2026 East Texas Showdown
❋ ride report
march 26 2026
when i started the drive to far east texas, I was leaving one of my busiest, most stressful work periods in recent memory. I couldn’t get out of my own head, conscientious about my own career, about the future of my industry, and the insane things happening in the world in general. I knew I’d prepped as well as I possibly could, but still couldn’t shake the feeling that the world was closing in, especially while sitting in traffic 125 miles from the start.
After tinkering with my bike for two straight weeks, rolling on a new wheel set, cassette, chain and brake pads, I thought to take it into the shop for a final brake bleed and derailleur adjustment (my last ride before leaving I had crashed in a stupid way).
But The Day before leaving, The shop found that my bottom bracket was completely shot, all the bearings crunched beyond belief, slotting in and destroying the whole thing.
I was supposed to leave at noon that day, but as 3pm closed in, I still didn’t have my bike. I finally ended up walking in the shop to see what was going on, trying to hide some nervousness around the schedule, and the guys were scrambling around trying to find a new T47 bottom bracket locally, as we knew we’d have to change it or there was no riding to be had.
We ended up grabbing one from another shop across town, and I drove to congress just as traffic had started to thicken. I got it back to the far east side and got it all greased and installed, but forgot I still needed vacuum my house.
but By the time I was on the highway heading east, it was 5:30pm, right in the heaviness of rush hour. I knew It’d be dark when i set up camp. It took me five hours to go what would normally have taken three. I held on to work anxiety the entire time, feeling like I was completely behind, and like I’d forgotten something important I’d regret after the first 100 miles.
Too late, though. All i have is now.
On our ride WhatsApp, I’d seen that someone was already camping, so I assumed people were trickling in slowly to the base. But When I finally got to Bullet Grill at 10pm, there wasn’t a human in sight.
I unloaded stuff sacks and dry bags on the ground in the dark and completely reorganized my gear setup I’d gone through in my head 100 times the week prior.
To fit my handlebar roll and sleep kit, I needed to swap to wider bars. It was midnight, I was tired, and I worried about extending my bike’s reach, putting me into a more stretched out position (e.g. back pain) when I was already running a 110mm stem, but stuck to my original plan considering all the other variables.
When I finally got the tape off, I realized there were two 4” cracks on the underside of the bars. Thank God I forced myself to do this, i thought, relieved. I had a rapid succession of visions of my bars completely shattering on a 40mph descent and what might have happened to my face and body.
the mosquitoes were out in full force in the swampy East Texas forest, so I laid out my bivy and sweated my way through the night next to the car, wondering what in the world i was doing.
gear
Pre-race build as featured on bikepacking.com “rigs of east texas showdown”
BIKE
chumba terlingua
enve adventure
LB WR38
chris king r45
SRAM FORCE XPLR
Enve road 44CM
Enve 110
Shimano XT
framE
fork
RIMS
HUBS
DRIVETRAIN
BARS
STEM
PEDALS
AKS
Dispersed
dispersed
san util
rogue panda
exposure diablo
Exposure Zenith
Element Roam 3
Arundel Steel
handlebar
seatPack
Frame Bag
Top Tube BAg
Headlight
Helmet Light
computer
cages
clothes
velocio Luxe
Velocio Merino
Albion
Albion
Velocio
Vuori
Vuori
Moscot
bibs
LS JERSEY
SS JERSeY
GILET
WIND JACKET
T SHirt
Sun Hoody
SUnglasses
march 27 2026
Around 4:30am, I woke to a sprinkler head spraying every piece of gear I’d strewn out, so I scrambled and threw everything back into the car. As I was pulling away from my campsite, a guy walked by with a flashlight and said, “Oh! didn’t realize you were already here; we were just about to rope this area off, gets wet.”
Still dark another few hours, I pulled across to the other side of the forest opening, reversing back to the edge of a creek bed. As I did, my rear camera and taillights illuminated a tent and bike 10 feet behind me.
I laid out all my bags again, inflated my pad, and stretched out my bivy again to try to get some sleep, which I knew was basically not on the menu the next few days.
