This weekend we raced the inaugural OZ MTB 3-stage race in Bentonville, Arkansas. If you’ve never heard of Bentonville, it’s truly the mountain bike capital of the world. There are 80 miles of trails running throughout the city, which seamlessly connect to over 500-miles of trails which spread over the bluffs and hollers of Northwest Arkansas. And since our last visit in October for Little Sugar, there is a new Bike Park (Oz Trails Bike Park) which features 20+ miles of gravity (downhill) trails and the first chairlift-served mountain bike park in Arkansas.
Over the three days, we covered ~105 miles and nearly 10,000 feet of climbing across every type of terrain imaginable: slick roots, chunky rocks, steep descents, flowing single track, endless switchbacks and muddy technical trails that demanded full focus and commitment.
The one word to describe our experience at the event was…..eventful.
Pre Race
On Wednesday, we flew from Greenville to ATL to XNA so it was a quick 2.5 hours of total fly time (plus layover). Our friend/athlete Leah was on our flight from ATL so we all arrived together. I picked up the rental car from TURO in the economy lot and we were off to the Airbnb. Thanks to a very early 5:30am flight from GSP, we arrived to our airbnb by 10:30am local time.
In the late afternoon, we biked from our Airbnb (a block from Archie's Sandwichery) to the Ari bike store to pick up our packet for the stage race and after dropping off our bags at the Airbnb, we biked to Coler Bike Preserve. Bentonville is extremely bike-friendly so it's very easy (and safe) to get around. We rode on Ester's Trail and did two loops. For dinner, we ordered out and had delicious food from Kirpa Indian Cuisine.
On Thursday morning, we went for a swim at the Bentonville Community Center. The center allows guests for $10. They have a beautiful 10-lane pool, which was the perfect water temperate (not too cold, not too warm). I heard that the pool can get very busy but we were lucky in that we arrived with no one in the pool. We did a 3000 yard workout and enjoyed a swim before three days of mountain biking.
The race "weekend" began with an optional downhill prologue at the new Bike Park on Thursday evening. It was first come, first serve for the chair lift. We stood in line for around 15 minutes and then rode the chairlift up to the start. We waited in line for ~30 minutes and then one by one (with 10-30 sec between riders) we biked our way down to the finish (with two very steep hills to navigate between the downhill sections).
Prologue: 3.2 miles
Marni: 14:36, 4th (40-49)
Karel: 12:05, 6th (50-59)
At the dinner after the prologue, I came across a dog (Kujo) that looked identical to Campy! Kujo is on the left and Campy is on the right. My heart melted. I miss Campy so much. Kujo was very friendly so it was extremely special to be able to give him kisses and rub on him. He really made me miss Campy.
Over the last month, I had two hard crashes on wet, off-camber roots. Even though my body had recovered, mentally I hadn’t. Over the past few weeks, every root felt threatening. Instead of trusting my skills, I felt paralyzed. I overthought everything and my brain could not stop thinking “danger!”
The race started at Sugar Creek Greenspace, which was an easy 10 min drive from our Airbnb. The race started at 9am with the riding meeting at 8:30 and staging at 8:15am. We left around 7:45am (which gave us plenty of time) and we were able to spin the legs a little before the rain came down. We spent the rest of the time huddling under the tent as the rain came down. Around 9am we rolled into the staging area for the start of wave 2 at 9:15am. I was briefly familiar with the course as it was reverse of what we did at Little Sugar but the rain made the course unrecognizable. And honestly, I barely recognized myself on the bike.
About an hour into Stage 1, I was miserable. Fear had completely taken over my riding. I wasn’t having fun.. I seriously wanted to quit.
After a few miles, I let everyone go ahead of me as I was not able to ride over anything rocky or rooty. Around mile 15, I was surprised to see my friend and athlete Leah (who was staying with us) walking her bike back toward the aid station after suffering an unfixable sidewall puncture. In that moment, I immediately offered her my wheel, my bike and anything that would give me a reason to stop racing too.
Instead, we walked together for a mile back to the aid station. Once we arrived at the aid station, the mechanic put on a new tire (with sealant inside) and after a 47+ minute delay (including our walk) Leah encouraged me to continue if we rode together, and that simple encouraging offer changed everything.
We finished Stage 1 near the very back of the field, and I finished last in my age group. You’d think that last place result would have bothered me but honestly, just finishing felt like an enormous win considering where my mind had been only hours earlier.
