Gravel Locos
In between the local gun shop and the Billie the Kid museum, Laurens stretches out and smiles. It has been a while. The feeling of winning, of ending a race in style, crossing the finish line solo. He felt strong, but unexperienced on gravel. Playing the underdog, asking for tips from his colleagues. Now he knows: next time, they won’t give me any tips. Next race, they are going to keep an eye on me.
Gravel Locos in Hico, Texas, is considered to be this years perfect warm-up event for next weeks Unbound. The 250 k course is long enough to be decisive and if the distance isn’t enough, the soil is. Multiple river crossings take out the speed and sometimes even parts of your drive train… This edition started out sunny, but the Texan clouds soon evolved into a classic rain depression, causing the gravel to turn into a proper yellow mud slide.
All the big names in off-road cycling were present. Colin Strickland, King of Kanza, Peter Stetina, off-road champion and also a former road racer, Mat Stephens, who also won Kanza and Ted King, the King of Gravel, who just recently broke his collarbone and is getting back in shape. This group, together with a few other young continental riders stayed together pretty much throughout the whole race. About 40 k before the finish line, Laurens dared to take the lead. ‘’It was anything from impressive’’, he said. ‘’I said to myself, if I am still out there after 15 minutes, swimming like this with only a 100 meter lead, I will stop trying and call it a day. But after 13 stressful minutes, they finally cracked and I was off. The last 10 k were terrible. After the last river crossing, I couldn’t use my derailleur anymore, so I got stuck in one gear. Luckily it was a good one, but Colin came back with only 34 seconds difference. I am very happy that I won. This old European guy still knows what racing means!
The trophy, a classic Texan leather boot, will definitely upgrade the mancave back home. But before Laurens heads back to Europe, he will join his fellow gravellers at the start line of Unbound Gravel in Kansas. Going from Detroit, Michigan, to Ohio, further to Texas and ending in Kansas, this race program also created the perfect American road trip for the Dutch former pro roadie.
“The best thing about gravel racing?” ‘’It’s probably the fun factor: there are no team tactics, it’s every man for himself. Or every woman, because we all start together and everybody gets to show off. The spirit of gravel is a combination of really fast riding, having fun before and after the race, staying friendly, stopping at the reststops for food and drinks and finish it off with some brutal display of power. Don’t underestimate the watts that are pushed. Just check the files to see for yourself. This is racing for real. But without the negativity or foul play. I love it.’’
