Ok it has been some time since I have put up a blog post – a very long time - and I have moved from my old site (
Bluegrass-Runner) that focused primarily on running to the new site where I will cover all things endurance, including nutrition.
It has just has been one of those times where work and life coupled with just not feeling it when it comes to writing all coalesced and I just did not post anything. I thought having just finished the Steamboat Springs Gravel race on August 15, 2021 it was a good place to start and I hope to be more consistent on future posts. So here goes.
In truth as I write this my initial plan had been to do the Gravel-Worlds this weekend (Aug 21, 2021) but when the Rona hit and there was no racing in 2020 I had to defer my Steamboat race so am hoping to do Gravel-Worlds next year. So after probably getting the best base I could have, as not much racing, I headed off to Steamboat. The plan was to get there midday Friday, do a short ride Saturday and do the whole Expo thing and then race Sunday.
Got to Steamboat early enough Friday to do a short ride to town from the hotel and got in about 10+ miles including a trip out to Moots Cycles and a tour of the facility. Interesting part is back in around 1983 I raced the Steamboat Springs Stage race, road bikes, and visited the original location of Moots, now Orange Peel Bikes, and had not been back to Steamboat since then. After the ride I went looking for a steak and found Steamboat is not a cheap place but fortunately my room had a stove so was able to save some money by getting a nice rib-eye from the store and cooking it in the room. Saturday I went out for a 30+ mile ride and did not realize till the race I was doing part of the course backwards. I did notice on the ride that if I pushed too hard I felt the altitude. Probably compounded by my Exercise Induced Asthma (EIA) that with the dry air is not very altitude friendly but it is what it is. Was a nice ride and saw many others out doing the same thing. On the way back from the ride I went to town to pick up my number and scan the expo but as was coming back later did not spend a lot of time there. After resting up some I went back to the Expo and checked out what was there then was time to go back to the room to get ready for race day.
Race day was cool but really not bad at 50F or so. As I was going to the start from the hotel I took a gillette and arm warmers and would just put them in the Orange Mud pack I use before the race. I did not want to carry the stuff but it did not weight much and who knows if a freak storm came in I would be ready, it did not but I was ready. I had packed my bike with 2 - 20oz water bottles – one with SFuels Train and one with KetoFuel and then had my 2 Liter bladder with 2 packets of SFuels Race+. I also took with me 3 Vespas (I took one at the start and then planned on one every 2+ hours), some S!Caps, Jolly Rancher candy a few gels and also some extra packets of SFuels Race to put in my bottle later on at the aid stations.
I did a warmup to the start – 3 miles – and a little around the area of the start but misjudged how they would load the start as they had said the faster people would be closer to the front but unfortunately they did not leave opening in the side gates to get in so everyone just pushed in and well I was at the back – at least it would make me start slow but did set me a long way from the place I wanted to be in once I got out so I could move up. Note to self - check things out better next time as a good starting place is important in that even while the race is long when you are racing it is good to get in with the group you are racing rather then being 3 minutes behind at the start, almost a mile.
The race started and I, well, just waited till things cleared out where I was and then slowly moved along. It
took a few miles to get out so could move up but wanted to be careful not too push it too hard too early just to catch up - why you need to be closer to the front – and on one push on the first climb to move up I realized quickly I had to be careful how I pushed it as felt my breathing get labored and my chest tighten up. I tried again a little later to see how it was to make sure it was not just a matter of not being warmed but had the same result. Thus, I already knew I would have to use caution in how much effort I put out if I wanted to finish. One thing I know from racing at altitude in the past is that once you go too far past your limit the ability to recover is very slow, if at all. Got up the first climb then went down the first “gravel” which was more of just a hard packed road but soon came to the first extended climb and real “gravel” section and settled in to ride at an effort that was good but comfortable.
As we rode up to near Steamboat Lake we hit a section of single/double track that was sandy but fun. Did almost take a wrong line in the dust as hit a down hill drop in the dust and was on the wrong side and noticed just in time but had to stop and lost some momentum – that said it was a fun section. This section ended where the picture of me on course came from. We then circled around and back down to where we had come from and what is funny I did not even realize we had done this 8 mile section in the uphill direction till the next day in looking at the map of the ride The course is about 100 miles gravel, of various kinds, and about 42 miles road and one of the road section coming back down from Steamboat Lake I got up to 47mph.
 |
| Turn to First Gravel Climb |
The course then heads mostly downhill with some good little climbs mixed in for fun till about 87 miles where the people riding the 100 miler, they started 30 minutes after us, turn off to head back to Steamboat and we head out for more fun in the way of climbs. From 87 to 95 miles we head up hill on some pretty sandy roads and this was when I realized how far behind I was from the front as the lead back was coming back down. At 94+ miles they have an aid station and then you head downhill for a half mile or so then turn right for a 9 mile climb that then descends with a few steep climbs back to the previous aid station which is now at about 115 miles. I was feeling good but still taking it easy on the climbs and just making sure to stay hydrated and fueled as while not far to go there was still some ground to over.
