Thought I would start a new thread for BWR NC 2022… Any other TR athletes or members of the TR crew planning on doing BWR NC this year?
This is going to be my first long distance gravel race and I would love to hear others advice for BWR first timers, and anything specific to the NC course you think might be relevant. What bike, tires, gearing etc… are people planning on using?
My setup at the moment is a stock 2022 Specialized Diverge Expert, for reference I am 185lb 38 year old male currently at 3.06w/kg… Although I know my TR AT plan should add few points to that ahead of BWR.
I am in the North East United States so it’s been all indoor training for the last few months, my life is busy so I can only fit in a mid volume plan. This will for the most part be all of my training/riding up until the beginning of May when I have 3 other road and gravel events on the schedule that will hopefully help me get prepared for the long day at BWR.
Just looking for any advice/tips and to share and connected with other TR athletes planning to do BWR NC.
Last years course want too bad at all, except for the last steep paved climb. Cant remember the name but it was 10%+ and was long enough and late enough in the race that it blew up any group you were in. Make sure you are prepared for the end and have low gearing. This years course will be longer.
It’s a tough call whether that road or the insane downpour that started right after we finished was worse. Despite the fact that the rain soaked literally everything, made getting back to the car a serious challenge, and killed one of my lights, Jeter was probably worse.
Neither compares to the fact that most of the available food was Hammer products.
Oh great way to get me excited LOL… Are you going to do it again? And yeah I cannot stand Hammer … Thinking about trying to carry mostly all my own nutrition.
I’m doing the wafer again this year, I ran maxxiss rambler 700/38c. I never rely on an event for nutrition I stopped once during the wafer last year, just to fill a water bottle . I got through with sugar/ Gatorade mix 180g and some clif bars. I had trouble eating solid food since I was on the gas the whole ride. The food at the end of the race was the smallest portion Ever and next year I’ll make sure I have plenty of my own food for after the ride.
Last year I followed climbing road race after sustained power build, felt right but this year I’m switching up and trying the century specialty after sustained power build. We’ll see how that goes.
Jeter mountain has pitches of 20% It was tough especially at the end. I might change my mind and do the full waffle. I’m not a fan of being on my bike for 7hours but things change.
Following this thread as I signed up for the Wafer ride. I am a runner trying to turn myself into a cyclist so this will be my first season of tackling gravel rides/events…hence the Wafer signup vs Waffle. I train in Michigan so while we have plenty of rolling hills, achieving 6k’ elevation in a ride takes a lot of miles much less over 11k for the Waffle distance…needless to say I’ll be participating in the event simply to complete vs compete. I ride a Lauf True Grit and currently running Maxxis Ramblers (700x40) but may switch to Pathfinder Pros or one of the Rene Herse semi slick options prior to the event depending on what is available when I need it. Really looking forward to this event…any commentary on the course or required training would be welcome!
The poster above regarding the velo news subscription - check your email for an email from Outside+ (the parent company for velonews). I got my free subscription email on 2/11.
These are the screenshots of the original course from last year. They had to shorten the courses last year because a tropical storm rolled through causing severe flooding in areas the course went through.
I did the wafer last year, signed up for the for full waffle this year. As others have stated Jeter Mtn road was the toughest part. Except for one or two spots on Pinnacle Mtn rd, all of the gravel sections were in good shape. I used my Domane with 35s, WTB byways, no issues. I’m following Rolling Road Race plan.
Cool I am on the same plan… Feeling good in the middle of general build at the moment. I am going to be doing Tour of the Battenkill, GFNY and the Jersey Gravel grinder in May to get a bit more use to longer hours on the bike.
I’m signed up for Waffle - it’s going to be my first big gravel event too. Bringing Giant TCX Advanced that has 1x40T crank & 11x42 in the back. Tires will likely be Pathfinder Pro 2Bliss 42’s. I started my plan early so doing Sustained->SSB1->Century. I’m at about 3.8w/kg @ ~185lb - coming up to ride from Atlanta (my wife is also coming, but not riding), so I’d love to meet up and ride with other TR folks.
Nice, yeah my wife and kids are also coming along to hang out and cheer me on… I also purchased the VIP dinner tickets, maybe we can have a TR meetup the night before the event.
I could use some advice on tire selection. I’m doing the Waffle, and it will be my first gravel race and only my 5th or 6th gravel ride. I train a lot on the road, and I’ve raced mountain bikes for 10 years, so I feel like my bike handling skills are good (but not great), even though I don’t have much gravel experience. I’m currently running 40mm Maxxis Ramblers but considering 42mm Specialized Pathfinder Pros for the Waffle, since they (reportedly) roll much better on road/smooth gravel. I’m also coming up from Atlanta with the family for a few days and would love to me a few TR users. For training, I used Plan Builder with the Cohutta 100 mountain bike race at the end of April as a B race. Thanks for all the help!
Youll find pathfinders under a lot of the top riders. I personally like a little more side knobs on the front tire. They roll pretty fast and would be hard to beat on a significant amount of the course. last years route had pretty tame gravel (for Appalachia) except for Pinnacle.
I rode the Waffle last year and had the Pathfinder Pros on my bike. No issues. I found all the gravel really tame compared to what we have in my neck of the woods.
I thought the organization around the start of the race was pretty crummy. You had to arrive well before dawn, and it was really unclear where to park and then where to go from there. Almost no one had lights, and they didn’t really have lights or volunteers to guide you to the starting area. Then it was worse getting back to the car afterwards.
We had been promised PB&Js and waffles at all the rest stops. I think they changed this officially before the race (because of COVID), but we only came across PB&Js once. There were no waffles. There was some magical bacon. Hammer products are terrible.
… Thinking about trying to carry mostly all my own nutrition.
