No, definitely not in the shorter distances
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Absolutely a good place for the long distance folks to shake things up then
It’s gorgeous this morning in Hico! Humidity much lower than Houston. I’m going to ride out to the water crossing a bit later.
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Well, I had a great ride, the water is low…and then I got a tear flat that wouldn’t seal in the last couple miles on the highway. 
I’m now in Waco (80 miles from my hotel) waiting for a shop to install new tires that I have never ridden before (WTB Byway) and have a lot of reviews saying they flat a lot… This should be an interesting experience…
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Thanks for the report. Hopefully you got the flat out of you system today so you won’t have one on Saturday.
It looks like the water crossing is ridable. Are the rocks solid enough to ride without too much drama?
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It’s maybe a foot high. I rolled it both directions no problem. Feet did get a bit wet. There seem to be better lines on both the left and the right, with more bumps down the middle. If you blow up the pic you can see it.
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Thanks for the report. Sorry to hear about the flat and hopefully that’s the last you’ll experience of them. I’m planning a short ride there tomorrow, before packet pickup.
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Ouch. It was hot if you rode before packet pickup!
Good luck to everyone racing tomorrow…hope the weather cooperates for you.
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I don’t want to put a damper on this thread, so if one of the mods wants to spin off to a new thread that’s fine.
Holy crap 
Oh my god….WTF?
Horrific.
Just stunned.
That’s awful! So young too, terrible news.
Terrible. She was just getting started.
That heat kicked my arse today. Hope the rest of you fared better. I limped in for maybe the last 30 miles with terrible cramp issues.
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Sorry to herE that @Pbase , I was in the same boat, but for about the last 10 of the GL60, which was 69 miles, not 60.
My AP and NP dropped considerably in the last 1.5 hours as I could not put much force on the pedals. 50% efforts felt like 100% efforts.
Hope you recovering now. I’ve been on and off cramping since I got done around 12:30 today.
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Sorry to hear that, @Pbase….nothing worse than struggling in the heat.
Have a beverage and recover!!
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Here’s my race report from today. Written while convalescing in my hotel room.
Gravel Locos 2020 Race Report
After watching the Vegan Cyclist’s (Tyler Pearce) video of his 2021 race, I decided to sign up for this year’s event. Though people have called me Loco, I knew better than to attempt a 100 or 150 gravel race, so I signed on for the 60-miler (which was really 69 miles.) I can confirm that 9 extra miles was significant, especially given the record high temperatures forecast for Hico, TX.
We arrived in Hico on Friday to pick up the race packet and get a lay of the land. I also did a 30-minute pre-ride as a last-minute check for bike, equipment, and me. It was 101°F and I came back with a headache I couldn’t shake for several hours.
After the pre-ride, Lisa (my wife) and I walked around Hico and I spotted Ian Boswell (former Team Sky rider and now full-time gravel racer). Just as we left, we ran into the Vegan Cyclist! That was one personality I was hoping to meet, and I let him know that I signed up based on his video from last year. He was a very nice guy, and even posed for a picture with me.
The following morning, we arrived in Hico at 6:45 a.m. to get ready for the race. Fabian, the race director, recounted the very sad story of Moriah Wilson, a young female racer from Vermont that he had convinced to come and ride the race. She was killed on the Wednesday before the race and police are still searching for a motive and suspect. She was just 25 years old. The race was held in her honor today.
After the opening ceremonies and remarks, the group rolled out at 7:48 a.m. in a neutral start fashion for the first 8 miles. There is a river crossing at that point and the goal was to get all the riders across without incident.
Fortunately, the river was not swelled with water like last year and I was able to get across (hike a bike) without getting wet.
The racing started for real once we got across and I hopped from wheel to wheel looking to go a bit faster and save some energy. I rolled in to the first stop at 20 miles feeling great and average 16.5 mph. My average power and normalized power were higher than I would have liked, and I paid for that later.
Once I resumed, I was on my own for about an hour, well except for the sun which burned brightly for the entire 5 hours I was on the course. There was not one shady road that offered a respite. I’m glad I wore my sun sleeves.
Other than the blazing sun, my ride was uneventful in terms of flats, crashes, mechanicals, etc. Once advantage of riding on your own or in small groups is you get a good idea of what’s coming.
I eventually did pick up a group of five riders and we made good time until about 5 miles before the second stop at the 5-mile mark. I lost them on a short, but steep hill and was solo until mile 40, the second rest stop. At that point, I had been riding for 3 hours and had averaged 16.3 mph, and an average power of 149W. My normalized power was closer to 180.
After another quick stop for water, including dumping a few cups on my head and shoulders, I rolled on thinking I had about 2 hours left. I was by myself the rest of the way in and was rolling great till about mile 60. My average pace at that point was 15.5mph, my average power slipped to 135W, but normalized was around 165W.
At this point I could feel myself fading because of the intense heat, the kind of heat I’m just not used to and never do well in. I knew the last 9 would be hard as the cramps started to set in. Despite drinking over 100 ounces of fluids and popping Endurolytes capsules like candy, and mind you, each bottle I drank included Endurolytes Extreme, nothing mitigated the cramping.
With 2.4 miles left I was forced to stop twice as my legs had literally seized and I could barely twist my feet to release the pedals! After a quick break, I somehow slogged back and finished in just under 5 hours and 3 minutes. My average speed fell to 14.9 and average power was 126W and the normalized power was 164W.
I was hoping to finish in about 5 hours with an average speed of 15mph. That’s effectively what I did, but I’m certain I would have been faster if I had either been acclimated to the heat, or it simply was 10° cooler. Se la vie, I still finished with that I was expecting and despite the intense cramping that carried on for several hours after finishing, I had a smile on my face.
As much as this narrative has been about the race and how I did, ABSOLUTELY NONE of it would have been possible without Lisa. She encouraged me to do it, made all the travel arrangements, and most of all was at the finish line to greet and meet me. I was uncomfortable from all the cramping and she took care of me like no one can. She is the best!
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I had a fairly similar ride, but cracked about 20 miles before you did!
I just couldn’t beat the cramping. I couldn’t climb in the saddle because my left leg would cramp up any time I put down any kind of power above maybe 75%. I just decided to go slow and limp in the last 30 miles; and it was working right up until we got back into town. I think I tried to push a little too hard knowing the end was in sight and I literally cramped about half mile from the finish line. I ended up doing a one legged drill with my left leg pointing out all the way to the finish line where I clipped in just long enough for the finish photo. 
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