I was getting demolished by mosquitoes already, and I had visions of riding the next few days with my arms and legs completely covered in bites.
As the sun came up, I heard the zipper of the tent next to me.
Jacob emerged, standing 6’6” tall, wiry black hair, and the sharpest bib and sock tan lines I’d ever seen. His skin was dark brown from hours and hours in the sun on the bike. Next to his tent was a full suspension bike with 2.4” tires, and this wouldn’t be the last time I’d questioned my own bike setup.
(Jacob would later place 8th overall).
But it was also the first moment of the entire weekend — and one of many that would follow — where I knew i’d have to trust that I’d thought through every part of my plan, and knew what worked best for me.
Earlier that week, I’d imagined unloading my handlebar roll in the exact order in which everything fit. Quilt first, inflatable mattress next, and then the bivy free in the dry bag to fill space in the roll and the other end. This kept everything together in the most perfect way, and it was also the exact order in which I’d lay everything out to camp each night.
Having never done this length of route on the bike, self-supported (i’ve backpacked a lot in colorado and new mexico) i chose the comfort of more stuff over a lighter bike, which would become an oscillating regret throughout the entire trip.
jacob and I spent the day together. Turns out he’s lived on his bike for the last 10 years after leaving the military, and after finishing one of the hardest off-road races in the country, DOOM in Arkansas, he then rode his bike all the way to east texas from Hot Springs. I was shocked he had done all that and yet was planning on tacking on another 395 mile fast race.
Jacob’s worldview, formed from a unique minimalistic lifestyle — paired with the silence and serenity of the Davy Crockett National Forest — helped my own anxieties feel small and silly. Our conversations brought about a type of meditation that brought me back into my body, to the impermanence of everything, and to the simplicity and joy of focusing only on the present moment.
Over burgers, Jacob and I talked about his travels all over the world, clocking hundreds of thousands of miles through countless countries. This race would be his last big ride before he flew back to Idaho, where his family lives. This was the final checkmark on an epic adventure for him, and I was honored to be the one who got to hear his reflections. they taught me a lot about looking inward.
jacob at doom 2025, where he placed 2nd overall
By the second night, Dodge ProMasters and Toyota Tacomas started pulling in, rear-racked with beautiful adventure bikes, some $1000 and others $10,000. The campsite had a new energy and buzz, and I finally started getting excited.
Except that, for months before this, I had been pretty burned out on the whole riding thing.
+
When I stopped drinking a few years ago, I rediscovered building and riding bikes — especially long distances — And bought into a mythology around it all that provided a proper balance to my inclination to obsess over work, and my drinking that accommodated that workaholism. It was difficult to tell BACK THEN WHEN the snake started eating its tail.
WHAT started as a deep dive into commuting to my office through all weather conditions turned into a renewed interest in long distance touring. It was exactly the escape and reset I needed after turning 40, to focus on the right things, and to take care of my body and mind.
an experiment
Many people don’t know this, but I ran a little experiment in my 40th year to leave behind my workaholism and remember fully who I am outside of my work identity.
That year, I’d just go with the flow and not force anything; I’d just trust my instincts and follow my bliss.
I stopped hustling for work like I had for 15 years and focused on doing things with precision and care, without overwhelming myself with the sales side of it all. I wanted to see if I would get the same results and income by trying harder at the work and less at selling. I WANTED TO BE SOFTER. WITH OTHERS, AND WITH MYSELF.
crazy enough — It worked! and that was a revelation. Cycling became central to my schedule as a tool to dig for something deeper.
The less I worried about work, the opinions of others, and how to frame myself as marketable to advertising agencies, the less work consumed me. I have to admit that scared me a little, even though it also felt great. My priorities were re-shifting.
