Marley's 2023 MidSouth Gravel 100 Recap

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My event season officially kicked off a couple weeks ago, with MidSouth Gravel in Stillwater, Oklahoma. Heading into the weekend I was feeling a bit wary about my capability to ride 100 miles - my knee is still not back to 100% and my lungs are still clearing themselves after a bout of bronchitis. 

Celebrating my DFL win at the end of MidSouth

But there is something incredibly special about MidSouth Gravel and spoiler alert, I ended up riding all 100 miles AND taking home the coveted prize of DFL (Dead F*cking Last.) Here’s how it all went down…

I signed up for MidSouth 2023 before my knee surgery (in September 2022.) I figured the 100 mile distance would be a good goal to shoot for - knowing that I could always drop down to either the 50 mile or the 12 mile Inspiration Ride. I did in fact change my distance choice during check-in on Friday, only to be convinced by Event Director Bobby Wintle to for the 100.

If you’ve never had the pleasure of meeting Bobby Wintle in person, I strongly recommend taking a trip to District Bicycles in Stillwater, Oklahoma to do so.. Bobby is the heart and soul of the bike community in Stillwater, having built a friendly, supportive and adventurous community around him. 

After a rousing Rider Meeting, Bobby had me dang near convinced I could do anything I could put my mind to - so I decided then and there that I’d ride the 100 miler. What could go wrong?

MidSouth is like a family reunion with your cousins that you actually like.

One of my goals for the event season this year is to really take care of my body and to be more intentional with my time during events. I learned the hard way last year that the days before the ride of socializing, spending time at the expo and leading shake down rides was a perfect recipe for emptying my tank before arriving at the start line. To that end, I’ll be doing less shake-down rides, instead hosting community All Bodies on Bikes rides adjacent to the big events. Keep an eye out for more.

I’m proud to say I’m off to a good start this year, limiting my time at the MidSouth Expo while still visiting all my sponsors and friends. I was also lucky enough to be invited to the Skratch Labs house for a delicious dinner on Friday night where I got to enjoy a delicious dinner with some of my cycling heroes, including Meg Fisher and Ellen Noble! This weekend was off to a great start! 

Bike, Food and Hydration Preparation

I rode my Cannondale Topstone 4, the same gravel bike I’ve been on since Unbound Gravel in 2022. This year, I’ve swapped the stock drivetrain for a Shimano 1x11 GRX system, capable of handling steeper hills a bit better. Even with the improved climbing gears, I still walked a couple of hills, being extra careful with my knee.

My beautiful bike, taking a much needed rest.

I also worked with accomplished cycling coach and endurance racer Ernie Lechuga on a bike fit, making small modifications to my fit including lowering my handlebars and shifting my saddle position.  MidSouth would be the first big test of the bike fit and in retrospect, it was a key factor in my success.

Prior to the race, I also added a few more ounces of sealant to both tires. I’ve been running the Panaracer 700 x 43 Gravel King SK tires for all of my gravel rides and knock-on wood, have had zero issues. I love these tires for just about any surface - chunky gravel, smooth tarmac and sloppy singletrack.

The other modification I made to my bike for this race was installing a side-loading bottle cage on the top tube. With my tiny frame (I ride an XS bike), there isn’t room for 2 full-sized water bottles within the triangle, so instead, I have one bottle in the triangle, and one on the top. Both of these bottles get filled with Skratch Hydration Fuel for electrolytes, while my plain water goes on my back in an Apidura hydration vest.

I have no idea how the math works out, but based on all my training rides, I know that I expend roughly the same amount of calories as feet climbed during a ride, with caloric burn slowing throughout the day. For example,  on a typical 30 mile, 3000 ft training ride in Arkansas, I’ll burn between 2800 and 3200 calories, depending on how hard I’m pushing myself. On a 50 mile ride, 3500 foot ride I’ll hit about 5500 calories and last year during Unbound, my Wahoo predicted I burned nearly 8,000 calories. 

I have no idea if this is accurate or not, but I know that it means I need to eat all day long. As I’ve increased my training miles, I’ve also dialed in my on-the-bike nutrition a bit more as well. 

I like a mix of gels, bars, trail mix, and real food on the bike.

This year for MidSouth, I carried the following

• Bag of magic trailmix (peanuts, peanut butter m&m’s, gummy bears, oreos)

• 4 packs Twisted Spoke CBD Energy Chews (use the code Marley for 10% off your purchase at Twisted Spoke)

• 3 packs Skratch Energy Chews

• 2 Skratch Rice Cakes

• 4 GU Energy Gels

• 1 Emergency Burrito (bean and cheese from the day before because I forgot to take it out…definitely still edible if it came down to it.)

