‘Being tough is doing whatever it takes to keep moving’ - 51 weeks after losing his leg, one rider returned to finish the race that wasn’t

When wildfires cancelled Mid South, Jacob Keen charted his own course—and found something bigger than a finish line.

Jacob Keen
(Image credit: Sophia Krivoruchko)

Jacob Keen clipped into his pedals late one March morning, under a sky scrubbed clean by a sudden shift in the wind. The day before, smoke from more than 130 wildfires had turned the Oklahoma plains into a war zone—flames on both sides of the road and gusts strong enough to fell trees. But now the fields stretched quietly and golden before him in the morning light, the smell of smoke still clinging to the air of Stillwater. Officially, the Mid South gravel race was cancelled. Roads had been closed. Evacuations ordered. But Keen had weathered worse.

Keen was there for nothing but the promise he’d made to himself, and his friend’s belief that if you speak it, picture it, and put in the work, the universe might just meet you halfway.

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Rosael Torres-Davis
Contributor

Rosael Torres-Davis is a cycling journalist who writes about the sport’s defining figures and overlooked stories. Their work blends reporting, storytelling, and cultural insight to capture what makes cycling matter both in competition and beyond.

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