BaseCamp athlete Shannon Scanlon shared her experience with her husband, Den, at the 2024 Tour of Georgia Gran Fondo in Helen, Georgia. Congratulations, Shannon!
We had a great day at the Gran Fondo National Series despite the cold and wet conditions. We were both prepared thanks to the winter training and Nathan Goates that coached me to the podium take 1st over-all female! 🎉🎉
Race report: The first climb I found some guys from Costa Rica to climb with, then a girl passed me about 2 miles from the top, and I knew I needed to put on the gas to try to catch her. I couldn't close the gap but kept the power in hopes I could make up the time on the other segments. Sad for her, I saw her at the top shaking uncontrollably due to the cold and rain, so she eventually called it after the second climb and took the DNF from the result.
I kept meeting up with my Costa Rica friends throughout the ride and pretty much worked with them on both T2 and T3. I lost them before T4 because I didn't want to take that STEEP climb before the segment too hard. T4 I did find a couple other guys, but I was stronger than them and pretty much pulled for them. I was able to take a few rests and allowed them to pull but would get back on the front when they slowed.
The race might have been different had the weather conditions been better, because there were quite a few DNFs. The training gave me the fitness needed, but my determination and NO regrets mantra helped me finish despite the cold and wet conditions.
