50/50 dirt/pavement road race

Any tips to riding a 50/50 dirt road / paved road race (e.g. Boulder Roubaix)? I only have my regular rim brake 25mm max tire bike available. Tactics? Tire pressure? Traction vs pinch flat risk? I weigh around 81kg (~180 lbs). Thanks!

Don’t crash

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keep pedaling as much regular as possibile and don’t move to the side suddenly, lower a little the tire pressure, always keep your hands on the levers but withoutover tighten, and use the right tires
last Sunday I used wtb thickslick on GF Strade Bianche (Siena) and found them great both for this kind of race and for the winter season in general

@neva6 Roadie is the bike of choice for this. So you’re fine. This is probably my favorite road race on the CO calendar and will be doing it this year. Will be on my Emonda SLR with tubulars (25s). I run them lower, gloves, and in the past I have doubled up the bar tape. Pace is fast and brutal.

Nice. This will be my first RR after only doing crits last year, but as a 4 at least it’s only 2 laps. Anyone ever put stans in their tubes? :flushed: Would that even help anything in a race like this?

Run those 25s tubeless if you can, and get that pressure down. Not sure what gravel means in Boulder, but 25s on gravel where I race it would be miserable and sketchy as hell.

I’m doing a 60/40 road/gravel race in 3 weeks and using the Schwalbe G-One Speed gravel tires – which are only 30mm wide. Could you shoehorn those in?

Even if you could run 28s at 80psi – that would be a win. If you’re running tubes, you’re really in for it…

But, as always – good luck!

You’ll be ok. Last time I raced BR was almost 15yrs ago and we were all on 23c tires with 110psi in them. Maybe 120 to avoid flats… Let a bit out of your 25s and stay smooth.

It was a quick race but not very selective until the final pass through the rollers. Save your matches and only follow a break if it’s dangerous/big enough to stick. I learned this the hard way. Dragged everyone over the rollers and rode the front all day feeling good because I shed quite a few riders on the hills only to have 2-3 riders go over the top of me on the last hill. One of my first road races.

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Bike can barely fit 25s but I am thinking about going tubeless and lowering pressure for pinch flat avoidance. It’s not a “gravel race” per say, but half the roads are country dirt roads.

good insight thanks!

This is a fun race. It is brutal. Last time I did this I was a four. The pace really ramps up on the first lap on the last roller before the finish and that’s when our group split. I missed the break and our chase group couldn’t get back on. From what I recall there is one sketchy turn from pavement to dirt, but the field takes it pretty slow.
I also did this race on 25s and with tubes. Was fine. Good luck!