I ate almost everything, except the burrito and one pack of Skratch Energy Chews. While on the course, I also ate the following delicacies:

• 2 packs Cheetos

• 3 Clementines

• ½ a non-alcoholic beer from Cloudburst Brewing

• 1 oreo

• 1 Samoa Girl Scout Cookie

• 3 pieces of bacon from the Chamois Butt’r Aid Station

• 1 Cup of Cold Brew Coffee from Aspen Coffee Roasters

• ½ peanut butter and jelly quesadilla

And I think that’s it.

I have my Wahoo Bolt set up to remind me to drink every 20 minutes and to eat every 100 calories. While it’s annoying to get those reminders, I find it’s actually helpful, as otherwise it’s easy to let yourself get hungry. Some of the best advice I ever heard was from Meg Fisher, who said “If you think you’re sad, you need to eat.”

The Actual Ride

You’d think I’d have a ton of details to share about the ride, covering 100 miles and over 14 hours. In truth though, there really isn’t a ton to share.

The important bits:

-My bike rode beautifully. Zero mechanical issues, zero fit issues.

-The course was absolutely magical. If you’ve never ridden in Oklahoma, I recommend making it happen as soon as you can. Rolling red dirt hills punctuated by frequent cow pastures might sound boring, but it’s not. I was genuinely surprised by the amount of oil and gas equipment out there - seemingly every field had an operational oil derrick.

-The rest stops were amazing and stayed open for me! Thank you to all the folks who waited out in the dark and cold - it was a huge mood booster to come around the corner and see lights when I expected to see nothing!

-The single track was probably my favorite part of the course. Challenging yet rideable for the most part, I took my time in this section. By the time I got there, it was pitch black and I had been riding with the Red Dirt Jeep Club as my escort for the previous 30 miles, enjoying the benefit of their insanely bright lights. I took the opportunity of being away from the jeeps to center myself, taking a few minutes with all my lights off to breathe in the chill night air, to look up at the stars, and to count my blessings. I knew that as soon as I got out of the single track, it was a quick shot to Stilwater, where hundreds of people would be waiting for me at the finish line.

The Finish Line

I didn’t realize I was in last place until Mount Butter, about mile 62. I knew I was going slowly, but until that point, hadn’t seen any of the tell-tale jeeps that follow the last rider. The last riders caught me at Mount Butter, and we proceeded to together for the next 15 miles. As the sun set behind us, we yo-yo’d back and forth until mile 77, when he threw in the towel and quit. Now, it was just me and the Red Dirt Jeep Club, slowly making our way back to Stillwater. 

After the guy I was riding with quit, it sunk in that as long as I finished the ride, I would be DFL (Dead F*ing Last.) And honestly, there was never any question of me finishing the ride. 

As each mile ticked by during the ride, I let my mind wander to everything that had led me to this moment. I talked to myself - reminding myself out loud everyone who supported me in making this wild life possible - my sponsors, family and friends, the race organizers, and my fans. I wouldn’t be here if not for everyone who has given me a hug, words of encouragement, or a smile when I was feeling down. With this mindset of gratitude, I rode through the OSU campus, continuing to pick up additions to our rolling parade. 

A cop car with full lights and sirens jolted me out of my peaceful headspace, alerting the finish line that I was on my way. As I rolled down the finish line chute, I heard Bobby Wintle screaming my name, the crowd going crazy, and all I could do was smile and enjoy the first champagne shower of my life.

Read More

Check out the media coverage from MidSouth:

• The Adventure Stache with Payson McElveen

• Bicycling Magazine

• The Radavist

Unbound Gravel 2022 Recap Part 2

This post covers my Unbound Gravel 2022 ride experience and thoughts on completing it! This blog does contain affiliate links - when you make a purchase using my link, I receive a very small commission, allowing me to continue to do this work. Thank you for your support.

104 miles. That is a really long way. Heck, I don’t even like to drive that far, let alone think about riding it. So I’m not lying when I say I thought about changing my registration multiple times from the 100 mile to the 50 mile distance.

I really didn’t think I could do it.

Seriously, the 50 mile distance in 2021 was probably the hardest ride I’ve ever done. The heat, chunky gravel, heavy bike - it was an incredibly challenging ride and I left saying I’d never do the 100.

