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…
Tag: mtb
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…
¡Bienvenido a Colombia!
When I got the e-mail saying that I had been selected to be a part of the 2023 Pan American XCM Championship team, I immediately envisioned high mountain singletrack and stunning views. I got one part of that right. The 2023 Pan American XCM Championship took place in Santa Rosa de Cabal, Colombia, a small…
Winning the Experience
I felt incredibly strong coming into the spring block of races and was excited about the potential for earning some solid results at both Whiskey 50 and the Transylvania Mountain Bike Epic Stage Race. And then I crashed. My return to the Whiskey 50 was one marked with a burning desire to redeem myself. The…
Sweet Simplicity
Early on in my evolution of becoming a mountain biker, I remember meeting someone who had a singlespeed mountain bike. I was curious, even to the point of asking if I might someday borrow the bike and experience singlespeeding for myself, but never did. (Ironically, while living in the Midwest, where a singlespeed mountain bike…
Try New Things
There’s a wide range of skillsets within the world of mountain biking, and while I feel like I am learning quickly, I often have to remind myself that until I moved to Virginia in 2021 (just a year ago?!), I had never seen rocks…not #eastcoastrocks, anyway. All of that to say, I have a LONG…
Race Report: Mohican 100k
What a study in contrasts! On Wednesday, I participated in the Play Roanoke’s second Disco series race on Mill Mountain, but with strict guidelines to not go too hard (and thereby “ruin” my race on Saturday). The Disco course is rocky, mostly climbing, and the field thins out quickly, allowing for plenty of space to…
Ride Fierce Racing 