Gary's story: Solstice Gravel Grinder

BaseCamp athlete Gary Wenzl shared his experience at the 2026 Solstice Gravel Grinder bike race in Nebraska.

I was racing the Solar Fiddy, 66 miles of mostly gravel and MMR roads. Looks like there were 110 cyclist in this category. I placed 15th over and I believe 6th in the men's masters (age 50 and over).

It was fun to be part of the final Solstice race event and especially happy after last year's Solstice crash DNF, where I ended up spending a few days in the trauma center from broken ribs/puncture lung.

Coming off the best ever cycle of training I've ever had (huge thanks to BaseCamp coach Jim Rudberg), I was feeling very confident and strong and looking forward to this race! Unfortunately the rest week leading up the race was not good for me (nothing to do with the training just life), and to be honest, the last thing I felt like I wanted to do was race. No way I would not race, no matter what I was feeling, and was determined to give it my best effort.

Race morning was no change in how I felt. Sitting at the starting line (for the 6:15am start) I felt like being quiet, just didn't feel like talking, but happened to be lined up next to some very chatty cyclists, plus my messed-up hearing seemed to be worse with all the commotion….but once on the bike, as we were being led out of town by the Beatrice police dept, I felt a sense of peace come over me by the time we hit first gravel. Everything was perfect, now feeling good, strong, relaxed, and ready to have some fun racing and anticipating everything to go well.

Started out catching up with and finding a nice group up front that felt about right for me. But during the first tough technical section on a washed out MMR, a cyclist ahead of me came to a quick stop to hike-a-bike through the treacherous. I unclipped one shoe slowing down very quickly but luckily was able to continue riding through that section, passing the congestion and bunny hopping across some areas without stopping.

Unfortunately the rest of the group now had a good 1/4-mile lead on me, and I decided not to burn any matches trying to quickly catch up and was hoping to slowly catch them, but the gap continued to increase, and from then on it was mostly a solo race (actually a solo ride) for me.

After riding solo for so long at a decent pace averaging >16 mph, I was content hitting my power goals for the race and thinking I'm all by myself, when suddenly a nice-sized group of cyclists began to pass me. A bit confused how this could be, and as I'm picking up my pace to try to hang with them, I hear the last guy say, "Hi, Gary!" It was my friend Eli, and I love this guy so much, just seeing and hearing his voice was a big boost. He is also way stronger and a lot younger than me. Eventually figured out that they were in the 100-mile group, and they eventually connected onto the 66-mile route that I was doing for a while.

Eli was making his move to take his turn to pull, and as we hit our second climb, I backed off, knowing there is no way I can sustain that kind of power on the climbs. Later found out they were doing a little race strategy trying to drop part of that group who was not taking a turn to pull.

A few miles later, and very surprisingly, I felt a slight cramp in my left inner thigh. This surprised me, because Coach Jim gave me some decent workouts, and it seemed like my history of cramping was in the rear-view mirror. But the day prior, at a PT appointment, I was cramping in my right thigh (and I had been drinking more water plus had one bottle with fizz that morning).

Then several miles after passing through Pickrell about 1-1/2 hours into the ride (not stopping at any SAGs), both inner thighs began cramping on a climb. Was thinking I should be good, a cool morning, 16-18 oz of water/hr mixed with Fluid Tactical and doing 85 g c/hr, and this shouldn’t be happening. So I just dealt with it the best I could, trying to stay below the power mark that makes the cramps worse. During the last 20-25 miles, there were times it felt like I had them under control, but any time I got the power above 230 watts, I spent the next few miles trying to calm them down.

Near the end of the race was our longest climb, which I managed well, and once over the hump, doing everything I could to finish strong as I could. Then in the last couple miles, I see riders ahead, making it my goal to catch them (knowing my legs are about fried 🙄) and pretty sure no way I can get that lead guy…after making the final turn, I was on their tail, and after meeting a pickup on the road, all I could see was the finish line and one guy that was going to challenge my knotting-up kegs to the very end. I was super surprised that I passed him as I'm going across the finish line, moving up one place by one second. Legs very unhappy, but I was very happy, especially after a little cramp recovery ride and I could finally get off my bike and try to walk again. 😂

Happy to finish as well as I did, considering most of the 66 miles was solo, plus the last 2 1/2 hours dealing with leg cramps. Coach Rudberg did an awesome job preparing me for this race, and the tough rest week that I believe hurt this race is keeping me humble and learning to get better!

A BIG thank you and hug to BaseCamper Rhonda Wright for coaching me to get a coach this summer! I love what Coach Rudberg is doing for me!