So why did I choose Unbound Gravel to be my first century? And why did I add the pressure of a film crew documenting my experience? Who knows…but now that it’s over, holy cow was that fun. It’s all a bit of a blur honestly - those miles ticked by pretty quickly once I was on the course. Here’s how it all went down…

I got to the start line at 6:30 to meet up with the camera crew. They mounted a GoPro on my handlebars, launched a drone into the air to document the start, and followed me to the start line. I said hi to some of my friends at the pointy end of the race and found my place near the back of the corral. Following the advice of a few folks, I lined up with the 10 hour pace group, knowing my time would likely be a little bit slower than that, but that I needed to push myself a bit, and starting with faster folks might help.

Fresh and clean at the start line

The start was great - a neutral, slightly downhill paved start meant I was rolling comfortably at 17-18 mph. I remember looking down at my bike computer at mile .5 and jokingly calling out “Hey! Only 99 1/2 miles left to go!!” It did not go over well - these folks were serious and did not find it funny. I thought it was hilarious.

Around mile 3, the pavement ended and the gravel adventure began. The first few miles of any gravel event for me is all about finding my groove and getting comfortable. I settled into an 11mph pace and pretty quickly found myself all alone on the course.

I remember looking around and thinking “What the heck? I’m going at a decent speed… am I really that slow?”

Turns out, yes, I really am that slow.

The miles ticked by pretty quickly throughout the morning, with sprinkles of rain keeping me cool and feeling fresh. Was this really going to be this easy?

At mile 17 my right cleat started feeling funny. It was super loose - I could literally rotate my entire shoe around the cleat. Not good. (Prior to Unbound, I ordered a new pair of the Shimano RX8 Gravel shoes from CompetitiveCyclist.com (somehow I lost one in the move.) While I would never recommend new shoes for a long ride, these RX8 fit nearly perfectly and I wasn’t worried about breaking them in.)

Getting super annoyed with my cleat situation, I decided to pull over and see what was up. I quickly realized that I had lost a bolt on my cleats and the remaining bolt was hardly holding the cleat onto the shoe, and definitely not keeping my foot on the pedal!

My first attempt at fixing it was to just re-tighten the one remaining bolt. This worked for about a mile. Feeling frustrated but hopefully, I stopped again decided to MacGyver a solution. I grabbed a spare bolt from my fork, screwed it into my cleat and hopped back on the bike.

Normally, I would take the time to fix an issue like this fully, but I was running up agains the clock. To make the cutoff time, I had to make it to mile 64 by 1:30pm, which meant averaging 10 mph. Every time I stopped I was eating precious minutes.

Mounting my bike again with my newly improvised shoe situation, I immediately realized that my solution would not work at all. Not only had I not fixed the issue, but I ‘d made it worse. Now, my foot was literally resting on top of my pedals with no ability to clip in.

I settled back into a rhythm, determined to make up some time. The first half of the course was a pretty gradual climb into the Flint Hills. One thing I love about Kansas is that none of the climbs are sustained. It’s not like Washington where you start climbing and twenty minutes later you’re still climbing the same damn hill.

Kansas Hills

Not out here. All of the climbs were short, sometimes punchy climbs, but overall very very doable. There were two or three very short sections of 14 to 15% incline that I walked up, but I’m going to call that strategy. With a 1x11 drivetrain, I don’t have the lowest climbing gears, so walking is simply more efficient for me.

With my right foot not attached to the pedals, the ride got a little bit trickier, especially on some water crossings and rough downhills. I hit the high point of the course at mile 43 right as a giant thunderstorm let loose - the temperature dropped, massive wind and rain, thunder and lightning. I legitimately thought it was going to be a reenactment of the scene from Twister where the cow goes flying. It was intense.

The sky just before it opened up.

Flying down the hills into the midway check point, I had my first opportunity of the day to share someone’s wheel. Two pro women caught me (they had hit some ridiculous mechanical issues) and invited me to ride with them on the descent.

We were flying. We hit 29 miles per hour, an absolute god send for me as I was still rushing to beat the 1:30pm time cutoff. As the minutes ticked down to 1:30 the miles went by slower than ever. It was looking increasingly likely that I wouldn’t make the time cutoff.

I vacillated between excitement that I was doing the thing, anxiety that I had worked this hard and still missed the cutoff, and pride that I was doing the dang thing! I used every last bit of juice I had in the tank to pedal my heart out into the check point in Madison, buoyed by the crowds cheering for me.

