I was a bit nervous.Ā  This was going to be my first time.Ā  OK, it wasnā€™t really my first time.Ā  Iā€™d done it a couple times before by myself, got dirty with the encouragement of strangers on the Internet.Ā  But this was my first time with a group and in person.Ā  Hopefully they wonā€™t go too hard and Iā€™ll be able to go all the way.Ā  Iā€™m talking of course about my first organized gravel bike ride.Ā  What did you think I was talking about?

During the COVID years I did a couple of 100+ mile DIY gravel events that were meant to substitute for the Dirty Kanza race (since renamed Unbound as the original name was not woke), but the 2022 Shasta Gravel Hugger was my first organized event.Ā  I signed up for the short course, the Half Hug, 65 miles, rather than the 100 mile course in order to minimize the amount of time my wife would be bored with nothing to do out in the sticks.Ā  Also, because the event is in March, weather can be a wild card, and I didnā€™t want to risk being in the cold and wet that long.Ā  It had snowed the first two years of the event, but the website assured us ā€œIt canā€™t possibly snow three years in a row.ā€

The snow started to fall as we drove through Mt. Shasta City on the way to the event.Ā  We dropped below the snow line before reaching the town of Montague for the packet pickup, but the weather report was looking cold, blustery, and possibly snowy for the next day.Ā  After packet pickup we went to check in to our hotel and grab some dinner in Yreka, the would-be capital of the great state of Jefferson.

The morning of race day was cold.Ā  Luckily I brought all my clothing, but thereā€™s a dilemma.Ā  Too few clothes, and Iā€™ll be cold.Ā  Too many and Iā€™ll start to sweat and get cold.Ā  Of course the answer is layers, but I still need to carry those layers I remove somewhere.Ā  I settled on a long insulated jersey, a long undershirt, a windproof vest over the top, a neck gaiter to keep the wind from going down my shirt, shoe covers to keep my feet dry and warm, a beanie for my ears and balding head, and long gloves.Ā  The shoe covers were so damn tight it took me several minutes to pull them over my shoes.Ā  I nearly cramped up pulling them on, and I was worried that Iā€™d miss the start.

The start

Alas, I did make it to the start on time.Ā  There was no dick measuring before this race.Ā  It was too darn cold, and it would have been a dead heat with everyone being equal, even the women.Ā  At 10 AM the race began, and we headed out of town to the east.Ā  The group started to spread out as people found their own pace, those wanting to race speeding ahead, those like me who were just out for a ride dropping back.Ā  Soon we turned south onto some gravel roads.Ā  Snow flurries started to fall as we passed by Steven Seagalā€™s ranch, but I didnā€™t feel under siege.Ā  Instead, powered by a strong tailwind I felt hard to kill as we made good time down the road.

The man

At about mile 13 we turned east and headed toward the infamous Jeep Road.Ā  Precipitation can turn the road into a mud pit, which is what happened the previous year as seen here.Ā  (TW: the guyā€™s voice and shaky camera might induce nausea.)Ā  Given the previous dayā€™s rain and snow I was worried that history would repeat.Ā  As the road began, a lady rider asked if I had pre-ridden this section.Ā 

ā€œPre-ride?Ā  I donā€™t need no stinkinā€™ pre-ride.ā€Ā Ā 

ā€œPick your lines carefullyā€ she warned.Ā 

Fortunately the road was dry and no worse than the roads I ride around home.Ā  The only problem was a sand pit in about the last 100 yards.Ā  I probably could have ridden it, but there were people falling and people walking, and the bike is hard to control in the sand.Ā  I didnā€™t want to run anyone over, so I made an executive decision and got off and walked.

