that was fun to watch - thanks

+1

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Cheers, Neal

+1 mph Faster

Thanks for sharing. I’d heard of the Belgian Waffle ride before but never really knew what it was. Really cool to see the course. Kinda looks like A Cyclocross and and Gran Fondo lovechild.

Also, just wanna say awesome job on all the videos you’ve produced over the years. I really enjoy watching them. I’ll be sure to bookmark your video sharing website.

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Matt

Hey thanks for posting this Eric! Super fun day on bikes for sure. Yeah if anyone has questions or wants more beta about the BWR fire away! I know, and just about everyone else I talked to, waffled (see what I did there?) on gearing, tire selection, tire pressure, bike selection, fueling. Especially how many pieces of bacon it would take to make it over double peak after 132 miles, you know...

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__________________________________________________
Ganter
http://www.chris-ganter.com
http://www.transitionfour.tv
Longtime lurker, occasional ST'er...

I think you nailed the course description!

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__________________________________________________
Ganter
http://www.chris-ganter.com
http://www.transitionfour.tv
Longtime lurker, occasional ST'er...

Any idea what model gopro and if a stabilizer was used? I have an old gopro hero3 and the video is always to shaky to be watchable.

Any advice for using an older model like mine? Recommendations on a stabilizer or should I just invest in a newer model?

That was video was super stable considering the beating my arms/core took on that ride. I certainly don't remember that much smooth terrain, so that's pretty impressive. Also curious if that's due to mount or to internal and then algorithmic stabilization.

Oh, and awesome video...

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"Non est ad astra mollis e terris via." - Seneca | rappstar.com | FB - Rappstar Racing | IG - @jordanrapp

that last part of the offroad, next to lake hodges, i really don't like that part. personally. i think you caught some pretty good sections of that, where the one rider steps off the bike coming out of that rocky gully. this year i was hoping it would be excluded but instead we got it TWICE (out, and then back).

but i think this is part of the charm and importance of the BWR. it's not a gravel ride, it's a choose your weapon ride. this is what pushes bike tech in a necessary direction, because of safety concerns, and to grant the rider more freedom. you choose your loop and if it's part tarmac, part dirt, and even part nasty offroad, bike makers respond with bikes made just for that.

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Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

I couldn't agree more. There's no perfect bike or setup for that race. I chose a cyclocross frame & fork, Rolf Ralos MTB wheels, and XTR brakes & gearing (44T, 11/42). However, I know my strength is handling, so I chose smaller tires (28c) with MUCH higher pressure than is at all reasonable for that terrain: (80F/85R). I would go much lower if I did it again. My fillings were coming out when we pushed on the dirt. I saw some really crazy bike setups out there. Probably the most notable was the Canyon double handlebar, and maybe the split carbon seat post a close second. Wild and intriguing stuff. Looks like there's a lot of innovation & fun experimentation going on in this market.

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__________________________________________________
Ganter
http://www.chris-ganter.com
http://www.transitionfour.tv
Longtime lurker, occasional ST'er...

that's what's great about it. it's like a highly technical grand fondo: everybody's got an idea how to do that race. 42mm tires. 25mm tires. bike geometries all over the place. lauf fork, or rigid. my fillings did fine. but my wrists were toast. and that's not even touching the question of tube or tubeless, what pressures, what sealant. and, of course, if you do ANOTHER race, you have to recalibrate your choices.

while this sounds odd, to me this kind of racing feels more like classic nordic skiing than any sport i've ever done, because for every race you have these technical choices to make. in nordic it was, what kick wax, what glide wax. here it's what bike, what tires, what pressure. i've never been a competitive MTBer so maybe it's like that. but i find the possible equipment choices an interesting part of this, and that's not counting the skills differences. i suspect your skills were exactly the opposite of jordan rapp's.

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Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

Thanks Jordan, and great to see you Sunday. You're (or your front wheel is) actually in that clip on the BC descent for a second. I might have some footy of you if you want it. As for stabilization... I'm just that smooth. ;o) I used a standard GoPro Hero Session (not even the new one) on a K-Edge under bar mount. 1080, 30fps. I had that issue with shaky footage a while back and moved from 60 to 30. Seems to help for some reason. Also helps with memory. I do have an EVO gimbal I use for MTB videos, but I didn't dare use it on this ride.

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__________________________________________________
Ganter
http://www.chris-ganter.com
http://www.transitionfour.tv
Longtime lurker, occasional ST'er...

