Race Route

Rebecca’s Private Idaho is a 100 mile gravel race that took place in the mountains of Idaho. This will be my first bike race this year and it will show. I used my cx bike to ride the mostly gravel route.

The race starts with a huge climb going up a mountain. Most people will go very slow for this part except perhaps the leaders and front packs. I stayed back and took my time up but did push myself somewhat harder than I probably should given my lack of experience climbing.

Eventually, I reached the top and got the wheel of a pelaton group. I stuck with them for quite a while and slowly started to drop off people. I knew that probably wasn’t a good thing but wasn’t sure why.

It wasn’t until around mile 50 that I realized that mistakes were made. When running, I can push a pretty hard pace for long periods of time. Biking is not running and I eventually tired out to the point where I could no longer keep up with those around me. This was around mile 50.

I could have joined the next group of riders and kept a decent pace. Instead, I choose to not join anymore pelatons and instead enjoyed the ride. It was nice breathing in evenly and smoothly as I rolled over the beautiful Sun Valley trails deep in the mountains. There were massive giant rock formations all around. The weather was perfect. The aid stations had idaho potatoes that were marinated in olive oil and something else. I may not have won the race but I bet I had one of the biggest smiles.

Finish