How I Got on the Podium at BWR North Carolina, Power and Race Tactic Analysis

Belgian Waffle Ride North Carolina is absolutely brutal! The course tackles over 130 miles with 14k feet of climbing, numerous rugged gravel sections, and single track. Find out how I landed a podium spot here at my home race.
Footage by Unroad UNLTD
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[@yammienoob]

Jesus, those power numbers are BONKERS. Great effort!

[@htonmusic]

well well well, didn't expect you to be here. worlds too small

[@the_derpler]

Oh my, are you making the transition? I and a lot of my friends who used to do track days, obsess with riding motorcycles on the street, all switched over to bicycles eventually lol.

[@johnwpotter]

What I get out of these videos is the humanity amongst all the data, which makes cycling that much more beautiful and worthy of all the hard work and effort.

[@aarondcmedia9585]

Congrats on the podium! 400W for 20 minutes is epic.

[@durwoodhill2798]

A home-turf podium must be especially gratifying, a BIG congrats!! The video is another great inside look at some of the highest levels of bike racing, THANKS Dylan!!

[@kevinderung8524]

Amazing season so far DJ! I think its incredible that you can go out and set your 20min PR without any expectations that it could happen, obviously there is still some mystery alongside the science.

[@joseluisgarciahernandez656]

CONGRATULATION FOR THE PODIUM!!!!

[@ernie12man]

Love it! And the BHD @ 13:46 'spirit of gravel' snipe is hilarious and totally awesome. :) Shots fired, 'spirit of gravel' whiners are ridiculous.

[@readikus]

Glad the results are coming!

[@GSmith215]

This is the part of the season where reasonable Dylan needs to get repressed and BHD takes the f@cking wheel like baby Jesus. Go get it

[@Michael-oo5gk]

Congrats! Yeah such a video about your increased volume during your base season would be amazing!

[@earlfoss99]

Great job on the result, and on the recap. It's been fun watching your progress.

[@juliusahlgreenpedersen6305]

Lets goooo! Another Dylan Johnson Race breakdown, my favourite videos!

[@bradpeterson6894]

Congrats on the podium finish! Fun to follow your races and you’re awesome science based content. Keep it up!

[@Southerncyclist]

Way to Go Dylan, great to see you still getting stronger, congratulations on 2.

[@michaelhotten752]

Awesome Spring Dylan.

[@jasongay8226]

Thank you for sharing information and details, real numbers, on what a Pro gravel race is! No one else shares this data. Great finish!!

[@randyhale4181]

You're so close you must be tasting victory🎉🎉🎉 good work young men.

[@richardpowell1425]

Congratulations. You worked smart and hard to get that result.

[@MrWhit9]

YOYOYO Yea good onya Dj. Adam is a machine. You repped your set properly with a solid 2nd. OG status. 3 musketeers JO is a legend 😂

[@zaahierstanley955]

Congratulations Champ. Enjoyed this vid ...

[@mervdove5901]

Great effort

[@karelt5413]

Congrats bro with the 2nd. That's great! 💪

[@HarryTzianakisTheGodOfSpeed]

You did fantastic!! 👏👏👏👏

[@markspore2572]

"I can't decide whether I should be angry on my socials for the spirit of gravel or not..." BAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Great race...congrats on the podium! I appreciate your detail and sharing your specific TP data for us junkies!

[@JP-om3ou]

All that hard working paying off, congrats 💰

[@stevevarga8621]

Great race and video, congratulations. What I liked most about it were the lessons learned. 1) When you catch up to someone like that, always test them even if your tired. There is a very good chance that they are done. Not testing them allows them to recover. 2) Always get in front on technical sprint finishes. It’s very hard to pass someone sprinting in technical corners. The draft is not so important in that scenario. 3) Play it safe re the gearing selection. If you had lowering gearing for the steepest bits you would have saved your legs better then your competitors and probably been able to drop them on the final sections. No one every lost a race because they had too low gearing. Usually your lowest gear doesn’t effect your top end.

[@EVOQBIKE]

congrats on the podium, that course is GNARLY!!!