It was a simple GoPro Hero Session, mounted on a K-Edge GoPro/Garmin bar mount combo. I had issues with shaky footage before, it's common. The only thing I figured out that it got significantly less jumpy when I bumped my frame rate down to 30fps. I originally did that so I didn't run out of memory before the end of a mountain bike race, but it seemed to have the side effect of smoothing out off-road footage to the point where I can bare it. I do have an EVO gimbal for use with my Hero 5, but I wouldn't recommend using one of those under bars, or in a race for that matter. I use that on a chest mount. Even then, I have to be careful not to hit it on the bars when things get rowdy.

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__________________________________________________
Ganter
http://www.chris-ganter.com
http://www.transitionfour.tv
Longtime lurker, occasional ST'er...

Yeah, I think you might have guessed right. I could have used some of Rapp's climbing skills on Black Canyon. I tried to TT back to them but I got NO HELP from my group. (Which I understand as a sound tactic, if I wasn't 49 watts too low for my 20min power on the day and thus not making up ground.) Coming from triathlon into xterra, and now into this madness... equipment selection is exactly like everyday MTB racing. I had to learn bike selection (hard tail/full squish), tire selection (mind blowing choices), tire pressures, and even (gulp) shock pressures. In MTB, your setup changes with EVERY race. I remember simpler times, just having to worry about if I was using a disc today and running 90 lbs or 115 lbs pressures.

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__________________________________________________
Ganter
http://www.chris-ganter.com
http://www.transitionfour.tv
Longtime lurker, occasional ST'er...

I love those parts...it was doing stuff like that (and cleaning it <brag>) on a PURE ROAD BIKE (Alu Cervelo Soloist, 23C tires and all) back in 2013 that made me smile the most and come back for more...and really got me thinking about doing more stuff like that around where I live on a more "road bike-like" setup. I'd never attempted terrain like that before on anything but a MTB.

I've said it before, but this stuff really "takes me back" to the early days of MTBs...

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http://bikeblather.blogspot.com/

Really, just a basic session? I looked online and the basic doesn't even have stabilization. That's a great video for that camera.

i don't mind at all that you love it. in fact, i'm envious that you love it. i wish i had those skills. and i'm not advocating that those parts be taken out. what happens to me is, i can roleur on the dirt all day long. loose, hard pack, great. but those really technical sections, the combo of sheer terror and very high, short duration, output (which for me might only be 400 or 450 watts) just wipes me out. 2 or 3 of those and i go from happy to cooked.

it's not that i can't navigate the sections. it's like riding on a 2 x 12 plank across a thousand foot abyss. even if i always make it, if i'm terrified that i won't make it, then that terror is more energy sapping than miles of JRA.

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Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

Put some 650B MTB wheels and tires on that Litespeed "Freedom" of yours and go ride some single-track periodically...you'll get the hang of it :-)

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http://bikeblather.blogspot.com/

Thanks a lot, I'm stoked you enjoy them! There's a "subscribe" button at the top of the page (I think) and I'm working on getting a newsletter running that will just hit you with an email whenever we release a new video. (every couple weeks, so hopefully not annoying)

Having ridden all the sections in different rides, I like to think of BWR as Paris-Roubaix mixed with XC mountain biking. Fairly technical "pave" sections, but a lot of road riding.

-Eric

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Eric Lagerstrom
Professional Triathlete
https://www.youtube.com/c/ericlagerstrom
http://www.ericlagerstrom.com
https://www.instagram.com/eric_lagerstrom/

i've got 650Bs on my c'dale slate. i don't really have trouble with singletrack. i have trouble with steep, rocky climbs, where if i fall it's going to hurt. i'm too old to fall. i crashed in this race. twice. first was a high speed dirt crash, where a guy washed out in the loose dirt in front of me. second was a very low speed tip over on this very section were talking about, because, again, a guy in front of me didn't quite make it. i couldn't click out in time and over i went.

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Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

I think I might post my "ITU to 70.3" video in another thread and take some questions there, since this is Chris' show. But to answer your question super quickly, I wasn't really nervous near the front, no. I had some really good pre-race talks with my Coach, Paulo Sousa, and I knew about what to expect. I rode a little conservatively on the watts, "riding my race" and when it came to the run, I had plenty in the tank. Next half.. trying to figure that out right now ;) I'm racing Surf City Escape (Alcatraz qualifier) this weekend, and St. Anthony's the weekend after though.

-Eric

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Eric Lagerstrom
Professional Triathlete
https://www.youtube.com/c/ericlagerstrom
http://www.ericlagerstrom.com
https://www.instagram.com/eric_lagerstrom/

Yeah I'm pleased with it. Just a plain Hero Session at 1080, 30fps, W. I've recorded a lot of races but I'm not in love with POV. I typically have a Hero 4 Session on the rear, but in this race I needed to mount my repair back there.

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__________________________________________________
Ganter
http://www.chris-ganter.com
http://www.transitionfour.tv
Longtime lurker, occasional ST'er...