Last Saturday was the inaugural Gravel Worlds Winter Endurance put on by the Pirate Cycling League and it was a doozy. About a week before the race we were enjoying temps in the upper 40° to the upper 50° range so it was looking like the winter part was going to be missing. Then Mother Nature decided to dump several inches of the white stuff on us a just few days before the event to remind everyone we are still in the grips of winter. Several inches of snow would have been great and the perfect conditions for a fat bike for the race but that was also not in the plans, around these parts we are used to curveballs and that's what we got. After the initial snow the temps climbed back up that mercury making sloppy and muddy conditions for the race more of a certainty than a possibility. The day of the race we were supposed to get into the 40° range again and early on in the day too so slop it was going to be whether you liked it or not.
There was some debate by me about pulling the plug Thursday heading into Friday, I mean nobody really loves riding in sloppy conditions, but late in the afternoon on Friday I decided to quit whining and just deal with things as they were. Suffering is temporary but the memories gained through struggling together with friends lasts a lifetime. So it was early Saturday morning we loaded up the bikes and headed north to Lincoln and Schilling Bridge where every Gravel Worlds event has started and finished for the past several years. I was pleasantly surprised to see that most if not all of the folks who signed up also decided to give it a go. Misery loves company after all.
The starting line on Saturday was about as different from the starting line in August as you can get, fat tires, winter gloves and ear warmers as far as the eye could see.
Had a bit of a computer snafu right at the start of the race and I watched the entire field ride away before I could get it taken care of and get on my way. Nothing like giving the field a minute head start on you... even Jason had to comment on the PA system that I was currently in last place as I fumbled to get things right.
Temps were still fairly chilly at the start so there was ice on the roads and this was a good thing for me as the start was less of an all out sprint and more of a sketchy amble which allowed me to quickly weave my way through most of the starters and get into a decent position before we hit the gravel. Since temps were chilly to start and would be warm at the finish there was no "right" way to dress, you'd either be cold to start or warm at the end. Likewise there wasn't really any correct tire pressure that would be great for the entire race, you could air down for grip on the snow and ice but you'd sacrifice speed, keep the tires pumped for speed and you risked losing tractions in slick spots. I opted to dress for what it was going to be like later wearing shorts and a vest, I also decided to chance it and run tire pressures that I would run on dry gravel and I think that paid off as the day went on. I tend to slow down if I get too hot and the added pressure in the tires rolled fast and still managed to provide enough grip on the roads.
I hadn't set out to race the Winter Endurance but the Pugsley was rolling fast on the Coronados running about 12-15psi and the legs felt strong so I went with it. I found myself in Malcolm at mile 20 near what I figured was the pointy end of the peloton since the place was almost deserted when I got there. Not normally finding myself in this position I wasn't entirely sure what the protocol was so I grabbed my lottery ticket, posed for some Us-ies and got scooting out of town in under 10 minutes. With only about 13 miles left after we departed Malcolm and still feeling good I kept the pace as close as I could to what I was doing coming into Malcolm. It was working so far so why mess with it and if I blew up I figured I was close enough to the end I could manage to limp back if needed.
Most of the roads were in pretty good shape all things considered, some snow, some wet spots and a little soft at the intersections but more than ridable. That was until we hit NW 33rd at mile 27. It was a miserable MMR about a mile long and slicker than Walrus snot on an ice flow, saw lots of folks swerving left and right and left again, a few hitting the deck and even more hoping off and walking. That was the worst mile of the entire course, even the Pugs struggled a little on it and I almost went down once but saved a full Nestea plunge by sacrificing the left glove to the mud gods by sticking it out and keeping myself mostly out of the muck. After that I stopped trying to follow tracks and found that the still snow covered edges were much more smooth sailing for the fat tires.
Miles 29 through 31 were straight into a blustery headwind that was no joke with probably 20 mph steady winds and gusts maybe up to 25 mph. I saw a few folks crack on that stretch and put a fair amount of time on those whose legs decided they had had enough. I was still feeling pretty strong and decided to keep the pace despite the insistent winds and I gained a bit of ground doing that. To put it in perspective, I was almost even with the fat bike guy that finished after me coming into mile 29 and I put 7 minutes on him at the finish over the course of those last 4 miles.
I was glad to see the finish and to be done riding, legs were definitely telling me it had been way to long since I'd done any serious riding on the Pugsley.
Dave killed it and managed to walk away with fist place in the Men's 50k Fat Bike division!
We waited for others to come rolling in and then headed in to clean up and grab a bite at Schilling Bridge. All in all it was a great day, as I mentioned Dave pulled out the victory and I managed to end up at 5th out of 27 in the Men's 50K Fat Bike division. That also ended up being good enough to finish 10th out of 75 in the over all standings for the 50k division, fats and skinnies, men and women, young and old alike. I'll take that any day.
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