Dispatches from the Baja Divide - Part 3

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January 12th - Bus to Cabo from La Paz

What follows below is my unedited journal entries from my attempt to ride the Cape Loop portion of the Baja Divide. Any commentary or additions will be added in italics.

Read Part 1

Read Part 2

Just boarded the bus to Cabo. Made the decision this morning to pull the plug on my ride - my heart just isn’t in this. I had planned to ride today but I really overestimated my ability to ride this many big days in a row, and severely underestimated the desert sun, toll it would take on my body and the emotional weight of being back here.

So, I booked an AirBnB in Cabo - I’ll get some groceries and work on planning All Bodies on Bikes stuff. Being adaptable and learning to listen to my body has been one of the biggest lessons from COVID.

Also, life and bikes are supposed to be fun. Suffering on the beach and sleeping miserably is NOT my idea of fun.

The courtyard pool at Casa Buena - the most perfect little Bed and Breakfast in La Paz

I stayed at a super cool little Bed & Breakfast in La Paz called Casa Buena. It’s run by a family and their friends - Victor & Susan and son Arthur and two dogs. I’d love to bring Daisy Mae and Lacey down here - they would be so happy in the warm and sunshine.

Oh! I also had dinner with some new friends that I met by chance in Todos Santos. James & Francis - 2 motorcyclists from Naniamo, BC! We met up with another guy they met at the bike shop - Benoit from Quebec. He was so cute and intelligent! Anyway - it wa…

The journal entry stops there. I think I fell asleep.

Dispatches from the Baja Divide...Part 2

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January 11, 2022 - Todos Santos Bus Stop

Writers note: The below is directly from my journal that I wrote during the trip, with very little editing. Any commentary and additional info will be in italics. Re-reading this entry, it’s a little raw. My emotions were all over the place and that’s pretty evident when you read this. Please respect the fact that this is literally a journal entry that I’m choosing to share with the world.

Read Part 1 of the Dispatch here.

I’m currently waiting for the bus to La Paz from Todos Santos. I had a fitful night of sleep on the beach - the group showed up and I’m really not mad that I’m not riding with them. It really doesn’t seem like they’re having a good time - I’d much rather do things my way.

Slowly packing up camp after my friends had left. They had another 40 miles to go, so they were up and riding at 6am.

Watching the whales play in the ocean this morning and taking it nice slow.

I’m starting to think I might like bike touring more than bike packing. Give me the slow days and exploring by bike any day over crushing miles.

To give some context - to complete the 300 mile route in our allotted time, we needed to ride between 30-50 miles per day. During the planning phase, this seemed fine. In reality, it was absolutely not possible for my physical and mental level of preparedness.

Climbing up out of the beach in Todos Santos. I had already decided I’d be taking a bus to La Paz, so I dressed accordingly.

Mask use down here is wild - people wear them literally everywhere - even outside. I guess it makes sense with all the tourists and I have no clue the availability of vaccines.

I also need to get more $$ today - unexpectedly paying for a hotel and two bus rides ensured that 1500 pesos didn’t go very far.

Waiting for the bus in Todos Santos

My goals for today in La Paz are to find a hotel or hostel, unload my bike and just ride around. La Paz is known for whale sharks, so I would like to give that a try if possible. My hope is for this to be my last bus and then to ride the Eastern part of the loop. I need to relook at the route, but I think it’s doable.

Bike touring with cis-men I remember why I often don’t do it - there’s not a big community vibe and I get the feeling that these guys haven’t done a whole lot of touring with people of various speeds. I’m also remembering some feelings I had yesterday on the beach. There was a woman, about my age, maybe younger. She ran into the ocean in a tiny little bikini- watching her run back out, literally nothing on her body jiggled except for her ass.

I felt a super intense pang of jealousy - imagining what it would be like to be that carefree. Knowing that nobody was judging you but instead watching with awe and jealousy. Its one of those things where I doubt she even realizes her privilege in being able to do that.

Dispatches from Baja...Part 1

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In early January I had the opportunity to ride the Cape Loop portion of the Baja Divide. I took a small notebook with me from Mordechai Book Building, which turned out to be the perfect companion. What follows are my journal entires from my trip. Hope you enjoy.

The Back Story (or how this trip came to be)

The goal of the trip was to ride the nearly 300 mile Cape Loop portion of the Baja Divide. This route has been tops of my list for years but working a corporate 8-5 job for the last 12 years definitely limited my exploration time and left me mainly riding on the weekends (which I can’t really complain about.) Now that I run All Bodies on Bikes full time, I have much more flexibility in my schedule for grand adventures like this.

All loaded up and ready to ride. Not pictured - hydration pack on my back with an additional 2 liters of water.

I pitched the idea on the Seattle Cyclist Discord, an online forum for local bike nerds and soon had a group of 4 ready to take on the challenge. I’d only met one of the others once before, but we planned logistics as if we’d known each other for years - agreeing on safety plans, our itinerary, and travel dates. Before I knew it, I was borrowing a sleeping quilt and a bivvy and packing up my things to fly to Mexico!

If you follow me on social media, you’ll know that I made it approximately 12 miles into the ride before turning around. What was intended to be 9 days of backcountry camping and riding turned into a car-free adventure through multiple cities, ending with nearly a week in Cabo San Lucas.

Without further ado, here are my journal entries from the trip…unedited (but with commentary in italics.)

Writer’s note - I started journaling on Day 2 from Todos Santos, after I decided to quit the bikepacking trip.

Day 2 - Todos Santos, BCS

I’ve never fought such loud voices in my head on ride before. They were all screaming at me that I wasn’t capable of doing it and needed to quit. Eventually I gave in, laid down under a tree, set a timer for 20 minutes and made the decision to turn back to San Jose del Cabo. The ride back was all along the highway.

I felt like I was flying.

I had ambitions to ride all the way to Cabo San Lucas but stopped in San Jose for tacos and lost all momentum.(If I would have done this, it would have been about 40 more miles on a very busy highway, making it a 60 mile day.)

Selfie from my overpriced, but life saving hotel room.

I got an overpriced hotel, showered, cried and ate 20mg of weed. The only channel in English on the TV was showing Independence Day, so I watched Will Smith save the earth before going to bed at 8pm. This morning I felt somewhat better and researched my options for getting here (to Todos Santos.)

Remembering the bus I took from Cancun to Puerto Morelos, I found La Aguila, which for $195 pesos would take me the 50+ miles to Todos Santos. After roughly translating my need to take my bike on the back of a receipt, I crossed my fingers and set out.

La Aguila - My chariot for the next week.

It worked and now I’m here, in Todos Santos waiting for my friends, weighing my next choices.

My friends had continued the ride, so while I was figuring out bus logistics and sleeping in a nice air conditioned room, they were toughing it out in the desert. Hot sands, ferocious climbs and almost no water, except what they carried. Our plan was to meet at the designated camping spot where I would rejoin the ride. Spoiler alert - that’s not what happened at all.

I think I’ll camp with the group tonight and make a choice from there. I’m debating between:

• Stay at the hostel here in town and say ‘screw my friends.’ I already missed out on the bonding so why be miserable camping on a beach?

• Attempt to ride again

• Stay at the hostel for a few days, after camping, then bop around the peninsula

Our camping spot on the beach in Todos Santos

Catching that golden hour light

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.