Hanging with Ellen Noble, one of my cycling heroes during my Shakedown ride on Friday

By some stroke of magic, I rolled across the timing chip at 1:30, literally with no time to spare. As I rolled into my support crew who had clean socks and shoes, food, more water, and a big camera in my face, the men’s leaders on the 200 mile course rolled in right behind me.

After I made the time cut-off, all stress I had melted away. All I had to do now was ride another 40 miles to the finish - but I could take as much time as I wanted. My focus shifted from beating the clock to having fun, and I am so grateful I made this mental switch, because after the mid-way point, things got absolutely ridiculous on course.

You’ve probably seen the photos of riders and their bikes caked in mud. The massive thunderstorm I had ridden through earlier did an excellent job of turning the dirt roads into pure peanut butter mud. I did my best to use my cyclocross skills and ride as much of the mud section as possible, but eventually it became too thick and I had to walk.

The MUD

This one mile section took nearly an hour to get through. I carried my bike. I shuffled along with my bike. At one point, I tried to walk in the grass above the mud, only to slip and literally slide five feet down the muddy embankment. Thankfully, none of these falls caused any injuries - but every time I hit the ground, I got more and more covered in mud. All I could do was laugh at the absurdity of the situation.

At this point, I was so grateful to not actually be racing and just trying to make it to the end. Having to get through this section quickly would have been hell. I watched the women’s leader, Sofia Gomez Villafane fly by me and dang, she is a talented rider.

Everything is fine. Zero problems on this ride. :)

Towards the end of the muddy section there was thankfully a creek crossing perfect to wash our bikes in. I wish I had a photo of this section - it was mayhem. With the thunderstorm, the creek was flowing super fast and if you weren’t careful, you’d get swept downstream.

While I was washing my bike, fellow Pearl Izumi athlete Hannah Shell and my old friend turned Pro Heidi Franz came through, so I was able to help both of them was their bikes. They were in a huge hurry, so it was fun to be able to offer some encouragement and make their day a little smoother. That’s one of the things I love about gravel - we’re all out on the same course and sometimes you get lucky enough to ride next to the pros.

Hey, that’s not supposed to look like that!

With my bike relatively clean (or at least ridable), I settled in for the last 30 miles. Still feeling pretty dang good, my average pace actually increased on the 2nd half of the day to about 12 mph. This part of the day was super fun, as pacelines of fast folks finishing the 200 mile distance were continually passing me. Normally, I would never call getting passed fun, but they were all so supportive. So many cheers of “Good Job” and “YEAH!!! MARLEY!!!!” as they flew past me. I really felt like I belonged and that this was my community.

And then my shoe troubles came back to haunt me.

I swapped socks and shoes at the midway point which felt absolutely amazing - until the muddy section. Not surprisingly, my cleats became super jammed up with mud, making clipping in and out of my pedals incredibly hard. It got so bad I actually couldn’t unclip either shoe, forcing a few slow motion falls when I needed to stop. Eventually, I figured out that I could loosen my shoes, letting me pull my foot out of my shoe when I needed to stop. Ridiculous.

The last 15 miles were a blur. I was riding high on the success of my day so far and still feeling great. I was doing an excellent job continually fueling myself and staying hydrated - besides my shoe woes, everything was going better than expected!

As we got closer to town there were a few groups of spectators on the side of the road, offering water, beer and snacks. I gratefully grabbed a Miller Lite and slow rolled a mile, savoring the crisp coolness of the brew. At mile 100, I let out a huge cheer…and realized I still had 4 more miles to go but at this point, barring something absolutely catastrophic, I was actually going to finish!

So gross.

The last push uphill on the Emporia State University campus nearly killed me, but with throngs of cheering crowds on either side, there was no way I wasn’t going to give it my all. Slowly climbing this hill, I put everything I had into each pedal stroke. I was rewarded at the top with a shot of fireball, yet again putting to use my cyclocross skills with a clean handup. I took the shot, gagging and regretting my decision and was off for the last half mile to the finish.

The finish line chute was like nothing I had experienced before - crowds of people lining the street for 5 blocks before the finish line, cheering and chanting. I pulled my foot out of my shoe again (I’d have to stop soon) and rode the last 300 yards with my foot resting on top of my shoe. At this point, all I wanted to do was finish.

Pure joy at the finish

As I crossed the finish line, a volunteer handed me an ice cold towel from Chamois Butt’r and I collapsed into a puddle of mud, tears, and elation that I had actually done it. I finished Unbound Gravel 100, making it my very first century ride!

