- Date: May 9, 2026
- Distance: 567 mi
- Elevation gain: 52,000 ft
- Time: 4 days 16 hrs 4 min
- 8th Overall, 2nd Woman
What a trip. Something about the weather and the terrain and my unfamiliarity with this part of the world makes this race seem like something I stepped into and out of, a world of its own which has very little to do with my day to day life. There is a little bit of a veil in my mind of what it is like out there. When I look back, it feels like I’m looking through the rainstreaked glasses I spent the majority of the race staring out of. My vision of what happened is tired and hard to focus and the sleep-deprivation-hallucinations that creeped into my periphery as early as night one linger in my memory.
My Garmin malfunctioned when I tried to save my GPX file from the ride, so I do not have the normal digital documentation that I keep after almost any ride. Not having it, I now realize how much I rely on it to recount my experience.
My body remembers though. My fingers and toes are numb, I have a weird tendonitis in my right forearm, my left ankle is still slightly swollen, and if I sit too long my hamstrings cramp up. I can’t get enough sleep or enough to eat and a little bit of brainfog perforates everything I do.
Part of the fatigue is definitely from travel. I had started to reset in the days after the race while I was still in the UK, but after the international flight to get back to Colorado, I was knocked back quite a bit.
Mark and I stayed in Denver visiting with his mom for a few days, then made our way back to Aspen where I promptly cleaned my bike and got ready to coach a small clinic the day we arrived. I’m happy to have a soft transition back into coaching before I start up full time in June. But it did feel good to be working, talking to people who had no idea what I had just done. Two hours of drills, however, was about all I could muster on the bike yesterday; it will be a few more days before I’m really riding again.
The Race:
It was cold, wet, boggy, and beautiful. It was really challenging for me. It was challenging for everyone; some route veterans said this year’s were the toughest conditions yet.
I was not as dialed as I would have liked in a lot of my racing strategy. I lost a lot of time in the little mundanities. I did not have any huge catastrophes, but I cannot count the number of small decisions I would have made differently.
I loved the riding when we were going up or down. I really struggled on the flat roads and bogs. It was an incredible way to see so much of the Scottish Highlands. I had some real euphoric highs on long climbs/descents or enjoying beautiful views; and I had some painful lows in the mud and rain and grey days where I missed the sun.
It was incredible to share the course with so many other women. It was incredible to lose so definitely to another woman. There were so many talented female athletes out there. They make me want to be better; their performances and attitudes encourage me to let go of my fear and take training for this silly sport as seriously as I want to.
The community around this ride was really robust, and I loved getting to visit Mike and Rachel as a part of this trip. Staying with them was definitely a highlight for me. Meeting Alan, Lee and so many other people who are institutional to this race underscored how community driven these events are. I feel so lucky to have been able to take the time and energy to be a part of this event and spend my time with these people.
The knowledge I gained on this ride felt hard-fought and I am very tempted to return and put it to use. It was such a challenge and it calls me to take it on again, to execute a ride of which I can feel proud. The international travel makes this a big trip though, and I am not sure if/when that return will come.
There were many more photos I would have taken, but most of the time my everything was way too wet to use my phone.
