The Traka!

My next race is already coming up, and it is a big one! The Traka 200 is this weekend, and it is hard to believe it is already here. I remember when I was planning my race season in January and the Traka was one of the races that I was really motivated to do and come out with a good result. The Traka will be my longest race in both distance and time. I have always known one of my biggest strengths has always been my endurance and ability to push myself for a long time. With the Traka, I am curious how I will respond to racing longer and if longer races suit my strengths as a rider. I am excited to test myself in this type of race and use the Traka as a bit of test for Unbound. I will be testing my race nutrition and pacing strategy. With that said, in this blog, I want to go over the course, my goals, my bike set up and my nutrition strategy.  I hope you enjoy!

                  The Traka will take place this Saturday, May 4th starting at 7am. The total route distance is 202km, with 2,500 meters of elevation and 85% of the route being gravel and 15% road. At a glance and looking at the race profile, there is not really a lot of climbing, especially with 202km. Most of the climbing with be done at the start and end of the race with the middle portion of the race being quite flat. This is important to note as being in a strong group will be extremely important as I will go a lot faster if I am with a strong and cohesive group rather than being alone. With that in mind, my first goal is to go all out at the start to stay with the strongest riders. One thing I learned from my last race is the start is fast and hectic and if you don’t have a good starting position, you will get lost in the field of riders and this can have a negative impact on the result of your race. I will need to have a good warm up and I will need to be willing to fight for position so that once we start the climb, I will be with the favorites. In my last race, I lost so much energy in the first 5kms of the race just trying to move up after such a hard and chaotic start. This race, I need to be more attentive and fight more to keep my position at the start, this is my main goal of the race. After doing some recon of the course, I noticed a few things. The first is that the climbs are steep and narrow so being in a good position will be important, so you are not stuck behind too many people. Secondly is the weather. The day of the race it will be around 24 degrees and sunny. However, the week leading into the race there has been a LOT of rain and there is a lot of mud on the course as well as some flooding in certain sections of the course. This is something to take note of going into the race and being extra cautious on the technical sections of the course.

                  Looking at the results from last year, the winner’s time was 6 hours and 43 minutes, so that is my goal! I am not sure if I will meet that goal or go faster or slower, but I believe it is good to be ambitious and have something clear to chase. Based on this time from last year, that is how I am loosely planning my racing strategy. I say loosely because in a race you could go faster or slower depending on the weather, wind, or the group you are riding with. However, it is helpful to have that time in my head to test myself if I can push harder and go faster and if I am on track to getting a top 5 result. As always, the women’s field is extremely strong and competitive and there are many factors that can contribute to your race result. Not always the strongest rider wins as luck plays a big part. In gravel racing mechanicals play a huge role and can really impact your race. I have a goal in my head of coming in the top 5. I believe I have the fitness, but I have also tried to perfect what I have control over, which is my bike set up, my wheels, tires, my nutrition plan, my technical skills, and my mechanical skills. I wanted to give an in-depth look at my bike set up as this will have a big impact on the result of my race. I will be racing on my T-LAB X3 gravel bike:

·      Shimano GRX 11sp-2X

·      11-36, ENVE cockpit

·      ENVE SES AR Road In-Route Handlebar-38cm

·      Shimano PRO Stealth saddle

·      Garmin XC Rally power meter pedals

·      HUNT 42 Limitless Gravel Aero Disc wheels

·      KENDA Alluvium Pro 700x40

                  I also wanted to give more information on a new sponsor, KENDA tires. Having KENDA as one of my sponsors is extremely exciting and truly one of the best sponsors you can have as a gravel racer. Tires play a HUGE role in your bike set up depending on the course terrain and weather. For the Traka I chose to go with the Alluvium Pro 40s. The reason I chose this tire is that the Alluvium Pro tires are ideal for pavement, road and hard single-track conditions. The tread of the tire is optimized for speed and grip as well as having the GCT casing with a secondary casing layer that acts as a shield against punctures and sidewall slashes that is ideal for gravel! A big thank you to KENDA for supporting me this season and I can’t wait for my first race on KENDA tires!

                  Finally, and arguably one of the most important parts of my race strategy, is race nutrition. As this is my longest race, my pre and in race nutrition is extremely important to get a good result. Leading up to the race this weekend, I have been really focused on eating well and making sure I am getting enough calories to support the effort this weekend. I have also spent the last few weeks testing my race nutrition in training rides with the help of my coach. One thing we wanted to focus on is the amount of carbs I consume per hour. After testing out the race nutrition in training, I have decided that 90-100 grams of carbs per hour works best for me. Obviously, everyone is different based on what their stomach can handle, as well as their weight, and those were all important factors when deciding how many carbs per hour my body can handle. For example, my boyfriend Simon can handle more than 120g of carbs per hour so in that case, it is very individual on what your body can handle. To do this, I will be using a mix of gels, bars, drink mix and utilizing the feed stations at kms 47, 108, and 138. Another way I make sure I stay on target is to make sure I eat or drink something every 20 minutes. This way I can take a bit of energy in at a time and meet my target of 90-100 grams of carbs per hour.

                  I hope you enjoyed the blog, make sure you keep updated on my Instagram to see how the lead up to the race and the result. Thank you for reading!