I am so grateful to the team in Emporia who puts on this event, to all my sponsors for their support, and everyone who helped me get here. I’m also super grateful to Justin Balog and Freddy Winters who were a super fun film crew to work with and were an excellent support team. I can’t wait to see what they produce - hopefully a gem!

In the end , I finished in 12 hours, 44 minutes. My heart rate averaged 145 bpm, which is Zone 3 for me. Overall, it was a hard ride, but not harder than so many other things I’ve done in my life. I’m so excited to do it again - maybe next time with less mud.

Well, I didn’t win, but I’m pretty dang proud of this.

CX National Championships 2021 Recap

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When I started racing cyclocross at the beginning of this season, my goals were to have fun, not hurt myself, and push myself out of my comfort zone. I had no illusions of winning a race, or even getting onto the podium. I’m a slow cyclist, even when I’m trying to go fast and give it all I’ve got.

Four months later, I’m wrapping up my first season of racing with a 17th place finish in the USA Cycling Cyclocross National Championship! Still got DFL (Dead F*cking Last) but I finished!! And that’s more than a bunch of people can say! Huzzah!

Photo by Evrgrn Photo

Before we celebrate too much (because let’s be honest, we’re going to), let me back up and explain how I ended up even racing at CX Nationals.

Shimano, one of my primary sponsors, was the Event Partner sponsor for CX Nats, providing neutral support to racers and exhibiting in the main part of the expo. As part of their agreement, Shimano built in a requirement for an All Bodies on Bikes activation.

Working with Shimano, USA Cycling, and Molly Cameron of RIDE Group, we planned a panel for me and Molly about diversity and inclusion in cycling, followed by an inclusive, community ride around the park venue.

On one of our first planning calls, I joked that I should “bring my single speed cross bike and take a lap on the course.” I forget who jumped on my wack-a-doodle idea, but after the call, I had an email confirming my registration for the Single Speed Women’s race. Well, shit, I guess we’re really doing this!

The fast folks at the start line, including Sarah Sturm & Sunny Gilbert, 1st and 2nd place winners. Photo by Evrgrn Photo.

Bike & Race Prep

If you’ve been watching my Instagram from this fall, you’ve seen that I’ve been riding my Surly Straggler converted to a single speed for all of my cyclocross races. I started the season racing with flat bars and 47mm tires - a super fun and rowdy setup. Midway through the season it was apparent that I needed more tire clearance so I swapped to some 40mm tires. Much better, lighter and faster. But turns out I still wasn’t done with modifications!

To comply with the USAC rules, I had to put drop bars and even skinner tires on. Thanks again to super-fast shipping from Competitive Cyclist and priority service from Julian at Peloton Bike Shop, I was able to get 35mm tires and drop bars on the Struggle Bus. Now we were ready for Chicago!

Race Weekend

I arrived in Chicago on Thursday evening and made it to Cantigny Park, the race venue on Friday morning for my first pre-ride. I was admittedly super nervous, expecting a challenging course since this was a National-level event. Turns out, racing cyclocross in the PNW all season was excellent preparation for this course, as it was fast and bumpy but nearly entirely rideable, even on my single speed!

At nearly 3km long, each lap had about 150 ft of elevation gain, which while nothing to sneeze at, was totally doable for me on my single speed. There was one section I couldn’t ride up - Mount Abus - and the sand pit I figured I’d evaluated on race day and get as far as I could on the bike, but otherwise during my pre-ride, I felt super confident about things.

And then everything changed….

Friday afternoon into Saturday brought an absolute onslaught of crappy weather to the Chicago area. In fact, this is the same storm that spawned multiple tornadoes across the midwest. High winds caused havoc in the expo, destroying a ton of team tents and causing lots of damage. Saturday’s races were pushed back a few hours to allow for cleanup, and we ended up cancelling the All Bodies on Bikes ride because of the gusting winds.

We were still able to have a short discussion about inclusion in cycling and the smaller audience allowed us to talk candidly in a relaxed group. Instead of stressing about leading a group ride, I was able to hang out, relax, and mentally prepare for my race.

The Actual Race

I was the very last to be called up, with zero USAC race points. This was great as I actually prefer to start in the back of the pack because I know I’m slow and don’t necessarily want to be in the way of fast folks racing for the hole shot. With my signature lipstick, crop top and bib shorts (https://www.avantlwith a base layer - don’t worry, I’m not an idiot in 30 degree temps), I lined up at the start feeling excited and confident.

