Evan's story: Iron Cross Gravel

BaseCamp athlete Evan McGregor shared his experience at the 2025 Iron Cross Gravel bike race in Pennsylvania.

I did Iron Cross last year to wrap up the season. It's a race I've wanted to do since I started riding a few years back but struggled to find much info about what to expect. I wanted to see what the race was about and also see what I could do there, but mentally and physically I was completely toast. It's the hardest, most beautifully painful race I've ever done. Still, I enjoyed the suffering, performed decently, and set a baseline for future attempts. I set a long-term goal of getting on the podium here and wanted to keep coming back to really learn how to race the course best.

This year I set Iron Cross again as my season finale. It's been a tough year, though. Working back from injury after 2 months off the bike was taxing, and after finishing up the PA Gravel series, I was again mentally done, but I expected this and was better prepared. I built some strong habits through the year that really carried me over the past month and brought me to race day as ready as I could be.

I paced the climbs pretty well, and on the single track sectors, I kept hearing Nathan Goates in the back of my head from our ride at BaseCamp gravel camp last year coaching me through it all. My efficiency was way higher this year, and I went much faster through the single track. The 10th-place rider was in sight for so long, but he faded into the distance, and by the time we got to the rock wall run up, I was getting closed down again. Shortly after Larry's Tavern, I heard Goates's voice again, but this time is was a real life, "Let's go, baby!" as he went flying past. I could only hold on so long. The finale was shortly after, and I finished around 90 seconds down.

It's fitting that the rider who has helped me up my skill level significantly was the only one to overtake me today. I was thrilled to see a 12th place finish on the day and an age group podium!

Honestly I'm over the moon. This was a race that I didn't expect to be able to podium for a number of years. I can't believe I hit my reach goal for today with the way the year, month, week, and day went, but I did it! I'm not done, though. Nathan told me at the podium ceremony that he won the 40-49 AG before, and now I have 9 years left to do it. I'll be back, and I'll be stronger.

Lastly, it was a pure joy to celebrate today with my wife, Amanda, here with me. We rarely get time to ourselves, and you wouldn't think that a bike race is the best venue for that. Gunnar and his team put on an absolutely fantastic event with Iron Cross, and if anyone is looking for something exciting, different, and great bang for your buck, come out and do Iron Cross with me next year! It's beautiful, beautiful pain.