Ruby Gravel 50

Not sure if this race will be around in the future, but it sure has been fun for the past few years. And with a few new updates made to the route, its hard to find another race with so many unique features. with 8 miles for some of the fast gravel roads in Michigan, crossing a 100 yr old 100 foot tall train trestle, a paved +7 % climb, and the technical single track of Ruby Campground. The course was fast, and interesting the entire time.

The turnout was small, but there were still some fast guys looking to race hard, and give their best efforts. From the whistle, we quickly ramped up to 23 MPH down the first stretch of dirt road, we continued this pace until the first real climb. The "Ruby Wall". The pace slowed and many riders instantly started drifting back. Tony Bastuk made a quick little attack and claimed the first KOM of the day, earning himself a cold 6er of PBR!

The group formed back together, and everyone spent some time shaking the lactate acid out of their legs. By now the field was started to fragment. And then we hit the first section of Single track. My team mate, Scott Vermullen made the first move. Scott carved the trail like a hot knife through butter. I could barely hang onto his wheel and in do so, we were putting a huge gap into the group we were just in. Scotty also claimed the 2nd KOM of the day up the infamous "Lance" climb. When we finished up the single track Scotty was gassed. He said he was all done, so I pulled around him and climbed up the campground road. I gave it another surge on the dirt road and found myself with about a 1 mile gap. I pushed hard, but decided it would be best to fall back into the group. By now, the group was down to 8 rider. Tony Bastuk, Keith Regie, Robert Parrish, Chuck form BK fitness, a guy from Boston, MA, Scotty and now me.

We stayed like this for the 2 laps. And each lap played out the same way. Scotty would attacked before the single track, I would catch him at the end, and then I would get a gap on the road. But each time, I would back off and not let the gap grow as large so I could stay within the group and save more energy.

On the last lap, we played the same script. But this time I was thinking of a few strategies. 1, If I get the gap again, do I try and solo for 10 miles? 2, back off and stay with in the group and try to battle everyone in the last 2 miles of single track? 3, if I get the gap with one other rider, do we both try to work together and stay away to the end? As I come out of the single track and crest the campground road climb one last time, I sit up and access where I am. I have the gap, and a few more seconds, I see Keith... Strategy 3 pops into my head! I know Keith is a strong Gravel racer, and has years of racing experience. Also, he has had a great day in the saddle so far. I ask Keith right away, "do you want to go and try and break the group?" He says, "Sure!" And we were off.

We both went hard holding each others wheel, sharing pulls and making each other work. About 10 mins into this last 2 man TT, Keith looks back and access the damage, he then says, "we got it!" And we turned the screws a bit more. With about 4 miles to go, Keith spots Tony making a move to come across the gap. Tony is slowly closing in, but can not make it to us before the last single track section. Knowing I was able to clean the single track faster than everyone but Scott, I made one last surge to get around Keith and be the first into the single track. Keith stayed very close until we reached the top of Lance for the last time. Then I was able to put a little bit of daylight between us. I finished the race just trying to stay on top of my bike, and took home the Overall win and 30-39 age group win on the day!

Thanks to Brent and Fun Promotions for putting this race on again.

Thanks to my Mom and Dad for the great pictures and support.

Thanks to my team mates, Team Sandbag - Todd, Scott, Kevin, and Aaron for helping out with the event to get it ready and all having great races on the day!