This is the mantra that Erin Ayala, of Skadi Sports Psychology, helped me identify in the lead up to the Enduro National Championship, but also one that has kind of “stuck” ever since. The idea was that racing isn’t about “proving” myself, but about putting the skills, fitness, etc. that I’ve worked so hard for…
Category: Race Reports
Just Have Fun
This is what I told myself as I pulled into the parking lot for the start of the 2025 ORAMM race. My most recent XCM event (Nationals) put me far enough in the hurt locker that it left me reconsidering whether I even wanted to race these endurance events at all, and ORAMM wasn’t far…
Endurance MTB Nationals–in ROANOKE!
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…
Finding Balance
That title sounds like I’m about to write some kind of self-help blog, not a race report, but c’est la vie. One of the mantras (in addition to the ever-present “stay curious”) that I’ve added to my top tube this season is “Balance.” In one of my skills lessons earlier this season, Harlan (of Take…
Transylvania Epic: 5 Days of #EastCoastRocks
It’s no secret that I love everything that is East Coast mountain biking: the rocks, roots, and jank. The 5-day Transylvania Epic (TSE) stage race serves this up in spades. I raced this event coming off of a knee injury back in 2023, and had a blast. Even though I was taking grad school classes…
Mama, I’ve been wormed
Choosing to do back-to-back XCM (cross-country marathon) events on the weekend following Rockstar isn’t anyone’s idea of optimal, but I had committed to both the Wormhole 100k and the Middle Mountain Momma XXC events long before I had planned to have anything to do with Rockstar. In fact, they were part of my original objection…
What if…?
Earlier this year, some friends mentioned to me that they were going to do a “stage race” version of the Rockstar Trail, a local point-to-point ultra endurance event, during the grand depart in April. I was intrigued, mostly because the fact that the Rockstar route starts in Harrisonburg and finishes in Roanoke with 270 miles…
Redemption Journey
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,…
Party Laps Forever
Three weeks before the start of Trans New England, all of my best laid plans blew up. The UCI changed the date of the XCM World Championship from the previously published Saturday, September 21st to Sunday, September 22nd–a minor change, unless, of course, you were planning to drive from West Virginia to New Hampshire for…
Ride Fierce Racing 