It's just a training blog bro

[stb222]

ive noticed this, we need to wait for the NICA boom to hit the teenager years here

NICA boom starts at 11-12 (6th grade) and ends at 15 (10th into 11th) so you should already see it;

 

[Santapez]

ive noticed this, we need to wait for the NICA boom to hit the teenager years here

You don't see a lot of NICA there? I thought it was big in that area. You've got lots of XC spots and tons of kids there.

It's so small here locally that all their races seem to be in the Charlotte area. So it's 2+ hour drive for the local team for each race.

 

[Pearl]

Oh we do, but I want to see the 20-30 year olds still racing

 

[jShort]

I’d normally just text you but #content. How’s them new shoes? Still white enough to require shaved legs?

 

[Pearl]

I’d normally just text you but #content. How’s them new shoes? Still white enough to require shaved legs?

I just swapped my inserts over and they are good, the toe box seems slightly bigger than my Shimano ones

And yes they make my current Shimano shoes look grey lol

 

[jShort]

I had the opposite experience with my insoles. I had them on my Shimano road shoes. I tried swapping them to the new Torches and they gave me weird pressure points on the bottom and top of my feet. After a week of riding in them I went back to the insoles that came with and they were much more comfortable.

 

[stb222]

I just swapped my inserts over and they are good, the toe box seems slightly bigger than my Shimano ones

And yes they make my current Shimano shoes look grey lol

What inserts are you using?

I had the opposite experience with my insoles. I had them on my Shimano road shoes. I tried swapping them to the new Torches and they gave me weird pressure points on the bottom and top of my feet. After a week of riding in them I went back to the insoles that came with and they were much more comfortable.

I had a similar experienced, which was solved when I bought a new insert and cut it to the shape of the new shoe insert.

 

[Pearl]

@jdog got me on these and now i cant ride the road without them... but for some reason i can on the mtb?
Amazon product ASIN B01CGBDJTY

 

[jShort]

@jdog got me on these and now i cant ride the road without them... but for some reason i can on the mtb?
Amazon product ASIN B01CGBDJTYView attachment 234140

These are the ones I had too. Also from J. They don’t work for me in the new shoes.

 

[Pearl]

interesting, it was a perfect match, i think i need to order another pair because i know ill forget to swap them back and forth one day and really screw myself

 

[stb222]

I am riding those too, however went away from the "performance: ones. Only on the road and my winter mtb boots (which are more xc). However, not on my mtb shoes

 

[Pearl]

However, not on my mtb shoes

so weird, i had shimano shoes for both mtb and road and didnt feel uncomfortable on the mtb shoes, only needed them in the road

conspiracy i tell ya

 

[Pearl]

Been a while since I did one of these, so imma be a little rusty

The first gravel thing on the calendar was Saturday, The Uwharrie Gravel Grinder. The area is pretty awesome, I've had a huge triple B for it since we moved here. They have some offroad trails here and it used to go up this gnarly jeep climb, but they took it out... which is kinda lame. It was super steep and rugged AF, if you wanna see a video of it check it.

Anyway, this used to be in April, but they moved it a month earlier because Uwharrie is an oven in the summer, it just gets hot and cooks you. Not sure why, some geological people can tell me I guess. Thankfully its 50 at the start and I'm really to go after a quick warm up. It rained Thursday so I was hoping it would cut down on the dust, but it was still cloudy in the mix.

The race is 55 miles, 5500 feet of climbing. Sadly it isn't all unique and you need to do 2 laps of this course. Which has 3 out and backs, which is kind of lame, but from a racing standpoint is kind of cool, you can always see where you are, for better or worse. We got word that the first out and back is the most bombed out, which was kind of concerning. Hungry people wanting to drill it in a gravel race is already sketchy, but now the terrain is even more sketch? Oh boy.

The race rolls out and it's fast, always fast. 20mph always seems like a threshold speed of "fast" and we are doing that before we get out of the road we parked on. 5 minutes in, I already see bottles ejecting, tires exploding and parts falling off bikes. Just a reminder that no matter how short the ride is, I'm wearing a hydration pack. One of the stronger dudes lost a bottle, someone gave him another, and then 2 minutes later he pops another out of his cages. Oof.

About 10-15 minutes in and I'm happy my bike is still together, but not ready to take the risks some of these dudes are in the group on the descents. Chalk it up to bad handling or not riding my gravel bike enough on descents, but I'm not in it. I notice I'm not going to be able to hold this pace for around 3 hours and decide to fall back and focus on my own pace. I hate doing this but seeing my HR up so high and knowing how punchy the terrain is, and how unhelpful the draft is uphill, and the gaps you have to leave downhill to not crash into the person in front of you, It seems to be the right call. I've done a longer version of this and know that eventually, those people start dying.

The second and third out and backs are a lot smoother and with a small group of 3-4, we can see better. We keep the pace high "for me" and just do our own thing. One guy drops a chain and something else falls off his bike, so one down. I eventually make friends with a 40+ guy and we just agree to be smooth and keep our bikes together. This is pretty uneventful as we roll around for almost 2 hours at 253 NP and I'm hoping its enough to bring me home.

