Stronger Together: Identity and Endurance with Alexandera Houchin (Film)

Photos by Burke Saunders (@burkelawrencephoto)

On a recent phone call with Alexandera Houchin about the rules and ethics of ultra-endurance racing, she mentioned a few things that I’ve found myself thinking about several times since, usually while out riding. One idea that really stuck with me was her relatively recent understanding of bikepacking ultras as a means to ceremony. She said this connected her two worlds—her Indigenous life and her racing efforts—which until then had been separate. She also mentioned an upcoming film project that would delve into this, so I was excited to see Stronger Together come out today and couldn’t wait to share it.

In summarizing the film, the creators at Freehub Magazine explained, “It has taken time for Alexandera Houchin to weave layers of her identity together. First and foremost, Alexandera is an Ojibwe woman. She’s also an artist, a farmer, a mechanic, a cyclist and a person who cares deeply about her community on the Fond Du Lac reservation near Cloquet, Minnesota. Stronger Together takes an intimate look into Alexandera’s life while examining concepts of identity, forgiveness and what it means to merge seemingly different aspects of your soul in order to continue moving forward, one pedal stroke at a time.”

Watch the full film below, then scroll down for a few photos from the project and find a link to Freehub‘s feature…

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Head over to FreehubMag.com for the feature and to read about it in Alexandera’s words.

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