Event: UCI Gravel World Series – Ruthin, Wales
Date: 22nd September 2024
How it started
Whilst in the final weeks of preparation for my 100km Ultra I received a message from a friend asking if I was doing the UCI race the week after my run. My initial reaction was not printable but then after a few moments of thinking time, I agreed to go if he wanted to do it!
So, a new challenge was born!
Clearly, the aim was to get round this year rather than qualify for an AG World Champs place. Would my body recover enough from the previous week’s Ultra to make this possible? I wasn’t sure, but I was up for giving it a go!
The course
The race begins around Brenig reservoir, where the initial ascent, a 1.2km climb at an average gradient of 4%, awaits after 6km on the reservoir’s north side. The initial climb is designed to fragment the peloton. Subsequently, at the 14km mark on each lap, riders encounter a second comparable ascent, stretching 1.3km with an average gradient of 6.2%. Nestled between these climbs is a brief 100m incline, boasting an average gradient of 28%. Throughout the course, elevation fluctuates between 300 and 470m above sea level and is never flat. With a cumulative elevation gain exceeding 2000m, this course presents a formidable challenge to all participants and at 112km, adds up to the official qualifier distance for the UCI Gravel World Championships.
The race
The weekend before the race our campsite booking was cancelled due to a flood, this proved to be a sign of things to come! Luckily, we found alternative accommodation in an Airbnb in nearby Ruthin that wasn’t fully booked. After arriving on Saturday afternoon, we went for a walk to stretch our legs and found ourselves in a thunder and lightning storm. Everything was pointing towards a very wet race! The weather forecast for race day was rain, rain and more rain and led to many entrants not even making the start line.
6:00 – Time to get up, pack the van and sort the Airbnb out. No rain!
7:00 – 30-minute drive to the venue and then 30 minutes looking for a layby to park in.
8:00 – Spin down to registration to sign on and check out the first few km of the course, find the bag drop location and time for a coffee before cycling back to the van to get kitted up.
10:00 – Final kit choices made. Is it going to rain, rain or rain? Then spin back down to the start to get into our pens to await the start.
11:00 – Race starts with the usual frantic dash up a gravel hill before a 5km road section where groups formed before we hit some single track and things spread out a little. One ambulance with 2 crash victims already! Still no rain.
13:30 – After a steady 2.5 hours I’m feeling ok, fuelled with a 40g carb gel every 30 minutes washed down with a bottle of water, I get to the end of lap 1 and it’s still mainly dry.
13:35 – RAIN!! Finally, the scheduled rain came just after I had passed the start/finish area. I have never raced in rain this heavy before. It was character building for sure and never stopped for the rest of the event!!
16:00 – Another 2.5 hours of grinding, sticking to the same fuelling strategy, battling through the rain/mud and the end is in sight (kind of, as not much to see through my muddy Oakley’s!) so I sit up and cruise whilst letting a rider catch me up only to find he is in my category so I get to do a sprint (for a lowly 37th) at the end. Just what I needed to bring an epic race to an end!!
17:00 – Back in the van for the long journey back.
22:30 – Home after a long, challenging, but enjoyable day out!
How it ended!!
To summarize, I had a great weekend away with friends and even though I wasn’t in any fit state to perform, I really enjoyed the race from a slightly different viewpoint. It’s amazing what the body can do when you focus on getting something done!!
