Though I was very much on the “fringes” of the team that spent the last several years working to bring Endurance MTB National Championships to Roanoke, I was involved just enough to know that it was a possibility…and then, eventually, that it was really going to happen. There’s not much I like better than showing off “my” trails to bike friends from around the country!

Just this morning, I rode from my apartment, down the greenway, to the XCC National Championships course at Elmwood Park for pre-ride, and then home again–all in less than 10 miles. What a cool, cool, experience to be able to host National Championships in my home town and on trails that I know and love.

Though I haven’t raced XCO (cross-country olympic) or XCC (cross-country short track) at Nationals since 2019 (or, ever, for short track), because it is here, I registered for all three disciplines.

Cross Country Marathon: 7th Place Elite Women

XCM (cross-country marathon) is the one discipline of the three that I actually have experience racing and generally train for, and, fortunately for me, was the first event of the week. Less fortunately, it was forecasted to be in the mid-90s and extremely humid. Normally, I would consider heat to be an advantage, as, with living here in Roanoke, I’m typically pretty heat-adapted by time the summer races roll around.

However, I haven’t actually “trained” since before Rockstar in late April, as that effort and the XCM races immediately following it created too much fatigue to really return to structured training before jumping into my PNW road trip, during which I rode my bike nearly every day, but did very few XC-style rides or high-intensity efforts (and took hardly any rest days). When I got back to Roanoke two weeks ago, I was extremely fatigued and very not-heat-adapted. I knew, going into my trip, that I would likely be compromising my preparation for Nationals. I just didn’t realize how much that would hurt.

The oft-quoted saying by Greg Lemond is that “it never gets easier, you just get faster.” Well, I’m here to say that regressing makes it feel harder, while also going slower. C’est la vie.

When the other women in the elite field sprinted up the second little climb in the paved start before ever getting to singletrack, I had absolutely no ability to respond (see: not doing high-intensity efforts since late April). In hopes that the technicality of the course and the heat would wear some of the riders ahead of me down, I settled into a pace that I felt I could maintain for the full 54 miles (also, notably, the longest ride I’d done since the first weekend in May) and 7,000+ feet of climbing.

Before even getting to Rock ‘n Roll, which was ~5 miles into the course, videographer/friend David Kahn rolled up next to me on his e-bike and asked how I was doing: I wanted to quit. In my head, I was contemplating why exactly I was not having fun, and whether getting to singletrack would change that, or if it was my lack of training and the increased level of suffering / lack of competitiveness getting me down, or maybe, I was just “done” with XCM racing altogether. Typically, even if I’m dropped early in a race, I’m pretty confident setting a consistent pace and slowly moving up throughout the race–but this was somehow different. Now, several days later, I’m more inclined to chalk it up to my lack of preparation widening the gap between expectations and reality, but in the moment, I really just wasn’t having fun. And bikes are supposed to be fun.

Once I got to the trails, I started to find my rhythm, and actually was surprised to realize that I was >20 miles in somewhere along Lakeside, as despite having no “pop,” felt like I was holding a decent, steady pace. And then I started melting.

When I got around to the feed/tech zone for the second time, after completing the first “upper” loop through Gauntlet/Lakeside/Upper Comet, I was overheating. My friend, Kayla, was on point in the feed zone and helped me swap to a cold hydration pack, frozen bottles, and ice packs. I immediately drank probably half of my cold pack, and dumped half of my one bottle on me at various points during the climb up Buck, but just couldn’t get my body temperature under control. In the process, my pace just kept plummeting, and I fought to find a manageable flow that didn’t push my body temperature up into what felt like the “danger zone.” Having been at the point of hallucinating from heat at the 2024 XCM National Championship in Alabama, I knew that I needed to stay focused if I wanted to descend Gauntlet and Upper Comet at pace and safely.

The descent down Gauntlet helped cool me slightly, if only enough that I didn’t actually jump into the Cove as I’d been contemplating. Then, climbing Lakeside again, I melted again, and finished what was left of my water, forcing me to stop at the neutral aid at the top of Upper Comet to get some water in and on me for cooling. I was still hot enough descending Upper Comet that I bobbled once towards the top and had to tell myself to slow down so I didn’t risk sending myself full-send off the mountain.

Finally, I made it back to the feed/tech zone, and Kayla handed me a Red Bull, took my pack, gave me two fresh, cold bottles, poured cold water on my head, and stuck ice packs in my jersey. Somehow, the combination of cold water, ice, and Red Bull brought me back to life and my legs actually felt decent for the first time all day. This may have contributed to my over-confidence rolling through Enchanted Forest, where I hit the wooden roller feature faster than I’ve ever come in before, only realizing at the last minute that it isn’t meant to send–and landed way deep, yeeting myself right over the bars. In the moment, I was frustrated and trying not to cramp while getting back on my bike, but afterwards I could only laugh at the ridiculousness of it.

With less than 10 miles to go, I told myself it was “just a Mullet ride” and put my head down and pedaled for the finish, managing to pass a few age group riders in the process, even if my effort made zero meaningful difference in my own result.

