Race Report: 2024 Gorge Gravel Grinder - Elite Men

Race: Gorge Gravel Grinder 2024 - Elite Men

Date: April 28, 2024

Written By: Flo Costa

Result: 5/23 (151 men overall)

Course: 100 mile gravel race in northern Oregon with 8000 ft of vert. Fast-rolling, hilly course with one major climb at mile 83. Champagne gravel apart from one technical section early on.

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/11287427709

Race:

This was the first of 3 races in the Oregon Gravel Series presented by Breakaway Promotions. I was stoked to make the trip to Oregon for this race on my way to the Tour de Bloom in Washington one week later. I was also excited to be back racing on my gravel ride after a busy early season on the road. This was my second gravel race of the year after Low Gap and would be my first preparation race for the Oregon Trail in the summer. In addition to testing my legs, I was also looking forward rocking my Schwalbe G-One RS 35mm semi-slick tires that seemed ideal for this course. The majority of these roads were fairly hard-packed gravel, with a few paved sections, which meant the speeds would be pretty high. A few racers even opted for road bikes with fully slick tires.

The race started with a peaceful neutral rollout, which was a nice opportunity to warm up and spin the legs. This didn’t last long, however, because as soon as we started the pace was hard (which seems to be quite normal in gravel races these days). As we hit the first set of hills, the field blew up; after 10 miles, the lead group was down to 8 riders. I was glad to have made the first selection, but knew that it was a big match to spend early on, requiring a peak power of 400w for 5 min.

Next was the main technical section of the day - 2 miles on a pretty rowdy jeep trail. I was confident in my technical skills and made sure to enter in good position to not get caught behind a split. After a navigating a few rocks, puddles, and mud puddles, I exited the technical section with only one other rider and a small gap to the next group. Seeing this gap, I continued to stay on the gas, but didn’t fully commit because we still had a lot of racing left. On a side note, Breakaway Promotions does a great job with route design, and I’m glad they included this section to make the race a lot more dynamic.

Shortly after, the lead group reformed with now only 5 riders as we entered the next section featuring more rolling hills with a pretty strong crosswind. As soon as we entered the crosswind, we got in a rotation and started hammering. Even in the wheels, I was pushing near threshold power which didn’t bode well for the 80 miles remaining. I soon decided to drop myself and dial it down since it wasn’t sustainable for me - a decision I don’t regret!

Thankfully I was joined by a second rider from the lead group (of now only three), and we were soon joined by another chase group of two. We immediately got into a solid rotation as a group of four. We worked really well together for the next 30 miles as I continuously reminded myself to eat and drink. By mile 50 it was just three of us and at mile 60 we dropped another guy on one of the longer hills. It was now just me and another racer named Austen working together, with the original lead group of three still up the road.

My legs were still feeling surprisingly good after such a start hard to the race. Austen and I continued to work together until the base of the main climb at mile 80. Here Austen ramped it up again and dropped me. I pushed a solid tempo up the climb, but was starting to feel pretty cracked. Being alone definitely makes it feel harder, at least mentally, but I continued to tell myself not to quit. Thankfully there was a decent descent after the climb where I could rest my legs a bit before the final 2k climb to the finish. I emptied myself on this final climb with what I had left (300w for 10min) and rolled through the finish in 5th on the day with a time of 5:11.

Overall, I was quite happy with my fitness, feelings, and fueling over the race. I also really enjoyed this scenic and fast-rolling course. This made for a proper early season gravel race!

Thanks for reading,

Flo