Gorge Gravel Grinder

This race has been on my list from since last year and is a great early season fitness builder. It attracts strong fields with its close proximity to Seattle and Portland. The first time riding in this area was last fall where we rode the OMTM Japanese Hollow route and attempted OMTM Swale Canyon but we had to re-route due to fire danger.

From my memory, the gravel in this area is good with very little car traffic and can fit in the category of "luxury" gravel. I consider "luxury" gravel to be a smooth enough surface it can be ridden with wider road tires and is quite close to paved. It is also devoid of potholes and washboards that also can make a ride much less enjoyable.

Before the Race

The preparation the day before was mixed for this race. I was in bed and asleep early (8:35pm) and slept a solid 8 hours 20 minutes. I brought my usual premade, steel cut oatmeal with sliced almonds, blueberries and maple syrup and ate as much as a could after waking up. I had a hearty meal in The Dalles the night before of hawaiian bbq (chicken, rice, mac salad) at Lilo's.

But the bad was we missed packet pick up by an hour or so. We had to pick up our packet (number plate, timing chip, etc) the morning of and the line was long. Ira and I spent an hour waiting in line so by the time we parked, we had about 15 minutes to get ready. The mistakes compounded because I just squeezed my tires and determined they were good and at the final moment decided to wear a winter long sleeve jersey instead of my planned summer weight short sleeve. All these mistakes will end up causing havoc for me later in the race.

The First Selection

The first big effort of the day was a 200 foot kicker climb the whole feel smashed up. I averaged 377 watts for 2:10 seconds which felt good because the legs were fresh for the day. Up to that point, it was an easy 119 watt average for first 10 min of the neutral roll out. The race pretty much starts at this climb but they actually stopped everyone for 2 min at a start line. Then there is a short descent and the next longer climb begins. This climb breaks up the field into a lot of different groups. Ira and I were riding together from the start and following each other wheels but during this climb we linked up with our friend Alec and Vincente.

I was feeling really good on the climb. The climb was around 1,300 feet and I had a normalized power of 276 watts for about 31 minutes. I did a lot of turns on the front trying to push the pace because the riders in front of us were gaining distance and you don't want to fall too far back. I find that getting in a strong group earlier and just trying to hang on gives you a better chance of a good finish versus a slower start and trying to gain places over the race.

The riders you link up with in the pointier part of the field typically have better fitness so the groups hold a higher speed. It can be a little scary because you worry about going to hard and totally blowing up but some of this is remembering to eat and drink so you can sustain a hard pace.

This is my second race using a hydration pack. I have the Osprey 1.5 liter pack and had two 26 oz bottles onboard. They were are filled with GU Roctane Energy Drink Mix. I also had around 9 GU energy gels in my jersey and was trying to consume one every hour of the race. I had consumed around 60 grams per hour in the Grand Fondo Ephrata and the last hour was pretty brutal for me and I assume it was somewhat related to fueling. So if I had a two gel every hour and a bottle every hour an half I would be around 80 grams per hour. The plan was to not stop at any aid stations the entire day to save time.

Once I reached the top of the climb, we were down to a group of about seven. I noticed a buddy, Carter, that I had met in Sun Valley for Rebecca's Private Idaho had joined us from behind. This was super cool to be a in strong couple with three of my friends and thoughts were going through my head that we could last all day together. There was a fast but gradual descent that lasted for 45 mins at an average speed of 24 miles per hour. By the end of the descent our group had grown to somewhere around 25 and the amount of coordination had dropped considerably. While we were a small group, we rotated through consistently in a paceline. Once we balloned in numbers, there were a few racers to stay at the front the whole time and others just sitting on not contributing at all.

I had a few conversations with Ira and Vincente and we agreed to stay at the front if any splits were to form. It has been common in the gravel races in the past to have racers with strange strategies. Randomly going on attacks with no one in sight only to get caught 20 min later when they fade after such a big effort is one I have seen numerous times. We did the best we can trying to save our legs but also make sure the pace doesn't fizzle out.

Once we got to the climb, the group broke apart again and everyone was trying make a strong effort to get through the climb. This climb was about 650 feet at 4.5 percent grade. It took a normalized power of 276 watts (4 watts/kg). Toward the end of the climb I had to make a bigger effort to close a gap and Ira, Vincente and I ended up in a more select group.

This climb was part of a series of smaller climbs that make up the next 20 miles with a total elevation gain of 3300 feet. It was at the middle part of this section that the sun came out and the temperature rose quite a bit to a high of 73 farenheight. This may not sound that hot but the effort level in our group was strong on this climb and I overheated a lot. On long sustained climbs I normalled hold my position or gain time and this one had me losing time and places during the entire second half. I did my best to keep it together but I have never been happier to be done with a climb. There are a few rollers at the end that made it extra challenging mentally.

So Ira and I spend the next hour and a half on some rollers and pushing into the wind. We have a group of three catch after probably 20 min or so. By this point, everyones legs are pretty tired and I just trying to keep it steady in the endurance zone. Even though the normalized power is around 200 watts for this period there were plenty of surges on the uphills. Lots of little climbs under 200 feet really hurt quite a bit.

The group grows during this roller section and we finally arrive to a gradual descent into the finish line. This when the first major problem occurs. Over time I had a slow leak in my tire that I began to notice once it was pretty low (20 psi) and stopped to pump it up. I should have used my Co2 that I had ready in my pocket but instead I used my small Lezyne pocket pump. I probably pumped it to somewhere in the 30 psi range and decided it was enough. I was pretty impatient but also tired so not making the best decisions. I saw some sealant but it seemed to be a slow leak and I was close to the finish. This stop took 1 minute 25 seconds.

After adding air and getting back rolling it was fifteen minutes till the next problem happened. During the descent, the sidewall ripped on the rear (same tire as first issue) and immediately lost all pressure. The cut was large enough it was unpluggable and I had to install my spare Tubolito with tire boot. This took 16 minutes and I watched riders speed that I passed throughout the day and knew my chance of a good result was over.

I limped back in for the next 20 min. The tire didn't seem to fully seat on the rim so the bike felt like shit and the tire boot had moved since installing because of the wet sealant and I noticed an orange bubble in the parking lot where the tube popped out because the boot was in place. Luckily I was able to make it back and didn't have any further issues because it was possible with the situation. I also was stung by a bee or something similar through my bibs on the final descent after the major puncture which made things even more painful.

It had been a few years since I had anything worse than a dropped chain in race so I was due I guess. My tire choice forr this race was Vittoria Corsa NEXT 34c which was fast till it wasn't. The tires also had a few thousand miles on them and a few plugs from previous punctures. I also think if I was running a higher pressure (somewhere around 50 psi) it would have help the sidewalls not be exposed as much when cornering.

I rode the same tire at Ephrata which was similar conditions so I figured it would be okay. In the future, I will run something more robust with better sidewall protection because the marginal gains I get from a faster road tire don't outweight the chances of a major failure of a tire like I experienced in this race.

What Went Well

1. Nutrition strategy went well and I had enough onboard to avoid stopping the entire race. I even had some extra gels I gave to Ira when he was running low
2. Strength in the first half of the race was good and I was able to push the pace for our group.
3. The sleep the night before was the best I have had going into a race and felt energized going in to the race.

Needs Improvement

1. Better tire choice
2. Always pick up race packet the day before so the morning preparation isn't affected by waiting.
3. Don't wear a winter jersey when it will warm up throughout the day. Wear layers that can be removed like a vest and arm warmers or carry a shakedry so you don't risk overheating. Overheating can really impact your power output.