Vlog #3 Is Live: Punctures, a Crash, and a Fight Back in Arkansas 🇺🇸
Vlog #3 is officially up on YouTube, and this one picks up right where my season takes its hardest turn yet.
After racing on the road in China and Japan, I flew straight back to the US for the final two rounds of the Life Time Grand Prix in Bentonville, Arkansas: Little Sugar on October 11th and Big Sugar on October 17th, six days apart.
This episode goes deeper into the technical and performance side of life as a privateer, new gearing, a fresh titanium Better Bolts setup, a look at my tire choices with Maxxis, and even a nutrition test with MNSTRY before race day.
Little Sugar didn't go the way I'd hoped. A small crash from another rider in the first few miles pushed me back in the field on a course that's brutally hard to pass on, 100 km of single track. I fought back into a decent position, but after two hours my lower back locked up on the technical sections, and I made the call to back off and save energy for the bigger goal: protecting my Life Time standing at Big Sugar.
Big Sugar turned into one of the toughest days of the season. A first puncture at kilometer 25 cost me 30 km of chasing just to get back on terms. A wheel change at the feed zone, then a crash in a left-hand corner that left me covered in blood and bandages after losing my front wheel. Still, I clawed my way back to the lead group of 12 riders, including Matt Wilson, Cole Paton and Brendan Johnston, before two more rear punctures with just 13 km to go ended any shot at a result. My elbow came out of it with a bursitis and a cut that came close to needing stitches.
It's been a rough stretch, a lot invested, physically and mentally, a lot of time away from home. But it's also the job I love, and there's no time to dwell: I'm flying out the next morning to Gravel Burn in South Africa for the final round of the season, with a lot less pressure and a lot more appetite to simply enjoy it.
Watch the full story now on YouTube and let me know what you think in the comments.
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🎬 Edited by Arnaud Combe
🎬 Additional finish line & interview footage: County 23 Films
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I ride the line!
Thank you all for your continuous support on this journey. Ride the Line,