Future You
I sat down with Leslie "Les" Burnett to discuss the new Angels NYC CC Racing Team, overcoming self doubt and inspiring women in cycling.
“I wanted to create a team that best reflected my own values, recruiting people that resonated strongly with its core values—which go well beyond what someone can do on a bike,” said Captain and Founder of Angels NYC CC, Leslie “Les” Burnett.
Les’ love for cycling developed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Craving socialization following the closure of her yoga studio, she joined a group of friends on a bike ride. “One of the girls let me borrow her bike, and we had so much fun. I thought, ‘You know what? Let’s do this again tomorrow. Let me call the bike shop.” After purchasing her new bike, Les said, “No offense, but I'll never be one of those people with five or six bikes.” The following year, she bought a second bike. The year after that, she bought four more.
Les found cycling to be an impactful way to ease her mind from stress. “At first, it was purely a survival switch I could flip in my brain. It meant I could end work, go outside, and do one loop around Central Park. I felt like the Queen of New York, you know?” She found riding her bike instrumental in allowing her to separate herself from an extremely hectic work schedule. “I was having fun. It helped me escape my job, escape my brain, tick the box, eat a cheeseburger on a stoop, go home, and have a beer.”
Even with this newfound freedom, Les felt initially hesitant to purchase gear. “It was Summer 2020, I was wearing black skinny jeans, a mask, double mask – triple mask, and I was like, ‘No, I don’t need spandex.’ I had this inherent fear that I would be seen as a poser.” Early in her cycling journey, Les found mentors who she started to look up to. “I had so much respect for what I referred to as real athletes, like good cyclists. I had this internally damaging language that delegitimized me, but it wasn’t to be mean to myself. It was because I really respect cyclists who have been in my life, so why would I need their tools? My capability was never going to be that, right?” In the next few months, Les purchased a jersey, a bib, and a pair of gloves.
In the Fall of 2023, Les started cross racing in her spare time. It was a low-pressure environment that suited her comfort level. “The last thing I wanted to do was structured racing. I had done cross racing just for fun, just to party, just to hang out, and I loved it.” Soon after, she was approached by one of her mentors, Shawn Faynik. Shawn is the former women’s racing team captain of Continental-Ostroy, formerly known as Skratch Labs-Ostroy. “Shawn gave me the opportunity to join Skratch Labs-Ostroy. I said no, no, no. You’re going to regret it. I don’t think you know how bad I am at bikes.”
Les decided to join the team in early 2024. Shawn and his wife, Mary, made a case that recruitment wasn’t solely based on one’s skill level. “He and Mary made it clear that they saw who I was as a person beyond what I could do on the bike. I got the impression that they were interested in me for who I was, so I started road racing.” When Les joined the team, she felt grateful to be included. “I have so much respect for that team, because it’s made up of so many incredible athletes, who are really kind, lovely, wonderful, and interesting people.” The respect she felt added a layer of pressure to earn her place on the team. “I thought, ‘Man, what if they regret investing in me? Won’t it feel horrible if they’re embarrassed that I have their logo on my back?”
On the day of her first race, Les had mentally prepared herself not to receive a Skratch Labs-Ostroy jersey. “We were at the bike shop eating breakfast, and I’m just thinking to myself, ‘There’s no way I’m bringing up jerseys. I haven’t earned that.’ Shawn took the jersey off his back and said, “Here’s the deal. You never give that away, you never sell it online. You give it back to me, you keep it, or you give it to future you.’” At that moment, Les was unsure what Shawn meant by “Future you.”
Over time, Les used fear of failure as fuel to propel herself forward. “It drove me to do my best, but it also drove me to create a sense of compassion for myself. Like, why am I being so mean to myself? I think it’s important to understand healthy amounts of intensity and structure, but also learn to lighten up.” Racing became a vehicle for Les to better understand her strengths and weaknesses. “What I love about racing is you get to meet the highest and lowest versions of yourself at the same time. You get to see the side of yourself that is so tenacious and driven that isn’t going to quit. And then you see yourself get gassed and perish away.”
Les was an athlete on a team that was extremely talented and growing. In a short time, the team grew from three women to eight. “Some of them compete on Team USA. I would never say that I wasn’t humble to begin with, but it’s very humbling to watch your team grow and to be aware that everyone’s stronger than you.” Les embraced the high level of talent she was surrounded by. “I survive in this sport because I’m very capable of putting my ego aside. I use competition and being on a team as a way to be accountable. It doesn’t feel threatening to me to be surrounded by better athletes. I feel grateful and lucky.” During this time, it was important to Les that she keep putting forth a strong effort. “I wanted to make my team proud. I wanted to show that I was giving it my best, and they saw that. I would love to be good enough to be known as someone who’s pretty okay at bikes.”
In June 2024, Les cofounded a women and non-binary person-focused social ride called Dawn Patrol. She and cofounder, Hannah Stambaugh, created this weekly Thursday morning ride after noticing a lack of structured Prospect Park team exercise. “There’s one in Central Park on Tuesdays at 5:30, and honestly, we wanted to do something close to home and for the girls. We thought, how cool will it be to mingle with other women on other teams so that when we see each other at the park, we know each other in a less competitive setting.” The group attracted many people who had never raced before, as well as some who previously lacked the confidence to ask what it would take to be on a team.
