Waterloo G&G -100k (Gravel Race) 2024

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It was a full time job trying to keep the camera lens clean, which I was able to do for 95% of it!
The Waterloo G&G was a gravel race held in Grass Lake, MI on April 27, 2024. I raced the 100k version which consisted of 2 laps of approximately 30 miles. The rain the morning of made this a bit of a sloppy mess in places. My glasses were constantly getting covered in mud, along with everything else which made it all more of a struggle.
The race started off as well as it could considering the conditions. However, at 00:08:54, a rider turned into me with his handlebars hitting my hip. Luckily he bounced off me and watching the rear camera he narrowly was able to stay upright. I was able to hold onto the front group up until the first significant climb. At around 00:22:00 as the grade went up to 12% and sustained power over 450w for minutes, I thought it wiser to back off a bit and settle in. With over 55 miles remaining in the race, I wasn’t confident enough to stay with the front group and not blow up mid race. Eventually a couple miles later a small chase group developed 00:29:00. We worked really well together in this group of about 6 riders, as we gained a few and lost a few along the next 30+ miles.
Unfortunately, early into lap 2 the mud had caked and dried into my drivetrain, forcing my chain off the front chainring 02:03:15. I tried to quickly put it back on but the mud prevented it from seating properly. It took me over a minute to figure out what was wrong, clear the dried mud and get going again. Fortunately no one passed me, but I lost my group of 6 and I was in no man’s land all by myself. I pressed on but a couple miles later realized I had a front flat 02:14:35. The flat took another minute to fix and that was the final straw. My spirit to race dwindled knowing I had 20 miles to go into a 15mph headwind by myself. After about 10 minutes I could see someone was trying to bridge to me, so I eased off the pace even more and he caught up at 02:30:50. We worked together for a while until he cracked. I came into finish alone with no one in sight and a very soft front tire with only 16 psi when I checked it after the race.
In the end I finished 16th overall. I felt like I had a top 10 in the legs today and had a shot at it were it not for my mechanicals. However, that’s racing, happy with my effort and on to the next one!
👉 Hey! SUBSCRIBE for free WATTS 👉 / @mi-xc

[@austindiaz7915]

Great set up with the front, rear views and overlays. The best way to handle those situations is, that's racing, but certainly feels bad wondering what if. Good showing for when you were moving

[@mi-xc]

Thanks. It was my first mechanical in years of racing, so I was definitely overdue!

[@samd6405]

What software/template are you using for the telemetry overlay?

[@mi-xc]

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[@samd6405]

@@mi-xc hmm…strange…you deleted the comment. I was able to make something similar using Telemetry-Overlay, still working on the formatting as the default template was a bit much. Great content…keep it up!