Thursday (2/19)
After my morning workout (run followed by a swim), we loaded up the car and my mom, her partner Alan, Sunny, Karel, and me hit the road to Pelham, Alabama. The 6 hour drive was uneventful except for the obligatory crawl through Atlanta traffic. We arrived at our Airbnb around 6:30pm (a two-story townhome around 10 minutes away from the park). With two sleeps before race start, it was nice to not feel rushed before the Saturday race.
After my morning workout (run followed by a swim), we loaded up the car and my mom, her partner Alan, Sunny, Karel, and me hit the road to Pelham, Alabama. The 6 hour drive was uneventful except for the obligatory crawl through Atlanta traffic. We arrived at our Airbnb around 6:30pm (a two-story townhome around 10 minutes away from the park). With two sleeps before race start, it was nice to not feel rushed before the Saturday race.
Sunny has become a great traveler. He loves road trips and exploring new places with us. I still remember our first trip together in 2024 at Ironman Chattanooga. We had just adopted Sunny and he was so anxious, scared and reactive. He has come so far thanks to his extensive obedience training with Dog Elite Upstate. We love making memories with him.
Dinner was Chipotle (delivered while we unpacked), which has become a ritual. This race-cation tradition started in February 2022 when Karel and I made our very first trip to Oak Mountain for a private mountain bike camp with instructor Lon. We ordered Chipotle when we arrived that night, and now it's non-negotiable (most of the time) when we travel to a race. We watched the Olympics as we ate and were asleep by 10pm.
Dinner was Chipotle (delivered while we unpacked), which has become a ritual. This race-cation tradition started in February 2022 when Karel and I made our very first trip to Oak Mountain for a private mountain bike camp with instructor Lon. We ordered Chipotle when we arrived that night, and now it's non-negotiable (most of the time) when we travel to a race. We watched the Olympics as we ate and were asleep by 10pm.
Friday (2/20)
After a quick Publix stop for groceries, we spent the afternoon in race-prep mode: mixing bottles, preparing our gear, Karel checking over our bikes and doing all the small things that help keep race morning stress-free. At 4pm we returned to the park to collect our race plates and shirts. About 170 athletes were registered across the 3-hour, 6-hour, and relay categories which made for a low key process compared to the scale of an Ironman. Although we love triathlons, mountain bike events have become a welcome change of pace.
Race Day
Rain was in the forecast for race day, but when it started pouring around 3am, I didn't panic. However, it did make me a little nervous and I wasn't able to fully fall back asleep before my 6:30am alarm. Thankfully, by the time the race started, the course conditions were perfect. Our alarm went off at 6:30am (a luxury by triathlon standards) and we ate our typical pre-race meal (bagel, PB and yogurt for me and oatmeal for Karel). We arrived at the race venue (by the lake) around 8:30am for the 10am start. We laid out our gear on a picnic blanket and did about 15 minutes of warming up.
I'll be honest: I still carry a lot of imposter syndrome on a mountain bike. I started riding in 2021 and while my skills have tremendously improved, the sport still humbles me regularly. I entered the "Sport" category. Karel entered Elite (the highest category and above Sport) which I later learned, had a cash payout for the top three in each gender. Waves went off at 10am. Karel started first; I followed a few minutes later.
The opening minutes took us on road and I pushed really hard before funneling into single track to start the loop. I was the only female in the sport category and there were two females in the Elite category. I slotted into 2nd position (Sport) before the single track, and after a few miles had moved past the Elite women and into the lead of the Sport category — where I would stay for the next six hours. It can be a bit intimidating on single track with riders in front and behind you but I have found that everyone works together and looks out for one another. When you want to pass someone, you politely say "whenever you get a chance" or "can I pass when you get a chance" and the person ahead will stop and move over or slow roll to the side.
My plan was simple: ride as strong as I could for the first three hours, then hold the effort. I needed six laps to hit my goal, which meant keeping as many loops as I could under an hour in order to finish before the 4pm cutoff. The course wasn't highly technical, but it demanded focus — tight turns, rocky sections, sustained torque and body position work. With ~860 feet of climbing per lap (most of it front-loaded in each loop), the real opportunity for time savings was in the turns and downhills. At the same time, those were the sections where the risk for falls were the highest so as Karel often tells me "controlled is fast."
Rain was in the forecast for race day, but when it started pouring around 3am, I didn't panic. However, it did make me a little nervous and I wasn't able to fully fall back asleep before my 6:30am alarm. Thankfully, by the time the race started, the course conditions were perfect. Our alarm went off at 6:30am (a luxury by triathlon standards) and we ate our typical pre-race meal (bagel, PB and yogurt for me and oatmeal for Karel). We arrived at the race venue (by the lake) around 8:30am for the 10am start. We laid out our gear on a picnic blanket and did about 15 minutes of warming up.
