In 2021 Hannah Simon signed up for the East Texas Showdown as her first ultra bikepacking race. That year she finished tied for 1st with Alicia Danze, you can find an interview about that race here. She would come back the following two years, winning 2nd and 1st place respectively. In 2022 she came in 5th overall at the Arkansas High Country race with a time of 6d 9h 4m 20s (nice) placing her right behind Scotti Lechuga for the women’s FKT. At the Westfjords Way in Icleand she came in 2nd to Lael Wilcox.
In 2 years Hannah has established herself as a real contender in endurance bike racing. Somewhere along the way she decided it was time to take it to the next level, or maybe the next Next NEXT level! This year she will be taking on the biggest challenge that Bikepacking has to offer, The Triple Crown.
The Triple Crown is the most coveted collection of rides a bikepacker can aspire to have under their belt. It’s the 2,750 mile Tour Divide, followed by the 540 miles of Colorado Trail, and the 800 miles of the Arizona Trail, all within a calendar year. Just completing one of these is a huge accomplishment, doing all 3 within a year is beyond impressive. Considering Hannah has never done any of the 3 routes that make up the Triple Crown adds an additional “wow factor” that is hard to quantify. This isn’t a math podcast, it’s a bikepacking podcast, so we’ll just sit back, watch her dot, and send her positive thoughts and messages along the way.
Hannah has agreed to share her journey no matter the outcome. For this first installment we are checking in with Hannah before the Tour Divide to see how she’s feeling, what training and preparation has been like, and dig into what made her attempt this big challenge so early in her bikepack racing career.
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