Coming up this weekend, I’ll be making the journey to Stillwater, Oklahoma for the Mid South 100. The gravel race is known for taking place on the infamous red dirt roads of Oklahoma. Optimism was high in the last few weeks that we would get a dry, fast version of the race. As the date nears and forecast comes into focus, the indication is that the weather conditions could reprise their role in creating a chaotic race. Between 1 and 2 inches of snow are expected to fall Thursday night and Friday morning, and the temperatures at the start on Saturday morning are predicted to be in the mid teens in the low 20s after the start has been moved back 1 hour to 9 a.m. I’ve already endured a brutally cold race earlier this year at Hazel Valley where temperatures hovered around 20 for the early part of the race, but adding some snow on top of roads that don’t do well with moisture will make for another level of craziness.
THE BIKE
I will be taking on the red dirt road of Oklahoma atop my 2019 S-Works Crux, fitted with 38mm Specialized Pathfinder Pro tires, and a Shimano Ultegra/GRX 1x setup with a 44-tooth chainring and 11-42 cassette. I’ll have a set of 33mm Specialized Terra Pro tires on standby in case the course conditions deteriorate with the weather coming in on Friday.
THE PLAN
Last time I did a 100+ mile gravel race in Oklahoma , I made it into a lead group of 3 at mile 60 only to have poor hydration and fueling contribute to a complete collapse over the final 40 miles in which I lost over a half hour to the eventual winner. With this being my first attempt at the Mid South, my main goal is to continue learning what works and what doesn’t work for me in these gravel races as I look toward some of my bigger targets later in the year. I want to focus more on getting to the finish line as fast as I can rather than racing the other competitors. Of course, once race day gets here it’s hard to fight the urge to follow one attack after another with the adrenaline pumping. And with the possible extreme conditions, there is no telling what will happen. Check back in next week for a full recap and analysis of the race.
Andrew Evans 