Finding Community in Chaos: The Unforgettable Mid South 2025
We brought some change for the fourth year of our gravel program, moving to Mid South Gravel in Stillwater, Oklahoma. In August 2024, we selected 15 non-traditional athletes from over 100 applications. The selection committee viewed every application video and assembled a team from across the US and an athlete from Canada.
From there, it was full gas as we had much less time to train since the previous team programs went to SBT GRVL in mid-August. The team needed to be able to train in the winter, with most folks living in snowy areas during the winter. We held monthly team check-ins as the team began to bond. We partnered with an endurance coach, Dave Schell of Kaizen Endurance Coaching, to develop training plans using Training Peaks, one of our new sponsors. Thanks to the sponsorship of Zwift, we hosted virtual group rides and chatted over our discord to help get the training miles in.
The time had finally come for us all to meet in person in "Stilly." The team houses were booked. So many of our leadership team, chapter leaders, and even gravel team alums would attend this special event. Folks got into town on Thursday, just in time for the Salsa Cycles Denim Ride, a fun casual group ride in your best patched-covered denim vest and jorts. The weather was perfect, and about 300 new bike friends showed up to get dirt on their best cycling denim.
Friday was the first day of the vendor expo, a 25k and 50k gravel run, and much more. The weather was forecasted to be very windy. But windy was an understatement as 60-70 mph gusts began to blow through the event. The event was in full swing, and runners were on course. Because of the winds, the decision was made to break down the expo tents. Big shoutout to our ABOB team for making that happen fast for our tent. Then, the wildfires broke out around Stillwater. Fueled by the extreme winds, it got dangerous fast. The runners were being pulled from the course by a team of vehicles. A shelter-in-place order went out for downtown Stillwater.
We all had to get inside fast with flying debris and rapidly declining air quality. The sky was apocalyptic, and you could barely breathe. We all had to lean on our fellow cycling community to determine what was next. We gathered our team and their partners at one of the team houses for dinner, over 30 folks.
Typically, this is an emotional time as we prepare for the race. Sharing how we feel and what this ABOB community has done for us. But this night was so much more in the face of the disasters around us. The tears and emotions were high. We knew in our hearts the race couldn't go on. But we got our team photo and bonded even deeper as an ABOB family.
This home was a brief safe haven for now. The official word went out late that night, and the race was canceled. The fires had destroyed thousands of acres and 200+ homes. The fires had gone through parts of the course, and the First Responders were still actively fighting fires.
Saturday morning came with clear, cool air and blue skies. It was surreal. We all had such mixed feelings. Do we ride for fun, or do we mourn? What is acceptable when a community has faced so much destruction?
The race organizers brought all the bands that were going to perform over Friday and Saturday into a brewery that became the event's epicenter. We heard directly from the race organizer Bobby Wintle, and the mayor of Stillwater. The food and water supplies from the race course were being sent to shelters and first responders. A relief effort fund had been set up, and the brewery was pushing for a big percentage of sales.
We knew the right decisions had been made, and it was as if we had been given the permission we needed to party. The Mid South released official ride routes away from the fire-affected areas. Shorter group rides were organized, and most of the team could get out onto the red dirt roads they had been training so hard for.
The Mid South ended for our team with the final band of the evening Vertigo Waves bringing the house down with their original punk song, "DFL." This was supposed to be the anthem of our All Bodies on Bikes + RideWithGPS "Dead F*cking Last" Party. Where we were going to party until the last of the 100-mile course, racers came through the finish line. But we got to send off the 2025 Mid South in an epic way.
We hope this year's team got the bonding (we weren't hoping for trauma bonding), a new community, and experience we have brought to our previous gravel teams. Time to start planning for 2026!
Big thanks to our 2025 sponsors: @wahoofitnessoffical @skratchlabs @gozwift @trainingpeaks @lazersportna @rideshimano @champys @rei @goodr @smartwool @ovejanegrabikepacking and @fattire
And a big shoutout to our 2025 team mentors: @trexlovescake @sturdygirladv @passingmebri @yasmin.thee.amazin @barispe and @marleyblonsky
