days a week, year after year, with easy days mixed in and mornings protected from the unpredictability of work and life. Improvement shows up not just in race results, but in quieter wins—Strava segments ticking down, long-term goals inching closer.

Those goals stretch well beyond the screen. In 2025, Alan qualified for the Grand Fondo National Championship, lining up in Maryland on a brutally challenging course. Just being there was the reward—a tangible reminder of how far he’d come since those early, uncertain rides. Closer to home, the Blue Ridge Parkway remains his favourite training ground. It’s taught him one of cycling’s most enduring lessons: don’t be so focused on the road ahead that you forget to look around. Whether it’s soaking in mountain views, grinding up Thunder Ridge in pursuit of a long-held sub-one-hour goal, or enjoying gravel events like the Hairy Roubaix that give back to the local community, Alan rides with perspective.

Ask him what SISU Racing means, and the answer comes easily. It’s the people. Training partners who keep him accountable. Friends he’s never met in person—some on the other side of the world—who feel just as real as those riding beside him outdoors. Old friendships rekindled, new ones formed, all bound together by shared effort and encouragement. If there’s a SISU relay team, Alan knows his role: the long, steady climb, followed by beer and cookies at the finish.

“SISU Racing is a community of riders that bring out the best in each other,” he says. Alan’s story is proof of that. Not flashy. Not loud. Just quietly inspiring—built on consistency, connection, and the joy of the journey, wherever the road happens to climb next.