I poured all my attention into my family and my home. I was exercising, experiencing nature every day, and on a screen 50% less than I had. I’d found a peace I hadn’t experienced in 15 years.
but after about a year, a kind of guilt started setting in when the newness of it all wore off. I wondered if I was doing enough, because All i had to compare it to was me doing too much. I still needed to provide for my family. I am good at what I do, and I do find fulfillment in it, but cycling was giving me this immediate (YOU MIGHT SAY, LOW-HANGING) sense of holistic health that felt a bit like enlightenment, and naturally tempered my “doing” nature.
my perfectionism around work was melting away. So while that was good, the MYTHOLOGY OF the bike had THREATENED TO REPLACE the mythology of being a film director.
At the time, that was exactly what I needed, but I started to worry that my career might be slipping away in that exchange. It hadn’t - quite the opposite - but I only had my previous habits to compare it to.
The race
395 mi | 17,000 ft
PointBlank
MILE 0
We took off around 7am that next morning in a peloton of about 200 riders across three race categories. I’d chosen to do the longest ride (395mi, 17,000 feet of climbing), feeling prepared, and trying to tune out all the chatter around everyone else’s strategies.
I need to ride my own ride, at my own pace, my way, I kept having to tell myself.
The showdown riders all collected at the front of the peloton, and I couldn’t help but notice I was one of few with racks and a sleep kit, wondering what everyone else but me may have known, or what the heck type of race I was on. I had about 20 extra pounds on my bike that I might not have needed. Too late. I was there, in third position in the peloton, and soon enough we were being dragged across a 2 mile bridge in a neutral start.
When the truck peeled away, our pace immediately went from 10mph to 22mph. I had the nervous energy to keep in the front group, along with a solid nutrition plan I’d not yet missed a beat on.
+
I put on “Day One” by Bon Iver, and honestly don’t remember much of the first 35 miles as everyone fought for position through sandy service roads, pushing 300-350 watts. I knew I needed to conserve my energy, but I also knew I could do 100 miles at a 250w average, but I had no idea what would happen after because I wasn’t used to doing more than that, so i contemplated total energy spend a bit at this pointAll I knew to do was to keep riding my race, and eat as much as possible.
At about mile 50, my plan started to crystallize, and I left behind thoughts of staying with the front group, especially after seeing two guys in team color skinsuits with only a top tube bag holding 300 watts. I’d told myself I wasn’t racing, but I’m extremely competitive by nature, so it was hard to not get caught up in it all.
I sunk into a comfortable spot in the top 10, but tried to conserve energy while the group was still together. But I knew after the first resupply point the race would break wide open and I’d likely be riding alone.
hostess donuts
Breakfast burritos (2)
CLIF BUILDER BAR
la colombe Cold brew
6 Scoops tailwind
2 Honey Stinger gels
mile 55
apple springs
AROUND 10AM, I stopped at Brookshire’s, WHERE A FEW local ladies STOOD OUTSIDE SMILING, OFFERING TO GET US snacks and water and Subway sandwiches. They’d come to look forward to having all the riders there over the years, providing a tick of excitement to small town living.
I’d already run through the six scoops of tailwind in my three bottles, and even though I hate them, I had two gels. this was always my plan. but, I started to get this creeping doubt that my bottles were going to be small for the whole ride, and that I’d have to stop more than I wanted to to keep them topped. I also knew from route planning that after the next country store, there was a remote 70 mile stretch with no water, so I needed to be strategic about how I paced my hydration.
I pushed aside projections of bonking, and by the time we got to the next stop, I drank a 32oz gatorade, Dr. Pepper can, had a Bon Apetit strawberries and cream, an Oatmeal Creme Pie, refilled my bottles. I set my mind straight to get through the long off-road section where the real features began.
by this time we hadn’t yet reached the huge pine trees of ON OFFER BY THE DEEP FOREST, AND WE WERE exposed to MIDDAY sun. People were pouring cold water on their heads and applying sunscreen. I put on samara cyn, and looked down again at my small bottles and my handlebar roll, mourning the decision to carry all that extra weight.
FROM A TECHNICAL PERSPECTIVE, THIS section was the worst part of the entire ride to that point, AND The race had completely broken apart. a front group of 6 riders had taken off together, and the rest of us were alone on the route. I had gotten cut off by someone who yelled “there’s only one line” which WAS CONFUSING because she was in front OF ME.
