Breakthrough ride on American soil for Brendan “Trekky” Johnston

29 August 2023

Taking the win at the Belgium Waffle Ride – Utah

“Really pleased to take the victory here at BWR Utah! The course in Cedar City is actually one of the best I have competed on, so dynamic and challenging however really quite high speed for the most part which made the racing exciting. I was feeling really good out there and had a plan to ride all the headwind sections with the group of 5 or 6 before turning back towards the north and picking up the tailwind and hitting the biggest climb of the day. I attacked the group at the base wanting to make as big an impact as possible for the remaining rough single track sector before the finish, cresting the top with a 5 min buffer to the chasers I was able to really enjoy the single track and the run into the finish. It was a special day in Utah for me and one I wont forget meeting my family at the finish line for my first victory on US soil.”

Brendan Johnston

The 206km (127 mile) race on mostly unsealed surfaces took nearly 6.5 hours to complete. Trekky was able to consume 120g of carbs per hour through means of Gu drink mix and gels and 3 Monster ‘juice’ energy drinks.

With temperatures getting into the mid 30’s (90 farenheit) he also found the use of ice stockings critical in keeping the core body temperature down and during each feed station.  

Notable stats from the race:

• Total time: 6h:25m:57s
• Distance: 206km (127miles)
• Average altitude: 1779m (5837 feet) 
• Highest Attitude: 2097m (6880 feet)
• Elevation: 2210m (7250 feet)
• T-Score: 278
• Energy: 4954kj

Trekky will now compete in a 3 day stage race from September 8-10 before the next big goal being Chequamegon MTB Festival in 3 weeks. This will be round 5 of 7 in the LifeTime GP and Trekky is keen to put his form to use there.