Evan's story: Trough Creek Gravel Grinder

BaseCamp athlete Evan McGregor shared his experience at the 2025 Trough Creek Gravel Grinder bike race in Pennsylvania.

There are two, maybe even three, stories that go with this race. There's the race itself. There's the story about this being the culmination of a season-long goal along with it being my first race as an actual 40-year-old... and then there's the one that's most important, but save the best for last.

The Race and The Goal

Leading into the race was the longest taper I've ever done of almost two weeks. Simply put, I've not had a healthy run into a high priority race in over three years, but after my spring injury, it's been pretty smooth sailing. Now that I finally had a clean run in, I had all of this extra energy that I didn't know what to do with besides stress and worry! With that in mind, this race highlighted my progression as a performing athlete over the past year.

The Trough Creek Half Series course is around 40 miles and 4000 of elevation over varied terrain: pavement, gravel, snowmobile trail, doubletrack, it's a great mix! It's also the last race in a series of races. I needed to win the race in order to win the series, and a series win was the main outcome goal of the year.

During the taper, I overthought and questioned every decision made leading into race day, every nuance of the course, gear loadout, and so on. When the race started, my mind was clear. I was in the moment. I had a bad tactical decision (though well executed) early in the race that put me on a 15- to 20-second gap on the longest and hardest climb of the day. Me of a year ago would've stressed and gone to the edge to close that gap. This time I let it go. I let a few others pass me, as well. The moment didn't call for anything else.

It was possible that my season goal was riding away from me. In the moment, my breathing was a bit out of control, I didn't feel the best, and I was paying for my early bad decision. I wasn't thinking about the season goal but the race itself. The finish is hard, and if I went full into the red that early, I wouldn't be able to close things out how I felt I would need to. Gradually the gaps closed. I passed riders who had pushed past me. I got others in sight. I kept a measured effort through the trails chasing others down and finally caught up to the Full Course series leader. Pretty darn good...he dropped me on the next trail, but it was also an in-the-moment type of decision. The trail section there finished with a pretty gnarly and technical descent, and I was able to fly through it to close the gap. We stayed together after that, and then from the course split to the end I went hard to close out the win.

No fear of losing. No fear of not winning. My rear tire had lost 15 psi during the race, but I was in control and aware. I learned a lot about what I can do with a clear head and focus in a race when fear and panic don't enter the equation. This was my A race aligning with my 40th birthday, and I think it's appropriate I finally grew up a bit as a performing athlete for it. I closed out the series with a win, took the series title, and achieved what I set out to do...

The real story

As I approached this race and my 40th birthday, I had been thinking about what that actually means to me. Since I set this goal as my way of celebrating (hopefully) this milestone, I wanted to explore more of who I am at this point in time, especially as expressed through cycling.

My family is my "why." Amanda, Calum, and Aoife are why I train and race. I want to show them what hard work, dedication, grit, and excellence are, and they inspire me to reach that level. So for turning 40, closing the PA Series, and racing Trough Creek, I hoped to fully demonstrate that. The real story is my wife, Amanda, has shown me those things every day to a degree past everything I've done on the bike.

When I'm out training for a few hours, she's with the kids: entertaining them, teaching them, feeding them, showing them the greatest love. When I'm injured or ill, she is patient and supportive of me, giving me firm ground to stand on. When I'm driving us to the races, she's in the back seat with the kids, keeping them safe and happy. When I'm out racing, she's at the staging area, building amazing memories with Calum and Aoife through games, arts, and crafts. When I come into the finish line, she lets me know how loved I am and how proud she and the kids are.

There aren't many spouses at the races. There are fewer kids present. Amanda is there, showing me what hard work, dedication, grit, and excellence are through the unconditional love she gives our family day after day. I am fortunate. I am blessed. I am undeserving (but don't let her know that part). The real story of this race, this series, or anything I do, is that Amanda is there. I love bringing the kids up on the podium and creating those memories, and I still got to do that, but no one deserves that spot more than Amanda.