Team Tracy ATX

has been 3D printing some really cool soft cases to help protect my bike components during travel 🥰

Pic 1: SRAM Derailuer soft case
Pic 2: Pedal soft case
Not Pictured: Rotor soft case & chain box

is one of my favorite photographers to catch up with at local races and his photography is next level!

Candid from just after this past weekend’s TX State TT WP1/2 win.

It feels good to feel my genuine smile (even the inside smile that no one else sees) starting to come back after silently struggling with my mental health for much too long 😁.

May is Mental Health Awareness Month. If you’re silently struggling, please reach out for help. Therapy and the appropriate medication can be life changing. Screw the stigma!

2026 TX State 40K Time Trial WP12 Champ! 🎉

It was a tiny field of only 2 in this category but you’ve got to show up to win … and although the 90% humidity sucked the watts right outta my legs over the 2nd half, I can’t be upset with a course PR at 47yo! 😅

Met my goal of a sub hour day with a time of 58:10 🥳

Grateful that my mind remembered how to embrace the special kind of suffering that a 40K TT requires, that my legs gave me what I needed on the day, and that I’m blessed with some of the fastest, most aero equipment available!

Vanquish Disc & V60 front
Agilest FAST
SRT 1.0
Ceramitech BB
Ride Repel
Gamechanger TT

From a 300 mile Gravel Adventure Race last weekend to a 40K State Championship TT this weekend! 😅

I haven’t raced a 40K effort in YEARS & have hardly touched my TT bike in the last 18 months or so… what could possibly go wrong?!? 🤪

Likely my last WP1/2 race (gonna transition to masters categories at some point this year), so here’s to going out with a bang 💥!

90% humidity 💦💦 BUT ZERO WIND 🎉! If I pace it well, I think I might be able to eke out a sub hour 40K and that would make me so very happy, regardless of placement.. Even broke out the Holland Racing Bodypaint suit for that aero edge !!!

East TX Showdown weekend was truly magical - the event T-shirts (which sold out bf I nabbed one 😭) were spot on!

I’ll post a video race/ride recap in a bit, but here’s the abbreviation version:

I decided about 24 hrs before the race that I wasn’t in the best mental space (or the best fitness level) to line up and spend 24+ hours pushing myself to my physical & mental limits. This is something that I usually jump at the opportunity to do bc I love that special corner of my pain cave and pushing myself to new levels, but in this instance I was much more in need of a therapy weekend with community, nature, bikes, and doggos than I was a suffer session.

With this in mind, I set 3 rules for myself:
1) No self imposed suffering
2) No chasing
3) No photos/videos/screens/storytelling during the race bc I wanted to be present and in the moment, immersed in nature, an not constantly (subconsciously) “looking for content”

I’m so happy to share that I successfully stuck to these self imposed rules, and this weekend was just the mental reset/therapy session that I needed. Did it solve all my “problems”? Of course not. But I came away with a sense of peace and community and contentment that I haven’t felt for a very long time.

And yes, I unexpectedly took🥉 in the Showdown, so that was a nice lil bonus! 😝

I dive much more into the details in my 45 minute video report (which I’ll share in 3 parts), so you’re welcome to watch when that’s uploaded if you’re curious, but I don’t expect all that many people will be up for such an expatiation 😂

Thank you to Patrick, Carol, Ariel, the entire Media Team, the staff & management, and all of the incredible volunteers for making this past weekend such a magical fairytale!

East TX Showdown kicks off at 7am CDT. Tracking link in bio!

Looking forward to the 400 mile adventure with this babe!

Bike: Extrema Italia Project X

Wheels: Lancaster w a SON hub

Tires: X1 50s

Saddle:

HBs: WCS Butano Internal Routing

Bottom Bracket: Ceramitech

Frame Protectant: Ride Repel

Bags: Tailfin Cargo Pack, Apidura Top Tube bag, Speed Sleeve HB bag

Light: Detour

Bottles & Nutrition:

Pre/Post race lodging: 🚐

Light Mount, blip holders, & Cable guides designed & printed by 😍

Set myself up for failure pretty well for my season opener at ‘s TX Chainring Massacre but made lemonade out of lemons 🍋, and ended up having a pretty fantastic day on the bike!

1) I took the aero bars off of Turdle 💩🐢late last year & haven’t ridden her in months, so I didn’t realize it till unloading my bike in Dallas … whoopsie!!

2) I swapped my chainring out from a 42T to a 36T for some bikepacking late last year and completely forgot until unloading my bike in Dallas … also forgot that my cassette is worn and won’t shift into the 10T 75% of the time… so I was in for some serious hamster-ing on the flats and descents 😂

3) Carefully prepared my hydration pack w 1,000 cal, 250g of carbs, & 2,000 mg sodium the evening before, and proceeded to leave it in the fridge and not realize it until it was too late to turn back on race morning 😬

I was beating myself up and having a really hard time getting my head into “race mode”, almost deciding to just “ride” one of the shorter courses, but instead I gave myself a stern talking to, got some encouragement from my coach, and decided to control the controllable that remained & make this a really great training race for as long as I could hold onto the group 😁

Once we rolled out, I felt really fantastic (my stomach had been very upset leading up to the start), and I decided to focus on staying top 5-10 wheels in the ~60 person peloton, and shadowing to the beat of my ability (bc no matter how long you’ve been playing the game, you can ALWAYS learn a thing or two from our race savvy 🇺🇸 champ!)

I surprised myself by racing more assertively than is the norm for me, and being pretty dang comfortable doing so! When “the move” went with about 6 riders in it (including Lauren), I simply didn’t have the legs to go with it - nothing to do with my gear - just my legs & lungs 😂.

I settled in with the chase group & continued to focus on positioning, racing assertively, and being as efficient as possible / not wasting energy.

Things were going great until ~ 42ish miles in when we hit a long, gradual descent with a tailwind. Attacks started flying and our group was strung out single file. I was spinning like a hamster on speed but simply couldn't maintain a high enough cadence to hang on, and had to watch as the group rode away.

I tried chasing back on when the road turned up again but no dice, so the final 30ish miles were spent fighting the wind solo but enjoying the warm weather and fresh air.

Bonus: early on we rode by a group of horses galloping (so pretty!), and later raced a couple of high stepping Ostriches for nearly a mile!

Bonus: I got to race with my RIOT teammates Victoria Herring & Kellie Nelson and help Kellie celebrate her strong racing & 2nd place finish afterwards!

Such a fantastic day!