Athlete profile: Kalu Caldas

Kalu Caldas is a Berkeley High School senior who is on the mountain biking team. When she began her biking career, she didn’t really enjoy it, noting that it was too much of a hassle. However, during the pandemic, she started biking more, and realized how much she loved it. “It makes me happy. It’s a perfect combination of exercise and being in nature. I think is what really got it for me,” she stated. Caldas, of course, finds biking, racing, and team building incredibly fulfilling, but that’s not to say she hasn’t faced her fair share of challenges. Over the summer, she experienced a fall while out on a ride, and broke her pelvis. “It was probably the most painful experience I’ve gone through, and one of the most mentally difficult, because biking had been an outlet for me to be in nature and exercise,” she explained. Caldas is still feeling the effects of the injury and had to take a lot of time off, but her resilience has allowed her to become an even stronger biker. “Even though the most painful thing that happened to me ever, happened through a sport that I love, I didn’t lose any love for the sport,” she said, “It comes with some risk, but it’s so worth it.”