BILLINGS–Fall sports started practice Friday, and most students around the state are gearing up for team sports. However, one Billings teen has been active all summer in a sport that’s already taken her to the national level.
Billings native Natalie Rehklau is not the average 16-year-old. She cycles over 100 miles a week training for races around the country and was named a Team USA Virtual Cycling Champion.
"I don’t know, I kind of just want to see how far I can get and do the best that I can and just learn and grow," Rehklau said.
She earned her Team USA virtual championship racing from Billings against athletes in her age group from all around the country. It was an opportunity she rarely had in her training and other races.
"It was different, because I got to race against youth, I usually am not," Rehklau said.
She’s not just competitive in her age group, though, she recently won both her age group and the overall women’s category at the Big Sky State Games road race, where she competed against cyclists of all ages.
"It was fun, it was a course I ride almost every day, so I was really used to it," she said.Cycling is in Rehklau’s blood, as both her uncle and her grandfather were avid cyclists. They mentored Rehklau and gave her an up close and personal look at the sport. Following in her uncle’s footsteps exactly, however, may not be in the cards."He did the RAM, which is Race Across America, […]
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