The next day we discussed race strategy while eating breakfast, but then an hour later at a coffee shop I became overwhelmed with sudden clarity and scratched from the race.  We had just ordered lattes and sat down at a counter facing out the window for some people watching. I found myself jealous at everyone … Continue reading TABR 2019 Epilogue: A Diagnosis and a Comeback

Our alarms went off at....I don't know o'clock.  Unfortunately I never made a voice recording for this day and never bothered writing down notes for this day with Chris like I did for the others, and now it's March 25th, 2020. Many thank you's to COVID-19 for finally forcing me to finish this blog. 🙂  … Continue reading TABR 2019, Day 9: Do We Stay or Do We Go Now?

We woke up at 9am.  That's right, 9! I remember feeling like I hadn't slept at all, even though I had gotten over 9 hours of sleep.  Once again, I'd like to assert that I know myself well enough to realize that this wasn't normal for me, even during a high mileage bike trip.  I … Continue reading TABR 2019, Day 8: The Subway Sandwich Diet

We hopped out of bed at 6am and hit the road before 6:30 AM, temporarily energized by a very full night of sleep.  We weren't certain of our final destination for the day, but we probably wouldn’t go any further than Grangeville at 135 miles.  We were still holding firm on our plan to take … Continue reading TABR 2019, Day 7: Walking up Whitebird

We woke up at 4am, and the first thing we noticed is that our phones hadn't charged because the outlets built into the bedside table weren't working in this room.  We might have realized it the day before, if it weren't for the fact that we had switched rooms several times. The outlets in the … Continue reading TABR 2019, Day 6: Of Snails, Tortoises, and Sloths

Let's review the tally, for those of you who are just joining us: Britt- Currently suffering from a mysterious illness that has resulted in racing TABR with fevers, vertigo, and stabbing body-wide pain amongst other symptoms.- Stopped taking all allergy meds just weeks before the race began, in a desperate bid to find the source … Continue reading TABR 2019, Day 5: Shaken to the Core

I left our room shortly after 4am, and waved to Rolf as he sleepily trudged past.  Somehow it took us nearly an hour to get ready, at least partly due to our stuff being spread all around the dark hostel.  We tiptoed around cautiously, just in case anyone else was still sleeping. I checked trackleaders … Continue reading TABR 2019, Day 4: Draft Legal

We woke up at 7:30am, and my whole body felt very heavy, dizzy, and feverish.  I splashed cold water on my face to wake up, and then walked a few circles around the hotel room to check on my legs.  Even after 330 miles, they felt fairly fresh aside from some mild quad soreness. Overusing … Continue reading TABR 2019, Day 3: A Dose of Reality

Our dueling alarms went off simultaneously at 4:30am, immediately jarring me awake.  I jumped out of bed and ran to the bathroom to survey the damage from the prior day. I felt a little shaky and had some vertigo, but overall I was in surprisingly good shape.  This might mean I was about to get … Continue reading TABR 2019, Day 2: Really Really Racing

My alarm went off at 4am, but I can’t say that’s when I woke up, because I never actually fell asleep. This was already shaping up to be a pretty rough start. I had just spent the last hour or two rehearsing what I was going to say to Chris so as not to stress … Continue reading TABR 2019, Day 1: A Roadside Adventure