Week #30 The Rift - 18th Overall / 3rd Masters

The Rift in Iceland did not disappoint. Not everyday you get to ride 200K of the hardest gravel roads around a volcano. The race had a neutral roll out for about 5 miles of pavement then it was game on. The lead group took off and I knew I couldn't handle that pace so I settled in to the second pack.
We had pre rode the first part of the course and knew about the first water crossing of the day. All of them were rideable (well I fell in one about half way through the race), but deep up to mid calf. It seemed like the weather changed as much as the scenery. Starting out raining, then wind, sometimes sleet, more wind, luckily a tailwind, more headwinds, strong crosswinds and then there were the hills so steep we had to walk.
I felt fairly strong the first 100 miles then I began to have troubles holding my pace. The only mechanical of the day happened around mile 50 where I ended up stopping and putting a tube in my tire since it wasn't holding air. Not sure were the leak was, but it wouldn't seal up.
Somewhere around 15ish miles to go a group of 4 guys caught me and there were two master riders in the group. I tried to go with them without any luck. I was able to hang onto 18th overall and 3rd masters for the day.
The Lauf True Grit was a great bike for the course. It was so technical at spots and I have zero mountain biking skills. I was on Panaracer Gravel Kings SK 38s. Probably should have been riding 43s with all the large rock and washboard roads, but who knew.
I tried to eat Science in Sport gels all day, but I had trouble taking my hands off the handlebars since the terrain was so rough. I look back and I should have eaten more food between hours 4-6 in the race. This is something I will work on for Gravel Worlds.
Probably one of the neatest thing about the race was rolling over 2,000 miles for the month at 100 miles into the day. The Rift was my 3rd race also for July. I know that I am ready for a short recovery break and be ready at Gravel Worlds on August 17th.
#moveupoffroad #fueledbyscience #isotonicsquad #laufforks #ucantu #flyvie13 #possmdoping #unlearnpavement #justanotherdayonthebike #joypowerjuly #joypower