Anybody planning on going to this event? 
I have it on my calendar and I plan on going and doing the Wafer mens. I plan on running my same setup as BWR San Diego - 40mm Nanos on my stock Diverge carbon sport. I’m guessing it’ll be super hot there - for fuel I was going with my two 1L polar breakaways. Not sure if I want to run it alonside my camelbak but I might. Since the elevation gain is as much as BWR SD, it might be advantageous versus stopping to refill. That would bring me to 3.5 ish liters , but I may have to stop anyway if it is really hot.
Not doing it this year, but I did it back in 2020. Fun mix of terrain. I just remember debating between road gearing and my mullet/eagle 1x setup. I went w/ road gearing with 1:1 as my lowest gear and regretted it on a few sections (particularly that long steep/loose climb near the end). I was pretty darn fit at the time (a bit over 4w/kg) and I’m pretty sure I ended up walking that last part at the top. If you are debating gearing, err on the side of easy. If I did it again, I’d run my 1x eagle with a 42 or 44 chainring.
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I did the Wafer last year but can’t do it again as the new date doesn’t work for me. Last year it was in late September which I think was a better timeframe as far as heat is concerned.
They usually save the final details of the course until close to the race, but it doesn’t sound like a major revision this year. I brought a hydration pack and bottles. That was my first gravel race and I wanted easy access to hydration (pack) when needed but also brought bottles to drink on the road. I re-filled one bottle at aid station about halfway around.
The Wafer only gains ~3k feet over ~75 miles, so it’s not that hilly. I had a SRAM 1x with a big cassette in the back. I used 40mm Pirelli Cinturato Gravel M tires. Those were OK, but I’d probably want something faster (on roads) and wider for the silly sand sections. There is a higher ratio of paved roads on the wafer, and most of the pavement is in the second half.
I burned my entire book of matches on the Rollers for Rouleurs section. Also, there was a gravel section towards the end that was relentless washboard. I believe it was the southernmost section. Just a heads-up as something to look forward too. 
BWR races seem to be designed to make sure you have the wrong bike at some point. A fat bike would be fastest on the sand, a mountain bike in the bike park, and road bike on the 30%+ of the course that is paved. So that means whatever setup you have is as good as the next.
Not sure how fast you expect to go, but you should likely plan on 4:20-5 hours. 2022 results here
https://www.omnigoevents.com/events/bwr-ut-2022/results/
3.5L might be enough, but if it’s extremely hot, I’d probably top up somewhere anyway. Most people hike-a-bike to the second aid station (sand hill) so “stopping” doesn’t really have the same impact as it would in other races.
Have fun! It was a blast and I wish I could do it again this year.
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Had a change of plans this weekend so no BWR Cedar City for me. Living in San Diego we were warned of Hurricane Hilary this past weekend which happed to be way overblown, no pun intended. My awesome son’s 4th B-day party was scheduled for this past Sunday and with all the unknowns and fellow parents cancelling, we rescheduled his Bday to next week, thus impacting my plans for crushing in it Utah. Cancelling my race was a no-brainer but still a little bummed out.
Positive take-aways are that I planned and executed a second “peak” this year and I experimented with the Polarized MV Base and Build plans, and I’m still completing the specialty phase as a taper that will conclude this week. So I am coming away with some valuable data. As a person who loves the training as much as the event, I feel really good about my preparation and will tweak a few things this next coming year based on what I’ve experienced.
I also started dieting during the last six weeks and still feel great and actually realized my bodyweight goal this morning. I cut out the booze at that time too as that detracted from my performance heading into my first A-race this season. I’m going to stay on the wagon for at least another six weeks.
As of now, I’ll see if the taper worked and how I feel this weekend. Hoping I can tear the cranks off.
Onwards and upwards my friends!
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This will be my first gravel race and I’m freaking excited! I’m doing the men’s Wafer riding a Canyon Grail AL with 40mm Continental Terra Trail tires.
It’s still pretty early to call the weather but it’s only going to be 80f by 2pm, cool imo but I’d say I’m heat acclimated. I’m only bringing three bottles and I’ll be relying on aid stops.
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Good luck this weekend - the weather looks to be perfect. I’ll expect a full race report @Tubelesssealant123 with pics to go with it!
@Stevie_Dee Bummer, but maybe I’ll see you next year.
@Tubelesssealant123 Have fun! It was my first gravel race ever last year and it was great. I’m bummed about the schedule change this year as I can’t ride it since I’ll bee doing Lotoja 2 weeks later. If you have time to preride, you may want to check out Als stroop een zandheuvel opduwen and the bike park section. These are close and you can park near there. Prior to this, it’s a variety of gravel and pavement but nothing crazy. Then these two sections are crazy. Then it’s mostly pavement home apart from the washboard-of-death section and the final stretch of nice gravel.
Enjoy. It will be awesome.
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