On Saturday, I lined up for my first ever gravel event at the Hazel Valley Gran Prix. The 54-mile course features over 6000 feet of elevation, with about 2500 of that coming on the back to back Bidville and White Rock climbs. It was a cool sunny day with dry roads, a perfect day for a gravel adventure in the Boston Mountains.
On the first climb, the group quickly started to separate. By the time we reached the top of the mile-long climb, the lead group was down to five riders: Colin Strickland, Kevin Girkins, Olivier Lavigueur, Eric Haynes, and me. We stayed together down the bumpy descent, across the valley and onto the Bidville climb.
Toward the top of the Bidville climb I threw in an attack that I would quickly regret. At first I had a gap, but then Colin and Olivier bridged across to me. Colin then counter attacked. I followed him for about a minute, which caused me to blow up. I lost his wheel, then was passed by Olivier, and eventually Kevin right at the top of the climb. I was solo in fourth place across the ridge and down the long, twisty descent to the start of the White Rock climb.
The climb to White Rock is about 15 minutes of steady climbing, followed by 15 minutes of shorter, steeper climbs with short flat and downhill sections sprinkled in. After four minutes of climbing I finally saw riders ahead of me. Kevin and Olivier were riding together with Colin out of sight. I slowly brought down the gap, and a push up the final uphill to White Rock got me close enough to make contact at the aid station. With a quick refill of my bottle from one of the volunteers I was on my way again in less than 20 seconds.
From there the three of us were together, trying to establish some kind of rhythm. As the miles went on, my legs and back really began to ache. I was in danger of being dropped when instead I dropped my chain with 9 miles to go. I got it on quickly but there was no chance of catching back up as tired as I was. I rode in solo for fourth place in a time that was under the former course record.
I had two goals coming into the event – beat the previous course record and get one of the sweet trophies awarded to the top two finishers (but it’s not a race wink, wink). I accomplished the former, but the latter just wasn’t in the cards. Nonetheless, it was a fun and painful day of riding in the beautiful Ozarks, and a bit of a learning experience as I dip my toe into gravel. A big shoutout to Rob Grunnagle aka Ozark Cycling Adventures, Hazel Valley Ranch, and all the volunteers who help make this the best free cycling event in the USA.
Andrew Evans 