East Texas Showdown

Finish line looking fresh and ready for more.

How do I recap 31 hours and 54 minutes? There is a lot to say. It was very hard, and fun. I placed third. My first podium. 

The East Texas Showdown is a bike packing race with three distances. The Slowdown is 271 miles, and the Showdown is 395 miles. The Lowdown is 161 miles and a chill group bikepacking adventure. The Texas Showdown team put together an excellent event. 

The rules include; No drafting, no sharing, no support, and no stashing. 

The race began with a eight mile neutral roll out to cross the bridge over lake Livingston. It was a great time to meet the other riders. After we crossed the bridge the lead car turned off and the race was on. 

photo taken at the top of muddy hill climb

I stuck to my plan and let the front group go. My plan was to ride my own ride, stick to my zones, and have fun. I talked to many riders as we got going, and I was quickly picking off riders as they dropped from the front group. 

It had rained hard the night before and we were in the mud immediately. Luckily, it wasn't sticky like Kansas mud, but, there were all the other types of peanut butter mud: chunky, creamy, gritty, and extra slippery red. There was a lot of mud. At one point I was doing more than 200 watts to go less than 10mph, downhill. Riding was challenging, but worked to my skill set. 

It rained while I was riding, but it was mostly light rain, and it was warm. It stopped raining while I was eating dinner. 

Texas has dogs that chase. I did a few 1000 watt sprints just trying to outrun dogs. Were they all bark and no bite? I wasn't going to find out. A few were quiet and looked mean. After five chases, I started talking to the them, and that seemed to be the trick. 

This was the first race I stuck to my nutrition plan. I ate carbs, carbs, and more carbs. 4000 calories of Skratch high carb, 1400 calories of GU. Tons of candy, Poptarts, cookies, two Redbulls, two apple juices, one NOS energy, a root beer, and dinner at Whataburger with my new friends. The carbs and the burger worked and I left dinner feeling reenergized. 

I struggled riding through the night. One of my headlights would not turn on, and I ran half powered. In the middle of the night, I was nodding off and had to stop for a nap. I slept in the doorway of a church. I set my alarm for 10 minutes, and snoozed it once. My nap was 20 minutes and it helped. I was slow until about 4:00am, I woke up mentally and was ready to smash. 

Through the night I was counting the minutes until sunrise. 12 hours of dark is a long time. I needed that sun. My headlight died 30 minutes before sun up and I had to stop to change out batteries. When the sun came up it was a new day. And, only 130 miles left, just a casual Saturday century. 

Throughout the ride the scenery was fantastic, and distinctly Texas. Very green and alive. There were tons of wild flowers. I saw cows, goats, sheep, pigs, dogs, cats, armadillo, rabbits, deer, and skunks. I passed a redneck campground full of offroaders playing in the mud in their illuminated side by side atvs. I had to stop for a large group of horses with wagons. The state forests were excellent, and had some of the best gravel. 

I stopped as little as possible and I wanted to keep my stops short and efficient. My first stop was at mile 75. I refilled a few miles before my longest stop at 150 dinner at Whataburger. My plan was to skip dinner but I am glad I stopped. I changed my socks at 200, and stocked up for the night. All the stops were closed through the night. My final stop was at mile 300, I refuel with the plan of finishing the final 100 miles. The route passes the finish line as a place to fuel but I did not want to stop there, it would be a mental trap so I pushed through. 

It got very hot in the final 75 miles at 75 degrees and strong sun. I dipped my sun sleeves in a clean looking puddle and put them on, which helped. 10  miles from the finish I was on an open road and was roasting. I saw some guys washing their trucks at a car wash. I turned back and asked one nice man to hit me with the pressure washer. He was surprised, it's a strange request. It was just what I needed to power through the final miles. 

This ride was hard, very hard. But, I far exceeded every reasonable goal I had set. I dug deeper than I ever have. I pushed harder than I thought I could. Up next is Rasputista, and it's 13% of this ride, I need to reassess my targets, I should be able to smash hard. 

I am proud to have has the opportunity to wear my Gravel Boston Sportful team kit, and represent our gang. Super Giara kit was comfortable all day. The pockets were very useful, the leg pocket was my garbage can. I wore full grip gloves, and

Sportful socks. 

I had fun the whole time. Though this was the first time I really questioned my choice to play ultra. By mile 300 I sorted out my issues and remembered why I like to do it. It's challenging, fun, and I get to meet some fantastic people. 

I am crushed, but not as bad as previous races. I am improving, and mentally ready to go again. Physically, I need some time. 

Thank you everyone for watching my dot tracker, sending me encouraging messages and supporting my riding. I appreciate it. 

Special thank you to my sister Catherine Woods and her family for coming with me and supporting me on this race. I couldn't have done it without help. 

I am happy to share my experience, feel free to ask any questions. 

Let's ride, 

Alex Land