Twenty miles into a 103-mile race, Payson McElveen thought his race was over. Something wouldn’t let him give up. With a new, powerful teammate still in his sight and internal motivation from a recent tragedy in the Durango cycling community, he found the strength to keep going. Once he made that commitment, he never stopped on his way to one of the most memorable wins of his career.
The 27-year-old Durango-based pro cyclist took the start line at The Mid South gravel race last Saturday in Stillwater, Oklahoma. The defending champ of the event previously titled the Land Run 100, McElveen wasn’t even sure the race would begin with so many events being canceled because of COVID-19. As it turned out, the race would continue, but nowhere close to the way he wanted originally it to.
McElveen found himself 1 minute, 30 seconds behind the leaders after several mishaps in the opening 20 miles. But with a never-quit attitude, McElveen was determined to catch up with new Orange Seal Off-Road teammate Dennis van Winden. Once he did, the two worked together to catch the leaders by the halfway point of the race. From there, it was all McElveen, as he rode away through deep mud, hip-deep water and more to be first at the finish line in 6 hours, 23 minutes, 4 seconds. Second place went to McElveen’s friend from his home state of Texas, as Colin Strickland crossed in 6:32:29. Jonathan Baker of California was third in 6:34:01.
“When I got done with everything that night, I realized how historic this event was,” McElveen said. “Hats off to everyone who finished or even lined up. This was one for the record books, without a doubt.”
The finish was drastically different than McElveen’s sprint victory in 2019. That year, he finished in 5:04:08 in a sprint finish with Vermont’s Ted King.
After the untimely problems McElveen faced early on this year, it was the chance to catch his new teammate from the Netherlands that kept him in the race. The 32-year-old pro road racer with plenty of big race experience was still within sight after McElveen had to pull a stick out of his spokes.
“We didn’t have a designated team leader. I was the defending winner, but with his Paris-Roubaix experience, it was a possibility he’d be a stronger rider,” McElveen said. “I was prepared to work for him if he was having a stronger day. We both got gapped off around Mile 20, and I lost even more time with a stick stuck in my spoke. Once I got going again, he was 30 seconds ahead.
“I was on the limit trying to catch back up. I almost thought about giving up. But Dennis was there. If I got back to him, a friendly rider with experience, it was a small win and another starting point. I emptied the tank, went 100% pretending his back wheel was my finish line. He didn’t see me coming, but I made it back to him.”
McElveen didn’t relent on his frantic pace once he caught his teammate. That’s when van Winden gave him crucial advice.
“He told me to relax. The way to do this long race is to try to pull five seconds out of them every five minutes instead of trying to catch up the entire 1:30 in 20 minutes,” McElveen said. “We spent over an hour bringing them back, and it was incredible how we matched. It saved the day, and we bonded a lot during that time, too. I was lucky to have him.”
At the halfway mark, the riders reached the only aid station on the course. McElveen said seeing his entire support crew, which he considers family, was uplifting. Plus, with two team riders in the top five, the Orange Seal team had momentum.
“Dennis and I had pride. We pulled a rabbit out of a hat to make it happen, so it was uplifting at the halfway point feeling like, OK, the race starts now. This is Mile 0,” McElveen said. “Everyone was tired, and we were about to get into by far the toughest, gnarliest conditions. I started believing.”
From that point, it was a constant game of lead changes, riders dealing with heavy mud, running with their bikes and even crossing deep water. McElveen said it became about which rider could come up with systems to clean their tires of mud and run with their bikes and not lose too much time. It was that on-the-fly problem solving McElveen said he enjoyed so much.
Earlier in the race, McElveen also thought of Benjamin Sonntag, the Durango-based pro cyclist who was killed when he was struck by a motorist in a truck only 10 days earlier and whose memorial service was being held in Durango at the time of The Mid South race. Sonntag, famous for never giving up and only getting stronger as the race went on, was a constant presence in McElveen’s mind. As he crossed the finish line with a sizable lead, McElveen stared into the sky thinking of his lost German friend.
“I don’t want to lie about the fact I thought about him basically the entire race,” McElveen said. “There were times during the race where it felt like more of a toughness contest than a bike race typically is. I had my mind resigned early that it wasn’t going to be a winning day. But, this time, I did think of Ben in those moments and how much he raced through. He was a closer. He never gave up until the finish line. I thought, you know what, that’s the way to do things. I had a lump in my throat coming down to the finish line, looking at the sky for Ben.”
It was a glorious day for the Orange Seal team. Women’s team rider Hannah Finchamp, 24, won the women’s race in 7:49:10. That was well ahead of Amanda Nauman of California, who was second in 8:03:03.
Finchamp ran out of food six hours into the ride. When she got to the finish line, she couldn’t stop shivering from how cold she was, and she would go to the hospital.
“It went from racing to survival. This win took everything,” Finchamp said in a post to Instagram. “It was more than just racing and more than just a day on the bike. It was overcoming, learning, persevering and digging deeper than ever before.”
It was seeing Finchamp shortly after her finish and seeing the agony on the face of Strickland when he took second in the men’s race that McElveen said it set in of how truly epic of a day of bike racing it was.
“To watch Colin roll through looking like he’s on death’s doorstep, that says a lot. He’s one of the toughest dudes I know,” McElveen said. “Hannah rolling through, the team manager found me and told me I needed to come see Hannah and that she wasn’t doing well. She was shivering uncontrollably.
“It was crazy. But with all of that and the actual team performance, I think this is one of more special races I’ve had.”
A big statement from the two-time marathon mountain bike national champion. No question, the The Mid South from 2020 won’t ever be forgotten.
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
