Samantha Goldenstein // Cycling
Motto: “Celebrate what you accomplish but raise the bar a little higher each time you succeed.”
Army Reserves Master Sergeant Samantha Goldenstein is a Category 2 road racer who competed in 13 major pro/1/2 races during her 2019 season. In 2019 Samantha also finished her Masters in Exercise and Sports Science at Texas State University, where she was Lead Graduate Research Assistant in the Neuromuscular Physiology Laboratory, and began her PhD program in Exercise Science at University of North Carolina.
Prior to beginning her academic career Samantha served as the Adaptive Sports Supervisor for the adaptive reconditioning program at Joint Base San Antonio. Samantha initially came to adaptive sports as a client rather than a therapist, after femoroacetabular impingement (FAI) destroyed her hip joints, ended her distance running career, and put an end to her deployments. Part of Samantha’s job was to teach wounded, ill, and injured soldiers how to bike as part of their rehabilitation, including upright bikes, recumbents, and hand cycles. To support her adaptive athletes, Sam became a USA Cycling Level 3 Coach. She pilots a Visually Impaired (VI) athlete at the Tennessee Paracycling Open, coming in 1st in the Crit and 2nd in the TT and Road Race. She also coaches and mentors beginner women in her community. “Cycling is a male dominated sport and can be intimidating to get into, let alone race in,” said Samantha. “It’s important to have females to build other females up so they may have the confidence to get out there and try new things.”
In 2020 Samantha will continue to challenge herself by choosing more difficult categories and races, including Speed Week, Tulsa Tough, Intelligentsia Cup, Winston Salem Cycling Classic, the Joe Martin Stage Race and the Armed Forces Cycling Classic. She’ll also pursue her love-hate relationship with gravel at the Saluda Roubaix and Croatan Buck Fifty.