Ken's story: Indiana Senior Games

BaseCamp athlete Ken Carl shared his experience at the 2026 Indiana Senior Games.

Whisky India November 20K Road Race Senior Olympic Qualifier

Déjà vu with a better ending.

After having my race derailed the day before, it took a few well-considered moments to move forward with entering the 20k road race. A note of interest which fellow BaseCampers Mike Adsit and Barbara Laguna shared: Qualifying in the 20k will also qualify me for the 40k. So why have the two events? The rules for Senior Olympics are confounding for me.

That confounding rule also was one of deciding factor to enter the race.

A very special thank you to Coach Kathy Watts.

The news flash. Whisky India November. (WIN) Ken Carl for the age group win. NQA (no questions asked). Officially qualifying for nationals.

Race Day. The 100% rain forecasted took a 40-minute perfect pause. Amazing, lucky thankful.

The Race: Short course high intensity is not my usual cup of espresso. I did not have a solid race plan for this. With all age groups starting together again, I was still deciding at the rollout if I should just play it safe and race against my age group or race the race. Yellow skinsuit was back, along with a fine fit fellow in a USA stars/strips jersey…hummm…

The race rolled out like a Monday short on coffee ride. I easily rolled to the front and pulled off, or tried to. Everyone stayed on my wheel. As we swept through the first turn, I pushed the power a bit, then a bit more. This time yellow skinsuit followed by stars/strips more blasted through than pulled through. Worth noting that Yellow Skinsuit mentioned to me at the start line that he was thinking about riding back with his wife today and help her win. Less that 10 minutes into this short race, he was on a solo breakaway. I am still trying to figure out how that was helping his wife.

As we made the second turn, the situation was one race leader and seven chasers. Serious déjà vu. There was one incline that could be called a climb with a church on the right at the top. Same place I got disconnected the day before and again today. There was no one in my age group ahead and no one in sight behind. Decision time. Safe or race.

I began the chase. Unlike the day before, I never lost sight of the pack. Flip the switch into my power zone the pack was no longer pulling away. The only question was there enough race course left for me to catch them? From the last turn to the finish line is about 1.5k. Coming out of that last turn, they were perhaps 50 meters ahead. Yet close is not a catch. I burned my sprint match to close the gap. My momentum carried me toward. I had nothing left and nothing left to lose. Throwing all the matches into the fire, I did a second sprint (much to my surprise!) and opened a gap. A total fun, funny moment of glory as the group thought I was long gone dead. They quickly crushed my glory, as expected, but nothing would crush that fun.

Stars and Stripes won the group sprint, while Yellow Skinsuit took the win.

For me a powerful lesson learned (again): The only person who can make you quit is yourself. I was ready to go home after the day before, as quitting was an option. I decided with the support, help of many that would not be my option. Only you can make your winning move.