Stage 1: 37 miles (40 for me including a wrong turn and walk back to the aid station), ~3800 feet elevation gain
Marni - 5:32, 8th AG (40-49)
Karel - 3:21.00, 4th AG (50-59)
Sometimes what we need most in hard moments isn’t “suck it up” advice or uplifting words of motivation. Sometimes we just need someone to help us get out of our own head and willing to stay beside us while we work through it. I’m so incredibly grateful for Leah. Although her situation was unfortunate as she was having a great start to her race, I owe her so much as she was the one that helped me continue.
We didn't finish the race until almost 3pm which gave us very little time to relax. We picked up sandwiches from Archie's for a very late lunch. It took a while for Karel to clean the bikes and then we had to eat and get ready to race the next day with a 7:30am race start.
That night, I seriously questioned whether I should continue racing. There was nothing fun about stage 1 of racing. It was a slick, muddy, stressful time on two wheels.
After talking it through with Karel, I decided to start Stage 2.
Saturday
After talking it through with Karel, I decided to start Stage 2.
Saturday
We woke up at 5:10am and left for the race around 6:45am. Thankfully no rain in the morning but we knew the trails would still be wet from a lot of rain on Friday. We started the race across the street at the bike park and had a police escort on the main road before making a turn onto a steep road climb. This was a nice change from yesterday as Stage 1 started in the pouring rain and within a few minutes we were on the single track. For Stage 2, we had a few minutes of a climb which helped separate the field and allowed me to shake off some pre race nerves.
The stage 2 course was more familiar to me, following a similar direction and terrain to Little Sugar, which I raced last October. I hoped familiarity might quiet some of the fear.
And little by little, it did.
A few miles into Stage 2, something shifted. I stopped fixating on every obstacle. I was able to soften the negative voices in my head. My body started moving naturally again on the uneven trails. My confidence slowly returned, and with it came something I hadn’t felt in weeks on technical trails......
Fun. I was enjoying mountain biking again. Something I hadn’t felt in over a month.
I wasn't afraid to try to get over some technical rocky sections.
By the end of the day, I had won Stage 2 in the women’s 40–49 category.
By the end of the day, I had won Stage 2 in the women’s 40–49 category.
Stage 2: 37 miles, ~4100 feet elevation gain (Queen Stage)
Marni: 3:43, 1st AG (40-49)
Karel: 3:27, 5th AG (50-59)
The biggest victory, though, had nothing to do with placement. It was realizing that fear doesn’t always disappear before progress happens. Sometimes confidence returns only after we keep moving forward despite the fear.
After the stage, we got a smoothie at the race venue (a nice perk of this race was getting free smoothies and food immediately after each stage) and then we cleaned up the bikes and headed back to the Airbnb to shower/change. We returned at 2pm for awards and since we finished at a much earlier time compared to Friday, we had the rest of the day to properly recover and relax. We picked up pizza from Oven and Tap and watched a documentary on Netflix.
With one last stage to go, I went to bed with excitement and nerves.
Sunday
Stage 3 still intimidated me enough that I decided I needed to pre-rode a small portion of the early part of course before the actual race start. I felt much better our pre-ride but little did I know that the rest of trails were full of the exact features that had been haunting me mentally: wet roots, slippery rocks, off-camber sections, and technical rocky descents.
But this time, I approached them differently.
Not perfectly, not fearlessly. But with trust.
The course had a nice mix of gravel, single track and road (mostly single track) but the road and gravel sections included some climbing which was a nice mental break from the single track. The single track had some very technical sections which required getting off the bike but there were some other tough sections which required a lot of focus and skills.
Stage 3: 30 miles, ~2400 feet elevation gain
Marni: 2:44, 1st AG (40-49)
Karel: 2:30, 4th, AG (50-59)
I ended up winning Stage 3 in my category, but what I’ll remember most isn’t the result. I’m proud of my two wins but most of all, it was the incredible support from the 40-49 women around me all weekend long.
Anytime we would ride with each other, we would call out features and help one another to ensure that each of us could safely get through the course. There was so much encouragement, positivity, and shared understanding created an atmosphere that reminded me why endurance sports are so special. Even while competing, we were lifting each other up.
Because of the issues on Stage 1, Leah and I were not in contention for top three in the GC (general classification). But that was ok. For me personally, I came away feeling like I had won as I conquered the mental demons that had been haunting me for several weeks.
