The Moran 333 gravel (sand, it’s a lot of sand) race was a significant learning experience. Taught me that I vastly prefer touring on my Omnium Cargo where I can bring aaanything I want vs being to just 30L or so of storage on my Crust Scapegoat (which still fuuuckin ruled for this route hot damn am glad I had 2.8” to work with).
Also learned that it’s good to prepare for rain even when there’s not a single speck of green on the radar because when a storm wakes ya up at 2am ya gonna have a baaad time for the next 20 hours or so.
Turns out eating an entire pizza while watching every Toy Story movie on motel tv can be exactly what my body and brain need. Rolling across the finish line to zero celebration or fanfare, welcomed by a couple grandpas just hangin out at the fairgrounds, was honestly the best ending to this little adventure within my great adventure.
Normal people will go car camping for a weekend to take a break from their 8-6 comfy corporate career lives. Maybe I can approach ultra races in a similar way; strip down the luxuries I usually ride with and see how much more rough I can handle. Next time I’ll be a bit smarter, a bit more prepared, and a bit more successful at taking on such an endevour. I may never end up winning a race but hopefully I’ll always finish them.
