the range gravel race 2024

• Tech Guide
• Location: Claresholm, Alberta
• Course: ridewithgpslink

Back when I was thinking about the bike riding I wanted to do this year, a gravel event was on my mind. The idea with a gravel race is it’s a long route on dirt roads away from traffic. There’s a mass start and though there are fast people “racing” the event there will be far more just out there doing the ride, trying to finish and have a good time¹.

There are a few organized events in Alberta, spanning the calendar from June to October². I settled on The Range mostly because they have an arrangement with a couple of ranches in southern Alberta where you get access to their roads which would normally be closed. Being able to ride somewhere I couldn’t just go and ride by myself was a big draw.

I drove down to Claresholm on Friday night to pick up my race number and check into a motel. No camping because I wanted a better sleep than I could get in a hot tent³. The town of Claresholm was small and right next to canola fields and foothills a bit further away. I spent my evening preparing my bike and reminding myself not to go too hard too early in the race. I definitely felt some impostery feelings. I was doing this not on a fancy gravel bike, just my old cyclocrosser Bullwinkle. My tires were probably too knobby. I was probably too weak to finish before the time cut. This was all a huge mistake.

Morning came and I felt better. I ate my overnight oats and headed for the start line.

⁴

The first part of the race I was very conscious of not overextending myself. I rode in bunches and didn’t doo too much to try and catch people when they picked up the pace. Eventually though I started catching up with people on some climbs. After passing Albert (you can see him on the eye-catching pink bike (which I always try to compliment him on) in the picture above) I caught up with a couple of Terrascape racers who were going a nice easy pace. I hung with them for a long time until we were caught by some of the people I’d left behind climbing earlier. When they passed I felt nice and recovered so I rolled with them.

Once hitting the ranch, I’d gotten away from the group. I did the creek crossing and made it to the first aid station where I availed myself of a cold wet neck sponge thing someone’s grandma had made for the riders. Then it was up The Wall.

I’d been warned about the Wall, but due to some inattention I didn’t realize I’d be climbing it in both directions. In my head when I reached the top of this climb, the worst of the whole event was over. Ha! I don’t know if it would have made that much of a difference in my approach to know differently – maybe I wouldn’t have emptied myself out so much on this climb – but still.

After that climb it was a super-steep descent where I was pulling the brakes mightily. I made it to the bottom without incident and then realized how much climbing there was left to do. It was so much - not as steep as the wall, but long. I had to walk for a while because even in my spinniest gear I couldn’t keep pedaling. Eventually I reached the peak and started down.

⁵

I’m not a confident descender so I was passed by a bunch of folks coming down. At one point I did have to stop and take a couple of pictures because holy crap it was a beautiful day and it felt great to be riding a bike out there. Then more descending (with some climbs where I was occasionally passing people who’d passed me going down). This was more gradual than the white-knuckle steepness coming down from the Wall, but I gradually realized I’d have to ride up that steepness, so anxiety was building. Thankfully when I rounded the corner to see the Wall again, everyone in sight was walking their bikes up, so I did too.

That was it! Now I could freewheel down the hill carefully to the aid station. I was free and clear! Huzzah! Then I hit some loose gravel that was covering the good line and my front wheel went left out from under me and I hit the ground skidding. I didn’t hit my head. As I picked myself and bike up to get out of the way of the riders descending, I assessed things. My chest was dirty. My hips felt scraped. I had some bloodiness on my knee and elbow. When I got my bike up my levers were twisted from the impact. I tested the brakes and they still worked even from their weird positions, so I could still ride it, which I did down to the aid station.

At the station they were amazing. There was a mechanic from Ridley’s who got my levers back in appropriate-ish positions. There was a paramedic who cleaned out my knee and elbow wounds and wrapped up my elbow (and said “I think it’s all soft tissue, but you might want an x-ray”). And there were hydrators giving me water, and new cold neckie things and making me feel really lucky I crashed where I did. The mechanic did the best he could but my handlebars were actually bent so I’d have “bad ergo” for the rest of the ride, though I should be okay to do the last 40km. It could have been so much worse.

For the last third of the race I eventually caught on with a few guys I’d passed and been passed by and rode with them to the end. I was hurting so I didn’t take any pulls on the front, which I felt bad about near the end when one of them totally cracked and the others stuck with him out of solidarity. I rolled on alone for the last 3 km or so and finished my first gravel event in 86th place overall.

Afterwards I was chatting with a couple of VCC riders (who are older and faster than me) about how different that was than a group ride on the road. Just the extra energy you have to spend on the rougher surfaces and the shattering effects where you aren’t just doing pulls for 1/8 the time or whatever. I think it was the amount of work that made me like it, made me feel like this was a worthy accomplishment to focus my summer on⁶.

Next year if I go back, I know how much of a climb I need to be ready for and I can train for that better. I can also probably not crash, which would have been nice.

results

• 76/132 Men (86/149 Overall) in the 122 km distance
• 5:49:46 (-1:51:01 behind winner)
• Zone 4 Results