Croatan Buck Fifty Race

March 23rd, 2024

I am way overdue on posting this blog but as per usual with these race updates, I figure better late than never.

I am going to keep this race recap relatively short because I have other things to share. 😁

On March 23rd, 2024 my partner and I raced in a 150 mile gravel bike race called Croatan Buck Fifty. It took place in Croatan National Forest on the east coast of North Carolina.

I decided early on in the fall semester that I wanted to try and focus on cycling and see what I could do. This was a very big shift for me as I have: 1) never done a long bike race before and 2) I am primarily a runner. Once I made the shift, I went down to running once a week and biking 5 days a week with one rest day on Mondays. I found a cycling training schedule on Garmin and stuck to it the best I could.

How did the training go?

Let’s just say it was very difficult. I spent around 6 months training and steadily increasing mileage and time on bike. Doing all this while in grad school was not the best choice, and I found myself with very minimal free time. I started to become emotionally, physically, socially, and mentally drained.

However, it was worth it. It typically always is.

Fast forward to race time, on Thursday the 21st we headed out towards North Carolina and stayed with my partner’s parents for one night then on Friday headed to the race location to set up our camp and get a shake out ride in.

When we arrived at the race location, it was clear that most people found hotels to stay in and the camping crew was minimal. The forecast predicted intense storms with winds up to 50 mph and we decided we would troop it out. 🫣 We set up a large tent and canopy, strapped it down tight hoping it would hold. We then changed into our kits and hopped on our bikes to get a view of the race course and shake out the legs before the impending rain was to come.

I was feeling semi-confident with fresher legs than I had had in months and was cruising along the gravel easily. We had been training in the mountains of Tennessee and this course was extremely flat. Then, I started to notice the other bikers out on the course who looked like they knew their shit and my imposter syndrome started to creep in. What was I doing? I don’t even know how to ride with a group of riders like you are supposed to in bike racing? I tried to keep the positive self talk but it was slowly crumbling.

We made it back to camp, took an ice cold shower, and my partner’s daughter came out to support us. We went to bed that night around 10 and before we knew it, our tent was flapping wildly in the wind and we hoped our belongings wouldn’t fly away. Getting any sleep was impossible. Around 6 AM I looked at the weather radar and realized if the race director pushed back the start time by one hour, we would be able to ride in minimal rain for the day as it was predicted to end at 9 AM. After a couple more hours of tossing and turning and starting to get ready for the 8 AM start, we all received an email that announced the race was pushed back to 9. SCORE.

We ate a healthy dose of oatmeal and coffee and then my nerves settled in. I haven’t been this nervous before a race in a very long time. You know, the kind where I have to go diarrhea every 30 minutes or so… yeah, that kind. I was not a fan and felt like I was losing all my confidence. I didn’t know how to ride with a group and I really really did not want to crash.

We decided to line up at the back of the pack since that would be easier for me to get comfortable (my partner has done this race before and is also a way more experienced biker than me). There was about 100 bikers at the start line for the 150 mile start and the 100 mile race would start an hour after us. Out of the group there were 9 females…… only nine! 😳

At 9 AM we were off and I was crapping my pants.

For the first mile or so they had us follow a truck along the pavement that led us to the gravel road for a neutral start. This was where I tried to get comfortable and noticed there was a big gap from the middle group to end group and decided to pick up the pace. Everyone was lined up in two lines side by side for the start and turning out on the gravel. We found ourselves in a groove and started hopping from one pace group to another until we found one that felt like a good pace for us. The gravel started out chunky and I hated feeling my back wheel fishtail as I had to move around people. I had crashed on my bike a year ago and really did not want to do that again.

After about 10 miles, my partner was riding in front of me and I saw his back tire get punctured by the sharp rocks and with a snap of a finger we were out of the pace group and on the side of the road. The puncture was pretty large and it took us a while to get it fixed and back to riding. I felt sad to not be with the group to see what I could do but I equally felt relieved. My partner of course told me I could continue on but I wasn’t interested in riding without him. We joined together, we were going to ride together, above all it would be an accomplishment to ride 150 miles regardless.

After a couple miles of starting back up we hit a muddy section that we were not able to ride in as we would sink down. So we hopped off our bikes and carried them as we quickly walked through the mess.

Once back on the gravel my partner took the lead and I drafted behind him and it felt like we were pac-man as we caught up to people and passed them. Then I smiled and thought of my adventure racing team with David and Mike; hard, fast, and from behind. It never always gets worse. The race is long and we knew we had the endurance to continue the whole way. It was all going to be okay.

We made moves and as we were nearing the end of the first loop my partner’s tire was losing air again and we stopped to fix it. Then once back at the midway stop we had to spend a significant amount of time fixing the tire as we both had a gut punch that we might not be able to finish if we couldn’t get it fixed.

Then, finally the hole plugged up and we stuffed our faces with food that was prepared by my partner’s daughter (which was a lifesaver) and refilled our bottles and were off.

Majority of the second lap we rode by ourselves with a couple people who would try to draft behind us and hold on but would usually fall off. My partner and I would occasionally swap off and on leading but majority of the time I rode behind him but frequently had to leave a large gap or else I’d be sprayed with gravel and mud since the course was still sopping wet with occasional rain sprinkles falling.

As we were nearing the end, it felt like nobody was on the course any more and we pedaled hard to try to get to the finish before the darkness swallowed us.

We crossed the finish line around 8 pm. With a total race time of 11:09. However when looking at our actual moving time it was 9:40 meaning we spent a significant amount of time fixing the bike and some time stopping to eat and use the restroom. I placed 5th for women and the 4 females after me did not finish. We then learned that there was a significant amount of people who dropped out of the race and I felt proud that I stuck it out. I’m happy that I tried something new and challenged myself even though I was nervous about racing. I am still intrigued about racing bikes and what I could do but it has felt so nice to get back into running… I’m a runner at heart and always will be.

I have learned thus far in my life that doing these big races and adventures is always more worth it when getting to do it with the people I love. Whether its with my brother in an adventure race or with friends through hiking or now racing bikes with my partner, it is such an unique experience getting to do it together. As much as I ever write about these experiences, it will never be exactly what we experienced but together we know the roller coaster of emotions felt and endured and those memories and stories will last a lifetime. From nervous to excitement to exhaustion to giddy to slap happy to frustration to determination and joy, when its experienced together it makes the event that much better.

Fast forward to now, I have graduated from the University of Tennessee with my masters degree in social work, YAY! And now will be sharing some very exciting news here soon!!

Hope everyone has been doing well. 💗

Iz