I just found out the US gravel cycling national championships for 2025-26 are pretty much in my backyard (an hour drive, but pfft.) I'm 37, 5'9", 190 lbs, and my best estimate of FTP is 208 watts. I'm riding a 27 lb bike that's pretty well maxed out right now with 35mm tires. Basically no racing experience. I'm obviously going to lose badly if I enter. At this point my first thought is to try to lose 20 more lbs (started at 220 three years ago) while grinding out as many miles over the next 13 months as I can. Maybe worry about a better bike if I come into some unexpected money. What would you do, in my position, to maximize the fun : embarrassment ratio? I don't have an abundance of either time or money, although obviously I'll need to scrape together at least a little of both if I want to do this.

Nothing you do will make you competitive at this point so plan to enjoy it. Make sure you are comfortable with the distance, select the right tires for the course and pre-ride or drive as much of it as you can.

Do it. Anything you do to prep for it will be beneficial for your health. I want to do something like this too, and the best term I can use to describe my mentality is "tourist". Sure, I will go and compete, but since I know I won't be competitive, I will just plan to enjoy the experience of it all, and being in the middle of it - just to see what it is like. I'll try hard and enjoy the accomplishment, no matter where I place.

Then do it again next year...and the next. See how you improve.

That's pretty much where I'm at, but I don't want to just ride. I think reasonable goals might be to finish in 2025, and finish in the 3rd quartile (within the Masters age group) in 2026, but I'm going to have to start working smart now to make that happen.

I kept pretty active last year training to knock a marathon off my bucket list, but with that done I've fallen into a slump.

You’ve been riding, running, learn how to swim and there’s something else to try.

Barry

Your not wrong. An Ironman is the one thing that would coax me to run another marathon. I'm just not quite there right now.

They come in shorter distances than a full iron.
Try a sprint and see what you think.

Barry

I've done one with kayak a couple of times. That's fun, except I hate paddling. I generally have to milk cows twice a day, so it's a fine balance of finding something that will sort of fit into my schedule and something that's a big enough deal to justify hiring somebody to do chores for me.

Hey man, going after those nationals is a really cool goal. Focus on the weight loss and mileage over the next year. That'll make the biggest difference. I'd check if there are any local gravel groups or lower key races before then where you can get experience without as much pressure. Most of all, have fun with the training. Don't sweat losing at nationals if it happens, just enjoy being there, That's it. I won't be personally so competitive, though.

My time challenged, get fit program is basically one long ride, one fast ride, one hard ride per week. You can tailor that to a specific event as appropriate. You want your long ride to be at (or build up to) the distance or saddle time of the event, and the hard ride and fast rides at max or near max effort, again tailored to the event.

That sounds like a solid, simple plan. What's the difference, if any, between "hard" and "fast"?

On the hard ride you try to go fast uphill, and on the fast ride you try to go hard down hill...

Amazing that nobody here understands that you have to qualify to be in the national championships. Look that up (in the top 25% in some big races) and see where that takes you.

Unless there's a change from 2024: Elite and Open 19+ have qualification requirements. For age group competitors all that's required is an annual USAC race license, and citizenship or permanent legal residency.

What's amazing is that you would post this without checking, which took me 30 seconds:

https://gravelnats.usacycling.org/registration

Depends on the category, no?

Unless you have some realistic expectation of being able to compete at the pointy end of your age group, don't worry about how you might place, and don't let it get in the way of doing the event. Spend the time between now and then improving your fitness (ride a lot, and be consistent), dropping some weight, doing a few other races, and improving your bike (within the limits of your budget). On race day, do the best you can with the fitness you have, and enjoy the experience.

EDIT: There is no "embarrassment", regardless of how you finish.

That seems like good advice. In my mind it would be embarrassing to not finish, or to finish the day on a first-name basis with the sweeper.

You're doubling down on this mistake? Seriously? Did you look at the registration page? Who have they excluded?

The age categories start at 11 yrs and go to 75+. Males, females, nonbinaries. Paracyclists, single-speeders, tandems.

There's no shame in admitting an error. But insisting that you're correct when you're so obviously not? That used to be embarrassing. But I guess times have changed.

DNFs happen, even to pros.

Although I have not done a Nat Champ type of event, my experience with gravel races (varying from fairly local/low-key events to very big events) has been pretty consistent for this mid-pack old-guy...after the race is done, there is no judgement about where (or if) you finished. Folks share their stories of triumph and/or tragedy, laugh a lot, and absorb the experience of being there, on that day, with other passionate bike people.

You have some time before you have to commit to Nats. Do a couple of smaller events, get a feel for what gravel racing is about, and learn about how your body responds to long days on the bike.

This is huge...Learn about how your body likes to be fueled. Try things, and figure out what works for you. Improper fueling is a guaranteed way to wreck your day.

There are bad luck DNFs, and bad preparation DNFs. I have plenty of time, but maybe not the expertise, to prevent the latter, which I want to do at all costs.

I've done 100+ miles in a day 3 times, and come close a fourth time but ran out of daylight. I don't have my shoe fit quite dialed, but I'm making good progress on the nutrition side.

Doing a couple of races before Nats will help with the experience part of your preparation.

Ben Delaney has some good advice here, too...
Nothing you've said has made me think for a moment that you shouldn't do Nats. It sounds like you're on the right track.

Lots of good advice in that video, and the guy knows what he's talking about: he was in a gravel race I did a few weeks ago, and came in 4th in the 100-mile event (actually 101 miles) with a time of 4:44. Granted, it was a fast course...but still, that's flying.

Delaney is a very solid racer in his age group, with quite a few top placings, and an occasional win.

His speaking style is a little quirky, but the guy knows his stuff and does a good job (IMO) evaluating and reviewing products. As far as I can tell, he does a good job being impartial and fair in his critiques.

If I were you, my main focus would be completing the race, couldn't care less about rankings