Singletrack/MTB
Gravel/All-road
Dirt-road Touring
Fat-bike
Cynthia Carson is officially the first woman to finish the 2024 Atlas Mountain Race, completing the rugged route in 4 days, 19 hours, and 3 minutes. We heard from her at the finish line, and you can find her brief report and more episodes of the AMR podcast here…
Photos by Gavin Kaps and the Atlas Mountain Race
A huge congratulations goes out to Cynthia Carson from the United States, who just took first place at the 2024 Atlas Mountain Race in Morocco. For much of the race, Cynthia was in the top 10 overall group, sitting in eighth place just three days ago, followed closely by Nathalie Baillon of France. The leapfrogged for much of the race, often riding within 10 kilometers of each other.
We heard from Cynthia just hours ago, and she said she got trench foot after a river crossing at some point during the ride; she chose to sit outside a gas station with her foot out to help it heal. It eventually got better, and the pain eased up enough to ride. She slept around four and a half hours during the entire event but was really happy to have her sleeping bag and pad to take a few extended rests. Here’s more from Cynthia, “The route was really beautiful and challenging. There was some really nice singletrack that I liked, and riding it on a hardtail mountain bike was awesome. It made it so I could open it up while racing.”
Cynthia also said there were a couple of low moments for her, especially early on in the race. This was a new distance for her in a new place, and she wasn’t familiar with the resupply points. After the first day, she got the hang of things and found her groove. At one point, she left her AXS battery in her frame bag under her water bladder, and it got soaked. She had to wait until it dried out to see if it would still work. Thankfully, it did!
Cynthia’s official finish was 4 days, 19 hours, and 3 minutes, taking first place in the women’s race and 15th overall. Congrats, Cynthia!
The host of the Atlas Mountain Race Podcast, our friend Allan Shaw, has been busy churning out new episodes, and the next three are available to listen to. Check them out below.
AMR 2024 EP4: Tea with Omar
AMR 2024 EP5:Late Nights and Long Days
AMR 2024 EP6: Stay Salty
We’re planning several updates during this year’s event and will be covering it closely. Check out the event Tracker page to follow along on the live tracking map and watch for updates. Find it here.
Further Reading
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