Faster Frame Propels Yellow Jacket at Cycling Nationals
Elanor Finlayson at the Collegiate National Road Cycling Race in Madison, Wisconsin. Photo by Pedro Teitelbaum.
Elanor Finlayson, a master's computer science student, secured her spot on the podium at the recent Collegiate National Road Cycling Race on a bicycle designed and built by a fellow Yellow Jacket.
As a high school athlete, the Atlanta native often used cycling for cross-training, but she began cycling more frequently during the Covid-19 pandemic. At the same time, in northern Virginia, Iain MacKeith, ME 2023, continued his cycling ambitions on the bike and in the shop.
Combining his interest in mechanical engineering and cycling, and having competed in races since he was 9, MacKeith began constructing steel bicycle frames. He designed and built six frames in six months before arriving at Tech in August 2020.
Once on campus, Finlayson and MacKeith both sought out a cycling community and joined the Georgia Tech Cycling Club. They began training and racing together, and when Finlayson found out about her training partner's side hobby, she commissioned MacKeith to make her a gravel bike. MacKeith has since made five more bikes for Finlayson, including the carbon fiber road bike she used in the recent national competition — a race she was determined to compete in after breaking her collarbone in 2024.
"I was off the bike for two months and in a sling, but once I figured out a way to get on the indoor bike trainer, I was ready to get back to training,” she said. “Once I had the all-clear from the doctor, I knew I was going to throw everything into training and gear up for nationals."
Finlayson was unable to participate in nationals while completing her computer science degree due to her finals schedule, but as a graduate student, she knew she had the chance to compete. Confident in her equipment and herself, Finlayson's goal was to earn a spot in the top five. With the finish line in sight at the end of the 60-mile race in Madison, Wisconsin, she was overcome with emotion.
"Coming into the final straight, I just started screaming. It was a combination of intensity, the fact that I was pushing myself so hard, and it was such an insane moment to realize that I would be on the podium," she said.
MacKeith, former cycling club president at Tech, is familiar with the feeling of crossing the finish line, but as the maker of Finlayson's bike, he found a similar sense of accomplishment on the sidelines.
"I think it's an accomplishment and a sense of relief. The interesting thing about cycling is that, even though it's one person on the podium, it's a team sport in a way, and we can share this feeling, and there's a great satisfaction to playing a part in someone else's success," he said.
As a mechanical engineering student, MacKeith gained a better understanding of the materials needed to construct a more aerodynamic frame, particularly carbon fiber. While at Tech, he spent hours in campus makerspaces as a prototyping instructor at the Flowers Invention Studio, where he taught other students how to create their own frames.
Since graduation, MacKeith has worked at a space and aerospace manufacturing company, but he hasn't stopped constructing bicycles. Without the makerspaces, he built a home studio and retrofitted an oven to handle curing abilities for carbon fiber parts.
MacKeith intends to keep making bicycles but doesn't intend to mass produce his designs, because his joy comes from fitting each frame to its rider's specific needs. He also continues to improve the design of a filament winding machine, which he created as a student at Tech, that allows him to robotically layup carbon fiber tow into tubular shapes to increase efficiency in the construction process.
Through her lab work on campus and her studies, Finlayson has become increasingly interested in the use of data and has implemented it in her training methods. Set to graduate in December, she intends to enter the data analytics field with a focus on improving public health outcomes.
No matter where their professional paths take them, MacKeith and Finlayson have a shared desire to compete and win, so they will continue to race and motivate each other along the way.