Jenna and Becca Win; Brennan Podiums
Spring has arrived, and the racing season is in full swing. Over in Belgium, Tadej Pogačar added a fourth win in Liège-Bastogne-Liège to his unrivaled palmarès. Here in North America, there were big events on the calendar this weekend as well. First and foremost was the UCI Highlands Gravel Classic. It’s this year’s first North American qualifier for the Gravel World Championships in Australia, so it saw a healthy field of professional racers at the start. At the finish, it was Jenna Rinehart who soloed to first place, with Emily Newsome (left) second and Dylan Baker third. Here’s Jenna’s story:
“I’m thrilled to take the win at the UCI Gravel World Series — Highlands Gravel Classic! This was my third time racing here. I just love this course! The race goes over a rugged 68 miles (110 km) with 5,600 ft (1,700 m) of climbing in the Ozark Mountains. The women’s Elite field had a separate start from the men, which changes the dynamics of the race (for the better, I think).
“I broke away pretty early with Emily Newsom. Emily and I worked together to widen our advantage over the rest of the field field. On a steep climb around Mile 33, I realized I had opened a little gap on Emily. I wasn’t planning to go solo this early on, but I decided to stay on the gas and push the pace on the downhills.
“Coming from a mountain bike background, descending is my strength—in fact, I set up my bike with that in mind, with bigger tires than most of the competitoin. I got out of sight and increased the gap until it was almost 5 minutes at the finish. This win qualifies me to race the UCI Gravel World Championships in Australia this October!
“I ran the same tire set up as I did at Sea Otter the week before: On the front, the 700 x 48 Oracle Ridge knobby. For my rear tire, I ran the 700 x 48 Poteau Mtn semi-slick. I’m really loving this tire combination. A little extra traction in the front and a little faster-rolling in the rear. The 48 mm-wide tires have become my go to size for most races these days. The one thing I changed for the course in Arkansas: I went with the Endurance casing instead of Extralights at Sea Otter. The Ozark Mountains are quite rugged, with deeply embedded rocks, so extra sidewall protection was important for this course.”
Congratulations! Jenna also had a great race at Sea Otter and is now leading the Wild Card standings in the Lifetime Grand Prix, the world’s biggest gravel series.
Most elite racers who weren’t at the UCI Highlands Gravel Classic were racing Levi’s Gran Fondo. Brennan Wertz was one of them. He told us:
“It was a crazy hard day out on that course. With 13,800 ft (4,200 m) of climbing, this was certainly not ‘my course’ as a 90-kg (200-lb) rider… Even so, I spent pretty much the entirety of the 221-km (137-mile) day in two different breakaways. That paid off, and I managed to make the front group over the biggest climb. However, as a result of those efforts, I didn’t have much left in the final. As we were sprinting to the line, I suffered from double leg cramps.
“Nonetheless, I managed fifth place in the bunch sprint. Congrats to winner Marcis Shelton! I’m stoked to stand on the podium in this incredible race.
“For this all-paved race, I chose 700 x 31 Orondo Grade Extralights, which pair up perfectly with my Enve 4.5 Pro wheels. It was a super setup that inspired confidence on the ripping descents in Sonoma County. Now I’m looking forward to a nice recovery and some races with a bit less climbing!”
Well done, Brennan!
Closer to our home base here in the Cascade Mountains, it was also a busy weekend for gravel racing. On Saturday was the Cascadia Super Gravel, followed on Sunday by the Gorge Gravel Grinder (above). The courses showcased the whole bandwidth of gravel in the Pacific Northwest. Becca Book was at both races, winning the Cascadia Super Gravel and placing second in the elite/pro category of the Gorge Gravel Grinder. She reported:
“Cascadia Super Gravel is 11,000 feet of climbing over 88 miles, deep in the Capitol Forest. The first 22 miles alone threw a little bit of everything at racers: climbing 4,500 ft up to Capitol Peak, followed by hair-raising descents down motorbike trails filled with loose babyhead rocks, and then deep loamy singletrack. The 700 x 44 Corkscrew Climb semi-slicks were a great choice on a dry day, rolling fast where it counted, with nice grip on the corner knobs as we went careening around switchbacks on the descents.”
“The Gorge Gravel Grinder (94 mi/ 8,650′) winds through farmland on the plateau above the Columbia River Gorge, then heads into the arid ponderosa pine landscape of the Mount Hood National Forest. The Corkscrew Climb tires absolutely flew over the champagne gravel. The first 65 miles were a series of climbs up into the Mount Hood National Forest. Even with 88 miles in my legs from the day before, I was in a group of three pro/elite women when we reached the top. From there, the race came down to a dare-devil 30-mile descent. I love the Corkscrew Climb semi-slick tread pattern for biting into the loose gravel that skittered over the hard-packed dirt underneath on the switchback descents at speed!
The racing at these regional events may be ultra-competitive, but the humorous Pacific Northwest spirit is present as well. We sometimes dream of creating our own country—’Cascadia’—up here in the far corner of North America. Winning the Cascadia Super Gravel means Becca (center) is crowned ‘national champion’ of ‘Cascadia’ for the coming year, with Louise Prescott (left) second and Lila Fenner third. Congratulations, Becca (and all the other racers)!
