The 2024 XCM (Cross Country Marathon) MTB Pan-American Championships took place in Goianá, Minas Gerais, Brazil this past weekend. After racing in Colombia last year, I had a pretty good idea of what to expect as far as checking into the event, the pre-race team manager meeting, and the race itself.

Myself, Mark Kransz, and Lauren Zimmer were selected by USA Cycling to represent the U.S. at the Pan-American XCM Championships this year, so coordinated travel plans together, which turned out to be exceptionally fun (not that I had any doubts about this–Lauren and I have raced together before and always had a great time doing so!). Lauren’s husband, Brian, also joined us for the trip and provided critical tech/feed support during the race.

We flew into Rio on Friday morning and began the process of picking up our rental vehicles for the drive to Goianá. Despite being a bit of a slow process, it was smooth. The adventure didn’t really begin until pulling up to the first toll stop on the highway, where we discovered that our American visa cards would not work for paying the toll–and we had neglected to withdraw any Brazilian reals prior to starting the drive. Eventually, I managed to communicate a compromise: $20 USD for both vehicles, and we were on our way again–with the next stop being an ATM to withdraw cash for the remaining tolls! All in all, it was about a 3 hour drive to Goianá, and once arriving at our AirBnb, we built our bikes and rode into town to check in for the race and do a short pre-ride.

When checking in for the race, the UCI Commissaire, Erica, recognized me from the race in Colombia, and had gone as far as preparing an English “briefing paper” for the pre-race team manager meeting, as it would once again be entirely in Spanish and Portuguese. She also confirmed that we would be able to set up a “feed zone” area in the tech zone at the start/finish, and that Brian would be able to access the second tech zone at the halfway point of the course.

By the time we began our pre-ride, it was nearly dark, but we still managed to ride for almost an hour, doing an out-and-back on the first five miles of the course. The following day, we got up early and pre-rode an entire lap (sans the singletrack section). The race was two laps of a 30-mile course, each with ~3,000 feet of climbing. As expected (from my experience in Colombia last year), the course was primarily dirt roads and two-track), with only about 1.5 miles of singletrack in each lap (which turned out to be pretty good–and fun–trail!).

One of the fun parts of traveling internationally is getting to experience the food and culture, and this was no different. On the first night, we went to a local restaurant known for, according to Google Translate, “Tilapia on a stick.” Though the tilapia wasn’t served on a stick, it was a family-style meal with tilapia, fries, tomato slices, and rice, and was absolutely delicious! For breakfast/lunch/snacks, we got fruit, cookies, cakes, chips, oatmeal, and PB&Js from the grocery store–having fresh tropical bananas and mango again was such a treat! On the second night, we went to a burger and pizza place, which we also ended up returning to after the race, when we discovered that nearly everything in town closed early on Sunday evenings (in contrast to every other night, where nothing opened until late). The last night, we ordered a traditional dish of rice, beans, cheese, and meat, which was delicious post-race…even if by then I was beginning to crave vegetables and salad. Haha.

The race itself went really well. After an overnight flight to get to Brazil, I was hesitant about how I would feel, but my legs felt really good all day. I had the first place call-up, which was an incredibly cool experience! I managed to stay with the lead group until the first climb, where the front riders began to pull away and I settled into a pace I knew I could maintain for the full 1,200 foot climb. Lauren and I yo-yo’d back and forth up most of the climb, until it leveled out at the top, where I settled in and began to use my momentum to my advantage through the rollers along the “ridge.” At the top of the first climb, I was pulling a group of 8 or 9 other riders, all of whom slowly dropped off as I pushed across the plateau. By time I reached the halfway point of the first lap, I was riding solo, but could still see the lead group in the distance here and there.

I tried to be proactive and focused on my fueling throughout the entire day, so made sure to take the time to eat and drink even on the first lap, knowing that staying well-fueled on lap one would be critical to a strong lap two. Coming into the big descent towards the end of lap one, I rode it confidently, knowing that my descending skills were a strength that would allow me to gain time, while also giving me a chance to recover before the second lap. When we entered the singletrack section, I was surprised (and happy!) to find that it was actual singletrack, not just doubletrack, and even had some rooty climbs, a section of stunning straight descending across a ridge, and then some fun switchbacks down. In typical fashion, I caught several riders on the singletrack, passing one master’s male through a rooty section on the way up, then catching another master’s male on the descent. The language barrier made getting around more challenging, but I saw my chance with an upcoming switchback and took the inside “enduro” line, cutting him off, and making my pass (after which, he started yelling at me in Portuguese: whether he was mad that I cut him off or stoked that I took the rowdy line, I’m not sure–but I chose to believe the latter!). 🙂 Shortly thereafter, I passed another elite female rider in the last bit of singletrack before popping back out onto the dirt road that led back to town and the start/finish.

At the start/finish, I was expecting to have to stop to exchange bottles where we had set my spare USA jersey and our bottles as a self-serve tech zone, but a kind woman was waving my jersey and performed a nearly flawless handup of the bottles! By this point, I had started cramping a bit, but was determined to put in just as strong an effort on lap two (in the end, my first lap time was 2:21; my second lap was 2:33). I doubled down on the fueling efforts, pushed up the big climb, and reminded myself that it was “all downhill from here.” Again, I maximized my momentum through the rolling section at the top, focused on being smooth on the descent, and grinned at the photographers in the singletrack section. I passed a few more Master’s males on the second lap, but didn’t really see any other women, despite pushing forward with the hope of catching the group that I assumed was still just ahead.

I finished in 14th place, just 39 minutes off of first place, 29 minutes off of second, and less than 13 minutes off of the 10th place I was hoping so much to achieve. Though I’m disappointed with the “number” of the result, I’m extremely happy with my performance, and grateful to have had the opportunity to represent the U.S. in Brazil. (Mark finished in 41st position, and Lauren got 19th.)

On the way back to the airport on Monday, we stopped at a bike park outside of Petropolis. It was surprisingly fun, and was a great way to shake out the legs, and practice some doubles, small gaps, and berms on the XC bike. Then it was back to the U.S. with another overnight flight–all of which went exceptionally smoothly, with all the bags and bikes making every flight with us!

All in all, it was an incredible trip to Brazil to race bikes, spend some time with great friends and teammates, and be welcomed by many wonderful and kind Brazilian cyclists!