Nepal- Canada- USA- Canada- Mexico- Guatemala
The 2024 season started off strong with a few weeks of trekking in the high altitudes of the Annapurna Sanctuary of Nepal. Following this was as spectacular bike tour through West Nepal. It was suppose to be a one way, 1000 km journey from Pokhara to the Indian border along the mid hills highway. It was so good I opted to flip the bike around and explore a bit deeper into the Himalayas on the way back. Following this was a bike tour out to the Solkhumbu/Okhaldhunga region for some more training and the Okhaldhunga XCO. It was a great time exploring this part of Nepal, then riding 200 +km back to Kathmandu, exploring a few new backroads before catching a flight back to Canada.
It was a short and sweet visit in Canada with my Dad picking me up at the Vancouver airport. We had a sweet road trip up through the Okanagan, and onto Hinton for my first ever Fat Bike race. It was both a culture and climate shock, enjoying the small dose of Canada while taking the win. Next up was heading back to Jasper for 5 days in the Rockies with Mom and Neve. From here a last minute decision was made to fly south to Arizona to tackle Americas largest 24HR race in Arizona, the 24HR’s of Old Pueblo. My buddy Brian Cooke from the Bicycle Cafe in Canmore said it was a good idea as I was looking for new sponsors. It was a great time with Brian and the twins Justin and Jason, as we had the most fun and also took home the W in the Solo Category. The race started out strong but mid way the body basically shutdown, later I found out we all had Covid, not sure when it was caught but it certainly slowed things down for the next 10 days. These recovery days were spent in San Francisco with Mom as I joined her while she took some courses in the city. It was a nice time to catch up on some R&R and enjoy the San Francisco city life.
From here it was back to Arizona for the BWR Gravel in Arizona. A few things fell apart last minute, so I ended up racing it on the full suspension mountain bike. I was going to get an ass kicking against America’s top riders but decided to use it as a tough training ride to prepare for the Coyote Classic Marathon in a few weeks time coming up in Mexico. The BWR was actually pretty fun for the opening 1 hour ripping the mtb on some rougher terrain, keeping up near the pointy end of the race, but I’d eventually run out of matches against the much more efficient gravel bikes, and would drift backwards for the rest of the day. It was a good lesson to learn the exact pros and cons of gravel vs mountain bikes across different terrains. Basically if it’s over 25 km/hr, gravel bikes get exponentially faster. Even on the rough stuff, gravel bikes are amazingly effective if set up with the correct position and tire pressures.
After a few days vanlifing in Brians Van, and exploring the Arizona trail, it was back to Canada to resupply and catch the last part of the Canadian Winter. It was a busy trip, lots was accomplished, with the highlight visiting friends and family. Training was done on a fatbike, in mostly -20 to -10 temperatures with my dog Neve. It was questionable how this would work out for trying to defend the title down in Mexico at a 100 km marathon in 30 to 38 degree heat. The thought was that it could work as long as the required hard efforts were still completed, and some sauna training was tied in with Thermaculture portable Saunas.
After 9 days at home, it was an early tuesday morning on March 12th, with a big day on deck. First up was a hard training session, followed with some packing and then a drive to Calgary to catch a 11 pm flight, with a few errands in Canmore on route. This day was flipped upside down early on with a broken chain during the 1st effort on the training ride. Neve saved the day pulling me home, where I could switch bikes to finish off the workout on the road in crisp -10 temperatures. From here is was a quick pack job, then onto the 400 km drive to Calgary.
Half way down the 230 km isolated Icefields Parkway, with no cell coverage, the truck’s alternator died. This left me stranded in the middle of the Rockies with alot of luggage. It was shocking how many people with large empty pickup trucks drove past the stranded traveller as I tried to hitchhike for over 3 hours. Having to to cancel all the errands on route in Canmore, their was still a chance to catch the flight, if somebody stopped soon, or else i’d be switching sides of the road to retreat back home to Jasper. Thankfully a couple of girls coming back from a ski trip stopped. There car was packed, but they made room, and they were on a schedule, but they still stopped and made room for myself and luggage. Claire and Katie deserve all the Karma, thank you! They saved the day, getting me to the airport shuttle in Canmore just in time to still make the flight to Mexico, by a mere 7 minutes!