[@ianusna91]

Congratulations on seeing your work achieve goals.

[@johnwpotter]

Well done, Dylan, well done!

[@fluidmx]

Wow congrats, also happy Adam got the win

[@richardvaughn168]

Outstanding effort, great race analysis and commentary!

[@Cokecanninja]

The field is getting faster, yet you're placing better! Whatever you're doing is working, I think you just get super fast at the feed stops and you could be top 5 next year

[@arihirschman6884]

Wow! such an impressive performance. Congratulations and thanks for the video.

[@stevehalleym]

I love your videos. Thanks for sharing so much of how you compete.

[@rolandcolavizza5368]

Well done you beast 💪

[@chrisallen5293]

Great video and congrats on the podium. Love your analysis on your races

[@lenolenoleno]

Congrats mate, you're a beast this season'. Love the coverage.

[@fgiraffe8751]

Fantastic Dylan! Congrats on a tremendous race and thanks as always for these great videos.

[@markokitzing4291]

Very proud of you, congratulations! :D Thanks for the analysis!

[@jonassamuelsson285]

Nice work!!🎉

[@cook1jd]

Awesome video and recap! Congrats on the podium. My favorite part was the part about Adam appropriately taking pills and a dig on “the spirit of gravel”, cracked me up. Well done 👏

[@andrewrivera4029]

During races the last thing I wanna worry about is tech but you have great footage and data, well done race!

[@SamuelBlackMetalRider]

Amazing performance congrats

[@davehanhela5997]

Wow - great seeing you right up there with the big boys :-) Congrats DJ! We all wonder if we've got enough under the hood to achieve our aims, and it looks like you have!!!

[@benicio4463]

Loved the video, it would be awesome to hear more about your base block earlier this year!

[@ekimviewmaster5010]

Great work, as usual. Nice to see you on the podium.

[@chuckfrizzell8668]

Likewise ~ I really enjoy your post event analysis. Many thanks and best wishes for the rest of the season.

[@JeremyBusch-h1g]

Hey Dylan, I really like your videos and appreciate the mix of science and grit. I have done one 24 hour solo MTB and am about to train up for another. I would love to see you analyze pacing, power, nutrition, rest for a 24 hour race. I bet there are many ways that you could make us regular folks way faster in an event like that where I have not seen much science.

[@CycleTheWorld-g6o]

Congrats on a great result! And thanks for the analysis as usual!

[@dlotfi]

Congrats mate. Keep pushing.

[@folkabuss]

Amazing, dude. 🥖🥖🥖 for you. Could you please make a video on how to plan your training in the weeks after a race.

[@scottmcbride4652]

Dooooood! My goal is to do 300 watts for 5 min. You’re a best. Congrats on a great ride

[@bitminerbob6731]

Congrats!!!

[@Clate328]

Great job 👏 glad you had a good race. 😅🚴‍♂️

[@usktim]

Great Job and such a good vid! Keep on!💪🏽🔝🙌🏽

[@maestro4453]

Hey Dylan, Great race, I was there! Thanks for taking a photo with me, it really meant a lot. You are still a local hero in northern Virginia! Any thoughts of doing the Dirty Kitten Gravel Race in Rapidan VA on July 29?

[@tmunk123]

Great job Dylan!

[@jcooley]

Definitely make a video about the recent training!

[@kamilkaminski]

Congrats!!!🎉

[@ElevationEveryWeekend]

Nice breakdown and result!!

[@benwigginsbikes]

Awesome. I'm an ex-enduro rider dipping my toes into gravel by doing the entire Southeast Gravel Series ( mixed mileage options....mostly long course but some short as well) as well as short option for Bootlegger, The Old Fort 50 mtb race and Cranksgiving Enduro....I have no idea what I am doing. I will be 49 this year and like beer a lot. My goal is to just not stop pedaling I suppose and see how it all plays out.

[@Circletakesthejake]

insane. great work

[@rof8200]

The good thing and most interesting part of these videos is the fact that we know you're not a cheat or doper.

[@rendezvous_with]

Congrats! Please do a video on what your spring training looked like.

