Gravel Grovel 2013: Shaking Your Fillings Out Since 2009

As I type this (or when I started typing this) I am laying on my couch watching the Colts stumble along against the Tennessee Titans while nursing my aching legs.  Part of these aches can be attributed to the massive amount of yard work completed this morning while the weather was nice. The other, much more significant portion is directly related to the 5^th annual Gravel Grovel that was run on Saturday, complete with a brand new tag line (see above).

This was my third year riding and, like in past years, this is the longest race I do and the finale of my riding and racing season (I do have a cross race next weekend, but that pales in comparison to the GG).

Based on last year’s course, my plan was to aim for a sub 5 hour time, a goal which was missed by a mere 8 minutes last year due to a broken spoke on the home stretch. This year I had joined a group of local cyclist/DINO racers in a Facebook group called the “Sub 5 Hour Wolfpack,” the goal of which was to complete the course in under 5 hours.

All was good until the course changed, quite dramatically , a week before the race.  The traditional ride out to Story, Indiana was modified, eliminating the ride back through Combs Road. Combs Road is technically a county road, but it is restricted to non-motorized traffic.  Imagine a trail which starts out as something like a jeep trail and then morphs it singletrack…with a massive climb as well.

Now the course cut off onto the Nebo Ridge Trail, a mountain bike trail on Hoosier National Forest land, instead of following Combs back. Additionally, new 300+ and 250+ foot climbs were added, as well as two other sections of National Forest trail.

 

So the five hour goal was very much in doubt since I figured the new climbs and trail sections would add significant time.  But my expectations for this race are always tempered. The distance is more than I normally do for races, and it attracts the best racers in the region. Plus, with only two age groups for geared riders (Masters 40+ and Open) a good placing is difficult. But, this is more about a challenge. Riding 60 miles through some of the roughest terrain in Indiana in November is not a walk in the park.

So, without further ado, on with the main event.  But please excuse the lack of photos in this post. The official photos from the event have no been posted yet and I didn't have a chance to take any myself. Saturday dawned clear and cold, but the forecast was for highs in the mid to upper forties.  I was using the same mountain bike I use for the DINO series and cross races, with a White Brothers carbon fork and a 2.1 inch Maxxis Ignitor and Crossmark on the front and rear, respectfully. I had used cross tires last year and nearly been shaken to death on the gravel, so I was hoping for a softer ride.  The one standby missing from the bike were my trusty bar ends. While installing them the night before I found that one of the clamp bolts was stripped. No replacement was found and no local (North Vernon, Indiana) hardware stores were open. The bar ends would be of no use.

Anyway, I thought our departure time from my in-law’s home in North Vernon  Saturday morning was a little late, but my wife’s  awesome driving skills got us to the Midwestern Trail Ride Horseman's Camp 30 minutes before the start. Too bad the check in/registration line was really long. I skipped picking up my t-shirt and had to run out of the mess hall and back to my wife who was waiting in our car at the back of the camp to get my gear. I ended up lining up with two members of the “Wolfpack," Eric G. and Eric L. at the last minute with no warm up, just as the riders meeting was concluding.

The race started with the typical fast and chaotic “neutral” start which made a mostly smooth transition to gravel. The race went fairly well from there. I lost the other members of Wolfpack in the chaos, although I made contact with another member, Aaron Lifford.  We climbed the steep paved climb on Hunters Creek Road and then descended down to Combs Road. I was glad I had gone with the full sized mountain bike tires versus cross tires as I navigated the various mud pits, creek crossings, and other goodies that makes Combs what it is.

The steep climb up Combs was busy like always, with people stopping left and right.  Aaron was on my wheel and we both made it over the top, despite several riders stopping in the middle of the trail and push their bikes without moving off to the side to make way for riders still struggling ahead.

We bombed down the other side of Combs, and my terrible downhill skills were on full display as we descended towards Elkinsville.  I nearly bit it multiple times thanks to dangers hidden under leaves, but managed to keep it together and not hurt myself or anyone else.

Passing the Nebo Ridge Trailhead parking lot on the way to Story Aaron and I hooked onto a pace line of about 6 other riders. Using the power of the pace line we kept up a great speed and made short work of the long pavement/gravel stretch of road leading to the Story turnaround and time check.   The pace line formed back up as we were leaving Story and we pushed hard to the Nebo Ridge Trail section. The hunters hanging around in the trailhead parking lot did not seem amused to see dozens of riders charging into the woods.

Nebo was the same old rough Nebo as the last time I rode it, only covered in leaves. This made choosing lines a trick and left me wishing for my suspension fork when my choice turned out to be the wrong one. Although I was having a better time than the numerous cross bikes that were having mechanical issues along the way. We passed several racers, although a few others got by us as well.

We left Nebo Ridge after roughly four miles and jumped onto Berry Ridge Road, a mostly gravel road which descended into the metropolis of Houston, Indiana, population 10 (est). No rest for the weary as right outside of town, at mile 30, was the Mount Baldy climb, a new addition to this year’s race and the tallest climb of the day with about 375 feet of elevation gain in just over one mile. Aaron and I made good, steady progress, although I dropped to the granny gear for the first time. Several riders were caught including a single speed rider, who was riding very well, being out of the saddle and pushing hard most of the time he was in sight.

At the top of the climb was a SAG station. A brief stop for a  water refill, a Slim Jim, half of a banana and some chain oil and we were off to descend a paved road which paralleled the aforementioned climb.  As a side note, the single speed rider we passed earlier jumped back out in front of us, after thanking us for pacing him to the top. I didn’t see him again.

