Lee Ragsdale: Endurance, Engineering, and Finding SISU Everywhere 🇺🇸
If you’ve ever heard a teammate calmly talking someone through an effort while they’re deep in the red… there’s a good chance you’ve shared a race radio channel with Lee Ragsdale.
Lee is 53 and rides out of Raleigh, North Carolina — a rider built for long days, strong decisions, and the steady belief that endurance isn’t something you “have” - it’s something you build over years. On Zwift and in real life, Lee has become one of SISU Racing’s most recognisable community connectors: the guy who keeps showing up, keeps planning, keeps encouraging, and somehow keeps bumping into SISU kit in the most unexpected places.
A Pain Cave Built for the Long Haul
Lee’s pain cave lives in the corner of a finished basement — part training lab, part sanctuary.
His bike is a 1996 Specialized Epic (the carbon road bike, not the modern MTB), permanently converted for indoor duty. Brakes and shifters removed. Swapped to 1x. Mounted to a Wahoo KICKR Core with Zwift Cog. This bike isn’t going anywhere — it’s staying inside, ready for early starts and long blocks.
Zwift runs on a PC, projected onto a 55-inch TV for full immersion. Spotify fills the room through PC speakers: a race playlist featuring Violent Femmes, U2, The Temper Trap, Eminem, and more — while easy days drift through a few hundred “liked songs.” And yes, Lee also tunes in to Most Pleasant Exhaustion with SISU’s own George Darden and Erik Hall.
Race radio is sacred: Discord in the headset, always.
Coffee? Both. Lee is up at 5:00am for a double-pull espresso and a fig bar before most rides. Afterward, he’s starting a pot of coffee for his wife and him before showering for work.
He’s typically an early bird — 5:30am ZRL and 6:00am TTT — though lately he’s been doubling up with evening Ladder races and the occasional Tuesday night ZRL “double.”
The Rider: Diesel Engine With a Matchbook
Lee describes himself as an endurance rider who still likes punchy efforts — and that’s the key. He’s not chasing a huge top-end sprint anymore. He’s a puncheur, a lead-out, and an attacker-by-instinct.
He admits it: he’s impatient. He attacks early. He gets caught. Mid-race, he can diesel back. Late-race? He becomes the lead-out train.
His favourite climb on Zwift is the New York KOM, because it sits right in his sweet spot: that hard, focused, just-under-five-minute effort where he’s hit PRs and even earned category upgrades. It’s the kind of hill that rewards courage and repeatability — Lee’s brand of suffering.
From LeMond to Long Distance Mindset
Lee’s love of cycling goes back to watching Greg LeMond in the 1980s, hunting down English language coverage while on a school trip in Japan in 1989 just to read a few paragraphs about each Tour stage.
He rode a used Trek 1000 back then and rode it everywhere.
Years later, he explored running and triathlon — including two 70.3s — and found indoor training surprisingly enjoyable through Sufferfest videos. He ran a marathon fast enough to qualify for Boston, then moved into ultra running with friends and college buddies — including Alan Kauppi (a former roommate), George Darden, and Erik Hall.
They built a tradition around shared suffering: the Blue Ridge Relay (208 miles as a six-person team — proudly named the “GT Milk & Cookie Boys” and other running challenges.
Then COVID hit.
And just like that, the Milk & Cookie Boys moved their suffering online.
Saturday Zwift rides with a Teams video call became a lifeline: connection, humour, and endurance — together, while isolated. Alan introduced Lee to SISU, and Lee lined up for his first ZRL race with SISU Racing Varis.
The rest, as Lee puts it, is history.
ZRL, Loons, and Development
ZRL remains Lee’s favourite Zwift series — because the team component makes it matter. He’s raced multiple rounds with the Arctic Loons, built real friendships inside the chaos, and has also raced with Kotka in the evenings.
He’s bounced between high C and low B more than once — the reality of a rider who races hard, trains with volume, and lives in the messy middle of progress.
Now, Lee is captaining the ZRL Lintu B Development Team — and they’ve already tasted victory in Round 3, their first round together. For Lee, that’s the magic of SISU: growth, connection, and a shared win earned by everyone.
Gravel: Where the Engineer Comes Alive
If Zwift scratches the competition itch, gravel racing feeds Lee’s soul.
Long races suit his ultra-running engine. But what he loves most is the full puzzle:
fitness matters
but so does nutrition
hydration
problem-solving when setbacks hit
and the marginal gains rabbit hole of tyre width, pressure, wheels, and aero
And then there’s the camaraderie — that uniquely gravel spirit.
