Lindsey and me before the start of the race! Rain!

Here’s a blurb about my MidSouth race this year. Enjoy :)
- Kelly

The MidSouth Gravel (104 miles) was a race for the ages this year. Lindsey and I left Harrisonburg Thursday afternoon and drove all through the night to get into Oklahoma around 10:30am on Friday. Stillwater had wonderful, dry, 70 degrees, and sunny weather the week of the race. Friday night, that all changed. A front moved in, it rained a bit overnight, and then poured with thunderstorms from 6am until 8:30am. The race start was delayed 30 minutes because of lightning. The rain kept on even after the lightning had gone, and I remember looking at Lindsey before we started moving and saying, “Today is about survival.”

Small backstory - a week before leaving for MidSouth, I experienced a very scary and horrible allergic reaction to a medication I was prescribed for a sinus infection. I thought my chance of going to this race I had been training so hard for was gone. Chris and friends were very encouraging, and as my body returned to its normal status, I felt hopeful of at least finishing the race. My dreams of placing better (I was honestly hoping for a top 5) this year were gone, but I was determined to still show up and do my best.

So leaving that start line, I knew I was not going to quit. Whatever mechanicals, weather conditions, or physical challenges came my way, I was going to deal with it, overcome, and keep pedaling (or pushing) forward.

It was a hard day. Riding through the rain, dirt, and mud in the first few miles I realized that I wanted it to keep raining. If the rain stopped, and worst case scenario the sun came out, we were in for a sticky, gloppy mess. Around the time I hit mile 30, the rain did stop, and with it came dealing with the mud tacking up. It did not “dry up”. It turned into a just soft enough surface to sink into, steal momentum, and still come up and stick to your bike and components and YOU as you rode through. Puddles became our oasis - riders (myself included) were purposefully riding through even the tiniest pothole full of water with the hopes of it washing the mud off our drivetrains and/or tires.

About 7 miles from the midpoint aid station (mile 54-ish), I experienced my only mechanical for the day - my front derailleur wouldn’t shift into the small chainring. My mindset for this was “well, I’m doing ok right now, I’m over Brethren Hill, and the aid station (with pavement) is coming.” I decided to just stick with what was working (stay in my big chainring) until I couldn’t turn that high of a gear over anymore. My rear shifting was flawless still, so I wasn’t too worried. A few miles later though, I hit a bit of a wall and new it was stupid to keep trying to stay in the big ring. However, no amount of kicking or hitting the thing would budge it from that position. So I had to pull out my 2mm allen wrench, clear the mud to the limit screws, and manually set the front derailleur down in that little ring. There was so much mud on everything - my bike, my hands, my derailleur, the ground… I couldn’t make out what was wrong. I was just glad to have an easier gear range.

So on I pedaled to the midway checkpoint, so stoked to finally see the main street of Perkins, Oklahoma, and with it the neutral aid support of SRAM. Thanks to those guys, they discovered the rocks jamming my front derailleur, set me right, and even washed my bike off for me.

Photo courtesy of 241 Photography - I’d been waiting 3.5 hours for this bridge. Once I was over that, I would be in Perkins and able get some snackz

The mud before and after the stream crossing (stream in the middle of the picture, not well seen). Photo courtesy of 241 Photography

A little bit further down the street was the Skratch aid station, which not only had their own nutrition, but also Coca-cola, espresso, bananas, candy,… this place had the works! I chugged a coke and an espresso at the same time, ate some salt tablets, grabbed some Skratch chews, and rode back out of town. Life with 2 chainrings was so amazing… for about 15 miles (but hey, I’ll take that over never having it back). We returned back to the mud, and by mile 70 my front derailleur had jammed again.

I was fine though. Quitting never entered my head, and I was thankful to not experience some of the mechanicals I had been seeing. Everyone out on that course that day is freaking hardcore. We are a special group, haha.

With the mud tacking up, though, the day was getting harder. There were a few sections with walking and carrying my bike because there was no line to ride and the mud wanted to gather between my tires and frame. The most difficult section for me was the walking before and after the stream crossing at mile 80. Yes, it was nice to be able to wash my bike off for the last 20 miles, but my shoulder is nice and bruised from carrying my bike.

Mile by mile. I watched the course elevation on my Wahoo Bolt instead of the time because it gave me relief to see I was over halfway through. Mile by mile we all pushed on and encouraged each other, knowing we were going to eventually reach the finish line. I could feel my eyes tearing up with 7 miles left, knowing I was actually going to finish, but I had to hold them back - I was still afraid of some freak thing happening.

We hit pavement at mile 101 and it was all I could do to pedal as hard as possible and get to that finish line. Turning onto 7th avenue was the absolute best homecoming/finish line crossing I have ever experienced at a race. I could hear people cheering/screaming, the announcer yelling, and see Bobby (MidSouth Race Director) jumping and yelling… It was CRAZY. Bobby makes EVERY SINGLE Midsouth racer feel SO special. Having him cheer me into the finish line is a moment I will never forget.

Walking into the finish/expo area I’m sure I looked like all the other racers I was seeing - dazed, tired, so happy to have finished… to have survived. I called Chris and immediately started crying. It was one hell of an experience and that’s just how the emotions of the day came out. I calmed down and asked if he could see from the timing on the internet where Lindsey was. He said she’d made it through the midway checkpoint, and would probably be in within an hour.

I tried so hard to wait for Lindsey without going back to the hotel to shower/warm up, but I couldn’t. I started shivering after getting off the phone, so I “rushed” back to the hotel, cleaned up, and literally as I was rolling next to the finish line chute, Lindsey’s name was being announced! I dropped my bike and sprinted towards her, knowing that we both had just been through one of our most difficult bike races to date. I was so happy to see her - to know that we had both conquered and finished this race.

We celebrated later on, after pulling ourselves together, by loading up on Chipotle. I also found out that I had actually placed in the Top 10 for the women’s race! I couldn’t believe it! I’m so excited to have finished and placed 10th overall for the women. After the difficulties I had leading up to this race and during the race, I’m still the most stoked to have pushed through and finished.

I would like to offer up a HUGE congratulations to everyone that participated, volunteered, and helped put at the MidSouth Gravel event. You all are so amazing, and I love this race, and I am planning on being there again next year.

Full results can be found HERE

If you’d like a glimpse of what our day was like (beyond the photos I have), watch the video below:

Pictures of my bike post - MidSouth, haha: