The Mid South. One of gravel cycling’s biggest events. 100 miles on the gravel and dirt roads around Stillwater. Known for muddy conditions and a high attrition rate… or so we thought. This year brought dry and fast roads on a chilly day in which nearly a thousand riders finished the 100 mile distance. This year would be my first attempt at the Mid South, and only the second time I’ve ever ridden over 100 miles on gravel.
We arrived in Stillwater Friday afternoon just in time for me to get a quick shakeout ride in before heading to the riders meeting. I rode out to the first mile of gravel to see how wet the roads would be after the snow that had come through in the morning. I had brought a spare set of wheels set up with cyclocross mud tires, but much to my relief the roads would be dry enough to run my usual setup of 38mm Pathfinders.
It was a cold Saturday morning as we prepared for the start of the race. I did my best to stay as warm as possible as we waited at the starting line. When the race finally started I tried to stay up near the front as we stayed neutral until we got to the end of the pavement, when we finally got onto the gravel, I struggled to stay where I wanted to be in the back, around 20th position. Instead I fell back around 100th place and then when I tried to move up to the front I ended up all the way at the very front.
After a couple miles on gravel, the pace was remaining comfortable and riders began to go off the front. Jonathan Cavner had ridden away solo, and when Jason Lowetz went to bridge across to him and nobody reacted I decided I would go with him. We left the Peloton at around mile 9 and caught the leader by mile 13. The three of us were working together well, and we built out our advantage over the peloton to around a minute. Then, around mile 18 I dropped my chain. I got it back on quickly, but with such a small advantage over the peloton and over 80 miles to go, I realized it was best to pedal easy until the group caught me. I got in toward the front of the main group and was cruising along until just a few miles later my chain inexplicably came off again. Now I was toward the back of the main group as we headed toward the first pinch point at mile 24 on Glencoe Road.
The Glencoe Road section was one mile long, highlighted by extremely deep ruts and varying degrees of muddiness, especially in the first few hundred yards. In some sections the grassy area off the side of the road was much faster than the road. In some places you could ride, in other places you had to go by foot. I entered this section 30 seconds behind the front of the pack, and exited it over 2 minutes back. Over the next few miles the splintered groups joined together and eventually we had formed one pretty big chase group with only the main group of favorites ahead of us. With the long, straight roads, we could see the front group often, but there was never a chance that we could catch up to them.
At the aid station at mile 40, our group was in places 40-60. I quickly shedded my thick jacket and got a lighter jacket and thinner gloves from Becca, as well as a few waters. I was stopped for less than 30 seconds, but that still left me with ground to make up. After a few miles, our group of about 20 riders had gotten back together. Among the riders in the group were Lauren De Crescenzo and Moriah Wilson, who finished 1-2 in the women’s race, former World Tour rider Kiel Reijnen, two time Mid South winner Austin Morris, and fellow Northwest Arkansas riders Will Stoffel and Sam Pickman.
The next key moment in the race came at mile 52, where a steep dip in and out of a dry creek bed would force most riders to dismount. This time I was ready and at the front of our group, for what proved to be a critical moment. Our group of 20 riders was shattered through this section and we were down to only 7 or 8. This was also the northernmost point of the race, meaning we would be facing either headwinds or crosswinds for the remainder of our journey back to Stillwater.
It was long before I was struggling to keep with the pace of the group. The unnecessary early breakaway move certainly didn’t help to preserve my legs for the latter part of the race, and my stomach was beginning to ache, presumably from my lack of solid food intake. At mile 70 in the crosswinds I finally lost touch with my group. A quick glance behind told me I had a little while to prepare before the next group on the road caught up to me. I used that time to eat, drink, and let my legs recover a little bit.
A group of 5 riders caught up to me and I was determined to stick with them as long as I could, especially with a 10-mile long headwind section from miles 80 to 90. As we rode along, we picked up 2 or 3 riders who had dropped out of the lead pack. At mile 88 I was dropped again, and left to ride solo in to the finish. Fortunately, I was beginning to feel energized again and it wasn’t long before a turn in toward town gave me a cross-tailwind and smoother roads. I would occasionally check behind to see if anyone was catching me, but the longer I went with no pursuer in sight, the more determined I was to make it into the finish without being caught. Finally at mile 96 I saw what looked like one rider chasing behind me, probably about a minute back. That was the point where the 50 mile route joined back up with the 100 mile route, and with so many other riders on the road, I was no longer able to check to see if anyone was catching me. I continued solo until 2 miles to go, where I caught up with one of the riders who had been in the breakaway with me four hours earlier. No less than a minute later, the third rider from our early breakaway caught the two of us and we were reunited 4 hours after our ill-fated early move. After having to stop for a stoplight, we eventually sprinted it out at the finish line, more for fun than anything else, and I crossed the finish line in 41st place.
https://www.strava.com/activities/6814219603
Honestly after the mistakes I made early on, and then fading so bad in the last third of the race I was surprised that I even finished in the top 50. And after looking back at my power data it is no surprise that I couldn’t keep up toward the end of the race. As it turns out, I set a new best 5-hour peak power, over 10% higher than my previous best. If used properly, that power might have been enough to get me a top-25 finish. Of course, there’s more to racing than power output, and that is where I got the learning experience I was expecting this weekend. From wasting energy early, to not eating enough real food, to taking too long at the aid station there will be plenty of things for me to iron out before the next big gravel race – Gravel Locos in Texas – which is just under two months away.
Andrew Evans 