Anyway, this is where my ride really began. I started dialing back my watts to conserve some energy and SLOW INTO endurance. I again looked down at my SMALL bottles.
By mile 50 of the 70 mile section I was completely out of water, but my only option at this point was to get to the next stop dry.
I limped into our third resupply starting to question what was actually driving me to do this. I tried really hard to access some mythology about my purpose there.
It was too early, though; I’d find it a bit later.
64 oz water
32 OZ POWERADE
Honey Stinger Gel
orville redenbacher Cookie
Little DEbbie Creme Pie
NERD CLUSTERS
mile 75
ratcliff
The next oasis was a turn-of-the-century general store where multiple generations of ladies worked, and they welcomed us with warmth, even when my speech was slurred.
Here I saw the first riders I had seen in 2 hours. Everyone else was covered in dirt and looking just as destroyed. Something about that gave me a litle hope that I wasn’t actually doing so bad, comparatively.
I bought 6 bottled waters, two gatorades, a 20 oz Dr. Pepper, a BLT, and huge order of tater tots. I sat down with a few guys who I didn’t know at the time would be who I ended up pacing with the next 100 miles.
For the first time in the race, we looked at the trackleaders and realized we were in 14, 15, and 16th place. I got a big boost from this, as well as our conversations after isolation, and all the food and water I’d taken down.
Each of us took off from the store at different times, and I was encouraged that there were stops every 40 miles for the rest of the route, until the next morning - just as planned.
60 oz gatorade
12 oz Dr. Pepper
BLT sandwich + HAM
HONEY STINGER GEL
Tater Tots
mile 121
maydelle
It was after the general store in ratcliff that I really settled into my pace and noticed my goals start to shift. I stopped caring about the front, I stopped caring about my power, and started looking around a lot more. I entered the forest here and the beauty was stunning, and I was so thankful that it was 75º and dry. i sent out a prayer of gratitude.
once back in the forest, I started to find a groove, and decided my new goal would be to keep my heart rate under 150, my speed at 15mph average through the rollers, and see if i could finish the entire first 330mi loop in under 24 hours. I started toying with the idea of that being my ride, and not doing the additional 70 mile “death Loop” at the end you complete after returning to the start. The whole ride was a succession of choosing my own ride.
The more I made these decisions for myself, the easier it was to tune out the strategies of others. I also reminded myself that this was a huge feat, despite not being on the leader list.
Somehow, I maintained my position in the race a lot more easily when I stopped dwelling on it, and started thinking very small and what was in front of me. MOre life lessons, apparently.
I’d started yo-yoing with a guy named Kyle, who seemed to have some sort of similar pace philosophy. I’d never met him, but I knew him through stories around town. He’d raced the Tour Divide, Doom, Stagecoach and other really aggressive long-distance mountain biking routes.
Unintentionally, we started alternating stops. I’d catch and pass him, then he’d catch and pass me. We kept ending up at the same resupply points and even though we weren’t riding together, it was a good litmus for my own pace.
By the time we started to emerge from the north forest around 120 miles, the sun was starting to get lower and the shadows longer, and the beauty of my surroundings and my small internal pacing goals started to make it all feel a little less overwhelming. And when I looked down at my computer and we were at mile 133, I felt like real progress was being made; the fact that we’d done a third of the race by 4pm was another dose of encouragement.
48 OZ POWERADE
jacksonville
mile 138
At mile 138 lay a huge resupply point and milestone, a big town at the top of Lake Livingston. It’s not quite halfway, but it needed to be treated that way with the limited resupplies that would follow.
The route took us off rough jeep paths onto beautiful rolling curvy roads by expensive lakehouses, and a lowering sun had begun to cast golden beams of light across the road. I got a surge of energy from the scene change alone, and Kyle and I naturally found the exact same pace. We ripped through the descents and climbs with ease, the carrot of a Whataburger chocolate shake right in front of us.
Kyle knew these roads well — this was maybe his third or fourth time doing it, I think. He’d just won the West Texas version of this race, and so while trusting myself and my fitness, I could also look to him for cues.