I finished 7th in Elite Women, which, out of context, sounds just fine. The context, however, is that only 8 women started, and only 7 finished–of which I was last. Was I prepared? No. But that’s on me. Did I hope for more, despite my lack of preparation? Yes. My stretch goal (which I acknowledged would be a stretch), was to get 5th. At the same time, is there something to be said for just showing up and gritting it out and finishing? Yeah, I’ve always recognized that by choosing to race “up” to Elite, that my chances of winning a national-level competition are low, if not zero, but that the value is in just showing up and giving my best on that day. And that is something I can say confidently: I gave my best (aside from the hucking myself into the woods on the roller in Enchanted Forest part) on that day.

Maybe next year I’ll actually train? TBD… because I kind of want to go back to B.C. for more adventure riding. 🙂

Cross Country Short Track: 9th Place Elite Women

XCC (cross-country short track) is a discipline that I’ve only raced a handful of times, and never at a National Championship. It is a 20-minute, all-gas, spectator-friendly style of racing, and despite being incredibly challenging for this diesel engine, might be one of the most fun types of racing, just because of the energy of the crowds. Its basically crit racing for mountain bikes. Super hard. Super fun.

Before the race, I took some time to think about my goals in showing up for an elite race in a discipline I’ve barely done against racers who podium in XCC at World Cups.

• Leave it all on the course. Go all in, for as long as I’m allowed to race. Plan for the whole thing, but race as if its just one lap.
• Have fun. Enjoy the spectators, the cheering, the energy.
• Mantras: Let it shine. Stay Curious. Give it your best.

I think I can say fairly that I accomplished all of these. I finished last (which also happened to be 9th place), but wasn’t in last place the entirety of the race. And I had SO. MUCH. FUN.

I will DEFINITELY be racing short track next year at Nationals. 🙂

Cross Country Olympic: 13th Place Elite Women

The last time I raced XCO (cross-country olympic) at Nationals was in 2019 in Winter Park, before I made the transition to the longer, marathon-style events. Since then, I usually compete in a handful of XCO races each season, mostly to gather necessary points for racing XCM on an international level (just don’t ask). In April, I had my best XCO result in years at a regional UCI XCO event, and I was feeling really good. And then I chose to do a bikepacking event as a race (looking at you, Rockstar), and never really managed to fit any actual training in between Rockstar and this week. Less than ideal, but I did have a lot of fun riding my bike in rad places in the meantime, so c’est la vie.

There aren’t many women in the elite XCO field who work full time, race multiple disciplines, show up to heckle friends, ride to the race when possible, and make appearances at the many social events that take place during the week of Nationals. I don’t say this as an excuse for my performance by any means–because I really do think I can perform far better than I did this week and still do all the things–but merely to give some context. These are all choices that I make (aside from the working full time thing, that’s kind of necessary), and choices that I’m glad I made. While I wasn’t able to be at all the races all week, I value the opportunity to come out, cheer on other local racers, to volunteer when I can, and to be an ambassador as much as I am a racer. Plus, heckling is fun!

Whether I left my legs in Canada, or somewhere on the Rockstar trail is kind of irrelevant, but all I know is that they didn’t show up to the XCO race on Saturday. From the start, my legs felt sluggish, and the yo-yo of getting stuck in traffic, pushing to catch the group, then getting caught behind a rider on a narrow descent, and trying once again, to no avail, to chase up the climbs, just hurt. Hurt is kind of the definition of XCO racing, and I really do think you have to be willing and ready to go to the depths of the pain cave to be competitive–and I just wasn’t there mentally this go-around. Its rough to say that for a National Championship event, but if I’m completely honest, I don’t think I’ve managed to recovery fully from the mental and emotional fatigue of my cross-country trip (and pushing myself to ride some super gnarly trails blind day after day after day, plus working and driving), as well as a pretty stressful few weeks since getting home, and I just didn’t have the mental fortitude to take myself to the well on Saturday.

As a result, I got pulled after 3 laps, which was one lap more than I really wanted to do. My last four races (including this one) have been National Championship events, and in each, I’m racing “up,” challenging myself to race with the best of the best, which inevitably means (even if I do have a great day) that I will be finishing towards the back of the pack. It’s a good thing that one of my values is “show up,” because in a lot of ways, that’s all I did this week: show up, do my best for that day (even if my best on that day was pretty terrible), and move onto the next. But doing that over and over and over again is also a bit demoralizing. My relationship with racing is always in flux, and I don’t think I’m ready to hang it up yet, but I am ready to do some lower-stakes, regional races where I can race my best, have fun, and still have a chance at a podium–because as much as I hate to admit it, being at the pointy end of the race and competing for the win is definitely part of what makes it fun.

All in all, while I am disappointed with my race results and performance, I am absolutely STOKED about how Roanoke showed up for Nationals. It was incredibly cool to ride my bike to two different National Championship events, and to race in from of a home crowd. Plus, I do think our region has some pretty awesome trails that are worth showing off on a national stage. HUGE thanks to all those who worked countless hours this week (and in the several years leading up to this week) to make this happen. Y’all are amazing!