Last week I participated in a 5-day gravel bike race in Oregon state. It is called Oregon Trail Gravel Grinder and it goes around the forests and mountain passes of Central Oregon. It is 350 miles with a total elevation gain of more than 30,000 feet. In a few upcoming posts I’ll share my experiences and pictures from this event.
At the start of the first day all riders drop off their stuff in the plastic totes that will be transported to the first camp in Blue River, OR. That will be the procedure for the most of the days: riders pack the tents and sleeping bags and drop off the totes in the morning, ride to the next camping spot, unpack, eat, rest and sleep to ride hard the next day.
Riders gather at the start line to listen to the instructions for the first day route.
There are two groups of riders in this event: Pioneers and Settlers. The Pioneers group consists of many famous racers and pros. They ride longer and harder courses and compete for the podium. The Settlers group does not compete but they get timed anyway. Also the Settlers’ courses are a little easier on the first and fourth day. On all other days they ride the same course as Pioneers. I registered in the Pioneers group with the plan to see how I can handle it and then switch to Settlers if it becomes too much for my abilities.
As the race started I realized that the gravel roads in Oregon are very different from roads I usually ride in Washington. They are not made of gravel but instead are dirt, sand and volcanic rocks. This became apparent on the famous Santiam Wagon Road, which is approximately 7 miles of 4 inch (10 cm) deep sand.
That was the most difficult section of the first day ride for me as I had no experience riding in the sand. The rest of the roads were more rideable and very scenic. Here is the scenery from the first day.
Overall it took me more than 7 hours to complete this course (73 mi, 6,500 ft of elevation) with an average speed of 10 mph. Interestingly enough it took only 3 hours 33 minutes for the stage winner Peter Stetina to complete it with average speed of 18.1 mph. That clearly shows the difference between the pros and the average people.