Race report time!
Yesterday was my first race of the year - Gravel & Wine in Temecula CA. The main goal for this first race was 'execute'. Ride a good race. Have nothing go wrong. Feel strong when I need to. Execute.
My secondary goal was to beat my "arch-nemesis" Sofia Schugar. We first met at this race in 2024, where she attacked me in the final minutes to beat me. Then in 2025 when I was significantly stronger, she went faster still and beat me by 20min. We shared the same coach until a few months ago and have plenty of mutual friends around SD. She wins so many races and I've never beat her anywhere! We aren't actual competing since we are in diff categories. So for me it's a fun rivalry.
The course this year was 56mi with ~6k feet of climbing, and 2/3rds is on dirt. There's 2mi of flat gravel followed by 6mi of road in the beginning and it's absolutely imperative to be in the lead group during that part. In a big fast group, you can do 20-25mph with minimal effort. By yourself, you do 18mph and use up your legs. We went this direction in 2024 and I missed the lead group and got caught at a light
. Part of 'Execute' is doing this part perfectly.
My start was solid this time. I rode inside the top 20 for first 10miles and felt great. HR was low enough and legs were warm. Then we all hit the first climb and the field stretched out. I let the lead men get away and stuck onto Sofia's wheel. The pace was way higher than I would have done by myself, at least 30watts. I literally thought "Fuck it, let's see how long I can do this for". Part of bike racing is trying to ride with the faster riders for as long as possible. The longer you can use their draft, the faster your race time - even if you blow up at the end. More 'Execute'!
The climbs in this race can be tough with 15-20% sections on dirt. For these two climbs, I averaged 259w and 240w and hit peaks of 521w and 448w. These are not the number I normally attempt for a 4hr gravel race. That's what it took to hang with Sofia and her competitor Kristen. They were faster on the climbs, "towing" me a little. I was faster on the flatter parts, towing them far too often. Eventually, Sofia got tired of me towing Kirsten and started attacking. I caught the first two attacks and stayed with her, as did Kristen. But her 3rd attack at mile 31 was too much for me. I let them go and lost 40sec.
The descent after the high point at mile 34 was gnarly. The dirt was soft and sandy this year. The main problem was that you couldn't tell if the dirt in any corner was going to be grippy, soft, or slippery. So I definitely over-braked for a few too many corners. I lost another 30sec to Sofia on the 5.5mi descent, averaging 24mph. The top 3 women now have the top 3 QOM times on that descent.
The rest of my race was mostly solo. I caught up to Kristen at mile 46. She was cooked and wasnt able to hold my wheel. I'm glad because Sofia would have been pissed if I had towed her back up
. Our course merged with other distances and I worked with one very tall rider for a draft on some flat towards the end. I managed my cramps as best as possible and just kept pedaling. Eventually I crossed the line in 3:23:50 - 22nd and 2m16s behind Sofia.
Overall, I'm fucking stoked at my performance, my execution. My NP and avg Power were up 24w compared to last year, a 12% increase in one year. I was able to put down power whenever I needed to. I set an all time 90min power PR, which included a few descents. I had more matches than there were climbs! I also significantly closed the gap to the winners. Last year I finished 124.9% behind 1st and 2nd. This year I was only 116.1% behind the same riders. That number is HUGE to me. My goal for the entire year was one race under 120% and I've already done it.
Other numbers -
Fluids consumed: 1.25L (not enough)
Estimated Sweat Loss: 1.9L
Calories Consumed: 1300Cal (not enough)
Calories Burned: 2800Cal
Today, Im fucking SORE. My inner thighs cramped for over half the race and tore themselves to bits. It didn't affect my power all that much. But it f*ing HURT this time. Oh wells, first-race-of-the-season issues.
Onto Bakersfield for Rock Cobbler 13.0 in 2wks.
. I hope it’s not as bad as last time.
