2022 Gravel Worlds Race Report - 153 Mile Route

This past weekend was a race I have been aiming for since I did Steamboat Springs Gravel last year (Race Report) last year.  Up front on looking at last years results I was aiming for the podium in the 60+ age group and thought at around 9 hours I would have a good opportunity to accomplish that - and my time guess was pretty good - but more on that later.  A little about my gravel riding to prepare for this - well basically apart from racing I rarely ride gravel just based on my schedule and places to do so close by - so not much preparation:) Truth is most of my riding is done on my Stages Smart bike on Zwift.  May not be the best for improving my bike handling but sure is good for my time usage and from having ridden for 40+ years my basic skills are pretty good. I think in the last year since Steamboat I have ridden on gravel maybe 4 times before I got to Lincoln - Once at the Gravel Revival down in Tennessee and once while I was staying in Sandpoint Idaho and then a couple short rides near home.  The ride near home is only about maybe 2-3 miles of gravel with a steep downhill and then a steep uphill with a little flat between.  Usually I ride the downhill then go off and ride some roads then come back via the other uphill route.  I share this to say my gravel learning takes place at these races and while I am getting better at my bike handling it is not the best way to go fast.  I did get in a couple short rides in Lincoln before the race on parts of the course which was helpful to see the nature of the gravel in the area as ours out here in KY is often pretty rocky and technical while the gravel in the Lincoln area was pretty good if not a little soft with pea gravel and sand but not technical - well except when hitting the deeper sandy section at speed:)

From Pre-Ride the Day Before

My preparation for this race has mainly involved riding as many long rides as I can with many being done on the trainer - which while hard are only in the 4 hour range.  I did do a 200 miler (well it actually ended up being 195) this past March out in Solvang CA which was my longest distance ever - Ride Report - and longest time in the saddle.  I probably did 25 Centuries, most over 100,  in the last year but again maybe only 2-3 of them over 6 hours.  Also, other than Steamboat the longest gravel ride I did was last October at the Gravel Revival - link here for 2022 ride - at 60+ miles and it was more rocky gravel than the leg sapping sandy stuff in Nebraska.  Both are hard but in differing ways and handling is different as well.  

Also, this year I have added in more running including even doing a 50K running race at the end of June in So Cal that I got 2nd overall in and ran a 4:34:48  I added more running as I have some longer runs planned in the future that hopefully includes another R2R2R in the Spring of 2023.  I like to be able to run when I want and get to run with my grand-daughter which is fun so want to always be ready.  While the running does seem harder on my legs by working to run at least some each week - but usually not the week of a bike race - it is keeping those muscles used to the pounding.

Thus after all this I came to the Gavel-Worlds in shape but maybe not with the best gravel riding preparation.  All the way up to the race, since I have been focused on trying to podium in my age group, I kept thinking about the race and maybe that was a mistake but is my tendency being somewhat OCD which makes it hard to stop the focus.  I knew the hills were going to be there and had done a good ride at the Horsey Hundred in Lexington which in riding the 100 miler and then the 26 miler had 8000+ in climbing that was a lot of rolling hills.  I was thinking I could ride at a good pace at Gravel Worlds as I rode solo at the Horsey Hundred and averaged around 19.2mph.  What I had not allowed for, but deep down knew, was how much the gravel would slow me down on the uphills and affect how fast I could go downhill.  Then there is that there were way more hills in Lincoln - they were relentless. While I did get a max speed of 38.5mph on one of the downhills at Gravel Worlds most were not as fast as I could do at Horsey Hundred as I was not sure of myself in the slippy gravel.  Even tracks I got into that were smooth and fast would then disappear and then had to change tracks which was exciting to say the least.  I was probably going 30+ on one downhill when I hit some deep gravel and was grateful not to biff it as my bike got a little sideways but pulled it in and saved it.  I could tell that while I tried to focus not simply clinging on for dear life to the bars and instead holding the front end a little more loosely to let it float I still held on too tight as I got blisters in my palms.