Several members of Dawn Patrol have gone on to join racing clubs and teams in the past year. “An athlete named Jules Spector started riding their foldable bike in early 2024. They would see us at the park and they said they trained specifically to get fast enough to keep up with our social ride.” Jules recently won the Century Road Club Association’s Beginner’s Clinic at Central Park. “I think it’s cool that people feel inspired to push themselves a little harder and take it one goal at a time. Now, they’re reaching for goals that the version of them a year ago wouldn’t have been brave enough to think were possible.”
In July 2025, following the momentum of Dawn Patrol’s success, Les and four additional athletes founded a women’s racing team, Angels NYC CC. “I thought, wouldn’t it be cool if there was a team version of this ride?” One motivator to create this team was the diverse richness of personality that was made prevalent in Dawn Patrol. “We have very diverse backgrounds. Our age range is 26 to 43. You get to know people and remember that our lives are so much bigger than bikes. You find out one person saves lives in an ER. Another is cross-training to hike in Eastern Asia. Another is focusing on running to train for the Tokyo Marathon. It’s fascinating. When you bond over bikes, all that information is secondary because you’re in love with the fact that you’re in love with the same thing, and I think that’s beautiful.”
Angels NYC CC will race competitively and non-competitively in road, gravel, track and crit categories. The requirements to join this team are flexible, but the strongest component is the amount of community service a recruit is willing to do. The team recently started a partnership with a cat rescue group, Greenpoint Cats. “They have a lot of drivers who can transport live animals back and forth as needed, but they also need people on foot and bikes to be messengers to deliver medicine, equipment, and cages. You can use your bike to give back to the community.”
Currently, there are five members of Angels NYC CC, including Les. The most unconventional member of the team is Jesse Lang. “I don’t think Jesse’s ever raced before, and I don’t know if she has any intention of racing.” Jesse is a solo bikepacker who has completed a self-supported trip from NYC to Syracuse and is now planning another from NYC to Buffalo. “She does hundreds of miles by herself. Why would I need to look at an athlete like that and say, ‘You need to do 10 park races?’” Jesse and Les have known each other for years now and were roommates during the pandemic. Les’ leadership was a big motivator for Jesse to join Angels NYC CC. “Les is somebody that I trust implicitly to make this a success, and as soon as she shared that she was thinking about creating this team, I knew I wanted to be a part of it. I'm so honored that Les brought me in so early,” Jesse said.
Another friend of Les, who is joining the team, is Elsa. Elsa is experienced in racing, having competed on teams like All Ways and Rapha. After Les suffered a crash in 2024, Elsa checked in on her at her home and gave her a signed book by ultra-endurance cyclist Lael Wilcox. “Leslie and I share common values, so when she told me about Angels, it became obvious that I would join the adventure,” Elsa said. Elsa intends to bring, “long-distance craziness, mental strength, No BS, and discipline” to the team.
The first athlete to race under the team name is Isabella Yim. “Isabella is doing park racing right now in Prospect Park. Being the first athlete registered under Angels NYC CC is a huge point of pride,” said Les. Isabella has never been part of a racing team before and only started cycling two years ago. She felt inspired to join the team because she enjoys the flexibility that it offers. “It can feel like for racing teams, what matters is the number of races or performance,” Isabella said. “And while I do race, you never know what life will throw at you. I feel like Angels sees the complexity of being a person and woman and makes space for all of the in between.”
Rounding out the initial five recruits for the team is gravel cyclist, Christina Park. She is bicoastal and splits her time between Colorado and New York City. She raised this as a concern when joining the team. “It’s like, ‘Yeah. We want you for those six months,” said Les. “If you only want to do three gravel races a year, cool. Do three gravel races a year.’” Christina said the primary motivator to join the team was the opportunity to surround herself with amazing and inspiring cyclists.
The differences between all five athletes who have joined the team thus far speaks volumes about the uniqueness present on Angels NYC CC. “This is where diversity is great,” said Les. “We’re not just a road racing team or just a gravel team. None of these women has been told how many races they have to perform to be a racer.” In the recruitment process, Les learned about each cyclist’s hopes and dreams, and that’s ultimately how the ethos of the group was formed. “There’s so much flexibility because these are the types of women and athletes who would make us proud in the community and who are such badasses and bring such amazing, beautiful diversity to the group.”
A year and a half ago, Les was told by her mentor to give her jersey to her future self. “And I thought, who is future me?” The future has arrived, and it’s for inspiring women to follow their hopes and dreams. “I’m interviewing women who would love to be on the team. They have written the most beautiful submissions. They send the most heartfelt, genuine responses, and you can tell they love their bike.” Les’ mentor always told her that it was important for her to pay it forward. This new era of launching Angels NYC CC will be the perfect opportunity to accomplish that. “I've been fortunate to have many big opportunities handed to me, and each of those gifts was likely given because those extending them knew I would appreciate it and do something worthwhile to show my gratitude.”
Excellent insight into the community, Matt! Thanks for writing.