In going back down the sandy section it was not as bad as I had feared as I was able to keep up some good speed but had a few sections it got a little squirely. Once down this section we come back the previous turn off, now at 124.5 miles, to head back to town and started coming across those doing the 100 miler. In looking at the map I knew there were a could hills still to do in the last 18 miles or so. The first came about ¾ of a mile past the turn and it is called the Corkscrew and is about 1 mile long with about a 7.6% average climb with pitches of up to 13.5% - sure glad this was on a paved road. Needless to say this was a leg burner but that was not the last climb as there was one more to come. About a mile and a half later came the last climb at 1.3 miles long and an average of 5.7% with a section at 9+% on gravel.
After this climb it was close to all downhill to Steamboat with some short punchers but first we had to go down through Cow Creek Rd which was slightly downhill but what made it exciting were there were free range cows wandering along the lane and then there were very rocky sections that cropped up so had to just hang on through them. I will say my wheel and tyre set up with the
Enve G23’s and
Donnelly X’Plor MSO 700 X 40 Tubeless along with
Cush Core Gravel.CX installed did great as no flats and worked great. That last stretch was a good test as it went from hard pack to some sections with large rocks and I know I hit a few as there were four of us going pretty quick down that stretch.
After Cow Creek it was a small section of hard pack roads then back on the blacktop to the finish. Just kept up a good pace to the finish as extra pushing was not going to make much difference by then. I finished in 9:35:20 (9:33:12 chip time) with my moving time per my Wahoo was 9:11:10 so spent about 22 minutes in the aid stations which is probably not bad but could be better. I ended up 441 OA and 18th in the 60+ being about 50 minutes out of being on the podium.
The 3D map of the course, ignore the title as I goofed up the typing and could not edit it:
Looking back I think I could have probably pushed it a little harder – enough to take of an hour out of the 9.5 hours I was out there – but since I was not sure of what to expect I think taking the safe route was the best bet and now I know more I can better adjust next time. For sure I know I can work harder next year at Gravel Worlds as it is not at altitude so that is good. I also know that while my training had plenty of long rides I need, at least for me, a few longer rides were milage is not the issue as being in the saddle 8+ hours just to be ready for that. Along with that I need to add in some intervals to better be able to push the sections I need to so as to stay with a group when that push is needed.
As far as nutrition I think it was pretty good in that I did not seem to have low periods and finished feeling good. I was trying to figure out my caloric in take but the following is sort of an estimate as I did not really finish any water bottles in total as topped them off at each aid station and add some of the extra drink mix as I figured it was needed. Only turned to the Maurten Gel with about 20 miles to go and while I did take some Coke at one stop at about 45 miles as knew there was a push coming and then had one at 95 miles but sadly when I usually really like them they were out in the last 30 miles. Here are my total for my pre-ride fueling and ride fueling:
- Pre-Ride: 537 Cals, 21.6 G Protein, 11 G Carbs, 44.3 g Fat
- During Ride: 926 Cals, 21 G Protein, 149 G Carbs, 29 G Fat
The only issue I came away with from this ride were some very bad saddle chaffing. I knew I felt some discomfort in the last 30-40 miles but never really checked it when done. Usually when I have had chaffing the after ride/run shower is, how shall I put it, unpleasant but I did not have this after the ride so figured I was good – not so. The next day I went on a shakeout ride of 30 miles and felt really good but then at about 15 miles things got very uncomfortable. AS I had no choice but to finish the ride I did but when done I did get that unpleasant shower. I think what happened is the skin had not broken but was very chaffed but when I did this ride it broke the skin. Not sure the cause of this other than I have never ridden my gravel bike this many hours and not ridden the saddle than far. I had gone that far on my road bike saddle so maybe I need to change the saddle as I noticed the way it sits the flare out in the back while padded on top does have a hard edge which may be where it chaffed. I do need to figure this out before the next time I do such a long race. Also, I think I will take some chamois cream with me as well to reapply as it cannot hurt to do so.
All in all while I am probably overly critical of how I rode I think I did just what I needed to do and was ready to do. This ride will better prepare me for my next long race – hopefully the Grave-Worlds next year – and other races along the way. This helped me to better see what I need to do in training, what worked with nutrition and that I need to work some on my bike set up.
Here are the things to work on for next year:
- Intervals
- Fast Endurance Rides
- A few longer rides time wise just to get used to being in the saddle for 8+ hours
- Work on faster climbing on long rides
- Nasal breathing to help with EIA
- Figure out saddle/set-up issues
- Continue to work on nutrition as rides get faster
I am looking forward to what is ahead and looking for the next adventure.
