Welcome to our new segment - Race Reports, A Year in Review - written by our tallest apprentice, Linus Owens! Over the next few weeks, we will regularly post a new story, a look back to Linus’s races from the 2021 season. We will include photos where we have them.
We welcome community contribution! If you have a race report, ride story, or photos you would like to share with us, we would love to post here on our blog and share it with our mailing list.
A look back on a year returning to racing and the privilege
that comes with sharing in the passion of bikes
G.R.U.S.K.
I want to take you back to a wonderful day I had for the Gravel Race Up Spruce Knob, aka G.R.U.S.K., eighty miles of West Virginia gravel and mountains. The race starts by the titular Spruce Knob at the Experience Learning center. I arrived after dark the night before, so it wasn’t until morning that I got to see the wonderful view we had from the start line.
I set a goal to finish the day strong, and my main objectives to do that were: eat, eat, and eat some more. Nutrition strategy is the most important aspect of any endurance race. The rule is basically, if you feel hungry or feel thirsty, it’s too late. You have to eat before you're hungry, sometimes when it’s hard to eat, and drink water around the clock. Carbs, like sugar, are the most important. If you’re sweating, you need salts like sodium and potassium. Also, fats and proteins are important to eat not simply for nutrition, but to keep your guts in order. Eating nothing but sugar for five hours can lead to some pretty awful lingering issues, to say the least. It is very easy to fall behind keeping your tank full and nearly impossible to catch up without grinding your day to a complete halt. I have watched YouTube videos and podcasts with long boring explanations with fancy words like “uptake” and “mitochondrial,” but it all comes down to this: no food, no go. I’ve learned this all too personally spending many miles in cramping agony. There is no mental game to get through having no energy. This is a food heavy hobby. Embrace it. Eat your way to the finish line.
Moods were high at the start. This race has been around for a few years and a lot of folks were returning for it after no race in 2020. We had a neutral roll out for a couple miles to the first descent on the day. This race highlighted a big aspect of my racing that I need to improve. I am not a good descender. This was compounded by the roads being quite windy and unfamiliar. Though, as opposed to the Pennsylvania Chunk™ from the last race, the road surfaces here were mostly smooth hardpack dirt with a few sections of disruptive potholes. So I couldn’t just blame my lack of skill on the road surface. The first descent went right into the first climb, and I went to my first banana on the day. I spent that climb chewing banana through gasps of air and clawing back positions on the field.
On the start line, I overheard folks talking about previous years' editions with whispers of the “grass descent." And it sent shivers down my spine. What problems I had descending on dirt really came to the fore on the second descent of the day. And they were not fooling when they said grass. A two mile flying grass descent with some mud ruts here and there. I lost a lot of places on this, but pushed that out of my head to focus on getting down safe. I had my closest call of the day when, trying to hop out of the ruts, my front wheel got stuck for a moment. A long, agonizing moment filled with flashes of life before my eyes and shouted obscenities, but by luck more than anything, my wheel popped free. And I regained control. A couple of very nice riders asked me if I was okay. After I assured them I was, they flew down the hill and out of sight.
After the down-up-down start, the field was very stretched out as the road gave up a bit of breathing room, not quite flat, but gently rolling. We got to the second climb and I hit two things, my pace and another banana. I love to climb. To me, it's the bee's knees. Long, arduous, never ending, unforgiving, eternal roads with nothing around the corner but more up. On my own, it's meditative. I climb by my lungs, not my legs. I get very zoned in, methodical breathing to keep myself under control. But the greatest skill that has helped me ride over mountains is getting a good song stuck in my head. Something with some rhythm, some drive. I can get one good song stuck in my head for hours and it helps me set my tempo. So with Little Red Riding Hood by Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs driving me up the hill, I pulled back a lot of the riders who dropped me on the descent.
We hit a rolling ridge line, and I tagged on with a few riders for a short time. The road never got flat, but the potholes would be the real plague. A great deal of energy is saved riding behind someone else. However, that plan goes out the window if every few hundred yards you have to scatter around potholes. The road turned to swiss cheese in sections. I got nervous getting behind other riders without being able to scan the road ahead. I did get in some sweet bunny hops to get over a few potholes. As cool as that felt, the disruptions made me, and I believe the others, a little anxious. Despite this, we put in some work together leading into the gentlest descent of the day.
We hit the first aid station at mile twenty-five and most of the riders sped by while I pulled over. I've been trying to get faster at my aid station stops. I filled my bottles, slammed a brownie and peanut butter sandwich, and was back on the pedals before I had finished chewing.
