Little & Big Sugar🇺🇸
Hi everyone,
The last two rounds of the Life Time Grand Prix are behind us, and it’s a bittersweet way to close the season. One race I couldn’t finish, and one that had absolutely everything, including a result that should have been so much better than what’s written on paper.
Little Sugar: A Race I Couldn’t Finish
My back locked up on the rough, winding MTB course and there was no way to keep racing safely. I made the call to stop rather than push through it. Not the way I wanted to end this round, but finishing healthy mattered more than finishing at all costs with the season’s final race still ahead.
Big Sugar: Flat, Fight, Flat Again
I showed up to Big Sugar with something to prove after a season of bad luck, and for most of the day I raced like it. A flat front tire 25 km in, with the race already at full speed, forced a 30 km solo chase back to the bunch, during which I put out a new lifetime power best for 90 minutes. A smooth wheel change at the first feed zone got me rolling again, until a hard crash in a loose corner around km 90 sent me chasing all over again. I attacked solo at km 100 to bridge up to the group of eight leaders on the road, and survived the climb everyone calls “The Wall” at km 125, right in the winning move. At that point, I was exactly where I needed to be: a top 10 in the Grand Prix overall, and the automatic ticket for 2027, within reach.
Then, with the finish in sight, I felt my back wheel going soft on the last smooth gravel section. I stopped to try to reseal it. It didn’t hold. From there I lost everything I’d fought all day for, and crossed the line riding on the rim, in tears.
The Takeaway
If I had to sum up this whole season in one race, it would be this one. So much energy and fight for a result that, on paper, doesn’t reflect any of it. I finished the Grand Prix around 13th overall this year, just outside the top 10 that would have locked in my spot for 2027, and the hardest part is knowing I was right there in the group that decided it before the second flat took it away. It’s tough to swallow, but at the end of the day, it’s “only” bike racing.
What’s Next?
I’m heading to South Africa with the Assos crew for Gravel Burn, the last race of my year. No pressure this time, just enjoying the adventure it offers.