Hi everyone! I started cycling this summer and quickly found myself addicted to the performance gains and joy of riding. I’ve been “training” for about 4 months with TrainerRoad as my main guide, and I have my first gravel race coming up in 10 days. I’ve never raced before besides on Zwift and Rouvy. This one is 76 miles with about 7,000ft of climbing (I’m in the mountains in Colorado)
I’m 33, 177 lbs and at roughly 3.0 w/kg at 241w FTP. I can put out a bit over 1,000w in short bursts, and my cardio health feels the best it’s ever been. My main question is how do I approach the start of the race when the race is this long? Is it advised to start near the front, or should I hold back and start at a slower manageable pace and pass people who started too hard?
Using BestBikeSplits, I’ve built out a power plan that I should be able to manage throughout the entire ride but I know that I could easily fall off that plan.
Can you all share some advice to help me prepare for this? Thank you!
Cant help with group races or certainly gravel riding, but from a TT perspective I can tell you that the easiest thing to do is to go out to hard at the start and that you’ll pay for it later on with hefty time losses.
The adrenaline and excitement of being in a race is a deceptively powerful force when it comes to over doing rather than sticking to your power targets.
How much outside riding do you usually do? How often do you ride routes of similar length and elevation?
If the answer to that is, not often, I’d really err on the conservative side. Start at a comfortable pace (or follow the BBS plan), find a group to ride with (that might be a new thing too?), and if you’re feeling good, you’ll reel in a lot if people towards the end of the race.
As it’s your first race, stay away from the front of the race. Try to learn as much as possible, enjoy it, and if it goes well, you can always sign up to another race and try to be a bit more competitive.
Considering you are primarily an indoor cyclist with no to little experience riding, let alone racing, in a group or even outside it would be best and safest for you and everyone around you if you took the whole thing as conservatively as possible.
My first advice is to do your own race, whether you start at the front or the back. Although it’s always nice to start closer to the front as there’s less rider traffic to get through if you happen to be riding faster than others. If not, people will naturally pass you at the beginning, but don’t worry, this is due to the initial adrenaline, haha. Things quickly settle and everyone falls where they should be.
Sounds like you have the first part covered, which is a power plan, so try to stick to that (your own race). And then you’ll probably settle into a group dynamic with people at the same level. Staying with a group becomes really beneficial for motivation, but also for not always having to do the pulling yourself. Be smart about this, and try to save energy wherever you can.
What I’d also recommend is throwing in a few longer rides before the event to test out gear, nutrition, and hydration. Having a nutrition and hydration plan can be the difference between bonking and not. Fueling will become the most important part on race day (in my opinion). I remember on my first 100-mile gravel race with 10,000ft of climbing, I was super fit, but didn’t fuel the work properly, and I struggled like never before to complete the last 10 miles. The following year, I went back with a proper fueling strategy and had legs for days!
Here is also a great article that I think would be helpful:
I think a lot depends on how much group/pack riding you’ve done. If you feel comfortable in a tight group, try to get with a group that’s going a speed that is comfortable for you (err on the side of easier if you don’t want to blow up). If you don’t have a lot of experience drafting in tight groups, the start of a gravel race is jumping into the deep end and I’d suggest treating it more like a TT and keep some distance from others (at least until the race settles down and spreads out). As a beginner (and assuming you aren’t trying to hang with the lead group), where you line up won’t matter as much as how you ride once the race starts. My advice would be to go into the race without overthinking it and just feel it out and let the race come to you. Don’t forget to eat and drink. It’s human nature to be a little anxious when trying new things, but there is no reason to have anxiety or stress in a first race if you just treat it like a learning experience. Even at big events that I’ve trained hard for and have high goals, I always remind myself at the starting line - it’s just a bike ride, have fun. Good luck.
If you’re doing Salida 76, it starts out with that long climb out of town past the drop off for Cottonwood. Plenty of time to move up around people who started too hot, so I wouldn’t worry about where to line up. By the time you get to the top it’ll be so thinned out the group riding aspect of this is pretty much absent.
With your level of fitness, you could start near the front and sag the climb. The really fast people will be dropping the group in about 10-15 minutes. The descent after the climb can be a bit rowdy until you get out into the flats.
If you can find a group of people to ride with one you’re out there, it’ll help as it can be a bit windy.
I’d imagine the CO scene is a lot like OR in that age group gravel races are extremely competitive. The front of the race will be extremely fast. This creates a problem in two ways: You probably won’t be prepared for how fast it will be, creating a deficit you’ll have to pay for later on in mile 40, 50 or 60 etc… And, the extremely competitive AG’s will expect you to know how to ride in a group. They will expect you to draft and will ride your wheel. The pace will be high, and you won’t be able to see where you’re going.
Of course the alternative is you start at the front by yourself and immediately get dropped.
You can do a lot by treating it like a TT. Ride your own race and stay out of the faster group’s way. This usually means you’ll do most of the race solo or with like one other person in my experience, but if you’re aren’t gunning for a podium, that’s fine and it can make for a very rewarding day.
Either way, it’s best to take some time and learn how to race. You’ll learn how everything works quick enough.
I have similar a power and weight profile, but have been racing for 13 years. From my experience, racing smart outperforms racing strong, and the best way to learn to race smart is to race - as often as possible. There’s no substitute for spending time in the pack, fighting for wheels, learning to identify moves, and learning which wheels to follow.
You’re going to want to pace yourself and avoid attacking from the gun. Depending on the number of riders, there’s a lot to be said for staying in the front 20-30% of the pack, but that may or may not be possible. For this race, set a pace and find riders you can work with. if you stick to your sustainable power targets, you’ll be passing stragglers for most of the 2nd half of the race.
