Text and images by Madeline Depman

Racing bikes has allowed me to explore so many parts of the country that I otherwise would not have had the opportunity to visit. Most of the traveling has either been alone or with my husband, so I was over the moon when my daughter and new adventure buddy Ruth finally arrived late last year. Since her birth, she’s joined me on all of my adventures – she’s already flown seven times – and it gives me immense joy and satisfaction to share these experiences with her. 

That being said…

My racing season so far has been a frustrating one. Despite hopes of a comeback season, various factors have caused my race schedule to be far more modest than past years and my fitness hasn’t developed into my typical mid-season form. These extenuating circumstances mean I’ve had to be flexible and adapt to my now-hectic life. To put it simply, learning how to navigate motherhood with a lack of childcare has consumed most of my bandwidth. All of that, plus the combination of working part time, sickness/injury, my husband’s work schedule and frequently broken bikes means I’ve had significantly less time to train than I used to. Things are more chaotic than I ever expected, but I’m starting to think that this season pushing me to be more flexible has been a blessing in disguise. Without these roadblocks and detours I never would have found my way to The Last Best Ride in Whitefish, MT. 

I’m learning to be less calculated and to seize opportunities as they arise. I split my time between Minnesota (my home state) and Washington, where my husband works. I knew he’d be gone for August so Ruth and I were planning to head back to Minnesota for the month. I started looking for races and realized that TLBR would be perfect – a quick stop in MT on our way home! I’d never spent significant time in Montana and it was a no-brainer… riding near Glacier National Park in the peak of summer? Say less. 

They say it takes a village and it certainly does! I reached out to a friend who lives near Whitefish and she hosted us and helped me coordinate childcare for Ruthie. Luckily, my host was also a pro mountain biker with a daughter, so she knew exactly what I needed. With that taken care of, I turned my attention to the other critical issue: I didn’t have a gravel bike! So I, being the good Minnesotan that I am, reached out to Otso. If you attend any races in Minnesota, you’re bound to see plenty of Otso Cycles rolling around and I’ve been admiring their machines from afar for quite some time. Otso loved the idea and I was hooked up with a beautiful Waheela C to race on! The bike turned many heads and I was blown away by the number of compliments I received on the bike in just a few days.

This was my first time really getting to ride and race a gravel-specific bike. The descents are where I really understood the benefit of having a gravel bike versus a ‘cross or road bike.  No matter what, descending on a drop-bar bike is less forgiving with narrower tires/handlebars and a lack of suspension. Therefore, body position and line choice are more critical which makes each chattering descent far more engaging and exhilarating. The Waheela C was the perfect tool for the job – it handled the loose, gravelly descents like a dream. I never felt unstable, and gravel is pretty much the most unstable surface I can think of besides, well… ice! I primarily race mountain bikes, so the Waheela C reminded me of the comfort that flat-bar bikes give. It was really fun to feel confident and fast in a pretty unfamiliar race environment.

Overall, the race didn’t go as well as I’d hoped. My aforementioned fitness issues made it so I wasn’t able to push a strong race pace. I knew going into the event that I hadn’t had a good summer of training, which allowed me to accept that a great result wasn’t really in the cards. I still made sure to send it really hard, but I was able to focus on the other parts of the experience that didn’t involve breathing through my eyeballs. I got to ride an amazing bike, spend time with friends, visit an incredibly beautiful place, learn another lesson about flexibility and adaptability, and finish it all off with my favorite thing ever: giving my little girl a big hug as soon as I crossed the finish line.