44 Days to the Transylvania Epic and Counting

Yesterday, Donna shared with me some videos from last year of Stages 4 and 5 of the TSE -- the RB Winter mini cross-country races and Raystown. They're inspiring and scary! Scary you say? To be honest, not once did I think of this thing as an all-out "race." The focus of the past couple months of training and contemplating 7-days of riding has always -- and continues to be -- finish all stages. I'm 51-1/2. Heck, I feel lucky I can ride a bike, let alone do this. The videos show mostly the competitive types and they are riding fasssstt. The women's category this year is at least half stacked with professional mountain bikers who will be racing to win. I started a post on Facebook asking folks to comment on the adventurous challenge of the TSE -- not necessarily the "racing" aspect of this thing. Karmen Woelber, from Idaho, commented she too is in it for the challenge. I'm sure there are others that will join us adventure seekers - the "Joes" as someone put put it. "This is a race that the "Pros and Joes" alike race side-by-side." Yes, the pros absolutely are extremely inspiring and fun to watch. And of course there's the incredible trails we're going to get to ride for 7 days straight. That, in itself, will be phenomenal. And its only 44 days away.