Gary's story: Winter Endurance

BaseCamp athlete Gary Wenzl shared his experience at the 2026 Gravel Worlds Winter Endurance event in Nebraska.

Unexpected snowfall in the Lincoln area made the roads snow packed and they delayed the start time 1 hr. The roads had been graded and clear in most places but the snow packed roads became slippery when the sun came out. I was running a Pirelli Cinturato gravel H tire and it did surprisingly well with no close call (although other riders did go down in places).

Moments prior to the start, I went to hit the start button on my wahoo ELMNT bolt, but nothing happened. I sat there trying to to get it to go until the last cyclist had a good 1/2-mile start and decided to take off with no navigation. Since they started the 15 mile group in the rear of the 50k group I had to work my way through a fairly large group in slippery conditions and soon made my way to being by myself working to catch another cyclist or a couple together.

Everything was going fine until I started the last 1/2 and my electronic shifter quit working when I began climbing biggest climb we had that day. Being stuck in a mid range gear was tough going up hills and spinning out going down. Up to this point I had been feeling good and prepared for this race but the legs started feeling fatigue on every climb from here on.

GW posted my finish time as 2:37, which seemed disappointing, but I placed 14 out of 46, which I was grateful for considering the slow start and single speed issue.

This was my first winter race, and I enjoyed it! Having the correct clothing was my biggest concern, but it all worked out perfectly. My Basecamp winter jersey over merino wool was perfect under a jacket. Hydration pack valve did freeze up but quickly thawed out after I tucked it back inside my jacket.