Tracy's story: Lone Wolf Gravel Race

BaseCamp athlete Tracy Gravlin shared her experience at the 2025 Lone Wolf Gravel Race in Michigan.

After my last race, I felt like I had more in me and decided to sign up for the

Lone Wolf Gravel Race. It is in Iron Mountain, Michigan, the far west side of the Upper Peninsula. Absolutely beautiful up there.

The race was last Sunday. It starts and finishes from a gravel pit. The surface was rough and loose. Before the race we tracked down John Keepers, who was getting ready for the 50 miler. I decided on the 36 miler because it stayed on roads. After my last few races, I just didn’t want any single or 2 track. 🙃

I had the best start of any of my races so far. Happy how I got up and out of the pit. I was 4th woman out and kept the hammer down for the first 2.5 miles. Then the choice of my bike came into play negatively. I am fortunate to have two gravel bikes with different setups. I brought my Gravel Worlds Lauf with the Mullett set up. Once we started hitting the downhills, I kept pedaling as fast as I could but did not have the gears to keep with my group. This course had just under 1700 feet of elevation gain, and I would have been better off with my other bike. It was very frustrating not to have that extra big gear to get going. Lesson learned!!! It did not even occur to me going into this race.

After I lost my group and others passed me on the downhills, I rode solo. I kept the pace up and felt great but could not catch up.

There was a long paved stretch. A group of three working together caught up with me near the end of the pavement. I tucked in behind them. But once we hit gravel again, they slowed. I cranked up the first hill and kept the pressure on. I never saw them again. The finish was climbing back up those opening hills. That was tough, but I reminded myself I had done much more in Nebraska. So kept pushing. I was worried about the descent back to the gravel pit, but it wasn't bad until you hit the flat stretch to the finish. I was hoping I wouldn't break my bike frame bumping along!

I ended 6th woman out of 20 and the oldest one. They had tasty UP pasties, chocolate chip cookies, and chili for us.

An absolutely beautiful course. Maybe next year I will do the 50 miler. 😁 As always, my husband John was my great support system! And thanks to Coach Shannon Mathis for continued support, as well!