Lee’s “home” event is Croatan Buck Fifty in eastern North Carolina: a race that starts on an old NASCAR track, threads through National Forest fire roads, stays pancake flat, and includes the unforgettable detail of crossing cornfields — twice per lap. Late March weather usually brings cold rain, which for Lee is not a deterrent… it’s part of the appeal.
He’s raced Croatan four times. He DNF’d in 2024. In 2025, he bounced back with an age group podium (3rd, 50+) in the 111-mile Buck race — a day where everything came together: fitness without overtraining, smart strategy, dialled bike setup, and enough patience to save something for the finish.
Yes — even after six hours, Lee still had enough snap to outsprint a group of 12 for the podium.
This year, he’s stepping up to the full Buck Fifty distance for the next challenge — and he won’t be alone. Jeremiah and Kyle Tart are lining up with him too.
SISU in Real Life
One of the best parts of Lee’s story is how often SISU appears off-screen.
He met Jeremiah at Croatan last year, rolling into a paceline and suddenly seeing SISU kit in the wild. They rotated turns at the front like it was a real-life TTT — the kind of moment that makes online community feel tangible.
He joined Alan Kauppi at the Shenandoah Graveler in May 2024: Alan crushed the climbs, Lee gave the draft on the flats, and they stopped for cookies at the aid station because… of course they did.
He connected with Tree Jackson through a shared race registration, and now they race together on Lintu. He’s bumped into Rob Bennett and John Meyers after they spotted his SISU helmet. And in a perfect bit of serendipity at the Uwharrie Gravel Grinder, he saw a random SISU kit cheering on course — it was Kyle Tart, out casually riding his new gravel bike, unaware there was even a race happening.
That’s SISU: everywhere.
Lee (left) with Tree Jackson
The Moment That Changed Everything
In late 2017, Lee was diagnosed with atrial fibrillation (AFib). While in AFib, his mind went to one place: What if I can’t run or ride again?
It was an existential moment — a sudden reminder that movement isn’t guaranteed.
When he returned to normal rhythm and got cleared to resume exercise responsibly, he did exactly that. He trained with intention. He respected hydration and electrolytes. He built structure. And he didn’t forget how quickly the thing he loves could be taken away.
That perspective powers his mindset now: show up, stay grateful, play the long game.
Training: Durability as a Lifestyle
Lee loves durability work — the kind that makes you a little tougher each week.
He’ll stack days: ZRL in the morning and evening for a “double threshold day.” A morning TTT followed by an evening Ladder race. A Saturday race, then an easy Z2, then Tiny Races to finish it off.
He also embraces big seasonal blocks like the Rapha Festive 500 — and this year added the “Abandon our Family 500” (500km from 12/15–12/25) to total 1000km in three weeks.
But he’s clear on the lesson learned the hard way:
Don’t forget the easy days.
Make easy easy. Make hard hard. Otherwise you break down.
A Classic SISU Moment at 6:15am
Lee’s favourite quirky SISU story is the one that feels incredibly familiar to anyone who’s ever raced before sunrise.
His only ZRL victory came in a points race in C category with the Arctic Loons. He attacked through the banner at the final intermediate sprint and held on for the last 3km — a full-send five-minute effort powered by race radio encouragement.
He crossed the line and yelled in triumph…
…then remembered it was 6:15am and the house was asleep.
Fortunately, he was buried two floors down in the basement. Crisis avoided. Victory secured.
Looking Ahead
In 2026, Lee’s goals are classic endurance athlete: keep building, stay healthy, and maintain fitness.
Croatan Buck Fifty is his A-race. He wants redemption at Guts Gravel Glory and Hell Hole after a crash and a mechanical. He’ll also be back with George and Erik for the Blue Ridge Relay — meaning more running needs to return to the plan.
And longer term? He wants to make travel and bucket list gravel races happen: The Rift, Unbound, SBT, FNLD.
ZRL will remain the weekly anchor.
SISU, in Lee’s Words
“SISU Racing is about community,” Lee says. “The team aspect is what keeps me on the bike — here and in real life.”
That’s why he owns the kit, the helmet, and even added SISU logos to his gravel bike. Because for Lee, SISU isn’t just a team.
It’s identity.
It’s belonging.
It’s showing up — year after year — and finding your people wherever you ride.
Proud to be SISU.