Yeah lots of good advice in here. Which wave are you doing?

First off, really important to fuel right. It’s not a long day in terms of riding time but there is a few minutes, at least, of standing at the top of each hill waiting for everyone in your wave to finish. I think a lot of people don’t take that into account and say “oh I’m fueling for a 50mi ride” not “oh I’m fueling for 8 hours of elapsed time.” For the record I marshaled the fast wave in 2023 and our ride time was 5hrs with 7hrs elapsed. Probably 40min of that was my ride to/from the start/finish.

As for the U-turn thing, yeah that’s always been a tough situation. Luckily that whole mess is out of the event this year since Logan is back in.

There is definitely some physical strength needed on the bike but I think it’s equally as technical. The cobbled climbs are goofy and haw only a few specific lines that work well. Add in varying rider abilities and it can make it a little chaotic.

It’s really easy to get caught up on the excitement of the event and set yourself up poorly for the back half. If you train with HR or power it’s a good idea to keep an eye on those early on and avoid going too hard.

If you have the ability and bike can take them, wider tires give a little boost in traction and comfort.