200miles on a gravel bike!
This last weekend saw the running of the Esk to Esk x2. A 200mile gravel bike event on the Brisbane Valley Rail Trail. The premise is pretty simple. Start at 7pm, ride from Esk to Ipswich, back to Esk then up to Yarraman, turn around then back to Esk. 324k on varying gravel terrain, pretty much self-supported. My first ever gravel race and a monster at that!
To back things up a little, my build up to the race wasn't ideal. First of all, I don't know heaps about bikes. Absolutely more than the regular Joe, but I am learning every day about the ins and outs of the complicated world that is bicycles. Secondly, my build up and training was not great. I have been preparing for my 50marathons in 50days and also trying to squeeze in bike time for this event. Don't get me wrong, I am fit and have been doing 15-20hrs a week for a couple months. I just hadn’t got in the 5-7hr rides I would have like to have. What will be will be. Thirdly, I have never done an event that started at 7pm. A couple of big unknowns… but I did what I could and aimed to control the controllables.
Thursday after work we headed out to Esk. Damo, Blaine, Ricky and I were lining up for the big daddy, then my mate Ben and Jason were doing the 150k. We had some easy times leading up to the race just chilling out, eating, drinking and getting our gear ready. The nervous anticipation was cool and I was getting anxious to start riding! Before long we headed down to the start line and after some chats and laughs, we were on our way.
The early k’s went by easily and some good conversation was had. No real drama, just settling into a rhythm on the first 70odd k to Ipswich. Before long and after a short stop at our drop bags at Fernvale, we reached the turnaround in good time and were on our way back or way to Esk. Blaine seemed to be struggling a bit but the rest of us were feeling good, all be it cold. Another quick stop at Fernvale and it was pretty apparent Blaine was going to stop at Esk. We reached that point in nearly bang on seven hours and were pretty stoked with that. We said good-by to Blaine and kept on our way.
That whole section I just 100% focused on ‘soft peddling’. This is basically turning the legs, not putting any pressure, or very little through the pedals and conserving energy. A good plan.
Heading north was going well. My food and drink was going down SUPER well and SO much easier than running. Someone (Blaine, Ricky???) had said that Moore (where there was a café open all night with heaters, coffee and food) was only about 20k from Esk. We went through one little town…then another….still no Moore. By this stage I had skipped a food break and run out of fluids as Moore was ‘only 20k from Esk’. Well, apparently it was more than 50k and we were all getting VERY cold, low on supplies and needed a mental break for a few minutes. Next minute, about 3k out of actual Moore, I flatted. UGH!
I was cold. Like jackhammering cold. I couldn't work my hands and needed help with my tyre. The hole was big enough that it wouldn't seal and needed plugging. We managed to do this but it only held enough air to limp into Moore where luckly there was a volunteer with some mechanical expertise. He said he could put a tube in my tyre, stoked, but upon pulling out about eight different tubes realised I needed a long valve because of my deeper rim wheels. I thought my race was done but we JUST managed to get a standard tube in with a TINY bit of valve sticking out….just enough to get a pump on. After wasting nearly an hour on the trail and at the café (where we all got some food, warmth in our bodies and I even ate a vegan pie!) we were on the trail again. I was super grateful as I thought my race was over. Dawn had started to break and a new excitement for the morning was upon us.
Heading out to Yarraman, we all knew what was coming. A gradual but approx.. 18km long climb up the range. It was unrelenting but manageable. Small gears, spinning the legs. We got up there, Damo looking strong and Ricky and I dragging the chain but inching up. It was a relief to reach the top and only had a short ways out to the last turnaround.
Not long before reaching that point….I flatted again. The same tube we had just put in! Far out man. We took about 15-20min but got this one in much easier and were on our way again. We reached Yarraman happy to get some supplies, grab a drink and then start heading for home.
From about this point, I started getting strong. Like wanting to push hard for home strong. It took me about 14hrs to reach the point where I was ready to start crushing. Typical! I kept riding a natural pace then looking back every 5-10min to see the boys were with me and they would be 50-100m back. I would slow down, let them catch up then do the same thing again, not deliberately but just riding my new natural pace. We had come this far and were doing the event together, I wanted to ride together, so eventually, I just said to Ricky to get in front and set the pace. This seemed to work well and we rolled on together as a group.
At one point, I got in front and put the hammer down as I was feeling so good. We split up again and I harnessed my ego and kept the group together. After a few rollers and a short stop in Moore for the last time to fuel up, we were on the final stretch for home.
It was super nice doing those last kilometres in the sun and sweet gravel tracks. We laughed, were tired and just relished the journey and the final miles in. We also met Perko, one of Blaines friends who we started with but had taken off. He was battling a bit but rallied to ride with us into the finish. After 19hrs and 35min, we arrived at Esk, the finish line of our first ever, and PB distance for everyone, 200mile gravel race. I was super stoked, pumped and loved every minute of it!
I can honestly say, that it was such a great experience. I relished the physical challenge, the time on the bike, the company and the beautiful weather and trail that was presented that day. The whole thing just made me so stoked to ride gravel more and more. Apart from the flats, my bike was great and I learnt a lot of lessons along the way. To push myself and get out of my comfort zone was so rewarding and an experience I won’t forget in a while. I can honestly say though, running 100miles is MUCH harder than riding 200miles. Just my two cents worth.
Thanks to the boys for hanging with me and sharing a great weekend, the organisers and everyone who took part. Much love friends, adventure on and heres to the short build to running 42.2k a day for 50days!
