The NM crew and I made our second annual trip out to Quincy, CA for Grinduro this September. As always the trip didn’t disappoint. To make it even more special, my wife signed up for the short course and convinced some of her friends to come along!
Grinduro is a 79mile gravel race with over 7k ft of climbing. The awesome part is that only four sections are timed and your result is determined based on your time over them. So for 5hrs if riding about 30min of riding determines your placing. This means you can ride all day with your friends regardless of your fitness levels. Awesome!
Like last year, my friend Taylor flew into SLC and we made the drive out to Reno. We met up with my wife who was already in Reno visiting her folks. That night we ate pizza at The Blind Onion, which has the best pizza known to man. This was Taylor’s first time and even he agreed. As the night wound down I went to bed while Lisa and Taylor headed out on the town. A motorcycle event called “Street Vibrations” was in town and the two of the just had to check it out. I heard them come back in around 1am raving about how “Thunder on the Pavement” was awesome. Apparently they decided this was now the name.
Meeting up up with Robbie and the NM crew in Quincy was rad. I’ve missed those dudes terribly since moving to Salt Lake and this was the break I needed.
Grinduro starts with an early morning rollout that will be about the coldest you could ever be in a bike. It was 32 when we started And the name of the game is to carry as little clothing possible so you don’t get stuck carrying full pockets of crap when it heats up.
My race went pretty well. The first segment is a timed 6-8min steep hill effort. I got through it a bit slower than last year but still fairly quick. I freaking ripped the second segment which is a 4mile gravel road. The WTB Resolutes I decided on were perfect and I never had to take my foot off the gas. Segment three is a 3 mile flat TT. The key is to ride it in a group for a fast time. Unfortunately we didn’t get a big group so it was up to Ryan, Taylor, and I to make it happen. About halfway through Ryan and I rode away from Taylor. Ryan is a beast and had already consumed two beers which meant he was flying! I turned myself inside out to stay with him and put down a super respectable TT. After an awesome catered lunch we rode off to Mt Huff which is a brutal HC gravel climb. After an hour of suffering I arrived at the final segment. A full on MTB single track descent that I was about to smaan on a gravel bike with 42’s. I managed to stay off the brakes, keep it upright and took a min off my time last year to finish strong.
The best part about this race is the party at the swimming hole where the final segment ends. There I found Ryan waiting with a beer. We sat on the side of the road drinking beers as our friends finished. We rehydrated with Coors and pickle shots (burbon with a small pickle in it). Once we were nice and recovered we used our half drunk super strength to ride back to the official race start and campsites where I found Lisa and the rest of our crew.
Lisa killed the short course and smashed 25mi on her mountain bike. I am super proud of her for getting outside her comfort zone and proving to herself that she IS a mountain biker.
That night we hung out with some buddies from Trek bikes who were out promoting their new gravel bike the Checkpoint. Ryan helped entice people to take shots of Jack out of free Trek water bottles and drink wine out of a bag. He was very convincing.
Another awesome Grinduro trip In the books! This race is truly special. Friends, food, crazy cool bikes, awesome Sierra Mtns.
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