Race Report: BWR Utah 2024
It's the split-second lapses that cost minutes
I have zero photos from during the race yet… sorry! All screenshots are from Justin’ McQueery’s race video.
The Rundown:
Race: Belgian Waffle Ride Utah
Date: April 6, 2024
Location: Cedar City, UT (fun fact about the host town: home to the open-air Engelstad Shakespeare Theatre and the Utah Shakespeare Festival)
Distance: 103.8 miles (down from 127 miles initially)
Time: 5:11:12 (Link to Strava for data nerds)
Highlights:
Great positioning... until it was needed
Fun singletrack!
Hanging out with friends
Weather turned out great!
Lowlights:
Missed out on being where I needed to be in a key turn and paid for the effort I made chasing through groups
Barely being able to hang onto a group at 300 watts in the last third
Almost hitting 2 police cars that were parked in the middle of the road at the start (we were doing 30+ mph in a huge pack). NGL maybe not be the best marshaling. RIP to the people further back.
Video:
Justin McQueery’s full race video is here. (He races for Novo Nordic on the road) He finished 2 spots behind me, but had a very different sort of race. He was better positioned in the key section, then blew up a bit and I passed him, then he caught onto a group that caught me on the road after the singletrack, then he dropped me, then he got dropped and I caught him with 10 miles left and he blew on the final highway overpass climb.
The Leadup
BWR Utah was a last-minute addition to my race calendar, and was my first ever time racing a BWR event. Once I learned Joe Laverick and Justin McQueery had space in their Airbnb, I decided it was worth the 10-hour drive. We wisely decided to split up the drive into two days and stopped over in Grand Junction. Justin was also coming for Colorado, so he stayed with us in a Best Western which Joe described as having a “Campanile vibe.” Campaniles are the stereotypical French bike race hotels – the type that helps lay bare how unglamorous pro cycling is. We happened to arrive at this hotel precisely at the moment that their booking system went down, meaning we could not check in. We had some laughs with the desk manager, a 20-something guy in black jeans who gave heavy early 2000s teen-rock-band-member vibes. He was super nice, but in the tough situation of facing this challenge at the busiest check in time with absolutely no control over when it would be fixed. After the standard travel dinner of a Chipotle salad (reliable and classified as healthy enough), I knocked out an hour of work in the hotel lobby. When we finally got to check in, I learned that I have Gold status as a Best Western Rewards program, for which our teenage rockstar friendly jubilantly handed me a white paper bag with two bottles of water in it. I questioned him as to how I was a Gold member. I stayed for 6 nights in the last 13 months at a Best Western – all in one trip when I had to finish my thesis after Mid South in 2023. As it turns out, all it takes to become a Gold member is staying 5 nights at any Best Western hotel, down to their most basic ones. Thanks to this revelation, my satisfaction at being “special” quickly wore off. This is the participation award of hotel rewards programs.
After a Gold-level breakfast of apples and “egg patties,” we drove on to Utah. I have to say, I-70 is really pretty when there is no traffic. Eastern Utah, while incredibly barren in places (likely a great spot for a movie shoot set on Mars), was beautiful. The rock formations and canyons were spectacular examples of the power of erosion, water, and glaciers. It’s no wonder we drove near at least 4 National Parks in Utah alone.
Speaking of driving by places, I also drove near Moab, through Fruita, and was only a short drive from St. George when in Cedar City. Needless to say, there was some FOMO felt at seeing cars drive by loaded with mountain bikes. Thankfully, BWR’s course gave me a taste of that, just with narrower tires and drop bars.
After arrival and check in to a “very Airbnb” Airbnb (the artwork, kitchen stockings, etc), We squeezed in a pre-ride of what we, as a trio, collectively deemed to be the most important sections. This included the main singletrack sections (about 6 miles or so) in the middle of the race, and the final singletrack section (about 1 mile near the end). As it turns out, this was the wrong call, but hindsight is 20/20.
On this pre-ride, Justin crashed on the singletrack and bent his shift lever in, which, as we found out a day later thanks to my prodding him to check his bars (shoutout Ronan from Escape Collective for this reminder a few months ago), had led to a crack almost clean through the bars. Somehow, he had made it the rest of the way. That’s 3 pieces of carbon broken by Joe or Justin while traveling with me. Whoops.
