Race Report: Huffmaster Hopper Grasshopper - Men 19-29
Race Report: Huffmaster Hopper Grasshopper - Men 19-29
Date: 2/24/2024
AVRT racers: Jack Liu
Top Result: Jack 4th
Course: 90 mile half gravel half road with 2 main climbs
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/10829858420
Nutrition: 4 bottles mix and many gels
Race Recap:
This was my first gravel race and I had no idea how it’s going to play out. My biggest question is how are people going to stop civilly at the rest stop, refill, and restart as a group together? How is that possible without someone attacking the feed zone? I don’t know, so I had to see it myself. I prepped a bag of bottles and gels for the first aid station, brought as much food as I could, and prayed that I could survive the 90-mile “race”, the longest ride I’ve done on my gravel bike.
The first 40-mile was mostly road and the pace was pretty chill, except before one gravel section people were fighting for position entering it as the organizer had “strongly recommended” to walk around muddy single track. Once we hit the first main climb, it was game on. A front group of 6 riders went away. I maintained my pace and started the descent with another rider. We were caught by two riders at the first aid station (it was so rushed and I forgot like 10 things I needed and only got the bottles), and we worked together to chase the front group that was just ~15 sec ahead. We got really close, but then we hit a slight uphill section and the group blew up. I rode my own pace for a bit, then got picked up by a small group of riders, which eventually collected all riders ahead except the front 6 riders. The ten-ish of us rode together nicely for the second part of the race.
The second half of the race was horrible. I was in constant pain, mentally and physically. I cannot get a nice draft as in a road race, and I kept suspecting that I had flat tires as the drag is so big. I guess gravel trails just have really large resistance. Also I think my gravel bike geometry is too relaxed compared to my road bike setup, and my whole body was hurting in a weird way. Additionally, all the bumps on the gravel trails take a toll on your upper body. My whole upper body hurt more than my legs when I crossed the finish line, with some parts near severe cramping. I knew skipping all those upper body workouts in the gym is going to haunt me one day.
Anyhow, I managed to survive in the second group to the finish, by my audacity to skip pulls, not stopping at the second rest stop, and taking some calculated risk at descend (100% getting dropped or 10% hitting that pothole and crash? easy choice). Had an okay sprint finish and surprisingly got 4th in my age group. Guess there were mostly masters in the front group LOL. It was a traumatizing experience and I think I should either 1) fix my gravel bike fit or 2) don’t treat it as a race if I want to do it next time. I have a lot more respect for gravel racers now.
