Grassroots down in Pueblo was a blast. I decided to do the shorter course, since the medium would have meant four hours on the bike, and it didn't disappoint. Everything about the day was great. The weather was warm, the atmosphere was fun, and I ended up winning first place overall. I've won my age group and my category before, but this was the first time that I won the overall in a mass start gravel race. I don't really count Rampart Rager since that was a small, local event. This race had almost 300 people and there were almost 800 singed up across all of the distances today.
This race was going to be on the shorter side and the climb at the start was one of the few places you could make a move. We rolled out of downtown with a police escort at a pretty good speed for a neutral. Justin, Mateo and I got to the front quickly and we all hit the start of the gravel and timing mat together right behind the leaders. I ended up in the lead group of four but the top of the hill and paved descent on the highway. I've ridden these roads a handful of times before, so everything was pretty familiar. Eventually we dropped one guy, so it was me and two other guys in the lead group for most of the ride to the turnaround.
Coming back we hit a small roller, and I got a good several foot gap, so I decided to try a breakaway move with the wind at my back to see if it would stick. I ended up putting down my 3 best all-time 10 minute power, my second best all-time 60 minute heart rate, and my 3 best all-time 90 minute heart rate. My breakaway ended up lasting about 30 minutes in which I averaged 25.3 mph to the finish line.
For a gravel race the production value was great. They had podiums 5 deep and by age group, and the trophies were amazing. They were solid steel sections of railroad track, welded, and made into a trophy. The trophy felt like it weighed 40 pounds. After the podium ceremony I was asked by one of the hired photographers if I'd be willing to do an interview. Mind you, this is all amateur stuff, but it felt like I was a professional bike racer for a few short hours. The interview ended up being featured as part of their race recap video on You Tube.
A lot of the team was at the race, so we all grabbed a bite to eat together and the food stop with our meal ticket. It might be hard to beat this day. I knew I was in peak fitness, knew I had a shot at winning the race and delivered, and on the last race of the season too. A great way for me personally to go out on top this year and claim my 10th age group or category win since I started racing. It was just a great day on the bike and with good people all around.
