AM: ~4.5 hours. 2:54 for the race. 213W. HR 169.
De Ronde van Grampian 50 Mile Gravel Race
This is our team's local race that is in its second year. Decided on a whim to sign up and ride the fifty on my fat bike. It is quite hilly and 99.99% gravel roads, almost all of which I have ridden on before except for a handful of miles. I was a lottle nervous after my last race disaster and the one before that was a broken elbow in August. I felt that no matter how I felt it was good to sign up and support the race. That was the right call.
Decided to ride there as it was only 10 miles, which is a bit long for a bike warmup, but no way I was driving. Cool morning to start and my HR was up a bit mostly from race nerves. Got there at a decent time and ran into a bunch of people I know, a few I haven't seen in a while. It was really nice to see people. The corral was pretty packed and the bike is not small, so I felt a little clausterphobic, but settle in okay with a slow start at the farm. A few people ate it in the sand. Neutral roll out through there and down Indian Lake as it was pretty rough, but it always is. That actually ended up not being super neutral, but I appreciated the safety concern.
Formed a decent group eventually and I was able to work with a group for quite a long time and really enjoyed racing. My goal going in was under 3 hours, which I figured was doable because I can do a couple hours at 15+ MPH by myself on the fat bike. I really wanted 17 MPH and thought maybe a stretch was 18 MPH, but the course is a bit hillier than I usually do and the last 1.5 miles or so is on trails and even with the fat bike I knew would be slow. I think I was 17.8 through 38-40 miles at least and slowed toward the end, but was still 17+.
Unsure how fast I would have been on my gravel bike. Some of the corners were tricky on some downhills and there was one sketchy section with a washout that was terrible but unexpected given that the rest of the course was in really good shape. I was the only person in that category so I got my first podium, which was pretty funny. Stayed for awards and had some food and then road home. Absolutely perfect weather day and I had a lot of fun racing and riding bikes. I will still do some bike racing as my running continues to pick up. I am unsure how much as it takes time, especially with travel for most events, but I'm not ready to give it up.
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