Race Report: 2025 Huffmaster Hopper Pro Women Long Course

Race: Huffmaster Hopper Gravel Race

Date: February 22, 2025

AVRT racers: Rachel Hwang

Top Result: 7/12 W Pro Rachel Hwang

Course: One large 90 mile loop, 54% paved, 46% dirt, some bad roads that resemble gravel, 3900 feet, longest climb 2.3 miles 830 feet climb

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/13699370358 

Race Recap:

This is my first gravel race. I’m borrowing Maeve’s gravel bike and have for the last week. I’m at the start line. I’m looking at Kate Kourtney in her Red Bull helmet. I’m telling myself this is supposed to be a fun race. I’m also telling myself to push harder than I normally do in my mountain bike races - those last year I told myself to pace to not great success - and to imagine myself on the dirt podium with Kate Kourtney.

The message of this race today, to push and power through and stay with the people in front of me.

I start off with the Pro Men and Women’s fields (the messed up my entry and ended up scoring me in my age group), about 50 men and women riders in a tight pack, very chill drafting 23 mph without putting out much work.  As soon as we hit the gravel, people attack, and within 20 ft into the gravel, we hit a mud pit, and a Monarch girl goes down.  I unclip and go around her, at that point, already too far behind to catch back up with the legs I have.  But I tell myself to push, so I dig deep and ride as hard as I can, constantly seeing the group just too slightly out of reach in front of me.  Soon enough, we hit road, and a Monarch girl is drafting behind me.  She’s strong in short bursts, but not able to pull much.  I trade pulls with her until we catch up to the main group, at which point we’re exhausted and glad they’re going 18 mph.  These surges happen throughout the first 28 miles.  Each time, I’m shot off the back, and each time, struggling to catch back up.

Eventually, at mile 28, we hit a slight consistent 2-4% gradient on potholed paved road leading up to the gravel climb.   Now people are attacking on the paved road.  Because of the paved surface, the group is able to stick together, but because of the paved surface, the more peak power I seem to be putting out.  With each surge, I learn to move up so that I have more buffer to get dropped.  The entire time, I tell myself to power through no matter how I’m feeling, that I know that I can stick on, and that it’s a mental game of whether or not I want to stay on.  I tell myself getting dropped is not an option.

This is my first race back this year, and my first long dirt race after many seemingly failed attempts to do well last year at Sea Otter, Tahoe Trail, and Leadville.  Within an hour, I’m already screaming in my head, “And I have to do this for 4 hours??”

Thankfully, I’m able to stick with the pack until mile 40, where we hit the 2.3 mi, 800 ft gravel climb, before the field is blown apart.  I am giving everything I have, not thinking about pacing or bonking, and not thinking about the next 50 miles of the race.  I know I’m in front of Jen, my only reference of how I’m doing in this race, and surprisingly, beat her to the top.  As we descend, she catches up, to which I stick behind her wheel.  We catch a third and the three of us, mainly the dude, take turns pulling, picking up a few more people, gathering up to a group of 8, riding together slightly uphill until mile 68.  

I only have two water bottles, 21oz and 24oz, with the plan of stopping at mile 45 bottle drop to swap out one of my bottles, but I’m knee deep drafting Jen and this guy, and decide that since I’ve only had 1 bottle in half the race, I could make the other bottle last the rest of the race.

We pick up a girl in black, and another guy, both who are really strong and start surging and blowing up our group.  Mile 68, we hit a gravel incline, and the two of them take the opportunity to attack.  At that point, I had almost been dropped multiple times, with people going around me to fill the gap, and again, me telling myself it’s a mental game, able to dig deep and manage to stay with the group, although unable to effectively pull.  So when they attack, I know that’s it, and that my time pacing and drafting a group was over.  Jen and the other dude I started off with pull ahead as well, although behind the other two, and I’m trailing behind them, very quickly seeing the gap grow on the open climb.

Soon after I start to feel my legs cramp, and sure enough, my inner thigh from my groin all the way to my knee cramps.  Generally when I start cramping, I chug my electrolyte water, but in this case, I have no water, and am not planning on stopping anything soon, so all I can think of is “oh shit.”  I look at the map and see there are only two small climbs left, less than 0.5mi each.  I pass an aid station and decide not to stop for water, and hear a bunch of AV people cheering my name.  I love the AV community and support.  By the top of the last climb, I’ve given it more than I normally do, feel my legs giving out but still working, and am so tired my descending becomes so horrible I veer into bushes on the side and other things a couple times.  It was embarrassing.  

By the bottom, there is about 15 miles left and I’m going my own pace when a girl passes me.  She is clearly stronger than me so I hop on her wheel and she proceeds to pull me most of the way back.  I trade of with her frequently, although it is very clear every time I pull, I’m holding her back, so she goes ahead and pulls ahead as I draft behind her.  The entire time, I’m going back and forth thinking, “If I stay on and draft the whole way back, I could outsprint her,” and “She can easily drop me at any point if she wanted to, it’s very nice of her to let me sit on her wheel.”  I feel about 7/10 at the beginning of the draft, on gravel, and as we hit road, still am feeling pretty good, but as we hit gravel again for the last 5 miles, it becomes very choppy at some points, and I am having to put a lot more power down to stay on her wheel, and my butt is getting very saddle sore from every bump in the gravel.  I can no longer keep up easily, and am just thinking about making it to the end with her.  I keep checking my Garmin route to see what’s ahead, and prepare for the final turn, still thinking maybe I can sprint at the end.  As we turn the last corner, the straight path to the finish is 0.5mi, and the girl puts down just slightly more power, and immediately I knew I could try my hardest and she will still have more in the tank, so there is no point in burning the last matches, so I stay the same pace through to the end line.

Nutrition: 1x 24oz Crank Horchata drink mix 1st 45mi, 1x 21oz Fluid Fresh Citrus drink mix 2nd 45 mi, 3x Torq gels (2x caffeinated) and 1x Carbs Fuel Energy Gel one per hour