Today is Monday July 21 2025 and last Saturday i rode my cyclo cross bike 65 miles.
It was a good ride.
i started at 6:10 am which means i avoided the heat of the day. But it was still hot. As the 75 mile Gravel Worlds race in Lincoln Nebraska approaches i'm putting a lot of thought into how to adequately fuel for an effort like that. A big part of it will be salt.
i tend to cramp. Probably for two main reasons. i don't train well enough so therefore my body isn't use to the big efforts required in a race and also i'm not getting enough salt during the effort. Or is it sodium i need? Are those the same thing? Anyway... what i am pretty confident about is that salt stick fast chews work very well for me.
On this most recent ride, which was very humid, i ate a ton of them and i didn't cramp. Pedaling for 65 sweaty miles and not cramping is a big win for me.
So that has me feeling good.
i do need to work on my neck and shoulders because they are getting very fatigued on these long rides. stay tuned on that issue.
Looking at the calendar i can probably get in 3 more big rides before i take it easy for a week or two pre race. This most recent ride was only about 25% gravel so that's not ideal. i would love to get in a solid 65 mile all gravel ride prior the race.
What are my goals for this race? i'm not really sure. Gravel Worlds is really a race just to force me to get into good shape prior to the Little Sugar Mountain Bike race in Bentonvill in October. That's the race i'm most excited about. But i still want to ride well and enjoy myself over 75 miles of gravel.
i did Gravel Worlds (75 miles) once before, in 2023, and it took me 8 hours and 2 minutes but that included a long muddy walking section. Everybody was slow that year. The winner that year only averaged 16.4 mph but last year the winning mph was over 20.
Can i average 15 mph for 75 miles of gravel? Maybe. So that's a loose goal. Finish in 5 hours. i'll have to find a good group to ride with to make that happen. Getting more specific with my goals i'd like to line up towards the front. Which i don't like. i was always a back of the bus, back of the classroom type of guy and that trend continues when i line up for a race. But this time i'll try to force myself to get their early enough so i can line up in the top 50. Then i figure i should be prepared for a fast first hour and i'd like to be able to weather that storm and then keep pushing hard for the remainder of the race.
Bicycles!
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