Stetinas Paydirt 5/17/25

Medium route 55miles

Conditions - cold and very very windy - showers around 11:30am.

Conditions were insane!

It was chilly and supposed to be "breezy" and maybe a shower. But we had stiff breeze in the parking lot. Yikes,..and it got much much worse.

The first 10 miles were neutral and a great warm up. I made sure to keep my heart rate capped at 160 and no surging because I wanted all the bullets for the climb.

The climb was 7 miles long and tops out at 6200 feet. Stunning views which is why I wanted to come back. And super dramatic because every direction we turned was into more dark clouds.

The winds started really howling about 4 miles into the canyon climb. The ground is very rocky and I counted 5 creek crossings where we got soaked.

Kept climbing and made a big effort to stay chill even tho I felt like the entire race passed me. An e hand cyclist passed me! He was so rad. We passed him again later. But I stayed at 155bpm and felt good. In retrospect id have gone a little harder in places but at this point I didn't know I wasn't going to do the 3rd segment.

About to the top of the 7 mile rocky rutted climb though and my low back was screaming and that's never happened before. I 100% think it was from lifting (not in an injury way but in a I'm cooked stop using your back way) and I should've lifted lighter before the race. (Next time I'll lift on wed or even skip the second lift.)

So standing in a hinge position to descend was challenging for the first 20 minute as the low back calmed down.

I sent it on the descents. Like barely touched brakes. Last time it was really deep sand. This time was much more packed down and faster and I felt super comfortable and skilled. Gusts of wind would knock us around but it wasn't a tight peloton so no harm. But oh God the wind. My eyes were streaming tears and it was so insane all I could do was laugh.

I caught and passed at least 1-2 dozen folks on the descent and flats. I had great legs after the climb! I caught up to Anthony (he was way ahead on the climb) and after the descent, the timed segment ended and we slow rolled into an aid station. I PRd that segment by almost 10 min.

Then the real wind insanity started. We had 4 folks in a paceline and picked up dead souls/ riders on the way to Genoa, maybe 20 by the time we rolled in. Ive never ridden in wind like that. At one point I was sitting 6th wheel and I watched a gust of wind blow the first three riders backwards into us. It wasn't dangerous, but it was insane. I just kept laughing because if I wasn't laughing I would be crying. So sitting on a wheel was super easy but even going to the front holding 14 mph took max power.

Got to Genoa and my right tricep was bothering me because I maybe sent it a bit too much on the descent lol.

Rested and made the decision to NOT do the next segment due to the wind and rain. And I'm so glad we did not do that segment. (It was another hour climb in rain and high winds. )

Anthony and I rode with another couple dudes and pacelined up the pavement to the single track of the second timed segment The single track was amazing flowy easy fun and gorgeous views and flowers. I wanted to stop and take pics but didn't.

Finished that timed segment and just rolled easy and enjoyed the flowy beautiful trails. Every rider was grinning ear to ear with the bliss of this segment. Nobody was a jerk about passing etc. Smiling and grinning despite he insane wind and cold. But the temps kept dropping.

Got to finish line and came 4th out of 20 women for the medium route overall. No mechanicals all smiles. Fueling on point with skratch hydration and gummy nerds fueling every 30 min. A small coke with Anthony at Genoa was nice too. Never bonked and had steady 80g carbs per hr.

Happy with an amazing big day out and a top 5!! if only the weather had been like it was on Friday or Sunday...

Marissa Axell is the founder of AXN Fitness and Coaching, helping her athletes become badass cyclists by showing them how to become stronger, ride further, and reclaim their mojo all while training less.