It's Gravel time
Gravel riding has always been part of my training routine, although mostly in winter times. It takes you away from the road, away from traffic, nasty drivers and traffic lights and puts you onto paths just surrounded by nature.
Until this summer riding on a gravelbike was more sth. for fun and a variation to the road training-loops. I didn't really thought about racing it also because it seems to be an "American-thing" and difficult to join in.
Then I heard about this new UCI-WorldSeries in Gravel racing, organized in many countries all over the globe. This Series is open not only for UCI-registered riders but also for everyone who just wants to compete in this "new" discipline of cycling. In addition, in all of the WorldSeries Racing the first 25% of every age-group automatically qualify for the first ever Gravel-World Championships held in Veneto, Italy in October.
After a long time of being injured earlier this year and a slow start into the season with not so many big races, I set myself a goal for the year. I wanted to participate at the Gravel World Championships.
After speaking to my coach we slightly changed the training program, to prepare for the upcoming Gravel competitions. Although gravel races mostly include some asphalt sections it's still quite different from road racing.
Here are some main Differences (apart from the bike/equipment):
Duration: usually between 4-6 hours (of course there're are also shorter and way longer events out there)
Variety of surfaces: Sections of asphalt, gravel, single-trails, grass... almost everything
Self-Support: No car-support, only a few feeding zones, you need to carry your food and tools for mechanical issues yourself
Race-progress: usually no big peloton due to technical sections, groups mix-up, also sections where you ride alone
The first gravel race I competed in was a local race in Southern Germany and actually more a MTB course than a gravel one. After only doing road and track races for years, this was quite a shock to the system. After the race I felt like being 80+years old... EVERYTHING just hurted 😆. It was 4,5h pure suffering but somehow it was still fun! I really enjoyed the different surfaces and that this kind of racing is so unpredictable.
Only a few weeks later I took part in Swedish's Gravel Grit'n Grind together with Svenja Betz. This 124km race was part of the UCI WorldSeries. I was quite nervous before the race, knowing that this is one of there are only a few chances to qualify for Worlds. All Women-age groups started together, separated from the men which isn't always the case.
It was pretty much an elimination race going into the first kilometres quite fast. After a single-trail sections Svenja and me found ourselves in a leading group of about 10 riders. After catching some of the men who started in front of us, our group got mixed up and people attacked, dropped or came back. It wasn't clear how many girls were in front and who of them was in the same age-group. In the final I attacked with about 5km to go and finished in front of my group (also because I wanted to avoid a sprint-final😅). Svenja was already waiting at the finish-line, winning the race overall! After a few minutes of uncertainty it was announced... 3rd place for me!
Having a podium spot, secured the qualification for Worlds for both of us!
I'm super happy with the result and excited for the upcoming events! Also a big shout-out to the organizers of Gravel Grit'n Grind!! It was a blast and I'm happy to come back for next editions!
Now onto some road races together with my team Maxx Solar-Lindig Women Racing!
Photos by: Gravel Grit'n Grind, Moritz Sauer
