Every year, I make it a point to join my friends at The Appalachian Journey. I’ve long said that I don’t race gravel because it doesn’t bring me joy, but this event is the epitome of joy. Everything that Gordon and Emily pour into this event shines through in a gravel gathering that celebrates community, partnership, and togetherness.

Several months ago, as I was looking ahead at the calendar and attempting to guess at when I’d be cleared to race again, at whether I’d be ready to ride 70 miles of gravel, and generally exploring the uncertainties of recovering from a major surgery (and then getting hit by a car), I realized that there was a very good chance that The Appalachian Journey would be my first event of 2025.

Photo Credit: Bruce Buckley

With that in mind, I started considering my options for a partner. One of the things that sets The Appalachian Journey apart is that it is a partner event, something that I absolutely LOVE about it. What better way to explore the greatness of Appalachian gravel than with a friend?! Still, I think there’s value in finding a partner that is similarly minded in terms of riding/racing pace and mindset. For The Appalachian Journey, I didn’t want to approach it like a race; I wanted to enjoy the journey, talk to friends along the way, stop at all the aid stations, and generally just use it as a celebration of being back on the bike with my community.

So I reached out to one of the most community-minded fellow cyclists that I knew. Amanda Presgraves, a friend from nearby Harrisonburg, is on the Shenandoah Valley Bicycle Coalition board, is an accomplished off-road triathlete and adventure athlete, and also happened to be recovering from an injury.

Little did we realize that recovering from our mutual arm injuries (thus the team name “All Arms All Fouls”) was just the first part of the journey to get to the Journey. As it turned out, Amanda had car trouble after a trail run the day before The Appalachian Journey, and was forced to scramble to find a ride up to Floyd at the very last minute. The unintended consequence (and benefit) of this, was that instead of us hanging out on Friday evening in Floyd, I got to step in and help with registration–and I don’t think there’s a better way to get to see all my fellow bike friends coming in for the race. After a 4 a.m. wake-up call, Amanda made it up to Floyd on Saturday morning in plenty of time for the start and even some pre-ride Red Rooster Coffee.

From there, the Journey was on! Our shared journey of injury recovery gave us mutual grace for finding a rhythm riding in a pack (is it any wonder that we are both afraid to fall right now?!), and a common love for being outside, expressing ourselves in motion, and embracing community made a beautiful foundation for 70 miles of gravel riding together. We stopped at all the aid stations, connected with friends new and old, and somehow still managed to get 2nd place for the Duo Women’s category of the 70-mile distance.

At one point, Amanda used the phrase “redemption journey” to describe our shared comeback to racing at The Appalachian Journey, and it seemed a fitting description for such a joy-filled day on bikes.