Ride Report
The day started off cool and foggy. And stayed consistently foggy until well after daybreak. The very dry roads creating a fine powder that stuck to the fog, covering everything with slime. It made fueling quite difficult, endless you wanted a mouthful of mud.
I was in a really great paceline for the first hour or so, just chugging along, then as the deep dusty sand tools its toll, and riders peeled off the train, I was soon riding solo, passing groups here and there. I didnt feel like I was putting in a huge effort, just that I could see the gravel better and pick lines, though fueling would be an issue, as noted above.
I pulled into the first checkpoint at just past 4am, stopped just long enough to change out the cue sheets, and rolled out to get to the first store. About 1.5 hours for that 26 miles, then I spent about 50 minutes stopped. Despite the time, I really probably could have done a better job making sure I had eaten enough, as I'd only had Gu and Gatorade up to that point. I made it a point to eat more consistently.
The dusty conditions never let up. Keeping the bike straight, upright, and moving forward was a constant challenge.
At around mile 112, I pulled over to add some air to the front tyre, as it had been bottoming on large rocks and train tracks the whole race, and another race stopped to eat and he mentioned that we were almost half way, and that hadn't even clicked. It really reinvigorated those 8 miles for me. I pulled into the second checkpoint and halfway point at about 10:50. Spend maybe 10 minutes there, doing cuesheet swap and eating.
I rolled out of checkpoint two feeling great, but soon the exposed, dry, hot weather began taking its toll. My hands were rubbed raw inside my gloves, I could feel blisters rising on my toes. My shoulders were tired from constantly fighting the sandy conditions. By mile 140, I knew I was just not having fun anymore. Then I noticed my cycling shorts had started to come apart along the seams on both legs, where they rubbed on my seatpost bag. Luckily my leg sun sleeves were protecting my legs from the friction, but I knew there was no way to really continue like that. I knew there was a town coming up, so I pedaled on there, and figured I'd assess the situation there. Lyft claimed coverage, and I thought I had an easy out. Sadly, none of the drivers wanted to take my fare, so it came down riding being the only option to get back to town. Almost 60 miles. Sure. Fine. I ate some food, filled my bottles and rolled. Slowly.
Most of the route the GPS chose was fine, a bit hillier than I'd liked at that point. Then came the bike paths. My maps don't entirely line up with reality, so there was much riding back and forth, over and under trying to find/make some of the connections between paths. My brain was fried. As soon as I reached a point where I actually knew where I was, I stopped and lay on the grass and ate for a while.
Setup:
Bike:
Raleigh Tamland 2014
Shimano 105 5700 10sp
50/34
SRAM 12-32
Wipperman 11sx chain
TRP Spyre brakes
Shimano XTR 160mm rotors
Salsa CowBell bars
Bontager Gel Tape
Brooks Cambium saddle
Lynskey TI post
Velocity Aileron 700c rims
DTS350 rear XT Dyno front
Panaracer GravelKing 38mm tubeless
