Pete's story: Gravel Worlds

BaseCamp athlete Pete Holm shared his experience at the 2025 Lauf Gravel Worlds bike race in Nebraska.

Before I dive into the ride, let me give a shoutout to the BaseCamp coaches and all the other BaseCampers. I've participated in many rides every year, and this one was hands down the best and my absolute favorite. Even my wife, who didn't ride, couldn't stop talking about how welcoming she felt. Tina was incredible, always there for us before and after the ride. She even met up at the finish line and took care of my bike, which went above and beyond even what my family has done at other events. And let's not forget Tim and Namrita's coach's panel -- it was top-notch! It's so cool to meet your heroes in person. The BaseCamp coaches totally lived up to all my expectations. Finally meeting other BaseCampers was a real treat. I felt like I was instantly part of the group. Seeing the same folks over several days really solidified the amazing community spirit.

Now, coming into this event, I was a bit worried about the heat and the gravel, but not too concerned about the hills. Living in the Northwest, I don't get many chances to train in high temperatures, but we do have a lot of hills.

BaseCamp had a few sessions on how to prepare for races. One thing that really stuck with me was the importance of preparing for the unexpected. Part of my pre-race routine is to pump up the tires. But guess what? When I unscrewed the valve cap, the valve core shot out and was never seen again! At 5 a.m. on race day, of course, no shops were open. Luckily, I also brought my road bike, so I managed to harvest a valve core and put it in my Lauf.

Coach Emma suggested freezing the water bottles. I remembered to take them out and put them in the car, but I forgot to put them on the bike. I had my water bladder in my pack, so I thought I'd be fine.

After the race started, I rode in the pack to the first aid station. Unfortunately, I wasted a lot of time trying to figure out how to get the clip back on my water bladder and waiting for the bathroom. The rest of the riders pulled away, and I ended up riding by myself for most of the rest of the day.

The weather was fantastic, but it rained overnight and the first MMRs were muddy. On one of the first stretches, someone in front stopped and caused me to have to put my foot down in the mud. The rest of the race was ridden with a pedal and cleat full of mud.

Two weeks before this race, I completed an event with 10k of elevation, so the hills didn't scare me. That event had long sustained hills, flats, and rollers. Gravel Worlds 75 is just rollers. There was virtually no flats. It wasn't hard, but there was no chance to just spin on a flat. The good news was that the downhill on many of the rollers could be used to power the uphill. I was surprised at how many people coasted down the hills and pushed up the hills.