Twenty-seven grueling hours of sun, night, heat, and cold could not stop OVS alum Bella Slosberg.
The 2021 graduate of the OVS Upper Campus became the youngest woman ever to complete the unbound XL Gravel race on May 30, 2025. Unbound Gravel XL is a 360-mile self-supported endurance race for bikers along the Flint Hills in Kansas.
“Don’t limit what you think is possible,” said Slosberg, who also graduated from the Lower Campus in 2017.
Bella said her high school experience was interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, and that forced isolation left Slosberg to find joy in solo activities.
While in quarantine, she started competing in triathlons. Already having participated in swimming and cross-country at OVS, she picked up her bike and got to work.
Her passion for biking began during the COVID-19 pandemic. This passion then led her to start triathlons. Senior year came and went, and soon, she was off to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.
At Cal Poly, she joined a triathlon club and competed with Cal Poly’s team. While biking for Cal Poly, she competed at nationals and soon after, got scouted by a pro cycling group, Easton Overland.
At Cal Poly, she studied journalism with a minor in Environmental Science. Straight out of college, Slosberg struggled with finding a job. Oftentimes, she questioned why she chose to study journalism and environmental science.
“It is okay to not succeed,” she said.
Just as job hunting was seemingly hitting a dead end, Slosberg received the opportunity of a lifetime.
The Morro Bay National Estuary Program (MBNEP) offered her an interview for a journalism position. They ended up loving her work, and she works there full-time now.
Fred Alvarez, Slosberg’s history teacher and cross-country coach, remembers her as a star student.
“She went from being this young kid who would struggle with cross country workouts, to now this woman who is doing these hundreds of miles long bike races,” Mr. Alvarez said. “I couldn’t be more proud.”
Slosberg is the Community Engagement Coordinator for the estuary program. Her role encompasses writing blogs, creating activities for students, and educating the public. Along with her job, she is a part-time student at Cal Poly, working towards her master’s degree in Environmental Science.
Recently, she talked to current OVS students from the Montana de Oro and San Simeon camping trips. Slosberg explained what her work entails and gave life advice.
“Be nice to people,” Slosberg said.