SBT GRVL Recap

Most of us arrived in Steamboat Springs, Colorado on Thursday evening having never really met before. We’d been on zoom calls once a month since we were selected for the All Bodies on Bikes team, but few of us had actually met in person.

We were all signed up for different courses but we were in it together. Some people in the group had some racing experience, but for me to be there with other heavier athletes, who were equally intimidated by racing was extraordinary. I had found my people. One member of our group cried the night before the race, feeling so overwhelmed with the challenge of her first race, her first event, her first ride of that distance. Someone else in the room turned to me and said “how great is it to see that we are not alone in feeling these fears, these emotions, this apprehension”.

For the record, she cried again on Sunday, overcome with the joy of accomplishment, of that recognition that you are stronger than you think, after having finished her race. Another member of our team was overcome with emotion tying on his race plate. For him, looking back to where he was a year ago, he could not have imagined this. Here he was, tying on a race plate, feeling ready to race the following day.

Shared experiences create strong bonds

I had never done a gravel race, so being able to do my first race at one of the premier gravel races in the United States was an absolute thrill. There’s an expo in town all weekend and we had an All Bodies on Bikes booth which allowed for a number of great conversations around inclusivity. On Saturday morning we did an All Bodies on Bikes shakeout ride with Chamois Butt’r – such a fun way to shake out the nerves and meet some of the other riders. The image below was meant to be a team picture, but everyone is there together – so really everyone is on the same team. And everyone likes to be in all the pictures! There were panels all weekend with some powerful stories shared. NPR was at Steamboat and did a segment on the diversity and inclusion at this event.

There a over 3,000 racers who travel to Steamboat for this event. Despite the numbers, this event is all heart and soul. Amy Charity, the race founder, was out pedaling on our shakeout ride and then rushed back for the kids’ race. Amy and her colleagues Greer van Dyke (Director of saying YES) and Micah Rice (Director of saying NO) had all joined us on different monthly calls with our All Bodies on Bikes team.

Oh yes – the racing part!

Race day came all too soon. I had been so nervous all weekend – worried about the altitude, worried about the heat, worried about who would find my cold, dead body somewhere on that 100 mile course. Of course I slept poorly the night before – but there I was at the start line at 6:30 for a 7am start on Sunday morning.

By the time I was in the start chute, the angst had dissipated and it was time to execute. I had almost 8 months of training in the books, I just had to believe I could do it. But did I? The best piece of advice in the race plan provided by my coach was “race with your head first, and your legs second”.

The course was very well designed and the views were unbelievable. Course marking was great and the volunteers were so supportive and encouraging. The climbing was not fun, but through most of the early climbs I had someone to climb with which eased the pain. There was a great mix of pavement, gravel, some singletrack thrown in and we even rode through a hay field.

I felt good all day long, even when my climbing legs abandoned me around mile 80. I had gravely underestimated the climbing in those last 20 miles. The last climb particularly was way more heinous than it looked on the course profile. I just ended up walking all the brutal climbs at this point. When it leveled off to 5 or 6% I was good to get back on and pedal, but the 10% climbs were not happening that late in the day. By this time, I was also happy for a posture break and to use my legs differently for 5 or 10 minutes at a time, so the walking was ok. But I knew there was only 10 miles to go once I got to the top of the hell climb.

On the shakeout ride the day before we’d ridden the last 7.5 miles of the course. So once I hit that part of the descent, it was great to be in familiar territory. I’d felt good all day and never doubted that I could finish the ride. But the reality of actually finishing and still feeling pretty strong after such a beast of a day (for me!) was still emotional.

I rode across the finish line with a victorious fist pump after 11.5 hours. I had been hoping for 10-11 hours, so was ok with 11.5. From my reaction, one might think I’d won the race instead of being the last person on the blue course coming across the finish line. But I did win – I won over all my doubts in the months leading up to the race about whether or not I could ride 100 miles with 6000ft of climbing at altitude.

Arriving as strangers, leaving as friends.

We’d come to Steamboat as a team of 15 riders and everyone accomplished their goals! We’d arrived as relative strangers, and left as friends. There’s a connection forged by doing hard things together. The weekend was filled with so much love and kindness, empathy, belonging and so much unbridled emotion.

I am deeply honoured to have shared this experience with these amazing humans.