Quick race report on Gravel Worlds, 8/28 in Lincoln, NE:
Did the 75 mile race last year and it felt pretty easy. Totally different ball game this year after portions of the course got about 2" of unexpected rainfall in the early morning hours of race day. Took off at 7AM right as the rain was finally tapering off. All that water really softened up the surface and even the best line got pretty spongy. Turned into a slow parade for the first 20 miles.
There was a 1 mile dirt road section at the 30 mile mark (just about 100 for the 150 riders) that turned into hike a bike. If you happened to have enough wheel clearance, you could power through. I wasn’t so lucky. (Important to note that the race organizers reduced 2 miles of mud the morning of the race courtesy of a re-route).
Took me and my friend way too long to get through the first 35 miles. The rest of the course sped up as the surface dried up and the sun came out.
Chase Wark took second in the 150 event behind John Borstelmann. Was rocking the HED Jet180 (don’t call it a disc wheel). Snagged this pic from his IG feed.
