That was a crazy race! Significantly harder than I expected when looking at the numbers. In my mind, it felt like 50% Single track, 30% gravel, and 20% road.
The hard start was really rough for me. I wanted to stay in the front group, but lost it a few miles before the unroad sector. Tried to find a group to catch back up, but at that point nobody was working cohesively. I burned too many matches early on. It was very interesting to me the elites and amateurs start at the same time. Seems like that caused lots of amateurs to roll with pros and then probably crack really early. I think they should let elites go first, so people aren’t fooling themselves thinking they can keep up.
Anyways, my biggest mistake was forgetting my hydration pack when I flew in. I grabbed a third bottle and threw that in my back pocket, but at about mile 25 I looked down and one of my other bottles had popped out! That was a bummer.
I’m pretty confident in my off road skills, so did well overall. Agree that 45 mm tires were not a good choice. I could’ve easily kept the 50s on or even moved up to MTB tires because so much of the time was spent on endless single track with windy turns.
Going in, I had no idea what time to target, but I definitely bonked at the end section. Tried my best to keep power up but it was a struggle. I had a lot of fun though and am glad I had no mechanicals or wrecks! I definitely rimmed out a couple of times but never flatted.
So, I guess I’m in the market for some new and better bottle cages. Any recommendations???
Dude I know the feeling. That switchback section in the sun was rough. I kept thinking “where is that damn road to finish this out??”. Was thinking it was 20 miles or so of road, but it was only 7. I was running on empty at that point.
Congrats to all you that did BWR this year. I’ve never done the the full waffle because I like not feeling totally wrecked after a day of racing I’ve only ever done the wafer and that distance is the upper end of my sweet spot as far as pushing myself on the bike goes.
I’m also really surprised that pretty much all of you feel like 45’s wasn’t enough. I haven’t done the newer sections of the long course so I can’t comment on the roughness of those trails. I’m curious as to how heavy you guys are. I’m 150 and 45 were great for me last time around, although I just mounted some 50mm Spec Terras on my Crux and boy they are sweet on the dirt. I just figured with the amount of road, that 45 would be a good mid-point.
Once again, congrats and if you were to ever come out again, I’d suggest the Wafer route if you want a little less of a good time. Cheers!
Granted I don’t know the brand new section (Boden Canyon), but I’ve ridden everything else over the last 4 years. If you are confident in your handling abilities, 45s are fine especially with some tread (Caracals are too loose, would not do that again). Terraspeeds or the new Tracers would be perfect either in 45 or 50 (or a mullet setup, which I’m running now to use up tires for training).
Black Canyon / Ysabel / Black Mountain section is technical, but I did it on a road bike with 30mm slicks a few years back (would not recommend), so not that bad. Last year I used 40mm Caracals and my biggest complaint is simply that they have very little grip in corners. They’re an incredibly fast tire, but I lost it many times in corners at speed. The new Tracer in comparison is far more capable and still quite fast. So is the G-One RX in theory, which I’ve yet to try.
tl;dr I wouldn’t sweat the tire choice too much past 45.
Wafer vs. Waffle? C’mon, you’re already paying for the travel and the race, go all out and get your money’s worth out of it.
edit: 2022 was my first year, and boy was I underprepared and under-biked. Showed up on a road bike, 30mm Strada Bianca tires, with a 48/35 crank paired to 10-33T cassette. And then I talk to people on 25-28s with rim brakes, and any morale I have left is gone. Really glad they chose to shorten it.
BWR CALIFORNIA COURSE BY THE NUMBERS
~129 miles
~10,000 ft of climbing
24 off-road sectors
Nearly half unpaved (61 miles)
18% more dirt than last year
I was living there for the last few years, but still anything over about 70 miles with dirt in it is just too damn far for me. At this point you’re seasoned veteran of the course @sasa. I hope to be out there in the next couple of years for the wafer :).
I’ve only ever done the wafer and that distance is the upper end of my sweet spot as far as pushing myself on the bike goes.
Last year I used 40mm Caracals and my biggest complaint is simply that they have very little grip in corners. They’re an incredibly fast tire, but I lost it many times in corners at speed. The new Tracer in comparison is far more capable and still quite fast. So is the G-One RX in theory, which I’ve yet to try.