However, over the past few months, our winter conditions have not been in our favor for staying consistent on our mountain bikes. We've had a lot of rainy and cold days which means closed trails. I've done very little mountain biking in 2025 following not being on my mountain bike since May 2024. Although we registered for 6 hours on the ridge a few months out from the race (it sells out at least a month out) I was feeling very unprepared. Karel and I did a 2:20 hr ride at The Farm (a great new trail system a few miles from where we live) on January 5th and then I did a panic recon ride at Pleasant Ridge (race venue) on Tuesday of race week. We also did a 1-hour pre race ride at The Farm the day before the race.
My last "long" ride was in September but I wasn't as concerned about the duration of the event as I was about my skills.
On the day before the race I felt horrible. My legs felt tired and heavy and I was not in a good head space. I fueled like I would for an Ironman (carb loaded) and trusted my body that I would be ok for the event. However, the night before the race was a very poor night of sleep for me. I barely slept an hour. I was tossing and turning. I woke up exhausted.
I felt like everything was going against me.
The race started at 10am with packet pickup ended at 9:15am so we left our house a little after 8:30 (20 min drive).
This was our third time participating in this local MTB event at Pleasant Ridge but first time completing the race in the counterclockwise direction. Thankfully, this course direction worked in my favor as it was a little less technical in the last mile, whereas the clockwise direction is very technical (and requires a lot more effort to get over rocks and roots) in the first mile.
The concept of the race is simple.
- Complete as many laps as you can (want) in six hours.
- Each lap is 6.3 miles, ~760 feet elevation gain.
- For the 2025 edition, the course was counter clockwise.
- Start at 10am.
- Riders must finish the last lap by 4pm for the lap to count (example, if you start your x-lap at 3:20 but arrive at 4:05pm, that lap doesn't count in the results).
All morning I told myself “prove your thoughts wrong.” Although I didn't feel super excited for the race, it was a lot better than riding the trainer on a cold dreary day. I told myself that I get to play on my mountain bike all day!
After the pre-race meeting, we lined up at the red banner start and we were off at 10am.
We started off in a mass start, up a newly (somewhat) built trail to get on to the course. The race had over 60 individual riders and several teams. I was amazed by the number of younger riders, especially females. It was so great to see so many young female mountain bikers.
Karel found himself near the front with a few other guys for a few laps, but the eventual leader took off immediately. Although there was not a lot of room to pass in the first few miles, I found myself able to ride a comfortable effort in the first loop and I was only passed by a few guys. The course included part of the long loop (and down the "rock") which I am very familiar with. Knowing the course really helped. After the first loop I found myself riding mostly by myself and not dealing with any traffic from other riders.
The conditions started off very muddy and slippery. This had me a little worried as I didn't want to crash. I had one slip in the first loop when my wheel got stuck in the mud on a tight turn but other than that, I didn't have any falls, crashes or major issues.
It was in the 30's (F) for the start and never got over 50 but it felt comfortable all day. As the sun continued to rise, the trails started to dry out a little. I started off with leg warmers, gloves and arm warmers but eventually took off my leg warmers.
Nutrition:
I started the race with my USWE Hydration pack filled with 2.5 bottles (~64 ounces) with each bottle containing 90g carbs from INFINIT Fructose. I started off with the orange flavor. My plan was to finish my hydration pack within the first 3 hours and then refill my pack in our "aid station" at half way. I prepared 2 more bottles of INFINIT Fructose (Grape flavor) and had a bottle of water to top off my pack. I also nibbled on a Clif Bar throughout the ride and a Rice Krispie Treat. Karel also used his hydration pack (He used Maurten) and instead of refilling his pack he brought along a second USWE pack for a quick change).
Lap Splits: (each lap was 6.35 miles and ~760 feet elevation gain)
- 47:04
- 44:47
- 46:04
- 47:34 - stopped to refill my flask
- 44:49
- 43:45
- 44:35
- 45:21 (I barely made this lap to finish the race in 5:58 - with less than 2 minutes to spare)
(total: 6:04 ride time, 52 miles, including a 10 min warm-up, ~6000 feet elevation gain)
The motivating part of the race was getting half way as this gave me a better idea of the number of laps I could possibly get in over the next 3 hours. I left my aid station with 3:02 on the clock which meant I was going to cut it close. With each lap taking me around 45-47 minutes, I really needed to stay committed to keeping my laps under 45 minutes.....and not having any mechanical issues or accidents.
I continued to tell myself "controlled is fast" so that I wouldn't make silly mistakes by trying to go faster. I tried to use the non technical sections and uphills to try to pick up speed and to stay controlled on the more technical sections. With less than two hours left in the race, every minute counted.
Each loop included roots, rocks, twists, turns, punchy up and downhills. Every loop required a lot of my attention and sometimes I found myself making mistakes and I would tell myself "ugh that was a bad line." It was fun to pass some of the lapped riders and to cheer for others (and receive cheers). I really love the mountain bike community as everyone is supportive. I really looked forward to returning to the start area and getting a boost from the spectators and other riders who were resting/refueling. Lap 6 and 7 were my make or break laps and although I felt like I could get in my 8th lap within 6 hours, I knew I was cutting it close. It had to be a perfect lap with no major slowdown. Lap 7 was my toughest lap mentally and physically as I really wanted to quit as I was getting really tired but I told myself "you didn't come this far to only get this far." The hardest part was knowing that I couldn't make lap 8 a victory lap. I had to keep pushing and giving my best all the way to the finish line.
I was hoping that Karel would lap me so that I could see him but after a few laps, Karel experienced his normal cramping in his inner thighs (thankfully he didn't experience his normal back pain). He admitted that he started out way too hard and that probably caused the early onset of the cramping. However, he wasn't going to quit so he adjusted the best that he could and also finished with 8 laps. Karel was waiting for me at the finish and watched me roll through the finish line.
Whew. That was hard in so many different ways.
I placed first overall female and Karel placed 1st age group and 4th overall.
I placed first overall female and Karel placed 1st age group and 4th overall.
We received really cool wooden awards. After the awards we packed up our stuff and headed home.
Our bikes were extra muddy and required a super duper deep clean from Karel.
As you can see from our aid station area, Karel brought extra wheels, a tool box filled with everything we needed in the case of a mechanical, a pump and we also had a bag of drinks, snacks and extra riding gear (ex. gloves, arm warmers, etc).
As I laid in bed on Saturday morning, I had so many thoughts "I am not prepared. I didn't sleep well. I won't perform well. I should skip the race."
Thankfully, I didn't let my limiting beliefs win. I worked through them and told myself to just start the and see what happens. 6 hours on the ridge is always a true test of grit, strength and endurance and I’m proud of myself for showing up.