Bike Racing Anthems

How Music is Tied to Racing Memories

Jul 16, 2025

This is a bit of a left-field post. I was recently thinking about this after hearing NPR’s piece titled “The Songs That Define America” on July 4th, and their related piece from 2019, “American Anthem.” In these pieces, they discuss key pieces of music that have defined America or specific American periods, from “America the Beautiful” to “Sweet Home Alabama” to “Let It Go.”

Often, after races, riders commiserate about the annoying song they have stuck in their head. For long gravel races, this can mean rehearsing a piece long enough to know every intonation. The sources of these unwanted anthems are often unexpected. Sometimes, it’s the music played at the start line, but often, you’re too focused on the race for these notes to soak in. Typically, it’s a song you heard at the store a day before the race, something a friend played, or the music from the race expo the day before.

I’ve found that, beyond songs that accompany me within races, there are pieces that become associated with a period of the season or a specific race. I have one playlist on Spotify, and it’s essentially a chronological score to the last 13 years of my life. I can tell my mood by the sorts of songs on the list. Typically, this means slightly sadder songs in the winter, and more upbeat songs as warmer weather arrives. Sometimes, one song added to the list opens a vein of that musical subgenre, and the following songs follow a similar theme.

When a certain song comes on, it brings back memories, and these memories are even clearer when they are tied to races. Here is a list, like NPR put together, of the songs that defined several major races in my career. Rarely do they have anything to do with the race, but they just became the musical accompaniment to those adventures, even though I never listen to anything while racing, and often, even if they are not songs I love.

My First Bike Race - 2016

I think I listened to this on my walk to the bus every day.