I spent the rest of the ride stressing about the wind. It was the classic Colorado Springs “lean-into-the-wind” crossing, but I have never raced in that. With conditions forecasted to be much colder, but with the same wind, I was definitely nervous for how sketchy it would be.
The night was spent kept awake by what sounded like someone throwing a ball against the wall “BOUNCE…bounce…bounce…roll” on repeat. As we eventually found out, it was a cable banging against the building in the wind.
On Friday, we woke up to snow coming down hard. I sensed a sudden deflation in the motivation of my roommates – one from TX and one who lives in Spain. I genuinely was more excited. I need all the help I can get, and that weather is what I’m more used to. After some work meetings, I went out to check out the final part of the course. The only thing about that weather I was not looking forward to was the SW UT mud… it’s worse than Unbound (see photos from my last experience here in 2021 when True Grit was canceled). Thankfully, it was dry.
All that was left was to say hi to Bill from Neversecond (more like 20 minutes of talking and picking up some more drink mix) and prep for the race, most of which was spent deciding how to dress. With start windchills in the low 20s, but getting up to 40, I knew I would have to sacrifice somewhere. In training, I always overdress if it’s cold. I’ve just learned I’d rather do that since you can always take stuff off. This is not so easy in racing. Thankfully, Endurance Threads makes everything with pockets, so I could easily layer and always know I could have pockets of gels on the outside and not have to dig under layers.
The verdict, after a lot of time on Epic Ride Weather:
thermal base layer
shoe covers
buff on my head (you can pull it off easily mid-race)
The Race
Race day came and so did another chilly, but this time, beautiful, morning. The BWR start chute was far less chaotic than Mid South. They technically only opened it 20 minutes before the start. They also did call-ups for previous BWR top finishers, big names, or sponsors of the event (lol).
The neutral was 4 miles long – 4 cold miles, that is. I was really hoping they’d just end it. We had a perfect tailwind, so when it did end, we were flying. I lost some positions in the initial surge and then almost went head-first into 2 police vehicles parked on the road. One was in a corner right in the apex (for those on the left side), and one was just on a straightaway, but if you weren’t in the first few rows, you only saw it coming when those ahead of you swerved. I heard some crumpling bikes a few rows back. If someone had gone into them, it would have been bad news. The first dirt section was dead straight. I hovered about 40 wheels back. Not ideal, but there wasn’t much room to move up. As soon as it lulled, I went to the front, only to be spat out again on the next surge when we turned left into the crosswind. This became a theme for the day,I chased back on, and then it got very slow (like zone 1-2 on the front). The group swelled from 25 to probably about 100-150. After 10 miles into a block headwind, the first surge occurred into a short double-track section. I was about 30 wheels back.
Regroup, back to the front, then came the key section I was not expecting. I saw a left turn coming up and should have been more aggressive in anticipating the surge. I didn’t, and, as it turned out, that was the key split. The sharp left took us through a little dip in some sand and then across either an elevated cattle grate (like a little ramp) or around the gate onto some double track. Seeing several people, including Joe, go down on the grate, I went left. By that point, I was 40+ wheels back, and the group had exploded. I started chasing. That was another split-second decision in a surge that cost me big time. I rode through several groups, then heard “Chris! hop on my wheel!” Joe motored by. I sprinted onto the the wheel, then got gapped a bit. Then I ended up in no man’s land… 100 feet then 100 meters off his wheel for the next 20 minutes or so through sand.
I took a few risks, and closed down onto the group he eventually latched onto, but was still on a gap when we hit the singletrack. I caught Joe there, but knew it didn’t really matter since when I exited, he formed a group with other guys behind me. Knowing I was riding into a block headwind, I sat up, tried to recover and eat, and joined his group. It was quickly evident my legs were going. I could ride hard-ish, but not above threshold. Just getting back on the wheel after a pull was hard. We rolled up a long but very gradual climb and dropped 3 guys, and then, I started to fail.
I eventually go shelled just before the top, leaving me with a 10+ mile section of pavement to ride alone. Big mistake, but it was what my legs had. I could pedal at about 300 watts max as long as I kept it steady. It was one of those moments when you feel like you are riding through hell, yet you also know that the group is not even going that hard. Needless to say, this feeling sucks mentally as much as it does physically.
I hit the final big climb and dieseled my way up. Amazingly, I caught a few people on the way to the finish (and was caught by 2). We rolled in as a group, and I managed to drop 2/4 of the guys following an attack.
