2023 Cascadia Super Gravel - by Dwaine

Last Saturday with Tom and my Fell Swoop teammate Josh and I raced the 100 mile Cascadia Super Gravel. We started at 7 a.m. under clear skies and not too chilly temperatures. Josh was racing with his friend Jason and they wanted to start a little faster than I did. I let them go early and hoped to eventually work my way back up to them. Tom and I were about the same speed and stayed within a minute of each other for the first hour.

Josh and Dwaine _before_ the long suffer.

My plan to eventually reel in Josh was foiled at mile fifteen when my rear tire went soft after I nicked the sidewall. I stopped to add air a couple times hoping the sealant might eventually clog the hole but on my third stop I knew I needed to invest the time to install a tube.

Once back underway I figured my race was over. I had lost over twenty minutes with the multiple stops. I resigned myself to the fact I was on a really long training ride. To motiviate myself I started counting how many riders I could catch and pass.

At mile 29 I crested the highest climb of the day and was still feeling great. I was concerned that the steep final pitches of this climb might push me into the red but my legs were taking the effort in stride.

There was a navigational problem at mile 37. My Garmin instructed me to make a hard right onto a climb. But there were 'wrong way' signs on this climb. A few other riders were also confused at these signs. After a quick survey of the situation I announced I was going to trust my Garmin and I started up the climb. I quickly came to course markers showing I was on course. As I climbed I thought through the situation and came to the conclusion that some prankster had rearranged the signs just to create mayhem.

The next ten miles were lonely. From mile 15 to 37 I had caught 15 riders. From mile 37 to 50 I caught zero.

But daydreaming while riding was not wise. The promoter of this event had created a route using many of the less frequently ridden roads. I learned it was best to keep a very close eye on the Garmin map for unexpected turns.

I finally caught sight of another rider as we approached the long hike-a-bike section at mile 50. I was surprised at the length of the hike-a-bike. Strava reports I was at walking speed for about 14 minutes. The hike-a-bike was good for my catch score. I passed two at the beginning, one of which was Tom, and three more as we emerged from the woods onto the A-line climb.

As I approached the aid station at mile 67 I was really pleased that my legs were still putting out decent power. My stomach wasn't so happy with how many carbs I was shoving down my throat. My catch count had climbed into the low twenties. And it was getting warm.

Miles 67 to 75 were lovely. It was generally downhill. I couldn't add to my catch count as the course was shared with riders racing the 50 mile event. But I could at least say 'Hi' every once in a while.

At mile 75 the 100 mile course turned West onto the paved D-line road and I was riding solo again. My stomach was really starting to grumble. I kept stuffing the food in anyway.

The fatigue finally caught up with me at mile 85. After almost eight hours I started to loose steam. I chose to walk a couple of the steepest pitches. I cut my final food ration by half hoping to make a truce with my angry gut.

I wasn't the only rider suffering in these final miles. I managed to put three more riders behind me between mile 85 and 95 bringing my total to 26.

At mile 95 we were back on a short stretch of pavement that lead to one more gravel climb and the single track finish. I had only a thirty second gap on my previous catch which provided the motivation to keep pushing all the way to the finish line. I crossed that line after 8 hours 57 minutes. I was pleased as punch with this time.

After finding fresh clothes I sat down and chatted with Josh and Jason. I hadn't seen them since the start but it sounded like they had a great race. Josh even admitted to accepting some of the Bacon that was being cooked at the mile 67 aid station. They finished four seconds apart in 8 hours 42 minutes. Josh was scored eleventh and Jason twelfth. I was not scored at all but my time would have put me in thirteenth.

I waited for quite a while for Tom to finish only to find out he took a nasty fall and then a trip to the hospital. So while I had a good day on the bike, as a whole, the Cyclopaths did not.