Pedaling with purpose: Matthew Lefthand’s record-breaking ride for a reason

Navajo Times
By Robert Bettis

CHINLE – Matthew Lefthand, a 32-year old endurance athlete from Ogden, Utah has made cycling history with his national-record holding accomplishment of riding 576 miles in 24 hours.

This feat, achieved on Feb. 15 at Bike Sebring in Florida marks the first major stepping stone in a promising career for this upcoming athlete.

Lefthand, who is Diné changed his name from Johnson after learning that it was imposed upon his grandfather by a white doctor, started cycling as a method of recovering from a marathon running injury in 2022. Soon after falling in love with the sport, he began training for long distance competitions known as “Ultras” which cover at least 125 miles.

Lefthand quickly found success in Ultra cycling, riding in his first ever race in 2022 where he covered 208 miles from Utah to Wyoming. Shortly after, he competed in a race that almost crashed his whole career. He had an accident 20 miles from the finish line that broke his collarbone but he kept fighting and eventually finished 11th overall.

In 2024, he returned to compete in the top category and finished 8th overall. This is when Lefthand began to recognize his ability in the sport.

“After competing in a handful of local road races, I recognized that my ability was different than many of those I was lined up with at the start line,” Lefthand said.

As he approached his record-breaking attempt in Sebring, Lefthand ramped up his training with increased indoor and outdoor riding. Using a digital training app called Zwift, Lefthand embarked on 24-hour and 12-hour rides.

After confirming his endurance virtually, Lefthand was ready to test his ability on the track. With warm February weather, Sebring, Florida was prime for the first ultra cycling race of the season.

Bike Sebring is a 24-hour cycling event designed to push the limits of every rider. In contrast to Lefthand’s typical mountainous terrain, the course is almost perfectly flat and near sea level with mild steady winds.

“At home we have canyons where unpredictable gusts of wind can come through and get pretty intense, but in Florida it is more manageable,” he said.

Lefthand’s more grueling training environment proved to give him an advantage as he took an early lead in the race and kept it through the finish. At 12 hours in, despite the beaming Florida sunshine and temperatures at almost 90 degrees, Lefthand had already covered 297 miles, more than half of the standing record.

As night began to fall for the second half of the race, Lefthand began to struggle and even considered quitting.

“At 15 hours in, about 3 into darkness, I started to seriously question my ability to finish,” he admitted. Pushing through the mental barriers he realized, “I am not here for easy. I am here to leave everything on the track.”

After pedaling through the plateau of self-doubt, and with encouragement from his wife and race team, the confidence of his training kicked back in, and he was able to finish the race strong with a record-breaking finish of 576 miles.

Larry Oslund, coordinator of the event had this to say about his performance: “Matthew’s 24-hour distance was nothing short of legendary. 500 miles is a bucket list item only for the most elite ultra cyclists. There may only be 50 riders in the world who have passed the 500-mile mark.”

After the race, Lefthand’s focus was already on to his next challenge.

“I really just wanted to pull as many miles out of myself as possible. I knew that I was capable of getting near 600 miles,” he said. “Knowing that I have more on the table makes me very excited.”

Up next for Lefthand is a Guinness World Record Attempt for most virtual miles achieved in 24 hours, an effort that will take place on Apr. 19 in Ogden, Utah. This attempt comes straight from the heart, as Lefthand will be using the platform to spread awareness about and encourage donations for Breast Cancer treatment.

Lefthand shared that his mother was diagnosed, saying “I want to make this attempt about more than myself, and I hope to help people see that you can do more than you ever thought you could.”

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