Following the descent from Baldy we turned onto Buffalo Pike Road, which included another steep climb of 260 feet. I did this climb voluntarily as part of the Sub 9 Death March two years ago and hated it. In fact, I ended up walking a good chunk of it back then and was determined to not do it again. The climb is steep and has a false top where the road takes a hard right and continues to climb. But, Death March ghosts (see what I did there?) were vanquished and we made it toe top in relatively good time.

Following the descent from the "summit" was an extended pavement section, which was not terribly fun. The wind picked up and the fat mountain bike tires weren’t in their element here. Plus there were several short punchy hills. Nothing too long, but just enough to kill your speed.  

Finally came the second trail section, Trail 21 which is part of the Hickory Ridge Trail Network.  The trail was mostly wide single-track but it was muddy, although it wasn’t as horsed out as I was expecting. However, the warmer temps were thawing the ground so there was much slipping and sliding. At the end of the trail around mile 40 I lost contact with Aaron. Further, I was hitting a very large wall at the end of the trail and  was fading fast. Once off the trail I seemed to lose all strength and just started to chug along in a daze.

I did run into a racer with McDonald’s cycling team who was trying to deal with a flat tire and called out to see if I had any air. I did so I stopped and tossed him one of my CO2 cartridges. As I continued on I began to feel the beginnings of some cramps and was still tired. I was coasting down all hills to recover and I was almost done with my second bottle of HEED and was about halfway done with my water bottle from the SAG at the top of Baldy.  I probably should have asked to trade the CO2 for some food. I had one gel shot left but was trying to push a little further before using that.

Just before turning onto Polk Patch Road around mile 44 I was passed by a rider from southern Indiana whom I recognized from the DINO series. He had raced in Cat 2 Open and was extremely fast and was tackling this race on a 26 inch bike mountain bike. A cross rider was also with him. All of the sudden having other riders around me and in front me gave me a jumpstart. I latched on to the two of them and decided to use my last gel shot. I eventually passed and gapped them and rode north to the east of the Maumee boy scout camp (located by the lake at the middle of the map above) and up a not so big climb.

This climb ended in a T intersection, but the course proceeded straight forward and dropped onto the final trail section, Trail 20, another part of the Hickory Ridge Trail System. This was much more mountain bikey as opposed to the last section and was very fun, although with the leaf cover it was hard to see where the trail was at times. I passed a few riders before coming out onto Tower Ridge road for the final long climb of the day.

About this time I did some math based on the remaining mileage (estimated since I had accidently paused my GPS earlier and it was off by 4-5 miles) and the time of day and realized I might be able to beat the 5 hour barrier. 

I launched myself into the Tower Ridge Road climb (more of a slow spin actually) and within a few minutes spotted the final SAG at the top of the climb. I was out of HEED, and was down to a third of a bottle of water.  I planned to top off on water, grab a snack and get out. Not that easy. No more water at the SAG. But they could offer nuts, granola bars, and peanut butter cookies. I grabbed a pack of two peanut butter cookies and started eating the first when the aforementioned Cat 2 DINO racer rolled up.

He and a friend immediately rolled out after grabbing food.  Knowing I ride better when I have carrot, I took off again for the final stretch south to the Hickory Church and then west to the finish, while still trying to eat a  peanut butter cookie.

Fun fact: Peanut butter cookies and limited water supply do not work well together. Actually any peanut butter based snack would have sucked in that situation. Anyway, I caught and passed the DINO racer, and caught up to his friend. I was feeling pretty good. Legs were back (sort of) I was nearing the home stretch, and I was catching other riders. Huzzah.

But, just before the Hickory Church (which did have a small rest station with water available), the DINO racer got a second wind and came roaring back along with his friend. I held on for a bit as the route turned onto McPike Branch Road (the light at the end of the tunnel for the course), but they were really gunning it and I dropped off and continued at my own pace alone. But, the good news was that I was on the home stretch and time was on my side. I rolled through the finish line with a time of 4:46 and 25th in the Open Men.

I immediately made a beeline for the mess hall and grabbed some Yats, my free t-shirt, and an excessive amount of free Hammer gel shots, but no joy on the raffle prizes.  Plus, no broken spokes despite the single track and the miles of bike rattling gravel.

Overall, I was very satisfied with the result, although I’m surprised I got in under the 5 hours. I figured the trail sections and added climbing would really eat up time but I think I was physically better prepared this year. Also , the bike performed flawlessly, and the choice to use mountain tires was a wise one.

In other random thoughts, singlespeed riders were killing it this year.  The venerable Gerry Pflug was racing and won the single speed race, although that was to be expected based on his race history.  Also, there was the strong rider we passed on Mount Baldy. I haven’t mentioned a rider from the Scholar’s Inn Bakehouse team (I think his name Stephen Brauchla based on the results) who was riding a Little 500 bike. I know this has been done in the past, but this was the first time I ran into such a rider. Aaron and I passed him on Combs Road, but at some point he repassed us and ended up finishing 20 minutes ahead of me and in the top 5 of the single speed class. Very impressive.

As for the event itself, the changes in the course were very fun and well marked. Hopefully the use of trails will continue in future races although certain staples, like the Combs Road section and descent down McPike Branch Road,  should still be included.  No real downsides, although sufficient water at the top of the Tower Ridge climb would have been advisable.  I ended up being ok in terms of water, but there were others who were hurting.

As I mentioned above, one more cross race for this year and then that’ll be it for 2013.  Forecast for the next few days includes some snow, so the race Saturday could be interesting.