So often after the 6-12-24 Hour World Time Trial Championships (WTTC) racers will tell us “I rode my own race,” or “I didn’t really know where the other racers were in my category.” This wasn’t the case with Becky Fjelland Brooks (USA) and Dusty Dustyn (USA), the two women in the 12-hour age 60-69 category who after 12 hours of close racing, finished just 4.8 miles apart (Brooks 199.2 miles, Dustyn 194.4 miles), with the victory going to Brooks, and a friendship forming in the process.

Dustyn, a past WTTC winner, wrote on her Facebook, “While I soooo wanted to reclaim my title after last year’s defeat, losing it to this gal in an intense head to head 12-hour dual, took the sting away. We had attack after attack in the most difficult last 4 hours, and in the end, finished on the same lap. It was tough as nails, intense, exciting, strategic, and 100% exhausting! And now…we are thinking about some team racing, where we could crush the 60+ competition – together.”

Brooks shared similar sentiments, “I’m still having dreams about the race that wake me up. Most exciting race I’ve ever ridden. A TT means no drafting, no riding in a pack. It’s you and your bike, as aero as possible, as hard and as far as you can go for 12 hours. So these races are usually decided by a few dozen miles or more, not a strategic dog fight to the last lap like Dusty and I had. It was exciting and exhilarating, really hard, and lots of fun. It’s humbling and gratifying to find out that years of endurance work and training hard this year (in spite of some ridiculous setbacks this year ) can really pay off, especially when, in a race this long, so many things can go wrong. In the end, I won the 60+ title with 199.2 official miles in twelve hours (have to complete a 5-mile lap to count). I’m sure Dusty and I will race again; it was fun to get to know her; we’re plotting ways to be on an ultra-race team together in the future (and trying to talk Carol Marston into it, too).”