I'll be honest: I still carry a lot of imposter syndrome on a mountain bike. I started riding in 2021 and while my skills have tremendously improved, the sport still humbles me regularly. I entered the "Sport" category. Karel entered Elite (the highest category and above Sport) which I later learned, had a cash payout for the top three in each gender. Waves went off at 10am. Karel started first; I followed a few minutes later.
The opening minutes took us on road and I pushed really hard before funneling into single track to start the loop. I was the only female in the sport category and there were two females in the Elite category. I slotted into 2nd position (Sport) before the single track, and after a few miles had moved past the Elite women and into the lead of the Sport category — where I would stay for the next six hours. It can be a bit intimidating on single track with riders in front and behind you but I have found that everyone works together and looks out for one another. When you want to pass someone, you politely say "whenever you get a chance" or "can I pass when you get a chance" and the person ahead will stop and move over or slow roll to the side.
My plan was simple: ride as strong as I could for the first three hours, then hold the effort. I needed six laps to hit my goal, which meant keeping as many loops as I could under an hour in order to finish before the 4pm cutoff. The course wasn't highly technical, but it demanded focus — tight turns, rocky sections, sustained torque and body position work. With ~860 feet of climbing per lap (most of it front-loaded in each loop), the real opportunity for time savings was in the turns and downhills. At the same time, those were the sections where the risk for falls were the highest so as Karel often tells me "controlled is fast."
1) 55:28
2) 58:29
3) 58:05
4) 58:58
5) 1:01:08
6) 1:01:34
Total: 5:53.52, 65.9 miles, 5160 feet elevation gain
Karel's lap times:
(the first lap was a little shorter since it started on the road. After the first loop, we continued on to single track right after the "aid station" area. 1) 52:02
2) 56:17
3) 52:20
4) 1:09.22 (he didn't hit the lap button until later, that's why lap 3 shows a faster tie)
5) 55:11
6) 56:33
7) 53:33
Fueling & Hydration
I wore my USWE hydration pack loaded with 50 ounces of fluid and ~220g of carbohydrates. My original plan was to stop at the three-hour mark to refill my pack with two filled bottles of sport drink, but when I did the math mid-ride I was worried that stopping to refill would cut my sixth lap close to the cutoff. I felt confident that I would be able to complete the laps by riding steady but I worried about a crash or mechanical that could potentially cost me several minutes. Instead, I decided not to refill my pack and instead, swapped in pre-prepped bottles from my frame - which worked but it wasn't ideal. Drinking on the move on a mountain bike from a bottle is still something I'm improving, so I rationed my pack for technical sections and grabbed the bottle when terrain allowed.
I took a Maurten gel after every other lap for extra carbohydrates and had a few sour path kids. Reflecting back, I would have been better fueled with a proper pack refill — something to consider for 6 hours on the ridge (the next weekend).
Karel did an excellent job with his fueling and hydration and consumed at least 5 x 26 ounce bottles worth of nutrition (3 bottles to start in his hydration pack) and the rest from frame bottles (exchanging at the aid station) - aiming for around 100g carbs per hour from gels, bars and the sport drink powder. We both used INFINIT Fructose in our drinks.
As I was nearing the final 2 loops, I saw my mom and Sunny cheering. They had finished their 5 mile hike (which they did as we were racing). It was a perfect pick me up after 4 hours of mostly solo riding.
Of note, had I registered in the Elite category, I would have won $150. Karel finished 3rd in Elite and took home $50. Despite his back bothering him for several days leading up to the race, he felt incredible on race day and was able to really push the effort throughout the entire race. He didn't have any low moments and end up racing with young guys (20-year olds). He moved between 3rd and 4th place throughout the race and ended up 3rd place thanks to a big effort on the final lap. I'm super happy for Karel as he is often limited by his back impacting his ability to suffer in the good kind of way on race day.
Looking back, I am ok with registering in the sport category. I liked not feeling any pressure for this event. I still associate mountain biking with "fun"and I don't want that to change by feeling like I need to prove (or earn) something on race day.
Karel and I are really happy that we made this trip to Oak Mountain and also thankful that Sunny could join us (with the help of my mom and Alan). This race proved to be a long, honest training day that will help us build mental toughness and confidence toward Cape Epic. The race director did a great job with course signage and layout, the overall vibe was supportive, the weather was perfect and the Oak Mountain trail system delivered like it always does.