Immediately after the start, a number of racers crashed out in front of me, but benefit to being slower - I could go around them. When they went down, I optimistically thought “hey, maybe I won’t be dead last!” My optimism was short lived as I was quickly caught in the sand pit and passed. No worries- I’m used to being alone on the race course way behind the rest of the pack.

As soon as we exited the sand pit, we were greeted with a rutted, muddy, sloppy course. The fast and fun course from my pre-ride just a day before was long gone, along with my ability to ride most of the course. Each pedal stroke felt harder than it had before and as I made it to the Shimano barriers, I realized my heart rate hadn’t dipped below 180 yet.

Because I’ve been wearing and training with the Wahoo Kickr heart rate monitor since last summer, I know that I can comfortably ride at 165-170 beats per minute for 30 minutes. I’ll be tired, but it’s do-able. My heart rate during CX Nats was upwards of 185 the whole time - I desperately needed to get it down.

As I mentioned earlier, my goals for this CX season were to have fun and not get hurt. I carried those goals into this final race with one additional goal - represent bigger bodies on a national stage.

I’m not going to lie - this was probably the hardest riding I’ve done all season. The adrenaline from the cheering crowds, hearing my name announced throughout the park as I tackled the course obstacles, and the excited of this race meant that I didn’t necessarily ‘race my race.’ I let the excitement get to me, took off way too fast at the start, and found myself gasping for breath as soon as I hit the mud.

It was evident from the start that I’d be lucky to get two full laps in - the leaders were doing 8-9 minute laps while I was midway through the first lap with nearly 20 minutes elapsed. Taking stock of my options, I decided to just have fun with it. I stopped and took nearly every handup that was offered to me, including more than one shot of Malort, a gummy bear filled jello shot, and multiple dollars! Heck, I made $9 in this race - I think that officially makes me a professional cyclist! :)

As I rounded the corner into the Belgian stairs, I took my first fall of the day. Thankfully it was into some some mud, so no worse for the wear except a few big bruises that showed up later.

At some point, the leaders Sarah Sturm and Sunny Gilbert, who would go on to win the race, passed me. Both of them, even though they were racing for the National Championship were kind and funny and encouraging. While we were racing, they each cheered me on as they passed, which brought a huge smile to my face. I feel so honored to be part of this sport where we take care of each other and encourage each other, regardless of our speed.

I met my goals and finished the race with a huge smile on my face. I was so proud of myself - from never having raced a cyclocross season to completing a season where I successfully finished every race I entered. Dead last in every race, but I still did it, which is a huge accomplishment.

I watched the men’s single speed race after mine, still muddy and gross. Next time I’ll wash my bike and legs before spectating, but I didn’t want to miss a minute of the action! It was so fun cheering people on - from the fast guys in front to the party pace crew in the back. This is what cyclocross is all about.

The elite championship races were held on Sunday, but I had plans to meet up with some friends in Chicago for a ride. We met and rode the North Branch Trail nearly 20 miles (again on my single speed) and I’m still amazed by how flat this part of the country is! I couldn’t ever imagine enjoying riding a single speed 20 miles in Seattle, but here I was, enjoying every pedal stroke!

After our ride, I headed back to Cantigny Park to hopefully catch the championship races. I arrived after the Women’s race, which is probably a good thing, as there were a number of anti-trans people who showed up to protest the inclusion of transwomen in the race. I say it’s a good thing I wasn’t there because I won’t put up with that non-sense and would’ve maybe gotten in a fight. Transphobia and discrimination and hate have no place in cycling and the community made it clear that they weren’t welcome. Unfortunately, USAC didn’t do anything and a number of racers felt intimidated by this hate group. In the wake of this, the CEO at USA Cycling is out, but it doesn’t seem like substantive changes will be happening. Definitely something to keep an eye on for the future.

Overall, I am so thankful, happy and proud that I took on this challenge. Racing cyclocross is so far out of my comfort zone - it was a great experience to put myself out there, learn new bike skills, and make a lot of new friends in the process. I’d like to think I’ll be back on the starting line next year but probably still in the Beginner Women’s category.

Bike Tour in Canada, Eh?

It’s been a while since I went on an extended bike tour. Most of my trips last summer were a single night, and the one longer trip I had planned was cancelled because of wildfire smoke. So when my friend Gabby proposed the idea of a trip over the 4th of July holiday weekend to Canada, I jumped at it.

