Gran Fondo Winthrop

As soon as I found out a friend of mine, Chris Brooks was registered for this race back in August I decided I was going to register for it. I was hoping for some residual fitness since I finished RPI Stage race about two weeks before. I thought about doing this one last year but it was actually relocated from Winthrop to Soap Lake due to the fires last year.

I played it naive and didn't pay much attention to what the route looked like for this one till a few weeks before. I assumed lots of climbing but when I finally opened up RWGPS and peeped the elevation profile I realized it was going to be a true sufferfest. Two giant climbs back to back and more elevation than I have ever done in around 90 miles.

As daunting as the numbers are, for some reason the long climbs are my jam these days and since you can usually just get more comfortable with the consistent output and settle in too a pain threshold you can handle for a while. I have had plenty of practice this year but just nothing this long. I have rode hard tempos on Paradise, Sunrise, Kachess, and others all this summer and they have gone overall well.

The temperature at 8am was cold so I opted to start with a shake dry jacket and medium gloves. It was time to ditch the jacket after around 25 min into ride after hitting the base of the climb which starts as pavement. I probably would choose a vest next time. The zipper on my 7mesh jacket is not easiest to use when riding so I pulled over for probably 15 secs to take it off.

Before this is when we ran into the cattle that were crossing the road. The gloves were a good choice though and left them on the entire ride. At higher altitudes on the climb the temperature was lower and the gloves helped keep my hands warm.

My strategy was to ride mostly in the tempo zone and try to stay consistent the whole race as far as power output. Because this route is basically two giant climbs riding with a group is not that important because the benefits of drafting are not big at slower speeds. I also was thinking the group with split apart quickly on the climbing which it did.

The groups broke apart and most people were riding solo to maybe 5 max halfway up the first climb. I was riding with Chris and was riding a more convervative pace than maybe I usually would but also I have never raced something with two giant climbs like this.

Close to the top of the first climb, I decided to increase the pace and dropped Chris and couple other riders that we had been going back and forth with. If we were close to the top there is plenty of time to recover on the descent and going a little harder can pay off.

There was aid station a little below the top of the climb that Chris and I decided to skip. The temperature was cooler so I wasn't flying through my hydration mix as quickly as usual.

The descent was steep and twisty with a lot of bigger loose gravel. During this section, I was really conservative because it seemed like if you pushed too hard you could easily slide out on a corner. I was pretty slow in this section and lost time to some of the other riders that chose to send it. At top of the first climb there is two shorter climbs around 700 feet each.

Chris and I were back together for the big descent and by now I was determined to not get gapped on the descent and stayed on his wheel. This decent was tricky with big rocks, large holes, and washed out sections so we were using the full width of the road trying to find the fastest line without destroying are tires.

Chris dropped a chain about half way down that we stopped for and some other riders ended up right on our wheel once we got rolling. At the bottom, the road turns back to pavement and we were flying at around 40mph in a huge group. This road randomly had large cracks and potholes in it and I hit a few that came up too quickly and was relieved to not have pinched flat or any other issue. There were multiple flats we wintessed coming down the gravel part of the descent and some sidewall rips and such so getting through this area unscathed was a milestone.

We stopped for only a few minutes at Aid Station #2. And I refilled both of my 26 oz bottles and added Roctane Endurance packet to each. Since RPI, I started carrying the individual servings of Roctane Endurance with me. I can easily carry three packets in a jersey pocket and if I need more fuel I usually use gels for the rest of the race once I'm out of Roctane. While I have it, I usually do a gel and 1 bottle but today I was using more gels since I was using fluids slower.

When we got rolling after filling up, it was Chris, Justin Merle and myself. I know Justin from cyclocross last year so it was cool to have more people to ride with. During the pavement start of this climb, I could tell I was climbing faster than Justin and Chris. Eventually after maybe twenty minutes of riding together I broke away from them and went solo. I was feeling strong and was ready to get this climb over as soon as possible.

While deeper into the climb, I noticed someone slowly enroaching on me. I wasn't sure if it was Chris or Justin so I kept ratcheting up the pace. After 15 min or so I gave in and let them pass by and it turned out to be Dieter Fox who is a local hill climb legend and I was happy I held him off this long. I was reminded that I saw him at the aid station so I should have expected him to catch back on.

In the second half of the climb, I passed Austin Foxley who looked to be dealing with cramps. I think probably a lot dealt with it this race because of how long these climbs were. I luckily have not experience this situation ever before but I am still fingers crossed that it never happens in the future. Very close to the top of the climb Nick Friesen passes me and then I finally reach the summit and am relieved the climbing is essentially over.

At this point in the race, I am so ready to be done and I don't want to give up and places so I am gonna rip this descent. Overall this one is better than the first since its less twisty and not as steep. I pass a Fount racer - Kevin Hodges, on the way down super quickly. If you are a good descender than you have a clear advantage in this race and can gain some valuable time on the way down. I classify myself as a moderate descender but was previously a slow descender. I have improved a lot over the past few years.

What this descent has is lots of washboard. I have learned the faster you take washboard the less noticeable it is and so I was trying to send it as much as possible. Austin blows past me so easily so I have a ways to go before because strong descender.

The vibrations from the washboard were causing me hands to go numb and I could barely even feel the levers. This was a shitty feeling for sure and I need to find ways to avoid this in the futture. It also happened in Leavenworth this year. I dropped a chain from the bumpiness on the way down and the 30 seconds to fixed it got some blood moving in my hands and the feeling back.

This descent still required periods of hard pedaling to keep the speed up. I get back on pavement and don't see anyone behind me. I try my best to ride tempo into town and stay strong and go through the finish line and the race is over. I chat with Austin and he said he couldn't feel his hands either. Chris finishes a few minutes later and it was time to get clean and eat a feast in town.

The Good

• Nutrition and hydration were solid and only needed to stop at one aid station minimizing stopped time. I had a few gels to spare but am still loving the Orucase top top bag with magnetic closure for easy access to gels.
• Equipment was dialed. I am still in love with my Specialized Pathfinder Pro 42mm with Roval Terra CLX wheel combination. Still no punctures after two years and I can run low pressure with such a high volume tire. Also, since it rained the week before the dust was really low and my chain sounded good the whole time. This has not been the case during dusty races where the wax results in a squeaky chain earlier than you would expect. I still need a better lube option for dusty conditions.
• Fitness level was overall good. Even with lots of downtime after RPI this year and only one longer ride. The legs held on and were good for raceday.

Needs Improvement

• Hands went numb of second long descent from washboard vibrations.
• I dropped a chain for the second race in a row and that would be nice to avoid but I'm not sure that possible with a 2x setup that I have currently. At least the helicopter tape I put on the frame limited the damage when the chain was stuck between frame and chainring.
• I could use more practice on technical descending on rough terrain. This was probably on of the toughest descents this year. Others that were similar were BWR in Black Canyon and maybe Kachess Ridge. Some more practice on this could save a nice chunk of time next year. I think time descending will be easier to gain time from then trying to increase fitness which I'm always trying to do and is tough to get noticeable gains.