We yo-yoed back and forth until Whataburger.
My original goal was to make it 150 miles the first day, and 150 miles the next day, but after Jacksonville, the sun had lowered across the horizon and we were on remote paved roads on the top arc of the parkour. I could see that all the remaining sections headed due south, which, although there was 230 or so miles left, this gave me a second wind, or, it could have just been the whataburger shake and fries.
Kyle had left a good bit before me, and I stayed behind to contemplate where I’d stop. I mourned the thought of unloading my handlebar roll with my sleep kit, and then I mourned the fact that I brought it at all, imagining how much lighter my bike would feel, and how much faster I’d go with the same effort. but those thoughts had to stop.
I’d planned to sleep behind an old church at mile 148 that first night, but as I got close, I found that all the walls were gone, and there was a huge construction crew there restoring it, so i couldn’t stealth it.
The sky had started to eek into purples and subdued oranges and eventually settled into my favorite time: blue hour. I turned on my helmet light for the first time since the neutral rollout 10 hours before. The roads started curling around rugged ranch land and morphed into fast descents.
I was hitting 40mph here at many points, able to recover and grateful I wasn’t climbing through remote sandbeds. The wind switched directions, and now it was at my back. Through this section I was averaging 22mph, and I hadn’t been passed by another rider in hours.
I got to the bottom of a huge descent and found Kyle there changing the music on his phone. The sun had set, and we were again reentering the forest. it was ink black out, and the only light were orbs from our helmet lights.
Without discussing where’d aim next, we just kept moving forward.
Kyle seemed to be planning to push straight through, but I tried zeroing in on my original plan, which was to sleep around this point. now it was 8pm, and I’d recovered quite a bit from all the descending and gotten a surge of energy.
I suddenly noticed that our next resupply was only 10 miles away. I’ll sleep there, I thought, and Kyle will go on.
Grilled Cheese
Chocolate SHAKE
NERD CLUSTERS
48OZ POWERADE
Mile 186
palestine
We came out of the national forest onto some of the smoothest pavement I’ve ever felt under my tires, and My bike glided with basically no effort.
scanning my helmet light around me, I could feel pine trees towering 100 feet above, and I imagined what it might look like during the day, slightly bummed I’d miss the chance to see it. it was here I noticed something like the feeling that I was still in my twenties, blissfully ignorant to the way the world turns.
At some point in this section, Kyle’s and my pace reconnected serendipitously. I had been focused on getting to the resupply, where I’d eat and sleep on the grass. surprisingly, the humidity was nonexistent and the swarms of gnats had subsided, so I knew I could probably just sleep behind the restaurant without my bivy, and grab breakfast when they opened.
We’d missed 4J’s being open by an hour, but, to our surprise, some other riders from the front had left behind some fried chicken for some people that had dropped behind.
I sent out a WhatsApp message to the group thanking them for the gift. “whoever left this is a genius and a saint,” i typed.
Kyle rolled in a few minutes after me, and we had a bite, put our legs up vertically on the wall. Another rider on the shorter route rolled in silently, looking destroyed, said nothing to us, and immediately fell asleep on a bench.
I was still thinking about sleeping, but Kyle said he’d try to make it to Kim’s, the next best resupply of the route after Whataburger. I was surprised I had the thought that I could probably make it the rest of the way there that night, but I knew it was open 24 hours and would be a much better stopping point.
I’ll sleep outside the gas station, I thought. I looked down at my sleep kit and thought about unpacking it.
Nerd clusters
chicken wings
Gummy BEARS
48oz Powerade
mile 198
elkhart
I think I’ll always remember this section the most.
It had been dark for 3-4 hours, and a cold front was rolling in, the air getting gusty and damp. I was starting to shake, so I put on all the layers I’d brought. The holes in my merino jersey had gotten bigger from pulling it down to cover my wrists, since I’d lost my gloves somewhere around mile 90. I thought about blisters on my palms, but quickly got rid of the thoughts because, whatever.
I’d been eating well and hitting my calorie goals, but inevitably was in a bit of a deficit. After layering up and committing to get to the next checkpoint, a resupply Kyle promised was the Mecca of the route, I started pushing my biggest watts of the ride to warm up.
