This is one of those days that you hope lives vividly in your memory forever. 

This isn’t the first time I’ve felt this way at a race in Snowshoe. Back in 2015, I lined up for my first ever Collegiate Mountain Bike National Championship. I had no expectation and 90 minutes later I was climbing for my life back up to the finish, wondering if I could post up without crashing, and celebrating my National Championship win. This was the first time I truly saw myself as a cyclist and truly believed I maybe just maybe would achieve something in this sport. Today as I arrive at the same venue to claim the Marathon World Cup win in Snowshoe I was talking to my younger self, remembering that day 8 years ago, and thinking about everything it has taken to get here. 

About one week ago, I was driving to the airport at Chequamegon, happy with my race, but knowing I have more. I just knew in my heart I still have that magical day in me this year. As I pontificated about this, Clayton looked at me and said, “Why don’t you race the Marathon World Cup in Snowshoe?” I looked back and said, “Because I’m pretty sure I would have to register today and I would have to change all of our logistics.” 24 hours later, it was booked and I was going. 

When I lined up today, I believed it was possible and I knew I came here looking for that magical day, but to be honest, I wasn’t prepared to put the pressure on myself to have to find it. That’s probably a lesson right there. I was more focused on the process. I wanted to do everything I could with what I had and let the results just be an outcome. 

My first goal of the day: Get the hole shot. It started fast off of the line, with water and mud immediately spraying everywhere. While it wasn’t raining on race morning, we were sitting in a cloud. As I sat on the start line, the condensation was so thick that it was dripping off of my helmet. 

I entered the trail first and added a little confidence to my bank for the day that I had marked off my first goal. 

After the first descent I let one girl around me as we entered the technical trail and I was pleased to find that I could ride comfortably through the wet roots and rocks and as we climbed up the first major climb of the day, I found the pace comfortable too. This would be a good one. 

For the next 30 or so miles we were mostly in singletrack. It was incredible. I actually said out loud once, “This is so fun!” I felt like a kid, playing in the mud. 

On the other hand, the mud was gnarly. It was thick. It grabbed your tires and required every watt you had to just muscle through. Each root was like an individually set booby trap. Some you could ride straight over while other shot you directly off trail, into a tree, or onto the ground. I slid off of rocks straight into streams and I resisted every normal urge in my mind to tap the brakes. If you hit brakes in this mud, you would immediately slide out sideways. 

Looking down the trail you would see a maze of roots and rocks blocking your path. As the physical fatigue mounted, the mental fatigue wasn’t far behind. If you lost focus for even a second, you would find yourself off line, or worse, on the ground. 

The mud was caked all over our bodies. It found its way into my eyes, ears, and mouth. When I reached up with my hand to wipe some mud from my face, I would just smear more mud across my face from my heavily caked gloves. I had 15-20 pounds of extra mud clinging to my bike and it was with utter amazement that I watched everything continue to work under the layers of thick brown sludge. 

Haley and I found ourselves with a gap around mile 25 and rode off the front together through the twisty maze of trails. Eventually the current World Cup Series leader regained contact and we all rode together, jockeying for position until approximately mile 45. 

At mile 45 the trail kicked up a bit and the pace started to ratchet up. It was uncomfortable. My legs were burning. I put it all out of my mind and focus on the W.I.N mentality (What’s Important Now?) I told myself that if I was hurting everyone was hurting, but there was no way I would be the first to give in. I kept going. 

As we crested one small section of the climb, I looked back and we had gapped the World Cup Series leader. Haley and I immediately began trading pulls to solidify a lead and we continued that for several miles. Every time she took the lead, I took it as a sign to eat something because as the miles ticked down, I knew the race was only getting closer and closer. 

At some point, unspoken, we stopped working together and started racing again. We went from trading pulls to fighting for the best lines in the mud, and sometimes even riding side by side as if to size up how each other were feeling. 

With approximately 10 miles to go we entered a fast and furious descent. On a standard day this would have been a fast fireroad, but on this day, it was mud mania. The mud was so deep it swallowed your wheels almost 5 inches into the ground. You couldn’t touch brakes or you would go flying. I just let my bike take the lead and held on for dear life. I thought Haley was right behind, but when I got to the bottom of the climb, I slowed up, looked back, didn’t see her and began a 9 mile sprint to the finish. 

Those final 9 miles were some of the most exciting and nerve-racking miles I’ve gotten to experience. Every long straight-away I took a glance back to try to gain any idea of how big of a gap I had. I never saw anyone, but I kept telling myself that they were right around the corner.

I stayed on the gas all the way to the finish and it wasn’t until the finish line was in sight that I stopped worrying about what was behind me and started craning my neck to see Clayton at the finish line waiting to celebrate. This is a way I want to remember forever. 

Equipment Check:

Pivot Mach 4SL (XS)

DT Swiss XRC 1200 Series Carbon Wheels

KENDA Rush 2.4 Tires with 16/17 PSI 

Fox 32 Stepcast Fork / Fox Transfer SL Dropper Post/ Fox Float SL Shock

Voler Apparel Skinsuit

Stages Powermeter and Dash

goodr Sunglasses

Giro Empire Shoes and Aires Helmet

Smanie Apex Saddle 

ESI CR Grips

First Endurance Liquid Shots and Drink Mix

Race Face Cockpit

Ceramic Speed Bottom Bracket

Shimano XTR Components