Originally Posted by
cormacf
Thank you. ALL of this sounds like me (aside from having a racing background).
I'm actually right up the road from San Marcos (in Oceanside), and BWR was one of the reasons I was thinking gravel might be a nice path for me. And honestly, as far as my racing designs go, not finishing last = a podium for me, and top 50% age group would be a win.
Now I need to decide if I get a THIRD titanium bike in the hope that my wife will not recognize that it's new...
I did the middle distance BWR (80 miles), and finished dead-middle for both overall and my age group. I rode with a buddy, and we very intentionally rode at a conservative pace for the first couple of hours in the desire to have something left in the rank for the last couple of hours. I finished feeling pretty decent, and - in hindsight - could have pushed harder at many points on the course. I was very happy with my result, and very realistic that I will never be competitive among the top finishers again...and that's okay. Endurance racing is new to me, and I'm starting to figure out what my body is capable of. I'm enjoying that gravel racing is such a vastly different experience to my previous racing experiences.
The Bovine Classic in Atascadero is in just less than 4 weeks!!...
https://www.thebovineclassic.com/
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RIP 01/08/25...2022 Trek Supercaliber, 2018 Storck Fascenario.3 Platinum, 2018 Trek Procaliber SL Singlespeed, 2017 Bear BR1, 2003 Time VX Special Pro, 2001 Colnago VIP, 1999 Trek 9900 singlespeed, 1977 Nishiki ONP