Around mile 43, ~2.5hr in, I crack, I cant hold the wheel of my friend and drift off of it and watch him fade into the dust. I haven't been keeping track of the people coming the other way, and people are chasing me down, I think it was 2-3 humans. I want to do more but I'm pretty tapped out and endurance pace will have to do. Arms are pretty smoked (I need to do more push ups) and I'm in total "jesus take the wheel" on the descents. Interestingly enough 2.5 hours in was when I ran out of my drink mix in my pack, maybe it was a mental thing?

I get passed by the dude who dropped his chain and something else off his bike and he apparently broke something else, as he has to stand up over some of these climbs and cant shift. Bummer.

We dump out onto a road climb and I'm hoping I don't see anyone else, but sadly, there is someone coming up on my tail. Not quickly, but quicker than I am moving. I take a 30 second break from pedaling and hoping he can at least tow me home. I jump on his wheel and he just continues to do his own thing, maybe this is going to work? After about a minute I realize it is not and I let him go. Womp womp.

I roll in solo in 3:01, good enough to win my age group (not extremely competitive) and something like 12-13 overall. The winners were 2:41.

I'm pretty okay with this one, First event and first real intensity over this distance. I also need to realize I'm not an open event contender, I'm an age grouper lifer. Sure I would have loved to not give up those 3 spots at the end, but it's something that I hope I can get tuned up in the next coming months. Sorry no photos, I know I will have some later this week.

Since you read this far, I will leave leave you with this:

EDIT: Oh and I was debating on if a 46t, 10-51 was going to be too much front ring for this. Thanks to AXS, I can say, it was not. One of the guys I was with was 2x and seeing that FD get a damn workout made me rethink that keeping 1x is the way to go.

 

[ChrisG]

Solid narrative. 👍

Your description of “5 minutes in…” had me flashing back to entering the 1st dirt sections at Battenkill. Even in the 40+ 1/2/3, it looked like a scene from a war film.

I do miss racing, when I take the time to think about it.

 

[jShort]

This is pretty uneventful as we roll around for almost 2 hours at 253 NP and I'm hoping its enough to bring me home.

This is one thing that is cool with road and gravel. Watching power and paying attention during the race is so much more insightful.

 

[Pearl]

Solid narrative. 👍

Your description of “5 minutes in…” had me flashing back to entering the 1st dirt sections at Battenkill. Even in the 40+ 1/2/3, it looked like a scene from a war film.

I do miss racing, when I take the time to think about it.

Ha yes, apparently someone was running tubes because it sounded like a gun shot went off behind us as well. Apocalyptic.

This is one thing that is cool with road and gravel. Watching power and paying attention during the race is so much more insightful.

It's good and bad, I wish I could just ignore the danger to manifold settings, but knowing that these events hardly "get easier" if you are in the group just tells me to trust my gut/pace and see what happens. The year they had the 80 mile version (3 laps) I went from 7th to 3rd in the last lap because I did my own thing... didnt happen this time but on the longer ones (4+ hours) I think it is always the right call

and here is that photo I promised yall

 

[jShort]

What was the fueling strategy?

 

[Pearl]

What was the fueling strategy?

I had 3 hours worth of fuel in my pack, 2 liters of water, 270g of Formula369, forgot I took a photo of that:

Trying to drink while all of this shit is going on is impossible, so I was spot on with running the pack. Last thing I wanted to do was lose a bottle, or eat shit trying to drink/put a bottle back. Being able to drink whenever I wanted is a game changer.

The negative with the pack is you never know how much you are drinking. I realized I was going to be short at around 2 hours when I flicked my pack and it felt mostly empty. I also had a bottle of water on my bike for mental purposes, wash the dust off my lips, drink it while contemplating how my gut can tolerate 100g of carbs an hour, etc.

 

[stb222]

I had 3 hours worth of fuel in my pack, 2 liters of water, 270g of Formula369, forgot I took a photo of that:
View attachment 235444

Trying to drink while all of this shit is going on is impossible, so I was spot on with running the pack. Last thing I wanted to do was lose a bottle, or eat shit trying to drink/put a bottle back. Being able to drink whenever I wanted is a game changer.

The negative with the pack is you never know how much you are drinking. I realized I was going to be short at around 2 hours when I flicked my pack and it felt mostly empty. I also had a bottle of water on my bike for mental purposes, wash the dust off my lips, drink it while contemplating how my gut can tolerate 100g of carbs an hour, etc.

It hard for me to get on board with the hydration pack the same as it is hard for me to see how a white helmet fits with that jersey color. But I think that fits into me becoming a retro grouch.

 

[Pearl]

It hard for me to get on board with the hydration pack the same as it is hard for me to see how a white helmet fits with that jersey color. But I think that fits into me becoming a retro grouch.

I have a black helmet too