Gregg Deal found cycling first as a mountain bike racer growing up in Park City, Utah during the mountain bike boom of the 1990s. Later he took up riding in Washington D.C. chasing fitness and speed through regional criterium events and local club rides. Today, the 45 year old father, husband, artist and activist lives in Colorado Springs and uses riding to inform and infuse his professional life. “As a native person, art is medicine. Our artists are our medicine people…I take that role very seriously.” Deal is a member of the Pyramid Lake Paiute tribe.

Name: Gregg Deal (@greggdeal)

DOB: 3/16/1975

Current Locale: Colorado Springs, CO

Hometown: Park City, UT

“There’s something to suffering that’s both jarring and edifying. You suffer so you can go longer. Suffering makes you stronger and that’s the point. Riding bikes lends itself to mental toughness.” Deal also points to the healing effect of cycling as crucial to connecting his work to riding. “I’d draw a comparison to that medicine of cycling and the medicine of art,” he explains. “The magic of being outside, enjoying the creations that are around us is medicine.”

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“Art is not just the thing that builds my home, feeds my family, it’s something I feel humbled to be a part of.”

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Deal’s art is bold and graphic highlighting modern Native American viewpoints and the cultural challenges they face. Deal worked as a graphic designer and a self-employed artist for over fifteen years before moving to Colorado where he’s acted as a Native Arts Artist-in Residence with the Denver Art Museum.

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His experience telling stories, shining light on the native experience in America, and advocating through art continues. Deal is a compulsive story-teller, even when focused on riding away from art: well ahead of the audio listening trend, Deal founded a podcast of riding showcasing his experiences in and around cycling culture called From the Outside, which he plans to relaunch. “There are a lot of stories that the cycling world isn’t telling yet and I’m thrilled to find those.”