On Wednesday morning at the aquatic center, a fellow triathlete asked Karel if he was participating in the Belgian Waffle Ride: North Carolina. As a new location in the BWR event series, Karel didn't know about the event. Later that evening Karel looked into the event online and sent me a link via text. I didn't see the text until the next morning as I was being interviewed for a panel discussion for the OC marathon. If you missed the expert round table, you can check it out here. 👇
Since the broadcast didn't start until 9:30pm (about our bedtime), Karel was fast asleep when I finished close to 11pm.
When I saw Karel's text the next morning (Thursday) about the BWR, I instantly responded that he should do it. With online registration closing on Thursday evening, he registered in the afternoon. I guess when you register for an event two days out, there's little time to overthink. Karel knew it was going to be a very challenging event, especially after reading the race bible (scroll down on the website to read it - it's rather hilarious) and other social media posts about the event. He had ridden on most of the segments of the course but a few routes of the almost 100-mile course with nearly 10,000 feet of elevation gain was new to him.
On Friday afternoon, after I finished my run and Karel got finished with a bike fit, we made our way ~40 minutes north to Ride Kanuga. This was our first time visiting this location and we were really impressed with the beautiful lake, small cabins and event facility/hotel.
With this being our first time at a BWR expo, we didn't know what to expect but the expo had a lot of great vendors. The registration process was very smooth and Karel received a pre-race swag bag of goodies from the expo booths and received a t-shirt (and beer) at the finish line. We visited each expo booth and enjoyed being in the laid-back gravel scene. It is definitely much more chill than a long distance triathlon. Campy received a lot of butt rubs and we saw a few familiar faces while we were there. Around 4:30pm we made our way back home so that Karel could get his gravel bike and gear all ready for the ride. He uploaded the event route into his computer and prepared his bottles/nutrition. It was then early to bed for Karel as he had an early wake-up alarm set for 4am.
Karel left for Hendersonville, NC a little after 5am. I woke up around 5:45am and received a text from Karel that he had arrived with plenty of time before the 7am event start.
As much as I wanted to join Karel in his gravel adventure, I haven't been on my gravel bike in a while and I knew it would be too risky for me to jump into this race. Instead, I stuck to my planned training and joined my buddy Alvi at the Donaldson center for a 3.5 hour ride followed by a 45 minute run.
We did the country loop first (~1:40) and then restocked our bottles at the car and started our main set:
3 x 30 minutes as (#1: 20 min IM effort, 10 min HIM effort. #2: 15 min IM effort, 15 min HIM effort. #3: 10 min IM effort, 20 min IM effort). Each with 5 min EZ spin between. The perimeter loop where we did our main set is about 7 miles and changed up directions for each loop.
As for the BWR, Karel lined up near the middle pack as he knew "racing" this event wouldn't be smart. This was only his second ride on his gravel bike since breaking his hand mountain biking in May so this event was all about having fun and enjoying the experience. Additionally, this event brought a lot of professional (and past-professional) riders like Ian Boswell, Jeremiah Bishop, George Hincapie and Bobby Julich.
Some of the segments around Saluda were new for Karel but when he got to a segment that he was familiar with, it definitely helped with pacing. Karel often found himself riding with similar people - although he wasn't able to always keep up on the climbs but he could use his skills on the descends. The course was around 60/40 - road/gravel - which helped when there was a descend as he knew he could catch back up to a group if he got dropped on the climb.
Karel was very familiar with the Green River Rd and Pinnacle Mountain road, which starts off with gentle incline and then once you turn at the church to Pinaccle, it just goes up and up on very rocky and loose gravel. Pinnacle mountain started around mile 60ish in the ride so by this time, the legs were tired. Gravel riding requires so much full body strength and mental focus but thankfully (or not so much) Karel knew what was coming. This was actually my very first gravel ride segment back in the winter (and it was on snow!). This segment was a long one - 13.2 miles and it took an hour (13 mph). Karel stopped at the top of the climb as there was an aid station and he knew the next segment would be technical with switchbacks on the descend down into Dupont State Forest. Karel was riding with some local guys and people that he knew so he would often get ahead on the descends - and this Pinnacle descend segment was one that he has a lot of experience with.
The next hour had some familiar segments - one of my favorite segments of the ride that I have done is by the dam and there is a beautiful waterfall near the top of the climb. It's a gentle climb and one that is not technical. For this event, they reversed the direction so there was a road climb by Dupont to start and then they descended by the waterfall and Dam.
Karel was starting to get close to the finish as another hour (18.3 miles) had passed. Karel turned onto Crab Creek Road, but not the direction he was familiar with. Once he turned on to Jeter Mountain Road, he started climbing and climbing and it didn't stop for 2 miles. Thankfully it was on the road (and not gravel) but it was steep. And hitting the climb at mile ~87 did not make that climb easy. Karel said many people were walking their bikes and while that looked like a great idea, he just wanted to get it over with. I have a feeling this climb will be in my near future....once Karel forgets about it and has the desire to do it again with me :)
After the last big climb, the finish line couldn't come fast enough. Around 7 miles later, Karel rolled into the finish and was announced as he crossed the finish line as "the legend Karel." Apparently the announcer had fun announcing everyone who came across the finish line.
Power is not accurate, Garmin made this up. Karel doesn't have a power meter on his gravel bike. :)
This event was organized very well. The signage was great, the volunteers were amazing, the event staff was enthusiastic and the overall vibe was really encouraging, competitive and friendly. It's a different atmosphere at the gravel and mountain bike events, which is a nice change and provides a great opportunity to meet new people, see old friends and to try new events.
Karel said that the 14-mile run he did on Thursday made his legs a bit toasted going into this event but he's just happy that he could be back on his gravel bike, doing what he loves on and off the road (albeit, not as fast/strong as he wishes he could go), all on two wheels.
Bike Specs
Bike - Ventum GS1
Wheels - Enve AR 3.4 SES
Tires - Panaracer gravel king SK
Groupset - Shimano GRX Di2. w/ Sram Force 165mm crankset
Gearing - 1 x setup, 42 front chainring. 10-42 cassette.
Pedals - Shimano XTR SPD
Shoes - Bont
Saddle - Fizik Argo Vento
Pedals - Shimano XTR SPD
Shoes - Bont
Saddle - Fizik Argo Vento
Handlebars: Ventum NS1 integrated bar/stem combo 110/42
Bartape: Supacaz Sticky Kush