Meanwhile, Karel endured his own brutal weekend. He battled flats during both Stage 2 and Stage 3 and due to a series of unfortunate events just a few miles from the finish, he suffered a hard crash on his right arm and him into jagged rocks. He was able to get himself to the finish of the final stage before heading straight to the ER, where he received 15 stitches in his arm.
We did have a good laugh after Karel was discharged from the ER. When Karel was waiting for me at the finish (in agonizing pain with a bandaged arm), he told me he needed to go to the ER for stitches (per the medic at the finish line - who was very busy attending to riders after every stage). Because we rode to the start in Coler Park and the finish with 6 miles from our Airbnb, we had planned on riding back to our place after the end of the stage. It would have taken me over 40 minutes to bike back and get the rental car to take him to the ER so I opted to order an Uber. The Uber came in ~15 minutes but little did we know, the ER was literally across the street - 0.5 miles away! We all had a big laugh that I spent $15 (plus a tip) to drive Karel across the street.
This race gave us everything: setbacks, crashes, mud, fear, mechanicals, breakthroughs, laughter, encouragement, and perspective.
As I’ve discussed throughout my MTB journey, growth rarely happens in the smooth, comfortable moments. It happens in the messy middle when plans fall apart, confidence disappears, and quitting feels easier than continuing.
This weekend reminded me that courage isn’t the absence of fear.
Courage is continuing anyway.
It reminded me that progress isn’t linear.
It reminded me that racing is more than results.
And it reminded me that sometimes the most meaningful victories happen in the process, not at the finish line.
I’m still learning this sport. Still growing and figuring it out one ride at a time. Although it hasn’t been easy, every setback and struggle is what makes the journey so rewarding.
RESULTS
Stage 3: 30 miles, ~2400 feet elevation gain
Marni: 2:44, 1st AG (40-49)
Karel: 2:30, 4th, AG (50-59)
I ended up winning Stage 3 in my category, but what I’ll remember most isn’t the result. I’m proud of my two wins but most of all, it was the incredible support from the 40-49 women around me all weekend long.
Anytime we would ride with each other, we would call out features and help one another to ensure that each of us could safely get through the course. There was so much encouragement, positivity, and shared understanding created an atmosphere that reminded me why endurance sports are so special. Even while competing, we were lifting each other up.
Because of the issues on Stage 1, Leah and I were not in contention for top three in the GC (general classification). But that was ok. For me personally, I came away feeling like I had won as I conquered the mental demons that had been haunting me for several weeks.
Meanwhile, Karel endured his own brutal weekend. He battled flats during both Stage 2 and Stage 3 and due to a series of unfortunate events just a few miles from the finish, he suffered a hard crash on his right arm and him into jagged rocks. He was able to get himself to the finish of the final stage before heading straight to the ER, where he received 15 stitches in his arm.
We did have a good laugh after Karel was discharged from the ER. When Karel was waiting for me at the finish (in agonizing pain with a bandaged arm), he told me he needed to go to the ER for stitches (per the medic at the finish line - who was very busy attending to riders after every stage). Because we rode to the start in Coler Park and the finish with 6 miles from our Airbnb, we had planned on riding back to our place after the end of the stage. It would have taken me over 40 minutes to bike back and get the rental car to take him to the ER so I opted to order an Uber. The Uber came in ~15 minutes but little did we know, the ER was literally across the street - 0.5 miles away! We all had a big laugh that I spent $15 (plus a tip) to drive Karel across the street.
Ice cream from The Spark to help heal Karel’s wounds.
This race gave us everything: setbacks, crashes, mud, fear, mechanicals, breakthroughs, laughter, encouragement, and perspective.
As I’ve discussed throughout my MTB journey, growth rarely happens in the smooth, comfortable moments. It happens in the messy middle when plans fall apart, confidence disappears, and quitting feels easier than continuing.
This weekend reminded me that courage isn’t the absence of fear.
Courage is continuing anyway.
It reminded me that progress isn’t linear.
It reminded me that racing is more than results.
And it reminded me that sometimes the most meaningful victories happen in the process, not at the finish line.
I’m still learning this sport. Still growing and figuring it out one ride at a time. Although it hasn’t been easy, every setback and struggle is what makes the journey so rewarding.
RESULTS
On Monday morning, after enjoying a relaxing morning of sleeping in until 6:30am and not having to race, Leah and I went for a run on the Greenway, which took us to the Walmart Office area. It was incredible. There were so many trails and paths and so much beautiful land and nature.
If you ever get the chance to visit Bentonville, you will not be disappointed. It is an incredible place if you love to ride a bike - especially a mountain bike.