I’d like to share some results from my highest priority race for 2021, the Oregon Trail Gravel Grinder!
First, perhaps the thing that’s most relevant to everyone - training:
- 12 weeks of “18 weeks of sweet spot”. I did Basic for the first 6 weeks to coax my busted achilles back to health, then exchanged for Intermediate for the second half.
- Did a Springtime gravel event in Oregon called the Gorge Gravel Grinder (about 90 miles and 7500 ft?)
- Gravel Grinder plan (Intermediate); some modifications for Wednesday race start.
- Entered my highest priority event with a CTL of 80 and TSB of 17. I think my weight was around 156 lb (about 71 kg) and my Garmin-reported FTP was 236 W.
And now the priority race summary.
For me, my realistic expectation was just to survive (i.e. not “die of dysentery”). I did originally hope to rewrite some power records or something, but it just wasn’t in the cards (due to heat, I’d like to say)
The pic uploads are tiny but show the general idea. I’ll note the day’s normalized power (NP), peak temperature in Fahrenheit (Temp - F), distance in miles (- mi), Training Peaks-reported elevation gained (- ft), and TSS.
Day 1
NP 165 W, Temp 104 F, 73.3 mi, 6286 ft, 309 TSS
Day 2
NP 166 W, Temp 99 F, 60.8 mi, 5069 ft, 232 TSS
Day 3 (the “rest day”)
NP 161 W, Temp 97 F, 53.3 mi, 5180 ft, 214 TSS
Day 4 (the Queen’s Stage)
NP 159 W, Temp 108 F, 93.7 mi, 9859 ft, 409 TSS
Day 5
NP 151 W, Temp 115 F, 84.9 mi, 6663 ft, 298 TSS
I successfully made it to Oregon and avoided dying of dysentery.
And not to mention that my internal crying in the dojo did indeed turn into internal laughter on the battlefield.
Next up, fix up the bike, mostly take the week off from training, and see about prepping for a fun day at BWR in a few weeks!
I’m sure the heat threw a curveball to many riders, but from what I’ve seen on social media, the views were worth it.