Matchy matchy on the Kinsol Tressel

Our rough plan (emphasis on rough, as we’ll get back to that) was to do a 3 or 4 day loop around Vancouver Island, starting on Wednesday and returning on Saturday or Sunday. Our planning parameters for the trip:

• Fairly mellow in terms of both mileage and elevation gain

• Include the Kinsol Trestle

• Take advantage of the awesome trail network in British Columbia

Turns out, you can’t really google routes using those search terms. We found a few loops on RidewithGPS that looked promising, got some intel from friends who had ridden up here before, and came up with a draft plan for our trip. We knew there were multiple camping options and plenty of food and water supply opportunities throughout the ride, so we didn’t plan any of those in advance.

Here’s the route we ended up doing, which ended up being 124ish miles and around 4500 feet of climbing. I 100% recommend this route - the roads, trails and ferries were absolutely lovely and I would totally ride it again.

I would NOT recommend any of the places we slept at. I’ll explain more later and provide some alternative camping ideas, but they were all a little bit off in one way or another.

Day 0: Seattle to Port Angeles

No bikes were ridden on this day. Our original plan was to take the Bainbridge ferry from Seattle, drive to Port Angeles and catch the Blackball Ferry to Victoria. But traffic the day before July 4th sucks, so we got a later start than we wanted and didn’t get to Port Angeles until almost 9pm. Thanks to a friendly Warm Showers host just off the Olympic Discovery Trail, we had a cute cabin to sleep in before our 8am ferry to Canada. (Feel free to message me for the Warm Showers details.)

Day 1: Victoria to Salt Springs

We took the early ferry from Port Angeles to Victoria, BC. This was my first time on this ferry and it’s really easy with a bike! Roll it on to the front of the boat, tie it up to the rack and voila, you’re done! Lots of other folks had the same idea - we met families on bike, other bike tourers, and casual riders going for a day ride in Canada.

The bike racks on the Black Ball Ferry to Victoria

Once in Victoria, our first stop was Broad Street Cycles. We needed to figure out a more solid plan for our tour. I met these guys a few years ago at Single Speed Cyclocross Worlds, hosted in Victoria and remember how friendly and welcoming they were. Turns out they remember me too! We bought a map, got a recommendation for breakfast and by noon were on our way…to breakfast.

After fueling up, we finally started pedaling, riding out of town on the Lochside Regional Trail. This flat, rail trail led us out of Victoria through beautiful, rolling wetlands, across bridges and into farmland where we shared the trail with horses and tractors.

The Lochside Regional Trail

We followed the trail all the way through Saanich and Sidney to the ferry terminal in Swartz Bay, where we just barely caught the ferry to Salt Spring Island. (p.s. Thank you to the kind soul who slowed down his own ride to guide us to the correct route, even turning around to make sure we made the right turn. Friendly Canadian encounter #1 of the trip.)

BC Ferries! Just like ours but no indoor space.

We were warned on the ferry to Salt Spring that the island was hilly and that proved to be true. But honestly, I didn’t find it to be overwhelmingly so. It felt a bit like Vashon or Bainbridge - a few big hills, but mostly rolling, rural farmland. Riding on Salt Spring was lovely - all the cars that passed us gave us plenty of space.

We enjoyed a short break at Cider Works before making our way to Ganges (the largest village on Salt Spring), where we found dinner and attempted to scout a place to camp. We were given some advice from some locals about a beach that is “great to camp on”, so feeling adventurous, we decided to camp there. Since this particular camping spot may or may not have been 100% legal, we spent the evening at the community theater production’s Shakespeare in the Park and eventually made our way towards the beach.

On our way to the beach, we realized we needed to fill up water bottles so we stopped at a pub. One thing led to another and soon it was way past dark. And we still didn’t have a place to sleep. All sorts of wise decision making happening at this point, but hey, at least there were 3 of us together.

We soldiered on with our plan to camp on the beach, riding another few kilometers from the pub to the spot we were told about. You can see on RidewithGPS the spur to Long Harbour. When we arrived, it was dark and I thought it looked promising. The spot seemed to be in the woods and looked safe enough to camp. My buddies had different ideas and wanted to leave, but it was nearly midnight and we made the decision to camp at the street end park. Not on the beach because the tide was up, and probably not a legal place to camp. When the sun rose, we realized there were houses about 100 yards from our campsite. Oops.

Day 1 Mileage: 43ish miles, 69 km

Day 2: Salt Spring Island to Chemanis to Duncan

After not a great night of sleep, we woke up and tore down our tents as quickly as possible. Heaven forbid the neighbors come down for the Friday morning walk and discover three bike tourists camping on their street end! (In all seriousness though, this experience gave me a lot more empathy to our unhoused neighbors who don’t have a safe place to sleep. I felt a lot of anxiety not knowing if somebody was going to come down in the middle of the night and harass us for setting up camp where we weren’t supposed to.)

