Book of Chad

The Forbidden Gravel Experience is the first of a three-part series of gravel races on Vancouver Island. Out of the three, this one’s main attribute is that it is by far the hardest and roughest course. At 105 km and 2400m of climbing it is a pretty hard day in the saddle.

The ride starts out with a neutral rollout behind the race’s officials’ vehicle. The rollout runs through the town of Cumberland and is paved and friendly. In the roll-out, we chat and laugh and the pace is kept under 30 kph. The rules here are the race doesn’t start until your tyres hit the gravel. The car starts to accelerate and the chatting halts. Our tyres hit the gravel and we form two lines for the first phase of the race, the 50km out and back section. We were all together in a group of 50+ heading into the first hill. I knew from previous years that on the other side of the hill was a fast descent and I didn’t want to descend in a field of 50 riders. I picked up the pace and started to make a small gap. By the time I hit the 1st descent we were a lead group of 12 and we were pushing on. Over the rolling terrain, we lost a couple and 33 minutes in I was gapped off the back and alone in no man’s land. I rolled along at a sweet spot waiting to hopefully be caught by some riders so that we could form a chase group. I turned the 180 degrees around the cone that marked the middle of the out and back and that’s when I saw my chase group companions. Cory and Quinn were in pursuit, this exact scenario had played out last year after getting dropped from the first group and riding alone for 20 minutes for the second year in a row the same two guys found me and our trio began to chase. About halfway back we caught up with Cole who had been in a small crash on a descent. Now the four of us rode together through the transition area and on to the first and longest climb of the race.

The first climb was 11 km long and 440m in elevation. I decided that I would pace this climb the best I could and not be distracted by others. I was targeting tempo and was patient, as I knew there was a lot of race left. Cole was the strongest climber at this point in the race, Cory and I kept pace with him however Quinn fell off the back and faded out of view. As we neared the top of the climb a different rider had caught up and passed us into the descent. Shortly after I passed him back and was leading the group down the hill. This descent was really rough and steep enough to really get some speed. The first chance I had to look back and see who was with me, I turned my head and saw that no one was in view. I expected to lose Cole on the down however I was surprised that I had lost Cory. Thinking he will catch me back up at the bottom I charged on. I saw one of my CX Frienemy, Tom with his bike upside down changing a flat about three-quarters down. Tom is a very strong rider and it was too bad to see him at the side like that. Later I found out; that Tom had a double flat and cracked a carbon rim, Cole flatted pretty much at the top of the descent and Cory also suffered a double flat. I had a couple big hits on my front wheel and afterwards found the wheel to be out of true and have a few fair-size dents.

As I passed the aid station that marked the start of the second climb they yelled out encouragement and said that I was in 6th place. Up to that point, I knew I was hovering in the top 10, however, this was great news. With my new motivation, I set off on the mountain bike climb trail and just then both my legs cramped. I tried to spin it out and when that didn’t work I turned to drinking my “Crack Bottle.” I have a bottle for hard races that I use when I am cracked, It consists of 2 Gu blueberry caffeine gels and water, it is gross however it worked. I climbed strong however I was caught a few minutes from the top by another rider who I didn’t know and he lost me by the descent.

The final big climb was next and I was in a good rhythm. There are steep loose areas in this climb and I really wish I had another gear by this point. as I climbed I started to catch glimpses of the rider that past me on the last climb and I was gaining on him. There is a hike-a-bike section, well it is sorta ridable however with tired legs it wasn’t going to happen. We were both hiking now and I was hiking just a little bit faster. As we got to the top of that section I was right behind him. We climbed the rest of the climb together and we came across one of the riders in our field with a side wall slit, he was in the middle of repairing it but was going to be there for a while. I had a few words with the rider I was climbing with and as we neared the top he let me know that he wasn’t a very confident descender. Well with the majority of the distance left being a fast descent that was the last I would see of him. I really pushed on the descent, happy to make a gap and secure this 5th place position. At the bottom I was all alone, with roughly 10 km left of mostly flat terrain and one river crossing, I was excited to finish 5th. As I entered the ATV tracks that lead down to the river crossing I found another rider and I caught onto his back wheel before we made it to the river. I ran straight through the river without hesitation, jumped back on my bike and peddled as hard as my tired legs would allow. I managed to keep the power near threshold for the remaining 5 km and get a small gap leading into the finish.

I came across the line turned and collapsed in pain. My left shoulder and both my legs were cramping. I rolled around on the ground in pain until Lindsay was able to help me get off my jersey and the straps of my bibs. She helped massage the cramp out of my shoulder and got me some food and Gatorade. I lay on the ground for about half an hour unable to even sit up without causing pain and cramping. Then I was able to sit up and more than an hour after finishing I was finally able to stand again.

RACE: Forbidden Gravel Experience
Distance: 105 km
Time: 5:07:25
Avg Speed: 20.6 kph
Avg Power: 208 W
Normalized Power: 243 W
Elevation Gain: 2217 m
Place: 4th