Anybody racing it this weekend?
I’ll be there. Making the trip over from Houston for it.
Cool. I’m looking forward to it. A friend and I are driving over from Austin. Have you done the race before? What tires are you using?
Haven’t done it. Did Tunis last year and pinch flatted right off the bat. The fun I had at Tunis, however, had me wanting to do Rouge. I’m looking forward to it.
Was on Pro Race 2s at Tunis. For Rouge I’m running a Specialized All Condition 700x25 on the rear and a Specialized Mondo 700x23 that supposedly is more like a 24 on the front. Packing lots of tubes just in case.
Unfortunately I will not be racing in my hometown race this year. Bronchitis and a dislocated rib sidelined me all winter. I will be there volunteering either at a feed station or driving a wheel truck. Wish y’all the best.
Last year under marginal conditions I rode a set of continental 4000 grand prix 700x23’s and made it up all the gravel climbs no problem.
How was the race for everyone? You could not have asked for better weather conditions and the new finish at Que Pasa was awesome.
Had to fix a flat 10 minutes before the race. The first dirt section I was getting used to the handling as I haven’t been on that type of surface for a year. The pack was leaving me behind, but I passed stragglers left and right. Was about 20-30 seconds behind the pack once the asphalt came and quickly closed the gap. Helped to try to chase down the breakaway, but the peleton was pretty disorganized. Was badly positioned on the first dirt climb and was stuck behind some slower riders. About 7 riders got away to form a chase group and I was around 30 seconds behind them. Me and 2 others almost bridged when support vehicles got between our two groups and came to a stop, totally screwing up our momentum.
The climb up the 2nd, steeper dirt road was a total bear. Wasn’t ready for that. Next year I know what gearing to run. Had to jump off the bike and walk up the hill. Just wasn’t getting traction standing and not enough power sitting. By then it was onsies and twosies. Picked up 4 riders who eventually became 3. Dropped those 3 before the finish and finished anywhere between 15-30 I imagine.
A fun race.
I don’t know about perfect conditions. I would have loved it if it had been 10 degrees warmer. I froze my ass off for the 1st hour or so and my hands and feet stayed numb for a couple of hours.
I seem to have bad luck at this race. Last year I attacked our lead group of 6 in the last mile but missed the turn to the finish line and turned around and chased back on just in time to catch the back of the group as they crossed the line.
This year I was off the front for about 55 miles, either by myself or in a group of 2, 3, 4, or 6 until a wreck in the break took just about all of us out at somewhere around mile 77. It really was pathetic. In a race with as much treacherous gravelly, muddy, and rutted terrain as RR, we got taken out while in a 6-man pace line off the front, on one of the smoothest sections of pavement at about 28mph. Looked like the guy in front of me got distracted by something he was doing with his food/drink and hit the front guy’s wheel and went down. I had no time to do anything and went over him, as did the two behind me. The front and last guy in our break stayed up and sped away but unfortunately missed the turn to the last gravel section almost immediately afterwards as the lead vehicle inexplicably sped up right after the crash and lost them. They rolled in much, much later and not too happy.
I put a crack in my helmet, picked up some really solid road rash, and had a booming headache for about 10 miles afterwards but eventually recovered enough to finish somewhere in the money(according to the organizer) - they still don’t have results. I really wish that last gravel/mud climb hadn’t come right after the wreck as it took me a little while to recover and get my head back in the game. For good measure I went down again on the last gravel section!!
Still a fun race, but a disappointment for me 2 years straight.
You were with my teammate Dan (Mr. Camelbak). I didn’t realize he was with you (I figured he punctured or crashed in the first dirt section as the probability of him being in the break was low - wasn’t our plan - we were going to wait until after the prime hill). He was mighty upset about that lead vehicle.
Yeah, he was NOT happy. Tell your friend I said it was nice racing with him. I was just about to give up trying to get some guys to come with me during the 1st gravel section when he joined me up front and said something like: “Lets push it all the way to the pavement.” For several miles it was just he and I in the break. I think we were both pretty happy when we saw a couple of guys attempting to bridge so we waited for them to join us. I know*** ****I *certainly wasn’t looking forward to the prospect of attempting a ~75 mile, 2-man-break on that course! Too bad one of the 2 guys was dropped almost right away, but we still had a nice 3-man pace line going for the next 30 miles or so before we were joined by three guys at the top of the prime hill.
Me and some other guys looking at doing this race in March … are most using 700x28 or 700x25 tires?
I haven’t done the race yet (I’m doing it this year) but I’ve ridden the gravel sections a few times. I just did all three gravel sections this past weekend on Specialized All condition Pro 700x23 and I had no real problems, but I may use some 700x25 Gatorskins for the race (just in case).
What cat you guys racing?
ETA: I don’t know of anyone who uses 700x28 for the race. Most people, I think, run the regular 23’s, with some opting for 25.
Master 40+ or Cat 4. We’ve never done Masters RR but might for this race if we can get at least 3 on team to race.
Buddy of mine has done this a few times. He says to put duct tape on your down tube or it will get all beat up from the rocks.
Gravel conditions very year to year, current road conditions are optimal. This will likely change by March. Most guys use standard tires, I have tried some 700 x 25 and I prefer my 23’s. I have found if the gravel is loose the narrower tire sinks deeper and actually gets better traction. Sometimes this doesnt matter as you may have to hike a bike any way. This is a great race and if you are close enough to not spend a fortune getting here on you need to put on the to do list. It is really gaining steam this year RR 12, bigger purse, cool trophys. There will be Podium girls (well at least 1 and shes hot). Also the race will be Cat 123, then Masters, then 4s, then 5s, then the granfondo. or the granfondo may go first we havnt decided yet. Also looks like the course may be altered a bit this year to add 3 little bastard climbs back to the first gravel section now that the road is again passable which will make the race closer to 105mi.
Hope to see you all in a couple of months.
Granfondo after 4’s and before 5’s . . . . . or before everyone?
And we don’t need those three little ‘bastard climbs.’ 
You had me at Podium girls.
Having never raced on gravel, I would think one should ride at a slightly lower psi…Since you have ridden the course I would be curoius as to the tire pressure you used…
Master 40+ or Cat 4. We’ve never done Masters RR but might for this race if we can get at least 3 on team to race.
While I have never done the RR (yet), let me mention that in a road race, the Masters 40+ field is not a walk in the park. In fact, it would probably be a lot like comparing it to Masters swim - lots of really fast guys who for various reasons do not feel like they can be as competitive as they would like racing in the applicable skill based category (aka Pro/1/2).
Well, I know you didn’t ask me, but I rode all the gravel this past weekend at 115-120psi, my normal pressure and it was fine. The steep hills on the gravel are the hardest part (duh!) but not only because they’re nasty steep, you have to be careful if you get out of the saddle, you have to keep traction on the back wheel. If it slips, you either: 1. better get traction back quicly or 2. gotta unclip and get to hiking.
All in all, there are about 17-20 miles of gravel. Some of the stretches are pretty flat and just gravel and bumpy, you can cruise pretty well as long as you pick a good line (good luck). You still get beat to death by the small holes in the road that you can’t see. I’d hate to suggest riding a lower pressure for those 20 miles, when you have 80-85 miles of pavement. But if you’re in my category, I’d say around 15psi would be optimum 