One of the hard parts of these long races for me is the mental side early on of knowing just how long I have to go.  In these races with 400+ riders on the longer courses it is important to get out with a group, as gaps can happen quickly, so as to be able to get some drafting effect and also make the initial miles go by faster mentally.  I was able to do this but took longer than necessary as I was a little skeptical about how fast to go as it was a little dark at the start for maybe the first 20-30 minutes as had to use lights.  Had a little group going  till about 45 miles and then broke up a little and then stayed with those I was with till the first checkpoint at 60 where I refilled my water.  It was there I lost the group I was with as was not sure where they were.  Ended up with another group that  caught me and I stayed with them till about 115 when they slowed for a mechanical so kept going to the next aid station at 128 miles.  As I was leaving they were coming into the aid station and as I was feeling a little tired and knew once they got done they would be moving along quickly as a group, and there was a big guy with them that was just a beast as he pulled pretty hard.  My plan was to ride at a good pace but not too hard as knew they would catch me and I did not want to be too tired when they did.  As I figured the 5 people in the group caught me with about 12 miles to go so I just latched on.  Did get a little worried with about 7 miles to go as I got an inner left thigh cramp then my right hamstring cramped. sign my electrolytes may have not been on point.  Just as I was getting dropped it faded and I got back on and this happened a few times but thankfully stayed with them to the end and finished in 9:43:21.  About 45 minutes slower than planned but all things considered a good ride and with 11,400+ feet of climbing as good pace.  Figuring with my moving time of 9:32:52 I also seemed to do good at stops, 4 of them, as had one nature break early, one water refill stop at about 90 and the two checkpoint stops at 60 and 128 and all those only took me just over 10 minutes.

My official time, again, was 9:43:21 and my placing I was 139th overall out of 435 and 6th in the 60+ AG.  The wining time for the 60+ was 8:58:42 with 2nd at 9:04:27 - so about 40-45 minutes ahead.  3rd was at 9:27:33 which was only just under 16 minutes head so I was not too far behind and my guess that it would take about 9 hours to win was about right.  In looking at the splits the leaders were about 6-7 minutes ahead of me by 60 miles and opened it up from there.  The third place guy was 17 minutes ahead at 100 miles so stayed about the same the rest of the way.  I need to get out a little quicker to get with the faster pace line and leaders.  The danger in a pace line - especially early on when just getting warmed up is you can get comfortable in one that may be a good pace but a little slower than you need.  There is also the danger of gong too fast so a fine line to ride.  It is hard in these races as you never know who you are racing so you just go and then if not careful can go too hard at the start.  Overall I am happy with the race as no crashes and kept a fair pace the whole way.  Can I go faster, I think so and each gravel race I do makes me a better bike handler so they all add up to being more efficient each time I race.  Not sure I will ever have the time to, well till I retire in maybe 4 years, do much gravel riding so races will be the place to learn.  Will I ride this race again next year - right now I want to but have to see how my schedule works out and what else is out there.  At Gravel Worlds they have The Double where you run a 50K on Friday then do the 153 ride on Saturday so may go for that.  It will make getting on the podium more difficult but one of my goals and purposes in doing what I do is to show what can be done even as one heads into there 60’s and The Double would do that.

My fueling is below but the basic plan was to have two 24oz bottles with the “special mixture” with lots of ice so can sip on them for the whole race and then the backpack would have plain water.  I carried 8 gels (SIS and PowerGel), used 6, and some S!Caps and some Bit-O-Honey, never got to these during the ride as could not get them open, as well as Vespa Ultra Concentrate (1 Vespa CV25).  Stopped three times to refill/top off my water and did so at 60, 90 and 128 miles.  Only took in some extra stuff at the checkpoint at 128 miles where I had a half a can of coke - funny did not give its usual jolt this time but probably did more than I realized at the time.  As usual no stomach issues and no bonking.  Yea my legs

were getting tired but that is natural and not a bonk.  I did get some cramping as my plan had been to take in 2 S!Caps every two hours but had some issues getting to them and out of the bag they were in so I missed at least one round of them.  Also, in past races I have used Tailwind which has some electrolytes and did not this time so did not get those electrolytes thus may have been a little low on them in missing my S!Caps.  My fueling plan I figured out with Peter at Vespa did work as, again, did not bonk but after this race realized some more variables.  At Steamboat there were far more paved roads so more time to dig out the fuel but not in this ride.  Also, stopped more at Steamboat so if I stop less I have to account for how I fuel and actually being able to get to what I had planned to take in.  Again, the actual intake for the Pre and during ride is below.

