The Phil’s 50

Ever since my dirty century over 11 years ago, I’ve claimed that I want to be in the kind of shape where I can get off the couch and do a 50-mile MTB ride… but the thing is, I never did the work to actually make that fucking happen. Oh sure there were plenty of reasons why I didn’t, including many major injuries and surgeries… but at some point the excuses start to ring hollow. So this year I decided to question my limiting beliefs, asking, “is that really true?” And it turns out that a lot of the limiting beliefs that were holding me back were utter bull shit. So here it is - 50 miles (actual 52+) all on singletrack. I actually think this is my longest singletrack ride ever. Back in the day when I had my endurance fling, we were riding a lot of gravel and rugged 4x4 roads on our mountain bikes. Yes, this was before gravel bikes existed (cue the ‘cross riders commenting…). I bet my dirty century was around 60/40 gravel to singletrack. So yes, even at 52 miles, this is probably the most singletrack I’ve pedaled in a single day. A huge thanks to Christine Henry for the support today in so many ways! Water resupply, snack prep- your help and encouragement was incredible! Aight, now I’m going to go eat all the food ✌️‍ 0.45 new miles -- From Wandrer