First Gravel Race of the Year! aka Why do I torture myself?

[sadlebred]

I did the Currahee Mountain Gravel X Grinder race today in the mountains of NE Georgia. The race was put on by one of the awesome local race promoters and 2 regional high school mountain bike teams as a fund raiser. It snowed 6 inches up there Wednesday. Other than some boggy spots and a few nasty sections most of the gravel roads were in really good condition. The course was just over 36 miles with 4000+ feet of climbing. That's a lot, even for the mtns of N. GA. The two major climbs were Mt. Currahee (1 mile with 2 quarter mile stretches of a 15% uphill grade) and Fire Tower Road (about 3.5-4 miles of uphill Not-Fun.)

I raced the Masters Women category and can't tell you how I did although I was far frp, the last racer to finish. Climbing isn't my thing, but this race was so much fun! The course was great, the volunteers were great, cool tshirts, a sag/gear stop. The meal after (most cycling races don't provide food after the race although gravel grinders will often have a stocked aid/sag stop or two on the course) was a freshly cooked meal at a local restaurant, and it was yummy!

My legs are FRIED! I am probably not going to want to ride anything other than very easy for a few days.

I rode my 29ner mountain bike with 700x40 cyclocross tires. I chose the mtb over any of my cyclocross bikes because of the gearing. I needed easier gearing than any of the CX bikes provide. Taking my 2.2" mtb tires off and putting skinnier tires on reduced rolling resistance on the 9 miles of paved road and made it easier to cut through some of the mud. It was the perfect set up!

[theoriginalbean]

Sounds like fun!

[jamalynn]

Awesome. Sounds like you had fun.

[cole]

Wow, sounds awesome (and crazy impressive!)

[katinthehat]

Fun! I wish we had more stuff like that here! (First we need more than 10 feet of elevation change...)

[thom]

You are so awesome! That's sounds hardcore (and slightly terrifying) to me, but I'm so impressed by your race. Congrats!!

[clseale]

You're so bad ass! I love reading about all of your biking adventures.

[irene adler]

Wow! Sounds like you had a blast!

[shauni27]

that sounds like such a great event! Glad you enjoyed it