The sand

The road now turned north, which meant that the nice tailwind we had enjoyed was now a raging headwind, and it was going to be that way for the next 22 miles.Ā  I got on the wheel of another rider to shelter from the wind.Ā  Not wanting to be a total freeloader, I moved to the front after a while hoping we could work together and take turns on the front.Ā  After several minutes I was wondering why this guy wasnā€™t pulling through to take his turn. I turned around to find he wasnā€™t there.Ā  I guess Iā€™m on my own.Ā  It was going to be a war of attrition.Ā 

As the miles ground on I heard riders coming up quickly behind me.Ā  It was the lead pair from the 100 mile course.Ā  They had already completed the extra 35 miles (with a 1 hour head start) and were now picking their way through the riders on the short course.Ā  A couple minutes later a second pair passed me by as if I was standing still.Ā  These guys were no schlubs.Ā  One was a former pro in the European peloton.Ā  He had just come back from Colombia where he won the Transcordilleras race.Ā  Another was the Canadian time trial champion, identifiable because he was the only one wearing shorts that day.

The road returned to gravel at the Little Shasta Cemetery. I was feeling marked for death, but I wasnā€™t going to quit.Ā  No way was the finish out of reach.Ā  Starting up the biggest climb of the day the leaders in the womenā€™s 100 mile race started to pass by.Ā  ā€œGood job.Ā  Keep going,ā€ the first lady said (no not Dr. Jill).Ā  I wanted to think she was talking to me while admiring my rear end, but in reality she was probably encouraging the guys in her group to keep the pace up in order to help her stay in the lead.Ā  A couple months later she was murdered by a jealous woman for her part in a love triangle.Ā  Youā€™ve probably seen the story.Ā  I think it even made the Links.Ā  So who knows, maybe she really was admiring my butt.

The hill continued ever upward and against the wind.Ā  In normal circumstances the climb would not have been that tough, but the headwind had worn me out. In hindsight, I also wasnā€™t eating and drinking enough so I was short on calories and water.Ā  Itā€™s hard to unwrap food while wearing long gloves, and when itā€™s so cold itā€™s easy to forget to drink.Ā  Close to the top of the climb were a couple of short pitches with double digit grades.Ā  Feeling like I was on deadly ground I had to get off and walk for a few yards.Ā  Finally I dragged myself to the top where the first aid station awaited.Ā  I grabbed some coke, some snacks and some electrolytes and rested a bit before setting off again. The good news was that this was the highest point in the race and we had gone more than half way.

The stop

After taking a leak (at least I couldnā€™t have been dehydrated) I got back on my bike.Ā  The first bit was a really steep downhill section.Ā  Not sure of the twisty road ahead I kept on the brakes (a pre-ride would have been helpful), but some guys just bombed right past me.Ā  I donā€™t know how they do that especially through the turns.Ā  Some people are just born to raise hell.

The steep descent gave way to a series of rolling hills as we made our way through the northern end of the course.Ā  The sun started peaking out through the clouds, the temperature rose a little, and we got great views of the course ahead. The road was pretty rough at times.Ā  I lost a water bottle on one of the downhills and had to ride back uphill a bit to recover it.Ā  It didnā€™t matter though.Ā  This is what I came for: the backroads, the expansive views, and the challenge.Ā 

The view

We dropped down into the valley for the final push toward the finish.Ā  Shortly before the course returned to pavement as I was making the last push into a headwind my wife called to see if I was there yet.Ā  I had expected to finish by 3, but was running a little late.Ā  I was about 6 miles from the finish, so I told her to finish her beer and head to the finish.Ā  Back on pavement and with a nice tailwind it was a fast run to the finish.Ā  I came in about 30 minutes later than I expected, but I wasnā€™t DFL.Ā  The line for the taco truck at the finish was too long, so even though I had a meal ticket, I found my wife and headed back to the hotel for a shower and a meal.

All in all it was a good event and a learning experience.Ā  I learned that I need to do a better job eating and drinking on these rides.Ā  I got wider tires to smooth out some of the bumps, and I got stronger water bottle cages so I donā€™t lose any bottles.Ā  I would do the event again.Ā  I missed it this year, and it snowed again.Ā  But maybe next year.Ā  They canā€™t possibly have snow five years in a row.