Shannon and Den's story: Appalachian Journey

BaseCamp athletes Den and Shannon Scanlon shared their experience at the 2025 Appalachian Journey bike race in Floyd, Virginia.

From Shannon: App Journey was a complete vs a compete event for us. It felt great to have the fitness to enjoy the day with that much elevation and not be challenged. I figured even with the complete goal I could work on skills throughout the day. I focused on descending, cornering and getting more comfortable in an aero position. My new Lauf performed flawlessly on the washboard gravel descents and gave me the confidence I needed to stay in the drops and really work on my positioning. I also worked on disconnecting from the bike when cornering and practiced the skills Tim taught us during gravel camp this past fall. All skills that will benefit me in any future events, gravel or road.

From Den: If you watched Tadej Pogačar's winning attack on the final ascent of the Oude Kwaremont on this past Sunday, you can easily see that he listened to Tim Cusick's advice to STOMP HARD on the pedals. That was also my journey, the The Appalachian Journey on Sunday as well. With ~8300 feet of climbing in 70 miles, my poor imitation of stomping got me around the course pretty well. There was even a moment when I found myself wondering if I was experiencing a coincidence or an omen -- to take the fork or stay the course. 🤪🤪🤪 This was the second Team Better Together p/b BaseCamp Explore Team event this year and the route featured gorgeous weather and magnificent views with the extra bonus of spending the day with Shannon. ❤️❤️ All of the riding was made even better by the after ride events, including great food, and a meet up with BaseCamp member Natalie Barron.