I did my first gravel race this last weekend. 89km, 2km climbing. Completed in 4h29m that included 3 stops, 2 for nutrition/water and one mechanical.
Was pretty fun. Learned that I’m definitely not as confident descending down those gravel roads with lots of potholes and washboards on a gravel bike. I was in 38mm tires, noticed a lot of people had wider tires.
I maintained stead Z3/Z4 effort (bout 80-85% of FTP) through the climbs with bumps into Z5 for short bursts. One thing I noticed is that even in my largest gear, I was at a 70-80’sh cadence which is way slower than my sweet spot I like at 90-95. And most of my feeling of fatigue was muscle fatigue.
I took my entire data dump for the race, stripped out the lat/long data, and fed it to an AI model. Attached is the summary it provided…I thought it was pretty good.
Happy to share my data with anyone that wants to take a look.
I’d appreciate any tips on what to look for to guide me in areas I can work on in training, better strategies, or just “looks like a good race effort. Just keep getting faster.”
Bigger tires buy a lot of confidence and often roll faster unless it’s really smooth gravel. Run the biggest tire you bike can handle if the race includes chunky stuff, especially if there are sketchy descents. And if you have an XC MTB, consider racing that instead if your gravel bike can’t take a 42 or higher. Or just consider the XC bike anyway, I often have more fun racing gravel on my MTB vs. my gravel bike. It makes all the hard parts easy and doesn’t slow you much on the fast stuff. Might require a larger chainring if you go that path.
Gravel racing has a lot of “heavy pedaling” due the surface, but it sounds like you didn’t have enough gear range. Consider a smaller chainring or different gearing altogether. A good percentage of racers (including pros) are running MTB RD/cassette setup (eagle AXS) for the extra range rather than traditional gearing.
Yeah, I was on my Crux which I plan to cyclocross too. I think the gearing is right for that. But for a really long, sustained climbing race like this I could have used something bigger (or smaller up front). There was only a very, very small part of the race where I spun out on my smallest gear because I was going too fast on the road.
This was absolutely NOT smooth gravel. Lots of potholes, big ones. Often densely grouped so navigating around them was very tricky and plowing through them pretty rough…lots of body/bike separation to keep from being thrown.
I’m ok at road descents, but descending this on the Crux felt super sketchy.
I have a crux as well… and 38 mm tires are just going to feel that way. Put a MTB cassette on the back with wider tires (50 mm tire on the front / 45 -47 on the back… something with traction) and watch how that bike transforms into a chunky gravel race machine. You’ll only give up time on smooth, flat roads (but not much) and it doesn’t sound like there’s much of that in this race.
I tried the 2.0 race kings… which is too big I’m the rear and rubs when the bike flexes and yeah, they weren’t the fastest rolling tire but man, it gave so much confidence. So kept 50 in the front (plenty of room there) and swapped in a 45 in the back.
As for the racing… 80-85% of FTP for 4.5 hours is pretty amazing.
Sounds like a successful first event. Somethings I like to donis have a cue sheet with mile markers for the climbs, aid stations and any important turns. I also like having a distance ridden to go along with the notes. My last event I actually use the garmin power planning feature and it was pretty useful. I like keeping a minimal setup when I’m riding too - just what’s really needed.
As far as your cadence goes, is a lower cadence something that you normally experience when riding gravel? Or was this just on the climbs?
As far as descending goes, I think it takes practice. Mot much you can do about washboards and potholes except don’t crash. I purposely do a lot of training rides on gravel leading up to an event to keep my skills sharp. I’ll actually session a descent if I’m having trouble with it.
Good job on your effort. The more events you do the better you get at them.
As per other posts, and especially with the Crux which has relatively big clearance, you want to be on 45mm tyres at least. I’ve had a 2.25 tyre on the front of my crux.
It does still feel twitchier than my Giant Revolt tho.
It’s something I need to work on myself, but I think there is a lot of time to be saved in being more confident on the descents.
I usually keep a high cadence, gravel or otherwise. But this was the first big climb/fireroad style gravel I’ve done ever.
When I ride my gravel bike it’s usually a mix of road and single track (blue/green). . . . with the single track being semi-technical XC level riding. The climbs are more like rollers where I can just power up and over in 6-10m. So I usually maintain a higher cadence, but also a much higher power that I wouldn’t have been able to sustain on these climbs.
Another tip, line up early so you can be at the front. I probably lost out on being top 10 by 3 spots because I forgot this one rule. Had to spend a lot of energy to never see the front of the race.
Kudos on your first race! I also just completed my first race and I was curious how you feel after. Mine was longer at 118km and a similar elevation, and I completed it in 5:40 (nearly dead last… I’m wondering if that’s normal or this was a fast field!), but now I’m DEAD and had a period today where I felt a bit dizzy/lightheaded during a walk, like I used every last bit of energy on the race Sunday and today (Wednesday) I’m still feeling a bit of the effects. Granted I haven’t slept amazingly and I played goalkeeper yesterday in a soccer game but just wondering if that’s a typical response to an endurance effort. I have been (I think) diligent with hydration and I drank roughly 4 litres during the event.
I think I’m getting the same type of response from my 33 yr old body so maybe you’re not so old yet! Slept better last night but interrupted by a power outage. Thinking tomorrow I’ll get back to it. Good to know I’m not alone.
I’d say don’t beat yourselves up over recovery time, or over sleep. The first night of sleep can be difficult afterwards. Multiple rest days after a big &/or intense event is a thing. I need about three or four easy/rest days after a big audax ride before I can do intervals at the same level that I can mid-block. This is after a ride, not a race. I’m 44. RLGL drastically underestimates the recovery time I need after very long rides. @jkyle, Garmin’s estimate sounds like it’s in the ballpark in this instance.
It doesn’t sound like the poster is a “front pack” racer, and mentioned he’s still uneasy on descents. Starting and trying to keep the front group probably wouldn’t be the safest for him nor those around him.
