Get Fit, Stay Fit, Feel Good - 2026

[Ridley]

Here is the elevation profile

 

[littlebeast]

I don’t have much of a report but I did finish my race today. My legs feel pretty much like I expected them to. What destroyed me was the constant beating of riding a bike with no suspension over some really really rough roads. Mid distance was an 8 mile descent the was steep and filled with baby head sized rocks. This wore me out worse than the 8 mile long climb that immediately followed. My neck, triceps, back, wrists, and ass hurt way more than my legs.

Did I mention the wind, it blew constantly and it seemed to always be a headwind. Sustained 15mph with gusts in the upper 30mph range. It sucked.

My Garmin says I did 66.4 miles and 5,012 feet of climbing.

Now I am laying on the Placer High School football field watching the lead runners finish the Western States Trail Run. The old record, set 2 years ago, was broken by 23 minutes. 2nd and 3rd also came in under the old record.

It’s been a cool day.

on another note - great weather for the western states. it would have been brutal a week ago. heard early on that the record would likely be broken, and a lot were crediting the weather. RF is a zoo, but nothing like town. it was pandemonium. one of these days i’d love to go to the finish, but it’s so hard to pass up working at RF, so who knows.

 

[Ridley]

on another note - great weather for the western states. it would have been brutal a week ago. heard early on that the record would likely be broken, and a lot were crediting the weather. RF is a zoo, but nothing like town. it was pandemonium. one of these days i’d love to go to the finish, but it’s so hard to pass up working at RF, so who knows.

We stayed until the top woman came in. The woman’s record was broken too.

 

[budman]

Damn Justin.

 

[Ridley]

@budman, honestly I didn’t even make it into the top half of the finishers but I am super happy that I signed up for something so much bigger than anything I’ve ever done before and finished it. I bet if Robert uploaded some of the elevation profiles for his races mine would be dwarfed.

 

[stangmx13]

I don’t have much of a report but I did finish my race today. My legs feel pretty much like I expected them to. What destroyed me was the constant beating of riding a bike with no suspension over some really really rough roads. Mid distance was an 8 mile descent the was steep and filled with baby head sized rocks. This wore me out worse than the 8 mile long climb that immediately followed. My neck, triceps, back, wrists, and ass hurt way more than my legs.

Did I mention the wind, it blew constantly and it seemed to always be a headwind. Sustained 15mph with gusts in the upper 30mph range. It sucked.

My Garmin says I did 66.4 miles and 5,012 feet of climbing.

Now I am laying on the Placer High School football field watching the lead runners finish the Western States Trail Run. The old record, set 2 years ago, was broken by 23 minutes. 2nd and 3rd also came in under the old record.

It’s been a cool day.

Ugh baby heads are the worst. Staying loose, comfortable, and fast on rocky descents is so hard.

Rough dirt can add a surprise to every gravel event. I hate it when I underestimate it. You can go into a race thinking you’ll do that rolling road at 15mph. But no, it’s chunky AF turning it into a 10mph slog. . This is the main reason why tire choice and pressure is so important.

You have your tire pressure dialed? IMO, even Silca’s tire pressure calculator is a tad high for the rear tire and way too high for the front.

Your race with the climbing at 75ft/mi is a solid gravel event these days. It’d be avg difficulty but the elevation and the chunk you described prob makes it more medium-hard.