Kyle seemed to have a similar second wind. we ripped back through the national forest at 35mph, the only illumination the rays of light from our handlebars and helmets. This was one of the most invigorating moments of recent memory, and all the thoughts of why am i doing this faded as I just pedaled and enjoyed being alive.
Kyle fell asleep on a café bench and I once again thought about my sleep kit and if I should sleep behind the gas station. My headlight and computer were at 10%, so I plugged them into a wall by the booth. I thought about getting at least four hours of sleep like I planned, so I set my alarm for 5am, thinking I could get a lot of work done alone before the sun rose. Just before my eyes closed, I set my alarm for 3am, just to see how I felt at that point, knowing I could snooze it.
Despite planning to stop at 148 miles, we rolled into Kim’s at mile 195 that night at 11:30pm, where our friends Eric, Hannah, and Alex were waiting after tracking our dots. All three of these folks compete in and WIN thousand-mile races across the world, but hannah and eric seemed content to be part of the media team this time. earlier, we’d also ridden with Alex, a fast single-speed mountain biker, but I hadn’t seen him since jacksonville. About 90 miles later, we heard he got sick and ended up scratching. Now, he was cruising in the car with Hannah and Eric.
Seeing them there was a huge lift, and the store was incredible compared to all the other small general stores we’d seen before. I had a protein shake, TGI Fridays Jalapeño cheddar chips, a Bon Apetit, Peanut butter M&Ms, nerd clusters and two coffees, and tons of candies and snacks for my frame bag for the next morning. I stashed a little debbie brownie for any moments of desperation coming up, cause i figured there’d be a few.
When my alarm went off, I realized I’d slept in my rigid shoes and all my toes were cramping. I stood up to find other riders there, but Kyle was long gone. My knee could barely hold my body weight and that was troubling, knowing I had 200 miles to go. But, the goal was to cover only about 130 that day, since I’d done the extra mileage the day before. I can do that, I think; just take it easy and listen to my knee. I had brought an extra change of clothes in my kit and while I fully intended to change here and go into phase 2, I ended up just getting on the bike in the same sandy, sweat-stained clothes, thinking it may be better to not reinvent the wheel at this point.
La colombe mocha (2)
DR Pepper tall boy
Core Power 42g Protein
Bon Apetit Strawberries & Cream
TGI FRidays Crisps
GU Caffeine GEL
zyrtec + ADVIL
mile 217
grapeland
By 3:30am, I was back out on open roads.
I went by an old railroad track for what felt like an eternity (it was 45 minutes, but I was about half asleep), and came on the first off-road section, which meant I was soon reentering the national forest. About 1 mile in, the size of gravel became smaller and smaller until it was finally a beach - sand 8 inches thick.
i remember tilting my helment light down to see that tire tracks had stoppped and footsteps start. Accepting my fate, I dimmed all my lights, and got off the bike, and hiked for what I think was about 2 miles.
After listening two full albums (*more and Toledo). I hopped back on. at this point, some serious chafing had set in, I assume from breaking my rhythm and the awkward hike through shifting, uneven ground. My shoes were completely full of sand and had started to collect under my arch and toes. Only 180 more miles, I thought.
a whatsapp message FROM A SLOWDOWN RIDER we had seen the night before
During that 2 mile hike, I had followed a red blinking taillight through the black to an unofficial resupply just off the route.
at the gas station, I met the other rider — on a lavender surly with purple tires — and we complained about the sand and the sadistic route a few minutes. When we walked out of the store, I noticed he was wearing sandals and I felt really bad for him.
I decided to grab two more 32oz gatorades, chugged half of one, and refilled my bottles with the rest. At the counter I picked up a cream cheese donut. it was one of the best things I’ve ever eaten.
40 oz Gatorade
CREAM CHEESE DONUT
I went on another 50 miles without resupplying, riding again alone through the national forest. Fatigue started setting in, and I wondered if I’d ever see another rider.
