Rocking & Rolling at the Stokesville 60k

Summary

The 2021 Stokesville 60k was the first race of my 2021 season, and in many ways, a trial-run for the marathon distance racing that I’m pivoting towards this season. Going into the event, I had very little beta on the course other than the GPX file and associated course profile. I knew that there would be a lot (relatively! I am from Indiana after all!) of climbing, but felt prepared after an offseason full of Zwift racing. In the end, the course was much rockier than I expected, but also had far more gravel forest roads and pavement than anticipated. My best estimate would put it at about 50% singletrack and 50% mixed double-track/gravel/pavement.

Training

The nine weeks leading up to the event consisted of my heaviest eight week training block yet, plus my lightest-ever taper week. I finished out February with nearly 2,000 miles for the year, all of which were trainer/Zwift miles. Thanks to several snow days, I had managed to get a few unscheduled long endurance rides in on top of the Zwift racing and normal workouts. This all meant that I was coming into the race strong, but also a bit unsure of myself on the handling side of things, having not ridden outdoors in three months. I also had the unexpected benefit of getting my first dose of the COVID vaccine just two days before the race. With all of the uncertainty of how my body would react to the vaccine, the extra-light taper week, the lack of knowledge about the course, etc., my mindset going into the event was simply to go out there, do my best, and let things shake out how they would.

Gear

In the weeks leading up to the race, I waffled quite a bit on which bike to race. The weather forecasts were indicating rain and snow in the week leading up to the race, so I eventually decided to forgo the comfort of my full-suspension race bike and ride the hardtail instead, thinking that if I did wreck in the mud, it at least was not a brand-new bike and wouldn’t “hurt” as much. With the potential of mud, I swapped my Specialized Fast Trak tires out for a set of Maxxis Ikons. Clothing choices were even more difficult than the bike, with forecasts ranging from a high of 55 to a high of 43 and lows in the 20s. My final set up was the following:

• Bike: Specialized Epic HT Expert
• Fork: Rockshox SID 120mm
• Wheels: Roval Control 29
• Tires: Maxxis Ikon Race 29 x 2.35
• Drivetrain: SRAM AXS Eagle 50t
• Dropper Post: Fox Transfer
• GPS/Computer: Garmin Edge 1030 Plus
• Tubeless: Orange Seal
• Hydration: 1 bottle & Osprey Duro 1.5 vest
• Nutrition: Leyzne Top Tube bag
• Clothing: Specialized boots, Specialized base layer, Voler Ronin team jersey, Specialized SL bibs (short), Eliel windvest, Specialized Airnet Helmet, Junk Band, 100% RaceCraft glasses, Bontrager & Handup gloves (doubled up)
• Tools/Other: I carried a spare tube, Leyzne HP pump, CO2 cartridges, mini multi-tool (thanks Specialized SWAT!) and Stan’s Dart just in case, but fortunately didn’t end up using any of it!

Nutrition & Hydration

Improving my nutrition and hydration was a large focus during the 2020 season and through the offseason, so I attempted to bridge the gap between nutrition in training (mostly whole foods) and race nutrition for this event. I wore my Osprey Duro 1.5 vest and took the “risk” of filling it with Osmo Active Hydration (only a risk because of the difficulty of thoroughly cleaning the hydration bladder afterwards–historically, I’ve opted to put only water in it to avoid issues). The other new thing I tried for this event was making sweet potato cakes (recipe from Allan Lim’s Feedzone Portables cookbook) and putting them in my Leyzne top tube bag. Both were successful, though the sweet potato cakes got mushed a bit–but mush still tastes good! I also carried Honey Stinger and Untapped Waffles, an Untapped Maple Syrup packet, a Clif Esspresso Gel, and some Clif Shot Bloks with me. With reminders set on my Garmin to eat and drink, I managed to consume everything except the Shot Bloks, which was right on target! Perhaps the most successful part of my new-and-improved nutrition strategy for this event was having cold brew, milk, and protein powder waiting at the car for the immediate post-finish recovery protein shake!

Results & Reflections

In the end, I squeaked onto the podium (or beside the podium?) with a 5th place finish in Open Women. My official race time was barely over four hours, which was about on target with my estimate going into the event. Considering that I crashed and bent my derailleur at about mile 11 (and badly sprained my wrist, but thanks to the adrenaline, I didn’t realize that until much later), and had to ease my way gently down the backside of Lookout Mountain, which was still snow-and-ice covered singletrack, I’ll take it. The rocky terrain exposed an area where I need to do some practice, as I’ve not experienced terrain that continuously rough before. My first message post-race was to a local friend, asking for some rock-coaching next time I’m in the area. I finished the race confident that I rode well, mostly-confident in my pacing (pacing for a longer event that isn’t total red-lining like cross-country races is a new thing for me), and excited for the rest of the 2021 season!