I’m flying in from Washington. Any recommendations on places to stay? Will have wife and 2 bikes with me. I’m familiar with the area somewhat, but not sure if there’s any cool cabins or more scenic areas within 30 minutes of Bentonville or so. I did see there’s a “bike inn” but it’s already fully booked which isn’t too surprising.
Edit: ended up going with this place: Campfire Ranch Little Sugar - Bella Vista, AR | Reserve your campsite today. Looks pretty cool. I’m a sucker for adventure / bike themed places.
If you’re willing to stretch the 30m. Look at Fayetteville, AR. They also have a lot of cycling, and prices for stuff in general will be a bit cheaper than in Bentonville. (Minus gas for some weird reason). It probably won’t be the dream experience of riding trails right outside your door. But it will save you money, and they have some banger gravel roads.
Thanks! I actually went to college in Fayetteville so I’m quite familiar with that area. We’re coming in from Kansas City in the North so Bella Vista made a bit more sense. Do you know of a good repository for Fayetteville and Northwest Arkansas Gravel routes? I’ll be doing Big Sugar, but my wife will also be coming with her bike and we will want to do some other trails. I’m very interested in the Fayetteville ones specifically.
PSA - Aero bars were not allowed at Big Sugar last year, I’m assuming the same rule will be in place this year. A bunch of amateurs rolling in the puppy paws position on chunky gravel is so much safer than aero bars….
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I ran aero bars last 2 years. Will run them again this year.
I won’t unless they change the rule, but I have no issue with someone else doing it unless they are fighting for a podium spot.
I think it’s silly not to allow them in a 100 mile amateur gravel race. At the pointy end, you just get people using more dangerous aero positions when bars aren’t allowed. Further back in the pack, you have people out there for 6+ hours (often alone in the wind) and aero bars can make a long day much more enjoyable. I have no idea why Lifetime allows them at Unbound but not Big Sugar, but I think I’ll shoot them a note asking if that’s the rule again this year and see if they will reconsider.
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I’m all for it. Survival of the fittest. Only those with weight-saving small brains, like myself, will see the benefit in the 1lb we save as we hold on to our imaginary aero bars to roll us into a 50th place in our class………. Or hit a pot hole and take out the fast people who are sitting on my wheel as I pull, think I can solo 75 miles to glory.
Look at the local ride groups. The Fayetteville Wheelmen, and BMC Walmart club have some good routes if you pull up the website and Facebook page (are we allowed to link stuff? Ima not for safety)
Rapha Bentonville has a Fayetteville side to it. I am not sure if the Strava is public, but they have good routes too. Honestly, if you just pull up bike reg and just start putting pins down, you will be good. Just make sure you go south. North is way to busy most of the time.
What are you all thinking for fulfilling (100M)? I am thinking hydration pack and 1 bottle (mix)to the first aid station (hope to be close to 2h), Ditch both. 1 water bottle (mix) to the second aid station. Then 2 watter bottle (1 mix, 1 watter) to the finish. Thoughts from someone who has raced it? I am going for the fastest time possible for me. So full performance load out and hopefully an age group podium.
Weather obviously a factor but I think you may need less in the morning to first aid. Depending on your speed a 2 liter pack should be plenty. The last stretch from second aid to finish you may need more. It will depend on weather and wind. A few years ago there was a strong headwind that made it a slog. Later in the day it will be warmer as well.
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I am thinking a 1 litter aero pack cause it will be a big group and very punch. And 1 litter of mix. So Hoefully that works.
Technicly nothing says your feed zone people cant move. So you could have someone ride next to you and hand u stuff right? Just a joke that would be way too sketchy in practice.
Yeah, I think you should be good with 2 liters total fluid to the first aid.
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It will really depend on the weather. October can be hot, cold, or anything in between. I’ve found that most 100 mile gravel races in decent weather are trending toward zero stops for the fast groups, but it’s highly dependent on who you end up with. Definitely skip the first aid station. When you hit the next aid station (~75 miles in), the groups will likely be much smaller and may agree to stop, but I wouldn’t assume they will. But there is a steep climb after that aid station, so pretty easy to do a 30 second stop and quickly close the gap if you are a strong climber. I was just racing for fun last year with marginal off season fitness, but groups were still critical all day. I stopped at the 75 mile aid station and I don’t think it really cost me since the group was falling apart that late it the race anyway and some of us ended up back together after the climb. I’ll probably do the same this year. And for me, it’s more about giving myself a chance to stop and pee at 75 miles. Carrying enough fluids for ~6 hours isn’t that hard if the weather is nice. But I’m an old guy and my bladder struggles on the 100m races. I can do it, but it’s usually miserable by the end. If I was going for a podium, I’d suck it up, but I’ll just be out there to ride hard and have fun. Big Sugar is not a race I can be competitive in with off season fitness.
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I will be doing Big Sugar this year and wondering peoples thoughts on running tire liners on this course. I did The Rift in Iceland last year and The Traka in Girona this year and was fine without liners in both races. I don’t recall seeing many riders fixing flats in either of those races. I have seen Big Sugar race videos where people talk about a lot of riders getting flats. I’m just wondering if it would be worth the trouble to fit liners for Big Sugar. Thanks!
I’m also considering liners after having bad luck with flats many times this year. I’m also on 40mm tires. I don’t have any experience with them, but agree with your sentiment that this might be some of the sharpest and most-likely-to-flat-you gravel. My goal was to get a frame with better tire clearance, but it’s starting to look like I may just need to put in liners and hope for the best.
In my experience, the main risk of flats at Big Sugar are sidewall cuts and sharp punctures on the tread. Liners can provide protection against pinch flats, but I don’t consider the Big Sugar course prone to pinch flats. I guess a liner allows lower pressure, which might reduce the risk of some punctures, but I personally don’t run them unless I’m on a course where I’m worried about pinch flats. More likely to get a nasty cut at Big Sugar that requires boot/tube (where a liner becomes a big pain in the butt).
All that said, a 40mm tire is really low volume for big sugar, so maybe pinch flats become a risk if you are running super low pressure with a tire that small. I’d personally do anything I could to run the biggest tire you can squeeze into your frame. You don’t need much clearance at Big Sugar, the mud doesn’t get sticky like in the midwest.
I would ask the question is your goal to reduce flats with the inserts, or is it the ability to ride on an insert to the next aid station should you get a bad flat that plugs don’t fix and you don’t want to put a tube in?
I’ve moved away from inserts when running larger tires (ie. 2.2s) as I found I personally had more flats with inserts than without. If I ended up getting a bad enough flat that I couldn’t fix with a plug, then I would simply put in a tube.
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Ended up getting a new bike that will handle much bigger tires, so I am going to likely not run inserts. I can hold up to 57mm I believe. What are you guys going to be running? I’ve been on maxxis ramblers for a while, but wouldn’t mind trying something new since I will need to buy new tires anyways. Sounds like Race King 2.2 may be my next purchase
That’s what I ran last year and that’s what I’ll likely run this year. Good combo of fast rolling and flat protection (knock on wood).
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I’m debating on inserts. I have a Trek Checkpoint GEN 2 but I am going with a Schwalbe One RX pro 50mm upfront and 45mm in the back. Hope they work out!