Jay P’s Gravel Pursuit, which offers 60 and 120 mile options, is on my short list of favorite events. Median times for the two distances are around 4.5 hours and 10 hours. All of the Rexburg locals opted for the 60 mile option again this year which, especially this late in the season, is a good call in my opinion. Everyone had a solid day on the bike. It is probably no big surprise that Shae managed to get onto the podium.
We started the day in cool misty conditions. It was 33 degrees at the top of Baker Draw. Leaving Pond’s Lodge on the Old Chick Creek Road, there were a lot of deep puddles and standing water, but the recent rain made most of the course much smoother and faster than in previous years.
Today was the day that my Clement MSO Tubeless tires finally let me down. I popped a bead on my front tire on the second descent of the Chick Creek Road. My CO2 froze solid when I tried to deploy it and I was mostly unsuccessful in reseating the bead. I limped in to the finish on a mostly flat tire.
I guess it goes without saying that gravel racing is hard on equipment and on balance we were lucky today to not have a mechanical failure that prevented anyone from finishing.
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