This is the third episode to come out of a podcasting trip I made two Austin right after the East Texas Showdown. I interviewed five participants of the ETS in less than 20 hours just days after the their ride ended. It was really cool as a first time event director to get all of their feedback shortly after finishing the event.
Alicia Danze and Hannah Simon shared first place this year on the East Texas Showdown route with a time of 2d, 1h, 21m. It was both of their first times to do a bikepacking race, but they each came in with experiences that gave them confidence. Alicia is a well rounded cyclist with bikepacking experience and as a member of Ultra Violet Racing. Hannah is the shop manager at CycleEast in Austin and the first bike tour she did was the Texas 4000 that starts in Austin, TX and ends in Anchorage, AK, she did it almost on a whim because a friend asked. This time she was sucked into the ETS by her Austin friends, Alicia included, but I don’t think she needed much convincing.
They signed up with the idea of touring the route, but as the race got closer their goals shifted and they decided to push themselves. I mean, why not, right? They didn’t intend to ride together, but that’s were they found themselves on day 3, together and in the lead. When they passed by the Bullet Grill there was a group of us there to cheer them onto the Death Loop, they were neck and neck. We all watched on Trackleaders to see if someone would make a break for it. Neither did, just as in the mens race, there would be no sprint finish. Instead they opted for friendship and a shared experience, which is pretty rad.
Photos by Maxwell Johnston
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