BaseCamper Sue Hageman shared her experience at the 2024 Flint Hills Gravel Ride/Run in Kansas.
So stinking happy with my first timed event this year, Flinthills Gravel Grind. I was fighting off a cold all week. But I was determined to keep going for this event. Woke up in the morning not feeling too great and lack of motivation as I had been all week. This route was the same as last year, so easy to compare numbers to this year.
The thing that got me motivated during the race was the last half of the ride was going to be against the wind. We were expecting 20-30+mph winds in the afternoon. I thought the quicker I finished, the less winds I had to deal with. I was moving along at pretty good pace the first hour. Then turned and hit the winds. Surprisingly, I did a pretty decent pace into the winds. We had a few downhills and turns for crosswinds, which helped. The last mile or so was on pavement going into town, and I was able to kick it in gear. The roads were great, and I LOVED the dirt sections.
I ended up doing almost 10 minutes better than last year!!!! SWEET!!! Had an all time high for 90 min power! I am so pleased with my result. I was 94th out of 285 riders and 20th out of 94 females and "unofficially" 2nd in my age group!!! They only gave out awards for top 3 finishers.
Basecamp has truly upped my fitness! I nailed my nutrition, food, and water. Tempo training really helped. Thanks to everyone. We always feel the BC team with us as we ride!!!!