After a quick breakfast of coffee and oatmeal we set off for the ferry back to mainland Vancouver Island, via the Vesuvius Ferry. Our plan for today was to ride to Chemanis, check out the Mural Capital of Canada, then backtrack a bit and setup camp at Bright Angel Regional Park. We all agreed that we wanted to sleep in an authorized campground.

We got off the ferry in Crofton and from there it was a nice 12 km ride into Chemanis. This part of the ride reminded me a lot of the Olympic Peninsula, albeit with much nicer drivers. The entire weekend I only had one close pass from a driver - the rest of the time every car gave us a wide berth and slowed way down when passing, definitely a welcome change from riding in the states.

Chemanis is a super cute historic town with a ton of murals. It definitely earned the name “The Mural Capital of Canada.” I failed and didn’t take any photos of the mural though. Next time.

In Chemanis, we met a local photographer and cyclist who told us about The BC Bike Race, who’s opening ceremonies were happening just down the road from our route. We detoured from our plan to go to Bright Angel park to see the opening ceremonies where a group from the Cowichan Tribe welcomed the race with a ceremonial dance, which was really cool to see.

BC Bike Race!

At this point, we were still about 2 hours of riding from our intended campsite and were getting hangry. Again, prioritizing fun over a beautiful campsite, we pulled out the magical space device (google) and found a closer campsite. Our first attempt was a bust when we were told that no tents were allowed, but got lucky at the Riverside Cabins.

Cabins are a generous term for this property - it was more of a trailer park than a cabin, but it met our needs for the night: Water, bathrooms, a place for our tents. We had some interesting conversations with neighbors and were woken up by the sweet sounds of children playing on motorized hot wheels and drunken yelling (what’s the sarcasm emoji?) There was a lovely river flowing through camp that provided a great spot for a morning meditation and cool off.

Morning meditation by the river

By far the best part of Day 2 was Richards Trail - a backroad between Crofton and Maple Bay. If you go to this part of the world, you need to ride this road.

Richard’s Trail Road

Day 2 Mileage: 32ish miles

Day 3: Duncan to Victoria

One of the themes throughout the trip was overly friendly Canadians insisting they knew what was best for us. A prime example of this was the beginning of Day 3 starting with our aggressively friendly campsite neighbors insisting that we take a “shortcut” over a railroad trestle to get to town. It was clear that none of these people had ever taken a bike on this route, as there were huge, tire-sucking gaps between the railroad ties (with a 30 foot drop underneath) and the route was definitely not rideable. Perhaps when walking it was a shortcut, but it likely added a solid 30 minutes to our start out of town.

Gabby makes the best of the railroad trestle situation

We made the best of the situation and raised our spirits (and cell-phone batteries) with a visit to Tim Horton’s before starting our riding for the day. The plan was to find the Great Trail, ride it to the Kinsol Trestle, bop over to the Mill Bay Ferry and then head into Victoria where we’d hang out for the evening. As with the rest of our trip, it didn’t quite go to plan and everything takes just a bit longer than you expect.

We had a bit of a climb out of Duncan to find the Great Trail, which isn’t fully connected yet. Once we did find it, the riding was excellent. Varying grades of gravel - from chunky rocks to smooth asphalt grade gravel, but overall it was really lovely to ride. I’m really excited to go up and explore it more. So many wildflowers in bloom next to the trail too! Truly a lovely riding experience!

Riding on the Great Trail

The Kinsol Trestle is a must see of this area as well. It looked like there were some trail heads close to the trestle, so you could take a more direct route, but what’s the fun in that?

After the trestle, we took the least hilly route back to Victoria possible. As we understood it, we could have taken the Trans-Canada trail the entire way, however, the trail has some steep sections that we weren’t mentally or physically ready to tackle. Instead, we opted for the Mill Bay ferry into Saanich, and then took the Lochside Trail back into Victoria.

We finished up our tour with a stay in a hostel downtown Victoria and caught the Black Ball back to Port Angeles early Sunday morning.

Day 3 Mileage: 41ish

Overall, the bike riding was excellent and I would recommend our route 100%. I would not recommend any of our sleeping choices, but there are plenty of other camping/hotel options and with a bit more foresight, all of the issues we ran into could easily be avoided.

We did it! Back in Victoria by sunset!