Rapha Gentlemen’s Race – Recap

16 Aug

Photo Courtesy Jose Sandoval

There isn’t much I can say that someone else won’t be able to say better – so I’ll keep it short.  I put up a route description and my photos here for those interested.

First, we have to thank a few folks.  Rapha:  We really appreciate the invite.  I know we were a bit of an unknown as we don’t know many people in the Portland biking scene.  Thanks – we loved the race and had a great time.  Mt Borah:  Thanks for hooking us up with the sweet jerseys.  They turned out even better than we hoped.  Thanks to Caroline who made us those pimpin’ hats to match our jerseys.  And finally, thanks to Tom, Dave and Nick who joined the VeloDirt crew for the big day.

The race itself was fantastic even though we got beat by pretty much everyone.  The route was excellent and it was great to find some new roads near town that we haven’t explored yet.  Of particular note are Timber Road and Pittsburg Road.  Both are worth doing again.  I understand that lots of racers were not terribly pleased with Pittsburg, but had they been riding different bikes/tires I bet more racers would have enjoyed it.  I loved it – it was the highlight of the route.  And exactly the kind of riding we do all the time.

What people probably want to hear is how much we suffered, how hot it was, etc. – ’cause that’s where the story’s at.  While lots of teams struggled with the heat and the flat tires, ours really didn’t.  Don’t get me wrong, we had our share of flat tires, but we tried hard to keep a reasonable pace that we could keep up all day in the heat.  That meant we were pretty slow compared to most teams.  But it also meant we were all able to finish the race – albeit on the shortened course.  Our biggest problem was that we had a big disparity between riders and it took some cajoling to keep the pace low for the slower guy (me…).  We had some more serious mechanicals as well.  Within the first 10 miles Sue’s left pedal and front shifter broke.   She toughed through the rest of the day without either, her left foot sliding around while she cranked away in her small chainring.

All-in-all it was a long hard day – one of the hardest I’ve ever had in the saddle.  But it was that type 2 fun that we all enjoy and we can’t wait for more.

For those of you wondering about the RGR v. Stampede – here’s my take:

  • The Stampede is about the same distance and elevation gain as the full RGR route.  However, there is a lot less shade on the Stampede – be prepared.
  • The Stampede has about 45 more miles of gravel riding.  For those of you who had trouble with flats on the RGR, it’s not going to be any better on the Stampede.  If you ride 23c road tires, you will flat.  Probably a lot.
  • Most of the gravel on the Stampede is better maintained then Pittsburg Rd.  However, there are a couple sections that are much worse.  If you’re signed up for the Stampede you should have already received a warning/description.
  • While they said the RGR was unsupported – that wasn’t entirely accurate.  The Stampede will be true unsupported racing – no Slate driving a cool Rapha Sprinter van around picking people up (unless he wants to), no water stops, no checking up on riders.  I know you’ve all heard this before, but we’ll continue to stress this so no one is surprised come race day.

Here are a couple links of race updates and photos from others:

Here are a few more team photos courtesy of Jose Sandoval:

2 Responses to “Rapha Gentlemen’s Race – Recap”

  1. Tom September 7, 2010 at 7:56 am #

    I didn’t see many other teams smiling like that after the race! Velodirt rules!!!

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  1. Rapha Gentlemen’s Race « Dirt Rides « Rides « VeloDirt - August 17, 2010

    [...] If you want to see way better photos of the route, see the links in the recap post. [...]

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