Lastly, let me re-iterate what I have shared before and that is not only does OFM work for race fueling it also helps with recovery as there is less oxidative damage done during the race.  While I did not ride or run the day after the race as had to drive home I did go for a run two days later and for the week after got in some good runs and a couple rides.  While I was tired - sorta natural for the effort, the most sore thing on my was my butt:). I felt good enough I had to be conscious to take it easy and not ride my usual and to hold back on some runs.  Bottom line OFM WORKS.

Lessons Learned

• Need to be more aware of pace early on and push a little harder but not redline
• Due to the difficulty, at least for me, to get to some fueling out of my pack I  may need to use more Tailwind - also helps with electrolytes
• Inline with this I have to think about gloves as I like to wear full fingered ones as just nice if crash but they do make it hard to open fuel and even feel for it in ones pack when it settles down farther than you thought it would:)
• Need to think about if my Carb intake is good.  I was at about 24gr/hr but in looking at some others, like Jeff Browning who does Ultras running and is fat adapted he is closer to 40 or so.  May not need more but need to look into it.  The effort in cycling is not the same as running as it is more up and down, literally in this race, for effort while when I run it is more often constant
• Need to work on shorter hills for gravel as for sure different than when did Steamboat that was similar overall elevation, a little less, but longer.  The hills in Lincoln were relentless
• Continue to learn to not hold so tight to the bars 
• Ride more gravel
• Need a new saddle as the one I has again was not great for this long a ride

Lastly I want to thank the following people:

• God for instilling in me the desire to do what I do for His glory and the ability to do it
• My wife for putting up with my riding and running
• Peter Defty at Vespa
• Sam Torres & John Switow - great friends and encouragements
• Scott Hess at The Spoke Easy Bike shop in Campbellsville KY who saved my but just before I left with fixing my bike
• All the riders in the BMTR group on FB/Strava for the great rides together
• All the riders on Strava who were also a great encouragement
• All the other OFM athletes on the Vespa Team who each show what can be done when fat adapted
• I am sure I forgot someone but there were many more - thank you

Strava Data - Gravel Worlds

Gravel Worlds Route:

Equipment

• Bike: Orbea Terra - W/SRAM Red 2X 
  
• Enve G23 Wheels W/Panaracer Gravel King SS+ 700 X 38 types
• Orange Mud Endurance Pack V2 w/2ltr bladder & 2 X 24oz Bottles on Bike

Fueling:

Pre-Race

• 20oz Modified BP Coffee
• 1/2 Cup Oatmeal with Butter and Brown Sugar
• 2ea - 50mg Vitamin D
• 2 GLPC

1/2 Hour before race

• 1- Vespa CV25
• 1- Tru-Niagen
• 1ea Bit-O-Honey at 20 and 10 Minutes Before Race

Prior to Race Totals

• Calories - 786
• Protein - 26
• Carbs - 58 g
• Fat - 50 g

During Race:

• 4ea - 24oz Water Bottles
• In the bottles I had the following special mixture in 2 of them to start.  Idea was to start sipping on them at 90 minutes then use one for first half and other for second half but not sure I actually used all of the second on
• 1ea - Tru-Niagen Powder
• 3 - Tbsp Liquid L-Carnitine
• 1 - Vespa CV25
• 1/3 Scoop Keto Fuel
• Added water and ice
• Carried one 2 Liter Bladder and topped off twice
• 3ea - Vespa Ultra Concentrate
• 1ea - Vespa CV25
• 6ea S!Caps - 2ea at 2, 4 and 6 hours
• 3ea of SIS Go Energy
• 3ea of PowerGEL W/Sodium
• 1/2 Can Coke at 128 mile checkpoint
• 1/2 a hot dog - more like a sausage - at the 128 check point, not sure why I ate it but looked good and salt sounded good

During Race Total

• Calories - 921
• Carbs - 224
• Protein - 3 g
• Fat - 6g