Then there were four. eight. fifteen. These were riders from the shorter route, I guess just emerging from their campsites. I knew I was 100 miles ahead of them, and pace was stronger (not that they were trying to match) and my morale lifted.
I looked down at my cues an realized I was only 5 miles from the next resupply point, so I pedaled a little more with a motivated power. Maybe I’ll sleep there, I thought, knowing I wasn’t losing any positions and my pace was better than I’d assumed.
I hadn’t seen Kyle in many hours at this point, and figured he was probably getting on into the top 10 again.
After the next resupply, the route curves back east toward sunrise, and that timing was helpful. back in austin, most of my riding happens before the sun comes up, and I forced myself to think I was just on a casual weekday ride, despite feeling disgusting and the pain the pain accumulating in my knees.
I lowered my saddle a centimeter, emptied the sand from my shoes again, and eventually made it to a stunning paved forest road. It seems every time I got to a section of pavement, it was perfectly timed for recovery, and my bike felt like a cadillac after my arms had been rattling for hours.
This was arguably one of the most beautiful moments of the ride. I was surrounded by trees that felt like they were 500 feet high, and i was feeling extra small, in the best way.
I was into a pretty good pace and somehow still holding 200 watts, but after all the sand, my drivetrain had started to sound like an old freight train, and the clicking sound and feeling in my feet was about all I could think about - even with music at max volume.
Mile 258
friendship
I had brought lube on the car ride, but for some reason I’d forgotten it at base camp, 250 or so miles away. I had packed one t-shirt in case I got tired of my kit, but it was still pretty chilly and looked like it was about to pour, so i decided to keep with my layer system. So, I tried to clean my chain, cassette and jockey wheels of grit with the dry shirt. No progress was made, though, and i rewarded myself with the Little Debbie brownie I’d gotten the night before. I was smart to buy this back then, I thought.
Just as I’d gotten everything dusted off and given up, a car pulls up. The windows are down, People are laughing and shouting, and there’s a camera pointing at me from the passenger seat. It’s Eric, Hannah, alex and kyle. Kyle was done. He’d stopped somewhere I’d passed but I didn’t see him.
They all seemed in good spirits and glad to not dealing with whatever I was. We chatted for a bit, and that’s exactly what I needed at the time to get going. Alex let me drip a bit of lube on my chain and my drivetrain was healed. After 60 miles with crusty pulley wheels, my bike felt like new.
I knew I only had 35 miles to the next checkpoint, and seeing these folks and having a smooth bike was what I needed to push through. Maybe I’ll take a nap there, I thought. I could still get the 330 miles done in under 24 hours even with a 2 hour nap. We’ll see.
The paved roads turned back into some of the most chunky, rocky gravel roads of the entire course.
Thinking I’d done all my sandy hiking for the entire route, I got off my bike again and hiked another mile in disbelief. The chafing had really started here, and I contemplated changing clothes, but still wasn’t sure if that would be better or worse than staying in the same clothes, so I just stuck with what was working.
I rode another 25 miles solo, passing multiple riders from the shorter route, trying to hold on to feelings of positivity that gave me.
LITTLE DEBBIE BROWNIE
mile 278
Lovelady
The next stop was in a small town, and after being isolated in pain so long the sight of other people doing normal-life-things gave me a bit of perspective. I’d long forgotten about worrying about my career, about competing in the race, and just focusing on how impressive this effort was for me personally.
At this point the mileage I’d done in 18 hours was way more than double any ride I’d ever done. That gifted me sort of a superhuman surge of energy, even though the pain from my knees had started to pulse up my leg into my lower back. My left shoulder was also cramping from riding on the hoods so long. I remember switching to the drops to the flats to the hoods every thirty seconds just to keep going.
In lovelady, I loaded up on two more 32oz gatorades, and found a new Bon Appetit flavorI’d never had — Lemon and cream cheese. It was heavenly, and i thought about how nice italy was a couple years back, and how the rhythm of life is slow there.
While laying on the concrete by a dually, a couple chipper guys from the shorter route pulled up on hardtails. I mourned not sitting in an upright position with a suspension fork and a 52T cassette. I was surprised to hear they were almost done.