[@BruceChastain]

these gravel roads look awesome

[@michelgenon6677]

Fantastic!

[@AdamRobergeCycling]

Such a great report. 👌

[@rafaeldegiacomoaraujo8778]

congratulations!

[@TheMrbrookster]

Nice, great result, I hope it goes well for you for the rest of the season (I thought you had been working on your sprint?).

[@_Doodle-bob]

Awesome result, congrats. Question for you Dylan, what are you planning on running at Crusher? First year doing it and I plan on running 45 Maxxis Ramblers. But I see most people doing a 38-42 size tire. You tend to run larger tires which I prefer, so I trust your opinion more than most.

[@jakefiddler966]

Would love to see a video on the big volume pre season training!

[@poncho_arroyo]

That last bike throw tho!

[@camlittlebikes]

I wish I would’ve learned about the “pinch point” at mile 11 earlier on, instead of figuring out that I started too far back. This definitely jeopardized my race a bit.

[@mitchellsteindler]

Knowing the course is part of racing

[@skyscraper5910]

@@mitchellsteindler damn bro, you must be world tour - insightful af

[@mitchellsteindler]

What's really cool about me comment is that I now have a broken collarbone which happened 3 minutes into my mtb race yesterday because I didn't know the course.

[@stephencolton299]

Excellent job

[@tomb3667]

Great job and effort

[@Micolash777]

Well done mate.

[@samj1185]

Heck of a ride, congrats. Soft peddling at 210 watts....not gonna hate, just jealous. Nice to see vid of what the front of the race looks like. Looks a lot like the rear mid where I ride but w/ fewer people and a lot more speed!

[@kge420]

29%! That’s mountain goat stuff.

[@htonmusic]

nathan haas is canberra native and raced mtb on similar rough conditions

[@SamuelMedranoJr]

congratulations on your podium position. I have a suggestion for a future video. Can you research the effect of Spirulina?

[@Rajesh-cg5pz]

+1

[@azkool5106]

Congrats!

[@fatman1198]

Nice job. 🎉

[@rvacinek]

Solid result dude! Question, how do you discern lower HR for a certain effort between upped fitness or fatigue

[@ericgaisser1668]

Great recap. Would love to know what you eat during a race like this and how many grams of carbs are you trying to consume each hour.

[@graffix11us]

Nice work!

[@stevengoodwin3154]

Juicy numbers.

[@1001legoboy]

Very enjoyable

[@AlbieVas]

Great work 🎉

[@ΘάνατοςΧορτοφάγος]

Dropper post seems a good adittion

[@escsniper]

Chapeau!

[@Nick_007ia]

Congrats !!! How did you train- videos would be awesome to see ! plzz

[@Bendersnatchling]

NP of 312W... That's just so insane to me. I am super happy if I can 250 NP...

[@ronetele13]

Dude! My spider sense is tingling & it says, time for you to consolidate and rest. What’s the next event? What tire pressure did you run 😜

[@keithnewton1966]

The lower heart rate is interesting. I’ve noticed it’s getting harder for me to achieve my max heart rate along with my resting heart rate is getting lower. However I’m in better shape each year. Is this due to your body’s ability to process oxygen more efficiently? Congratulations on the podium. Living in the Charlotte area it’s always nice to have a local do well👍

[@slavzizek403]

Super cool

[@SamuelMedranoJr]

I am curious what BHDJ would say about what to wear for recovery rides. I find that I have a "target" on my bike when wearing a race styled kit on a recovery ride.

[@peterm.7497]

Every race, like it or not, we get a report on whether or not Adam Roberge (who I like as a person and cyclist) pulled or not. Dylan does have his pulse on the narratives.

[@robrigg8045]

BWR Utah on the calendar for you? If so, or if not, any advice??? :)

[@heikkisanelma6625]

On your volume rides do you sprinkle in some tempo/th or just easy and what wad tour easy powers avg for some of those rides? If pb 20min is +400e

[@joshross4283]

Watching this, I can't help but wonder if the dirt bikes and pickup's exhaust would make the racers gag. Also since when can you get resupplied from a vehicle in a gravel race?