Race Report: 2024 Truckee Gravel Race 70
Race: Truckee Gravel - 70
Date: June 29th 2024
AVRT racers: Kelly Brennan, Drew Mathews
Top Result: Kelly (7/81 all women), Drew (8/31 U30, 30/378 all men)
Course: 66 miles of chunky gravel. I was on 42 pathfinders and I wish I ran bigger, knobbier tires. (Drew: Same, I ran 38’s and was getting tossed around in the middle of the race). 6 mile steady climb at the beginning of the route, but otherwise not a relatively flat gravel course. Headwind the last 20 miles.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/11771536005
Nutrition: 4 Neversecond gels, 1 homemade coffee + maple syrup gel that I lost, 2 large bottles of Skratch Superfuel, 1 bottle of pure water. It was close to enough, but I could have used another gel and bottle of water.
I started behind Drew, and used his wheel to move up in the neutral mass start to get into the middle of the 100-mile group that had started ahead of us. After 6 miles of road and eventually losing Drew’s wheel, we turned onto a dirt climb. I started climbing, passing people, and eventually found my friend, Camille. I had fun talking to her on the climb, eventually edging a little ahead.
Near the top of the climb, about 14 miles in, I was cruising down a pretty smooth gravel road. I’m not entirely sure how, but I think I hit a rock that tossed my front wheel and I couldn’t save it. I hit the ground on my right side, hitting my helmet on the ground.
I sat up, taking a moment - did anything feel broken? No. At the same time, I saw my friend slowing down and said, “oh kelly!”. I was grateful to see a friend, told her I was okay, and encouraged her to keep going.
I knew I hit my helmet, so I was concerned about a concussion. The next aid station was 2.5 miles away, and so I slowly rolled to the aid station to get checked out. At this point, I thought my race was over and that I would need to get back to the venue.
At the aid station, the medic cleaned and wrapped up a large scrape on my elbow. He asked concussion symptom questions, and I didn’t have any. He encouraged me to at least continue going to the next aid station a close 7 miles away and monitor any symptoms - I could step out of the race at anytime.
Overall, the 8 minutes of stoppage time and 9 minutes of slow rolling cost me the race. I believe I was in the front of my age group at the top of the climb and watched a group of collegiate and other ladies riders pass me as I was getting checked out. I tried to identify who I would need to pass.
I was feeling pretty good at the next aid station and still had no symptoms, so I decided to try to finish the race! Taking descents easy, I tried to push hard on the flats and climbs. I passed all the women who passed me, except for the group of 3 collegiate riders and finished 2 minutes behind the last one of them! So close! I wish there was more climbing on this second half of the course. I’m stoked that I finished and was able to still use this race as a training race.
I loved the course and atmosphere, so I can’t wait to come back to Truckee Gravel again, and hopefully do better next year! Now, time for a new helmet, skin suit, and some rest!