Born to Maggie and Tom Courtney in October 1995, Kate Courtney grew up in
Marin County, California at the base of
Mount Tamalpais, which is considered to be the birthplace of mountain biking. Courtney was introduced to cycling at a young age by her father and they would ride a mountain-bike tandem up Mount Tamalpais together. She joined her school mountain bike team at Branson High School. While at high school, Courtney competed for the USA National Team and Whole Athlete Development Team in international events. In 2012, Courtney became the first American woman to win a UCI Mountain Bike World Cup in the Junior category. In 2013, Courtney went to
Stanford University to study human biology. In the same year, she signed her first professional contract with
Specialized Bicycles. == Professional cycling career ==