2020 Events Calendar

After running the Silver Falls Trail Marathon in November – my first ever trail marathon that included a surprising 1st place finish – I mentally stepped back from training and intentionally focused on athletic pursuits for pure enjoyment’s sake.

Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE exercise – it’s a huge part of my identity. That being said, I love athletic diversity, and when training for a specific running or cycling event, I sometimes get a little burnt out focusing so specifically on that one sport.

So after the marathon, I did all sorts of varying adventures: I trail ran South Sister with my dog Bryn, I did a number of weekend backpacking and bikepacking trips, which can be seen here, and I generally jumped from activity to activity based solely on friend availability and personal interest.

Starting in February, that’s all going to change, as I begin preparing for some major bikepacking ultras this summer.

Events Calendar 2020

This year, I’m only doing a couple ‘races’ leading up to my big summer race (maybe races… read on), but I have a couple big ‘events’ that will also be solid indicators of fitness level for me. So instead of a typical Race Calendar, this is my Events Calendar for 2020:

February 8th: Test of Endurance [RACE]

This event is pretty low key: a 70 mile ride from Monroe to Yachats (on the coast) with a hill climb towards the end that is the only timed and ‘raced’ portion of the route. This is a Hammer-sponsored event and as a sponsored athlete, I can get in for free, so it makes sense to jump in on that.

March 7th: Grab Bag 200 [EVENT]

This event is part of the Oregon Randonneurs 2020 Brevet Schedule. I’ve never done a randonneuring race, but they sound pretty cool. you pay a $30 membership fee and then can participate in any of the 2020 events on their Brevet Schedule. It’s not a race, per se, but I would definitely be treating it as one, and word on the street is that other people do the same thing.

April 4th: Birkie 200 [EVENT]

This is another Oregon Randonneuring event. I’ll probably do either this or the Gorge Gravel Grinder the next day.

April 5th: Gorge Gravel Grinder [RACE]

Hopefully February and March are solid training months for me and prepare me for the 106 mile road and gravel race in the Gorge. I expect this to be a good indicator of where I’m at physically.

April 18th: Yamhill Gravel Fondo [RACE]

This is another pure race event that will help push my lactic thresholds/VO2 Max/[insert other fancy athletic terms].

April 24: Alsea Falls Everest Attempt [EVENT]

I’m really excited about this one. Two of my bike team members and I will be heading to Alsea Falls to do an Everest attempt. An Everest attempt is where a biker attempts to do 30,000 feet of climbing in one *day. Day simply means in one go, so a rider could technically ride 25 hours straight and still Everest if they climb 30,000 feet, but if they stop to sleep or start over the next day, it’s not an Everest attempt. I’m hoping to do it in under 20 hours, but we’ll see what happens with this one.

May 2nd: Oregon Coast Gravel Epic [RACE]

This is another Hammer Sponsored event, and I want to take advantage. It helps that I’ve done this race before and it’s an absolute blast.

May 9th: Mohawk Valley Metric OR Three Capes [RACE]

Both of these events look really cool, but it will be a game time decision which one I do. Whichever I choose, this will be my last ‘race’ of the season leading up to my main events in June and July.

May 22nd-24th: FKT Attempt of the Oregon Outback [EVENT and RACE]

I’ve ridden the Oregon Outback before, but this time it will be a little different. A few riders from my bike team – Northwest Competitive Adventure – will attempt to get the Fastest Known Time on the Oregon Outback, a 364 mile gravel ride from Klamath Falls to the Columbia River Gorge.

June 12th: The Tour Divide [RACE]

This is the major event on my 2020 calendar. The Tour Divide is a 2,700 mile gravel race from Banff, Canada, to Antelope Wells, New Mexico. I hope to complete it in 17 days or under, but with so many miles and so many unknowns, it’s really hard to estimate a finish time as a first time Tour Divide rider. Regardless, I’m really excited to finally do this race after years of following along in the summers.

July 11th: Oregon Timber Trail Grand Depart? [RACE]

This course is very close to my heart, having ridden it in 2018 and thinking for years before it was created that Oregon was a perfect place for an epic multi-day route like the Colorado Trail or Arizona Trail. Posts abound on my experience, including a video highlight and writeup, a course description, and a writeup on bikepacking.com here.

Since I’ll have just finished the Tour Divide weeks before I doubt I’ll be in any condition to do the OTT, but if somehow my body has recovered and I’m feeling excited about participating in the inaugural Oregon Timber Trail Grand Depart, I’m definitely going to join.

August 15th: The Swift Summit 200 [RACE]

I did this event last year and, despite a pretty serious crash, was still able to sneak away with a 6th place finish. That being said, my partner Trish has quietly and persistently become a legitimately competitive cyclist, and we’re entertaining the idea of riding the Swift Summit 200 (yes, that’s miles) on our tandem. I really hope this one works out.

October 9th: The Big Lonely [RACE]

I’m really excited to finish off the race calendar with an event put on by my own endurance team, Northwest Competitive Adventure. This is a 360 mile mixed terrain race starting and ending in Bend, Oregon. If all goes well with the training this year, it will be a great ending to a great season of racing.

THIS CALENDAR IS NOT WRITTEN IN STONE

Depending on a number of factors, I may scratch a few of these races out of my calendar in favor of a weekender bikepacking ride. It kind of depends on what fits into my schedule as well as my riding buddy’s schedules. However, I anticipate completing many of these events and hope to see improvement over the course of the next few months as I prepare for the longest race I’ll ever do.

Categories: Races

Tagged as: Alsea Falls, Alsea Falls MTB, bikepacking, Birkie 200, Everest Attempt, Everesting, FKT Attempt, Gorge Gravel Grinder, Grab Bag 200, Gravel Grinder, Hammer Nutrition, How I Hammer, Keep Hammering, Mohawk Valley Metric Century, Oregon Coast Gravel Epic, Oregon Outback, Oregon Timber Trail, Oregon Timber Trail Grand Depart, OTT, Test of Endurance, Three Capes, Tour Divide, Ultra Cycling, Why Cycles, Yamhill Gravel Fondo