Cycles of Life: Family Bikepacking with Team Huck
“Racing isn’t everything.” That’s a powerful statement coming from Olympian Erin Huck.
Six-time U.S. Elite National Champion Erin has spent most of her life racing at the highest level, lining up at World Cups, World Championships, and Lifetime Grand Prix events. Along the way, she’s balanced competing against the best riders in the world with a full-time career as an engineer.
Cycling has always been a family affair. Just as Erin and Andrew are now passing along their love of bikes to Brennan, Erin’s parents, Terrie and Al Huck, shared that same love with her years ago.
So why say “racing isn’t everything” when, for so long, it seemed like it was?
Erin hasn't done it alone. Her husband, Andrew Huck, built his own career while serving as her mechanic, teammate, and steady support system at the world's biggest races. Three years ago, their son Brennan made it a three-person operation, quickly becoming Team Huck's chief cheerleader.
The shift didn’t happen at a world championship or on an Olympic start line. It happened at a local race in Boulder. Team Huck was doing what they always did, Erin standing on the podium while Andrew helped Brennan get ready for his Strider race. It was the rhythm they had built: bikes meant racecourses, start lines, and finish chutes.
But was that all bikes should be? Was that what bikes should look like to a three-year-old Brennan?
That moment stuck with Erin.
“That moment made me realize that bikes, to Brennan, had been all about racing,” she says. “It sounds silly, but it was kind of an aha moment, almost a life-changing realization. We suddenly saw that bikes are about so much more than racing.”
— Erin Huck
Erin found herself thinking back to the bike adventures her parents took her on as a child. It wasn’t about racing or competition. It was about being together, long days in the mountains, trails to explore, and time spent simply riding as a family.
Those moments weren’t about podiums or placings. They were about family. About freedom. About joy.
Those family adventures, not racing, are what built Erin’s lifelong love of the bike. They created the foundation that eventually made racing possible, and now Erin wants to build that same foundation for Brennan.
“We had a little pop-up camper with a rack on top of the car,” recalls Erin’s mom, Terrie Huck. “We’d pull it around, and most of our vacations were planned around riding bikes, traveling to different places and exploring on two wheels.”
— Terrie Huck
So Erin made a plan: a bikepacking trip with the entire Huck crew. Three generations riding together in the Colorado mountains. No numbers, no finish line, just shared miles, stories, and space to build memories that will last far longer than race results.
“Bikes will always be a part of our life, I mean, seeing Brennan’s enjoyment on the bike, it really made me set aside any expectations or frustrations I might have with myself and just enjoy it through his eyes”
— Andrew Huck
“It’s pretty special that he’s 3 years old and doing this hut trip with his grandma and grandpa, he doesn’t know that’s a big deal, maybe he will look back when he is older and see that it was a big deal”
— Erin Huck
“Both my parents did great on their bikes, it was like a pinch me moment when we are all riding our mountain bikes, it looks just like some of the pictures that my parents showed me when I was little of these bike adventures on these dirt roads”
— Erin Huck
“I like mountain bike adventures.”
— Brennan Huck
We do too. Whether it’s racing, exploring, or just enjoying the ride, Team Huck shows that the best moments on a bike are the ones shared. We can’t wait to see where their adventures take them next. In the meantime, check out their past racing highlights and family rides, there’s plenty of inspiration to be found on two wheels.
Special thanks to:
• The Road West Traveled | Videography & editing
• Kyle Thornhill | Leadville photograph
• Susie Kieckhefer | Sea Otter photograph
• Team Huck: Brennan, Andrew, and Erin Huck
• Al and Terri Huck
