Yesterday I attended the 2011 Gravel Rouser Classic in Athens, OH. It is a fun group ride with an informal race interspersed in the middle. 20 miles of road/dirt out to Lake Hope St Park, an optional short single track race, and then a 25 mile ride back in to town.
The ride out was nice and relaxed, with about 60 riders spread out over a 30 minute window. About half participated in the single track race. It started after a slow paced group ride to the top, so we had a massive grouping ready to drop onto the down hill single track. I think I got in about 10th wheel and worked my way up to 5th at one point. I pulled over to let a SSer go by and then stayed on his wheel. I finished in a small group that placed 4th - 6th. Pro rider Brian Matter started near the back and then worked his way through the field to finish first; the guy is amazing on two wheels.
This was a hard, ultra intense effort that was very different than my long steady distance work all winter. I realized that I had more endurance left at the end, but didn't have the burst-ability to get by people when I needed to. Still, my goal races are all 100 milers that take place on lots of wide roads, so I need endurance more than burst passing. This kind of intensity is good for building overall speed. And I really needed some time on the mtn bike to work on bike handling skills which were better than expected.
2011 Gravel Rouser, Athens OH from Matt Kretchmar on Vimeo.
I put in a hard effort with two other guys on the return trip. We really hammered it home and it felt good to get in the extra work. This was my first mtn biking expedition yet this season and hopefully the sign of good things to come.
No comments:
Post a Comment