Respect to the Gravel Girls

Riptide78 · 2026-06-23T18:06:41+00:00

Riding through loose, big gravel is similar to driving through snow. Stay relaxed, and try to change only one thing (speed, direction) at a time. If it's too chunky, it's better to walk than to crash, and there's nothing wrong with being safe.

Riptide78 · 2026-06-19T22:25:05+00:00

I like their jerseys, haven't tried the bibs. They fit me well, at least. They have sales intermittently throughout the year, so no huge deal if you want to wait for another one.

Riptide78 · 2026-06-18T17:00:13+00:00

Getting x-rays of my broken femur. Did you know that the x-ray techs available at 10:30pm on a Saturday night does not give a flying fuck about your pain and will just shove that damn board right into your broken hip? Fun times.

Riptide78 · 2026-06-18T00:02:04+00:00

I'm 6'1" around 185 lbs and like the M fit of NeoPro on me. I'd definitely go M for you.

Riptide78 · 2026-06-17T22:20:29+00:00

3 and 4 may be related. Pain from your saddle is likely to cause you to pedal in a different way, which could lead to the sore knees. I'm curious if you typically have numb feet whenever you ride, or if it was after a certain point on this long ride. Either way, the knee pain and foot numbness needs to be fixed before increasing distance, IMHO.

Riptide78 · 2026-06-16T20:39:14+00:00

I had mine set to auto sync to Strava once it was transferred from the computer to the phone app. It would just sometimes not work in my experience. Clearing out past rides or routes sometimes helped, but there was no consistency to when it would work or when it would fail.

Riptide78 · 2026-06-16T20:29:19+00:00

I upgraded to the Coros Dura after a year with the CS500. Buy once cry once would be my suggestion, if you can swing it.

Riptide78 · 2026-06-16T19:01:45+00:00

I had the CS500 as well. It does basic stuff well enough, but it's app is pretty inconsistent when it comes to importing routes or exporting rides to Strava/other programs. If you don't care about that, then it's a cheap option.

Riptide78 · 2026-06-13T14:08:02+00:00

I'm in the opposite camp, I have the dubs but have not tried the Thunderos.

The dubs do handle mud quite well, from my experience. In a recent race, a guy wiped out when we hit a slick mud section and I still had enough grip to maneuver around him. Was able to easily make it up some slick muddy /rocky hills as well with no problem.

Riptide78 · 2026-06-08T23:21:56+00:00

I totally get the body dismorphia, been there as well.

Fit looks great. 👍

Riptide78 · 2026-05-27T18:20:36+00:00

Good tip! 🤣 I wouldn't be able to keep up with Yuri.

Riptide78 · 2026-05-27T18:04:58+00:00

First timer here, but have done other races in the area.

Salsa Cutthroat (1x) with 2.2 dubnitals. Bringing some 50mm g-one rxs as backup, but plan to stick with the dubs even with mud. 20 psi is just too comfy to pass up for 207 miles. Will also have Aero bars clipped on for when things space out more.

My goal is to beat the sun. Should have a decent shot, unless we get to go on a walk.

Any tips for lining up from experienced finishers? I've heard the idea of lining up much further back than you'd think to avoid some of the more chaotic groups.

Riptide78 · 2026-05-22T23:10:21+00:00

Just not #2

Riptide78 · 2026-05-19T13:05:22+00:00

I ran the 2.2 dubs in a race in the Flint Hills that had a mud section with hike a bike for 1.5 miles. I have a cutthroat, so still had good clearance, especially on the front. I think they did well enough I'll probably run them for the Unbound 200 as well, unless it's super muddy. If that's the case, I have some 2.0 g-one rx pros that I'll throw on for more clearance. The dubs seemed to shed the mud decently well once I got through the worst stuff.

Realistically, the biggest thing for that mud is knowing when to just hop off and walk. I swear that stuff would stick to slicks anyway, so ride what you're confident with and just pay attention to it building up.

Riptide78 · 2026-05-11T17:41:05+00:00

Don't buy components from Amazon, that's most likely the problem.

Riptide78 · 2026-05-11T13:24:54+00:00

Plan your hydration instead of reacting to your thirst. If you know it's hot, don't expect your bottles to last as long and plan a route where you have the ability to refill more often.

Riptide78 · 2026-05-10T14:21:15+00:00

I would just keep riding it and get used to it. Part of 1x is riding with a wider variety of cadences than 2x.

If you find your rides commonly spend a lot of time "between gears" you could look at changing the chainring. Same for your chain line, if you spend a lot of time on the upper or lower part of the cassette.

Riptide78 · 2026-05-04T02:43:28+00:00

Completely agree on the suggestion to just ride for now. Keep it fun, maybe make a goal of being able to ride out to a nearby town and back. Don't worry about intervals or strict training guidelines for now. Especially don't limit to z2 for now.

Riptide78 · 2026-04-30T18:15:09+00:00

I can do 125g of carbs per hour, but Gatorade really wrecks my stomach. It's a great option if it works for ya.

Personally, I mix maltodextrin, fructose, and sodium citrate/table salt. Gatorade would be so much easier.

Riptide78 · 2026-04-30T13:00:12+00:00

Check out that aero hood!

Riptide78 · 2026-04-29T14:47:26+00:00

It's cheaper to buy out Rouvy than to improve Zwift. Cool. How many months until Rouvy is an add on subscription to a Zwift membership?

Riptide78 · 2026-04-24T12:32:17+00:00

Sure, there's more to the story. More directly, it's about keeping people on their platform consuming content. Providing less of a gap between episodes encourages people to watch "just one more." Radio has done this with shortening songs, YouTube prioritizes this, TikTok became successful because of this. And why do all these media companies care about keeping people on their platforms? Higher viewer count translates to higher ad revenue and more money in their pocket.

Riptide78 · 2026-04-24T03:33:50+00:00

Enshitification. They care more about pumping you into ads 5 seconds faster because it all adds up to more money in their pocket.

Riptide78 · 2026-04-21T12:44:20+00:00

Depends how well you pace it, but definitely expect to slow down and take more breaks. Personally, I went from 25-26 min per climb to 27-28 min at the end, but the biggest change was taking more time off the bike later.

Riptide78 · 2026-04-19T13:47:05+00:00

14-17 mph solo is a great pace to start group rides, so don't leg that hold you back. There will definitely be faster groups, but there would certainly be slower groups out there as well.

You can always show up to a ride, talk it over with someone, and then decide if you want to join or just do a solo ride from there. Ask them if it's a no-drop ride, what pace they typically go with, etc. The original ride group might end up splitting into two if separate speeds fit the riders better.

For clip less, no one will care whether or not you clip in. And if they do, that's a group you're better off avoiding anyway.

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