I hadn’t looked at the route in quite a while, so that the distance wouldn’t overwhelm me and I could focus on each pedal stroke and just keep moving. But when they said that, I looked down and realized I was at mile 275 and it was only 11:45am. I could hardly believe it.
If I could just get through the next two resupplies — only 30 miles apart each — I could finish my race.
60 oz Gatorade
Dr. PEPPER
TGI FRIDAYS CRISPS
Bon APETIT DANISH
mile 306
trinity
As I got closer to the end, my goals, too, got smaller: just one good pedal stroke at a time.
After that resupply, the route took me on the last gravel section of the route. If I could just get through that, the rest is rolling pavement to the end, i thought. Chafing and knee pain were so extreme at this point, but somehow all the extra carbs and sodium helped me upright, and I knew I didn’t need to worry about conserving hydration since there was a big town coming up.
I could feel civilization returning around me as I emerged from the forest. i knew I was almost done.
I passed a number of riders from the shorter courses, and the thought that I had done 120 miles more than these people but we were at the same point carried me a little further.
In Trinity, texas, I saw the red-white-blue Dairy Queen logo, and it was the best logo i’d ever seen. I ordered a chocolate chip cookie dough blizzard. This was a childhood favorite on family road trips through small texas towns on the way to my grandma’s in victoria, and it was my last big treat and source of energy before finishing. i thought a lot about what I would have felt like if i passed it up.
DQ Cookie dough blizzard
DEspite the carrot just in front of my eyes, the last 25 miles were the hardest. my body was dying. The guy who had held 2nd place the entire race scratched here earlier that morning, and now I understood why. I’ve never felt my knees hurt as much, and I started pushing the pedals quite a bit with only my left leg.
I looked down at my computer and I was putting out my lowest power of the entire ride — 70-80 Watts. the silver lining was I could keep my heart rate at 130 or so, so physical panic was reduced. I just had to endure the pain. I remembered that this final part of the route was generally a descent into the finish, so I was amped that I could maybe just freewheel-limp to the end.
I was wrong, though. I hAD been zoomed out too far on the elevation profile and couldn’t see all the small climbs and rollers left. Although the grades weren’t crazy, this section — with horrible knee pain and chafing — were some of the longest sustained uphills of the whole route. while they weren’t difficult technically, there was just no way to maintain speed without pedaling.
I was in so much pain, this section felt like a total blackout. At least it’s on pavement, I thought.
322 mI
oakhurst
But When I got to the final 5 miles, Hot gravel paths ascended over the horizon. The roads were rough and chattery, and the gradients alternating. I had to keep pedaling, but on a rigid fork i felt every single bump and rut and pothole in every part of my body. I could honestly not imagine sitting on my seat another 5 miles.
My knee had all but stopped working at this point, and I reall tried to push with my left leg only. The downside: my left knee took on all my body weight and started to mirror the feelings in my right leg.
I zoomed in and out on my map over and over to see what would psychologically help the last 3 miles not feel like an eternity, but that never worked. So I switched my computer to time & temperature and stared at my stem as the midday sun beat down on my neck. Just keep the bike moving, i guess.
To my surprise, it was 3:15pm. I had ridden 322 miles in 21.5 hours. I’d hit my goal, and would by two hours. This alone gave me what I needed to get to the last two miles. Just before the finish was one last climb and I felt like shouting out loud but kept focused. When I got the final paved road, I heard screaming from a megaphone and bells ringing. I couldn’t believe it — I’d made it.
48 oz POWERADE
FINISH
329.3 Miles | 14,319ft
21:57 Hours Moving
15MPH AVERAGE PACE
179W NORMALIZED POWER
13,507 calories burned
11,000 calories consumed
I don’t remember much from the next four hours, and while I know some of the people I spent the most time with have done thousand-mile-rides in much tougher conditions, I couldn’t be more proud of myself for finishing MY ride.
Not sure there will be a next time, but this milestone is so important to me as I enter one more year of sobriety, which is the true mythology that made all this possible.