The 2023 USA Enduro National Championship at Ride Rock Creek was my second enduro race ever. I had just gotten stitches out of my knee (for the second time last summer), and the wet conditions made a slip-n-slide out of the backcountry stages. I was terrified, but I was also hooked. Coming into the Enduro…
Tag: mountain bike
Pretty girls [bike] like this
Women in mountain biking have found what I think is a beautiful sweet spot of competing not against each other, but with each other.
A Victory of Values
Three days ago, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to finish this race, so being able to stand on the top step today is really only another testament to showing up, staying curious, and good ol’ fashioned grit. I’m proud of this one.
BCBR: Singletrack Summer Camp
How to even begin? BC Bike Race is more than a race. It really feels like an experience…a celebration even, of mountain biking and the community around it. I just got home, less than 24 hours ago, and I already want to go back. To preface, I flew out to BC Bike Race this year…
Partiu! Partiu!
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…
Made for the Elements
When its day three of racing in pouring rain, driving wind, and garbage conditions, and you’re still grinning from ear to ear, either something is really wrong with you, or you know you’re doing exactly what you’re made for. This was the realization I came to in the middle of stage three of this year’s…
Three for Three in Tennessee
This year, for the annual Tennessee National event at Windrock Bike Park, in Oliver Springs, Tennessee, I opted to race three separate events over the two weekends: Enduro, XCC (Short Track), and XCO (Cross-Country Olympic). Though I didn’t originally intend for these to be the first races of the season, that’s how it worked out….
World Championships!
Where do I even start? Just the realization that I raced in an Elite World Championship race seems a bit surreal. The “pipe dream” that has been motivating my race schedule for the past year was to qualify for the 2024 XCM World Championship, to be held at Snowshoe, in WV, but even as I…
Winner! Wilderness 101k Race Recap
This one feels like its been a long time coming. I’m not sure what sort of literary device tells the end of the story first, but, I WON A MTB RACE! In 2019, I attempted my first 50-mile mountain bike race, the Whiskey 50…which I promptly DNF’d. Later that year, I flew to Arkansas for…
How did I get here?
I might be sitting on the couch right now with my leg propped up on pillows, but I can’t help but reflect a bit. On week ago, I was racing (and crashing) in the XCM Pan-American Championship in Colombia, and in a mere six weeks, I will be racing in the XCM World Championship in…