We did it! We crossed the final finish line of 2024. I haven’t attempted to hide the fact that I’ve been surviving the last month or so. After battling illness and fatigue from the long season, I knew Big Sugar would be a total battle. But, I’m not one to go down without a fight. I lined up with hope, optimism, and belief. I was ready to fight. 

Enso Mental Performance said something a couple of weeks ago as I was in the thick of balancing recovery and training and emotions of trying to keep it together. She told me that I will always remember this year as the year that I saw just how far my body can go. I absolutely love that. Part of the reason that I love this sport is the ability to push limits.  I pushed limits all season long and, in the end, I came up against some. The beauty of limits, though, is that we are always re-defining them. My limit this year, because I pushed it, will be further next year. 

From February through July, I was on the podium in every race I did. That’s 6 months of podium celebrations and champagne spray. I conquered the Kokopelli both mentally and physically. We produced a film that has touched the hearts of many, many people, including my own. To say it was a good season, would be a total understatement. I think we accomplished about 90% of the goals that we laid out at the beginning of the year, that’s a pretty darn good batting average. 

The last 10 percent of goals that we didn’t quite check of the list all came in these final couple months as we reaped the consequences of pushing so hard for so long to check off that initial 90%. Those final 10% of goals are not lost, they just get moved to next year. I’ll get them then. 

As I raced Big Sugar yesterday, I’ll be honest, I was already thinking about next season. Not in a bad way, but I was already thinking about using this race to learn and to better myself as an athlete, no matter what they result would be.

Despite knowing that I wasn’t the best version of myself, I wanted to commit to giving myself the best chance I had at surprising myself. I asserted myself in the race from the start. I was an animator and I wasn’t afraid of the consequences of potentially blowing up in the second half. 

As we sprinted for the gravel, I had one of the scariest near crash experiences I’ve ever had. The woman next to me pulled forward and then before clearing my front wheel abruptly lurked to the side. Her rear wheel slammed into my front wheel sending me and my bike sideways in the middle of the group, going 30 mph. I didn’t panic. I unclipped my foot, planned my shoe on the pavement and used it to skid back to upright. I was still absolutely shaking as I clipped in and chased back to the group. It easily could have derailed my whole day. I whispered to myself, “You’re back” and I put the moment behind me. 

I fought hard to contend, despite a body that was fighting me. I managed to go through the first aid station at mile 40 in the lead group. Somewhere around mile 50 I found myself on the wrong side of the yo-yo going around a corner and I lost the wheels. I tried to motivate the chase group to rotate to catch back on, but I think with the Grand Prix overalls on the line everyone has varying levels of calculations and goals. 

In the final miles of the race, I used gratitude to fuel me forward. I thanked God for all that we’ve gotten to go and accomplished this year and I smiled.

I’m happy to finish out the Grand Prix in the Top-10 for the 3^rd year in a row. This series is a beast. I’m happy to continue to be up for the challenge.