The course got about as flat as you could get in West Virginia. Folks were stretched wide apart by now, and the day got a bit monotonous and lonely. I put my head down, but kept my eyes peeled on how gorgeous it was. I made sure to give a good share of attention to everything not on the road when I could spare it. The best part about crawling up a hill is you get enough time to stare at the trees. The flatlands ended at another climb up to the aid station at mile fifty-one.
I heaved down more snacks, peanut M&Ms, Coke, PB&J. I love a proper aid station. I brought my own gummy bears for after the bananas. I get a little picky about my brand bears. I prefer Black Forest myself. They also had the truest staple of gravel racing: pickle juice. Never been much of a pickle man myself, but let me tell you, with that many rough miles in my legs, it shines like gold and goes down like honey. They had some Dixie shot cups with pickle juice, and I’m happy to report, the barkeep had a heavy pour. I gave a Prost and downed one. I ran into a rider from Great Eskape, another local bike team, named Rich. I mentioned the gravel ride our teams did together earlier that month, but I was sad I couldn't make it. Well, Rich couldn't make it either! But it still got us to introduce ourselves. Good rider, great attitude.
Past the halfway point, I was feeling strong and happy to be there. I grew up in Towson, but my dad and uncle would take our families camping in this part of West Virginia on many wacky adventures when I was a kid. This place holds a special place in my heart and, even though it was my first GRUSK, it gave me a sense of homecoming. I was blasting down a dirt road and saw a sight that brought tears to my eyes. Laurel Fork Campground was a sight of many wacky adventures I had growing up, brought up memories of my uncle’s VW Vanagon breaking down on mountain roads all the time, us kids running around the woods, flipping rocks over, swinging sticks, just causing ruckus and getting dirty. Memories filled my sails with new wind.
From Laurel Fork, things went up, again. The climb to the top of Spruce Knob came in the three big steps, separated by flatish relief sections. This was what I came for. I had Everybody Needs Somebody to Love by Wilson Pickett on the turntable in my head. When the needle dropped, I dropped the hammer. Things were quite windy at the start, but once the road straightened out on the second step up, I started to mark some riders, and pull them each in. I had my eyes on a pair riding together a bit up the road, Orange shirt, and Black shirt that stayed out of my reach for a while. They held their advantage on the last easy three mile stretch before the final pitch to the top. Once we got on the perfect steady grade, I could set my eyes on them. And I could see trouble. Orange shirt was leaving his buddy behind. Over the next fifteen minutes, I crawled across to, and passed Black shirt. Orange shirt seemed like he hadn't lost a step on me. In the final two miles, the road bobbed up and down, and I could see the gap closing. I put in one final punch on the last wall to the top and got around Orange shirt in the last few hundred meters and held it to the top. Then, we all stopped to take pictures! As far as I was concerned, I could take my racing in bits that day.
It was some serious fun, but of course I'm there for a great time, and the view at the top was wonderful. I'm not so much of a try-hard that I can keep myself from enjoying it. I caught up with Orange shirt on the descent, name was Dan. Nice guy. He joked that he was just glad that he beat his buddy, Black shirt, up the climb. It was a good day for many. Things kept going down, but one final two mile climb awaited us. Rich from Great Eskape caught back up with me on the start of the last climb and did some good work on it. But my eating plan was paying dividends because I had plenty of gas left in my tank. We turned back onto the last awful dirt road up to the finish. I wanted to go out fighting so I hit that rocky road like it was on an ice cream cone in the summer sun, and dropped the others. And boy, was it some bumpy fun to end a fantastic day on the pedals.
For the eighty mile, I finished 80th overall and 29th in the Men's Open, coming in at 5:50:40. The day was won by Nick Waite of Harrisonburg, VA 4:28:52. I felt great about the race, and kept my strength up the whole time. I only spent about 15 minutes overall at stopped aid stations which is a great improvement for myself while also taking time to admire the views. I caught up with Rich after. We gave each other a big congrats on a great day. Their team came out in numbers and they had some good stoke for all the finishers.
A fantastic event that gave me a chance to ride down, and up, memory lane. This is a well established race and the folks that came out bring a great atmosphere to it. The venue had hot showers on location and that is a perk that some of the races are sorely missing. Also free beer from Greenbrier Valley Brewing Company, and even better, they brought a really sweet dog! I can't wait to get back out before this race next year.
Next up, after I took a brutal beating in 2019, I take another crack at Dirty Kitten Gravel Race.
Ride well,
Linus
