The light was gorgeous this evening so I got out the new toy to give it a try!

#bikesky
#bikelife
#gravel
#gravelbike
#cycling
#frontrange
#pueblocounty
#gravelroads
#rurallife

The Gravel gods smiled in my general direction yesterday. No punctures, no significant mechanicals, no crashes, and only a mild Kansas zephyr. Crushed my goal time. 108 miles in just over 6 hours and 30 minutes.

#Unbound
#emporiakansas
#gravelracer
#gravelbike
#bikesky
#bikelife
#cycling

I have received the blessings of the high priests of Gravel. Tomorrow I shall enter the Temple of the Flint Hills.

#Unbound
#gravelracer
#gravelgrinder
#gravelbike
#flinthills
#bikesky
#bikelife
#cycling
#americasgrandtour

Mecca, Bethlehem, Jerusalem, Varanasi...Emporia??

The pilgrims of Gravel have arrived. Not a moment too soon.

#Unbound
#gravelracer
#gravelbike
#bikesky
#bikelife

I'm told I have a tire problem. Looks more like a tire solution to me!

#bikesky
#vittoriatires
#gravelracer
#unboundbound
#gravelbike
#mtb
#bikelife

This race wins best plate award. Wife also finally did her first gravel event: 40 mile ebike.

I've been remiss in race reporting! Had to search for good in biometrics on some occasions but things came together on Saturday at Vermejo Charcoal Burner. 4th in the 66 mile 40+ AG, 9th overall. Just a tad under 6k ft of gain topping at 8500 ft elevation.

#gravelbike
#bikeracing
#bikesky

Love finding old bookmarks from places I'd forgotten existed...

First time I've raced XC MTB at Cat 2 in 10 years. The Bear in Lakewood, CO. 16th out of 32 in age group. Not bad considering last time I raced at 2 I was competing for DFL -1!

#bikesky
#cycling
#cyclinglife
#coloradocycling
#bikeracing

Yeah man, I'd love to do more like this! My legs were heavy on day 2 but they still laid down great power and I felt superb in every other way. Quite a few people who registered to do both dropped out, sadly.

I could totally be onboard with a gravel TT on Friday evening too!

From last night, my first #zwift podium! Winner went early and I banked on us catching him. My sprint power was lackluster but enough to plow to 3rd. Big jump in velo score to gold, beating a bunch of platinums!

@zwiftrides.bsky.social
#bikesky
#cyclinglife
#training
#cycling
#bikelife

Last weekend was my Race 1 - 25th (and final) Ouachita Challenge. I did the double making it a 2 day stage race. Day 1 MTB - 58 miles, 6k ft of gain. Day 2 gravel bike- 62 miles, 4.5k ft of gain. So much I could say about this race but I'll leave it at this:
21st men's GC
5th in 50-59 GC!

#bikesky

My XC mountain bike category upgrade came in today. Just Cat 2, nothing special, but last time I tried racing at this level was rough. I have a lot better fitness now and more dedication and time to devote so maybe I'll be mid pack.

#cycling
#bikesky
#bikelife
#mtb
#bikeracing

100k at race pace today, last check in before race 1. Hoped for a PR but the wind had other ideas. It was well beyond 20mph, possibly into the 30's. Missed the PR by about about a minute. On a hillier course than where I set my PR, I'll call it a victory.

#bikesky
#gravel
#gravelracer
#cycling

T1 I/B was 26:55 and 180 W vs T2 I/B at 25:08 and 195 W.

So trial 2 had significantly higher power on both legs. Could the fatigue of poor sleep for trial 1 have repressed my power output to that level? Again, IDK.

Regardless, I plan to run the 40mm in my first (climby) race.

Thoughts??

Discussion:

Initial impression is the 40mm is significantly faster probably due to reduced rotational mass, making the uphill section easier. Trial 1 O/B was 42:09 vs 38:14! But a deeper dive shows my power in T2 O/B was 212 W vs 187W in T1! Is that enough to account for the full delta? IDK.

Rider conditions:
Trial 1 reported fatigue, 1 prior long zone 2 day and weight lifting, poor sleep.

Trial 2 fresh feeling, 2 prior days of high intensity and weight lifting, solid sleep

Weather conditions:
Trial 1 outbound: tailwind, inbound: headwind (preferred condition)

Trial 2 outbound: quatering headwind
Inbound: quartering tail

Relatively equal wind speed and temps.

Trial 1 - March 9 with 2.1 MTB

Trial 2 - March 20 with 40mm

Course details:
20 miles (32.2km) Out and back
Generally hard pack with some recently graded sections of loose gravel.
~1000 ft (305m) elevation gain with almost all of it on the outbound section.

Results of my (very unscientific) tire speed test! Vittoria Terreno 2.1 MTB tires vs Maxxis Reaver 40mm tires on 20 mile all gravel road. Test issues and details discussed below.

Results are given in time to complete.
MTB - 69:30
40mm - 63:53

#bikesky
#cycling
#gravelracer
#gravelgrinder
#tire

Guess it's time for me to take "laid off" out of my description as I accepted a job offer today. Finally, a sponsor! My first order of business will be to register for the Highlands Gravel Classic! After that, an Insta360 camera.

#gravellife
#bikesky
#employedcyclist
#gravelracer
#cycling
#cyclist

Though I've never subscribed to the wider is faster mantra, the wide bodies served me well during cyclocross. Maybe there are contexts where this is true but it isn't universal. I have a very climby race at the end of the month and in this case, I think rotational mass beats rolling resistance.

From wide back down to skinny. Wow! I didn't realize just how big those 2.1's were! I'll do a TT speed on a course I rode with the wide bodies a week and a half ago to see what the difference is.

#widerisfaster?
#mtb
#gravel
#laufcycles
#bikesky
#bikelife
#tiresnob
#cycling
#bikeracing

My sock game is way to strong to be covered up! When will shoe cover season finally end? Better question, when will my sponsor replace these ratty things? Oh yeah, I don't have a sponsor because no one sponsors 50 year olds. 6 hrs on the #mtb today.

#cycling
#bikesky
#bikeracer
#bikelife
#XC

First real climbing day of the year! 51 miles and over 4500 ft of gain. Around here, you have to climb to get to the climb!

#gravel
#gravelracer
#bikesky
#cycling
#strava
#bikelife
#cyclinglife
#beulahcolorado
#coloradocycling

#Training schedule for today called for a 20 mile #gravel TT with fatigue from yesterday's efforts. Where I live in #Colorado, there's always climbing even if mild. My out and back route has just under 1300 ft of gain. My time was solid but not quite as hoped.

#cycling
#bikelife
#mtb
#pukefest

The day's plan was 4 hrs on the MTB but it snowed last night. So I opted for 4 hrs of #zwift. Since Zwift is nowhere close to the load of MTB, I followed it up with some weights, nothing too heavy.

@zwiftrides.bsky.social
#crossiscoming
#cycling
#training
#bikelife
#mtb
#gravelracer
#gravel

Don't know if this was smart or not but I needed to get out and ride. I took 2 forced days off due to probable RSV that's still lingering. I went harder than planned but my legs felt good and so did pushing the heart rate. 4 weeks till OC!

#gravelracer
#gravel
#bikelife
#bikeracing
#cycling

Thanks!!🙏