Once it Mexico things returned to normal with a straight forward prep for the Coyote Classic with course recon, heat adaptations, lots of tacos, and some fun times with my Mexican host family, Daryl and Mauricio. Race day was upon us soon enough with 800+ cyclists lining up to tackle a course which resembles a stage of the Cape Epic, and the heat, which was calling for a high of +38.
Last year the race started frantically with crashes and Mexican racers attacking all over the place, I’d catch up mid race, just as a large rainstorm moved in, which played to my favour. I’d go on to take the win in a time of 4 hrs 18 minutes in front of a great mexican crowd, it was unforgettable. This year the Mexicans seemed to be watching me a bit more closely, leading to a easier start with 15-20 of us in a lead group for the first quarter of the race. The hot day was also likely going to play into there favour so I was uncertain how the day would unfold.
Around 25 km in, Southern Mexicos ace, Roberto Sarmiento attacked on a punchy climb. This blew the group apart , with just myself and Angel, from Oaxaca, forming a chase duo behind the flying local Chiapan. We would catch him and break away for a bit as he had a small mechanical, but he’d bridge back up, using his local knowledge to bomb down the rocky single track sections, and some impressive power on the flats. From here we cruised to the 50 km mark, where the two Mexicans sprinted for the 5000 Peso town bonus. I opted to sit back and save my bullets, grabbing F2C Nutrition from Alfredo, then riding back up to the Mexicans. They were hurting from the sprint so I counter attacked going into the King of the Mountain and the rest was history.
The fuse was lit and it was full gas to the finish, first claiming the 5000 Peso KOM, then turning the attention to the course record. Grabbing the KOM on the 23 minute Abraham climb, by over a minute on the course record holder, Luis Lopez, I figured there was a good shot if I could hold the adrenaline rush to the finish, and keep it upright on the rugged and very loose decents.
The other concern was the heat, with a high of 38 degrees. The engine was staying within its operating limits thanks to ice socks and proper fuel from Alfredo manning the feedzones. Heading into the final 20 km the record was well within grasp which kept the mind off the blistering heat.
The new NOBL wheels were rolling fast with Maxxiss Aspen 2.25 tires.
Entering into the finish stadium with hundreds of cheering Mexicans was a great celebration as the clock was still @ 3:59, well under the course record of 4 hr 5 min! This was a bot of a shock, but I guesse the altitude training and big days over the winter in Nepal really payed dividends as recently the training, travelling and battling Covid wasn’t the ideal prep.
It’s been a roller coast last few weeks but the most important thing in life is to show up and give it your best shot. It’s a good reminder to not wait until everything lines up perfectly, as generally it doesn’t. Life is often about damage control and being ready to make the most of opportunity’s when they arrive. Big shout out to Randall at the Bench Bike Shop in Jasper for prepping the bike with fresh Shimano Parts, and Katie and Claire who picked me up on the parkway and saved this whole trip.
What a Sunday down in Mexico it turned out to be 🇲🇽.
After a tourist day in Chiapas, it was on a bus to Tapachula where Alfredo would pick me up to head across the border to his hometown of Tecuman in Guatemala. It was a gongshow as the bike box didn’t fit in his car at first, then running a bit late we hit the border just 20 minutes before closing, only to realize I didn’t have a stamp in my passport. This was a mistake entering the country as another lady and I bypassed the massive immigration line, using an electronic system, but apparently I didn’t understand the spanish instructions and missed a step or two. Alfredo is a lawyer, and pretty good at getting us out of situations. Somehow he managed to get my exit stamp from the Mexican boarder guards, then we busted across the bridge between the two countries like a couple of fugitives, hitting the Guatemalan border just minutes before closing. Entering Guatemala has always been a breeze with welcoming border guards, and free visas. One of my favourite countries for sure.
A day was spent in Tecuman exploring the town and nearby beaches, before making the rookie mistake of eating Ceviche, before driving up to the highlands of Xela. For 3 days straight I’ve been shitting water, but the energy is coming back, and good times are still being had with the great cycling community in the area. Tomorrow is the first round of the National Marathon Series, a 66 km race around Xela, in elevations of 2400-3000 meters. It will be a hard race with some solid competition from across Central America. After this there will be a few more training days in Guatemala, before heading off to Seattle to resupply, then use up a flight from the pandemic which is about to expire. This one with Qatar airways, heading to Nepal for 6 weeks, first 12 days of guiding 4 belgium friends around the Annapurna circuit, then some high mountain adventures and training. Stay tuned for details on some exciting plans to follow.