The First Gravel Race - The Forge

I have never done a gravel grinder but watch YouTube videos on some of what I consider epic races. I enjoy what I perceive to be the culture surrounding the gravel community but I’ve never lived it, experienced it or even been at a race to see it in person. Until today. 

I was scheduled to spend the week with my dad and uncle in a cabin my dad shares with a few other families (think of it as the most rustic timeshare ever). Lights run on propane, your heat is from a wood burning stove and there is no internet or cell service. It’s calming once you let go of the panic about being disconnected. I’m here to write for a book on record labels and I’ve got a bag of books, my laptop and a small generator to recharge the laptop when needed. I hope it is as productive as I expect it to be without distractions from the 21st century. When preparing to come to the cabin in the Adirondacks I saw that The Forge was happening. It’s the inaugural year of a 26.2 mile gravel race. I signed up last minute, upgraded to Salsa Horsethief to clip in pedals and got 9 miles of a trial run before the trip.  I knew the race started at 10 am and I’d have a 30 minute drive to the race. 

Steel cut oats and some coffee at 7:45 initially fueled me and I was off to drive to Old Forge at 8:00. It was about a 55 minute drive not 30. Rookie mistake. Once I got into cell range at 8:20 I had a few messages from the race director checking in since I mentioned I would be easy to spot as the only paracyclist in the event despite the fact I was racing in the men’s open division. I appreciated his concern and based on what I read at registration I thought it was all pavé as the surface so reassured the RD that I’d be fine. 

As I hang up, I see the prerace email to all riders suggesting we arrive at the race site at 8:30. I was still 40 minutes out at 8:30 after our call. The email stressed how hard this course was. I started to have some doubts because I was late and the course now sounded harder than I expected. 

I get to the race site slightly nervous but see my coach who was racing in the fat bike division. I mentioned this race was probably above my pay grade and he jokingly said the same for him because he hadn’t ridden the fat bike much this year. He crushed the course though. 

I started cautiously after seeing someone slam hard a few hundred yards into the race. It was a bit congested early so it was slow going anyway but I knew I needed to keep this bike upright. The race was far from easy which is what I expected when I signed up. We were all doing great until close to halfway when a sign at a trail intersection was either stolen or never placed and the entire field ended up off course for a few miles. After the confusion here I picked up the pace as I settled into navigating every type of surface from loose rock, sand, mud, grass, packed dirt, small rock gardens and I’m sure some descriptions I missed. About 20 miles in, the skies opened up and I slowed way down at that point to stay vertical. I tend to slide off the bars with my left arm when it’s really wet. I finished in the pouring rain, covered in mud and had a great deal of pride finishing this race. 

It was mentally exhausting to consistently pick my line on the course. My arms got an incredible workout and the nearly 1900 feet of climbing was a nice test over 26+ miles. 

I loved the vibe of everyone racing and will do more of these races down the road. I finally did one and cannot wait for another one to continue to push the limits.