23rd in the end was not what I know I’m capable of. One wrong move and mistake led to a cascade of effects that left me shelled from the group who finished 14-20th. It’s easy say what I should have done, but I did not do that.
I spent Sunday (my birthday) reflecting on this mistake on a 9.5 hour drive home. Lovely.
Reflections
I’m frustrated by the end result, but more frustrated by the fact that one mistake I made led such a big difference in outcome. This is gravel racing, I guess, and racing in general.
Last race, my positioning was what led to me making the key split after 60 miles. My legs got me into the first split 10 miles in (on a climb), then positioning got me into the 2nd, then legs again for the final split. The funny part is that that situation was in a group of just 10 people. I, like at BWR, didn't know that that part was going to be so key, but I saw on my Karoo 2 computer there was a descent coming up and a right turn, so I extended my pull so I went in near the front. It turned out to be a fast, chunky double-track section. That little decision that seemed inconsequential turned out to be a race-decider. That time, I chose correctly. This time, I did not.
I am happy about a few things from Saturday, though.
What I did well:
I was positioned well for most of the first part, except in the key moment (stupid me)
I rode the singletrack well. I pushed it a bit, but stayed well within my limits in what was not a challenging singletrack, but one that you could get very wrong in terms of crashing or just going the wrong way (I still made 2 wrong turns since the “trail” was more of a temporary one.
I stayed on the gas as much as possible even when I was dropped. I kept it steady but within my limits to a point that I knew I could make it to the finish without totally imploding
What I need to improve:
Pre-empting the surges into key sections and being aggressive. Had I done that, I would have at least started in the front group in the key section. I would have been dropped, but instead of riding as hard to catch up, I would have been riding full gas in the wheels and getting ahead of the group I would eventually end up in. It’s easy to say that, but so so hard for me to do that. Need to get the elbows out a bit, I guess, and not let anyone through.
Max power. I have yet to hit 1000 watts this year (lol) I hit 800 watts in BWR and around that in Rattlesnake, when my average for the latter was just over 300. Not great. Pretty sure ratio of max:average should be at least 4:1.
Efficiency. I waste way too much energy at times. Much of this comes from positioning in a way that leads to me missing split and having to chase.
Reflections on the event:
I’m not going to lie; the changed course led to some weird race dynamics in the first part, but the singletrack was still super fun, and the weather turned out great. I can’t wait to get back for the full course! Cedar City has some killer Mexican food that we had post-race, and I really just want to bring my MTB there on my next trip.
Thank you’s
To Joe + Justin for the company the last few weeks, Justin’s friend for taking my jacket pre-race, and Stefano Barberi for not holding it against me when I got angry at him mid race.
What’s Next
Off to Euroland in 2ish weeks!!!!! I’ll be doing the Traka, a UCI XCM in Switzerland, and a UCI XCM in Germany. Ummm…ask me in two weeks how the logistics after the Traka are going to work in terms of plane + train vs. just train. One thing is for sure; I am shipping my gravel bike home after the Traka. (Thanks Bikeflights!)
The Setup
Sense a theme? I really like this setup, and besides some minor tweaks such as nutrition and kit, I’ve used this the last 3 races. There will be some changes for the Traka, though…
Frame: Pivot Vault size L in deep metallic blue
Wheelset: Ride Maple ARX with DT Swiss Hubs
Tires: Vittoria Terreno Dry Endurance 38c. 27 PSI Front 33 PSI rear. These measure up more like 42-43 on the rims I have. I think most modern tires end up measuring wider than listed since people are running wider rims (mine have 24mm internal).
Inserts: Air Liner Gravel (saved my butt in the singletrack!)
Drivetrain: SRAM Force/XO1 Mullet with 46t Quarq crankset and 10-50 cassette
Brakes: SRAM Force
Bars: Coefficient RR 42cm
Computer: Hammerhead Karoo 2 you’ll want to click this link… trust me ;)…
Nutrition: 5 servings Neversecond C30 mix (bottles had 1.5 each + pack had 2), 11 C30 gels and 5 C30 Bars
Kit: Endurance Threads Cargo Bibs, leg warmers + thermal LS jersey, and C2 Cold Weather gloves. Also buff and shoe covers (Buff and gloves came off part way through)
Helmet: Julbo Fast Lane
Glasses: Julbo Edge w/ REACTIV 1-3 lenses