Biking Woman

Jenn Wicks describes the intensity of completing her first ultra-endurance cycling race at BikingMAN Oman

- Jenn Wicks

A Tough First Day

I was sobbing like a baby. What on Earth was I doing here? It was dark and I had stopped at the side of the highway between Ibri and Bahla having left Muscat nearly 16 hours before. I was honking hard and needed to eat real food. The headwind had been relentless since we had made the turn west near Rustaq at around the 75km mark. I was at a low point having just realized that the service station I was looking for was 5km behind me and across a divided highway. The day also had included nearly 2000m of steady climbing with no relief due to the winds. While crying at the roadside, I also seemed to have lost my Rapha sunglasses in the dark and was now searching for them through the tears. I texted my husband, John, who was supporting me virtually from Qatar, “I think we overestimated my abilities.” I vowed to never do something like this again.

The Night Before

We all sat around the hotel dining room sharing the excited nervousness just hours from our start at 3am the next morning. Out of the 45 starters, 39 of us would make it back to Muscat on our bikes. Across from me sat Perrine Fages, my friend and superwoman triathlete who is currently spending more time training than most of us spend at work in a week in preparation for the gutsy Arch to Arc Enduroman ultra triathlon. To my right, Jason Black introduced himself and proceeded to share his impressive resume of summits (including Everest and K2) while I sat with my mouth agape and my eyes wide.