
I Didn’t Screw Up SBT GRVL and Neither Do You
The start of SBT GRVL is a festival of pain. I saw people dump their entire matchbook on the first riser out of town. Wheels
The start of SBT GRVL is a festival of pain. I saw people dump their entire matchbook on the first riser out of town. Wheels
When I bridged to the break, I instantly entered the rotation and passed a small man clad in a Zia kit that rippled with energy.
“My god mate, how many meals are you eating?” the Kiwi said. We’re at the Walnut cafe in Boulder doing our best to show visitors
The tow truck roared up at 45 mph and screeched to a halt right in front of my Subaru. A large man leaped out of
“How can we help you?’“I booked a hotel room for the night.”“First and last name?”“Matti Rowe. That’s R-O-W-E! Could also be under Gravel God or
What did we do today? The Mogollon, a 90-something-mile road race with a finishing climb. What was it like? Stage 1 follows the story arc
What did we do today? The Inner Loop Road race, a punchy, technical nightmare that’s supposed to be a sprint stage but is really a
What did we do today? The Gila Monster, which some people consider the hardest road racing stage in the United States (it’s not). It’s 100
What did we do today? The Silver City Tour of the Gila Criterium, which means racing in circles until the USAC decides we look tired
What did we do today? The Tyrone Time Trial is a 25km time trial that snakes through a canyon named after a miniature donkey. What
Cycling speed, in some ways, is just math. Saying that is a lousy way for someone to fall in love with you, but let’s face
The oldest Tour de France winner was 36. If you glance around the pro peloton, you’ll notice that few cyclists are sporting terrible Just For
The Holidays are here. If you haven’t started working on your Christmas list yet, yes, you should begin to panic. Christmas cards may have been
“Hadley has been asking about death a lot lately. Asking who is going to die first and if she’ll die.” “Yeah. So, what do you
I just finished my last race of the season and promptly transitioned from obsessing over training, equipment, nutrition, vices, and other scheming to remaining only
In my coaching practice, I demand that I talk to my athletes monthly. Often, and with some horror, I’ll find that they’ve entirely changed some
Red Granite Grinder 2022 “OK, what’s our strategy?” Forest said. “Here’s what I’m thinking. I’m going to go freaking bananas on Rib and try to annihilate the
There’s this thing that cyclists do that drives me nuts. They train their asses off. They do all this planning. They pay the race fees
After looking at Ned for one second, I knew he would smoke me. His hair was mostly gray, nearly white, and he had the face of someone approaching their 70s, but his frame was that of gnarled oak, hard, trim, his calves ripping with the torment of fifty years of pedaling.
What did we do today? What was it like? After the race, we drove from Silver City to Albuquerque, New Mexico, where my mother-in-law lives.
What did we do today? What was it like? Tour of the Gila, the Gila Monster stage, which is like being woken up in the
What did we do today? What was it like? The Tour of the Gila Silver City Criterium, which is like blasting your way up a
What did we do today? What was it like? Tour of the Gila Stage 3: the Tyrone Time Trial, which is like sprinting to the
What did we do today? What was it like? Tour of the Gila Stage 2: Inner Loop Road Race, which, if you’re having a bad
What did we do today? What was it like? Tour of the Gila stage 1: the Mogollon, which is 90 miles of downhills and rollers
What did we do today? What was it like? We drove 10 hours from Redlands to Gila. And by ‘we’ I mean Tyrel, who doesn’t
What did we do today? What was it like? Sunset road race, which is like jumping on a treadmill going 20 mph followed by luging
What did we do today? What was it like? Redlands criterium race, which is the equivalent of doing a crit race with a layout designed
What did we do today? What was it like? Route 66 time trial, which is the absurd cycling spectacle of hundreds of cyclists squeezed into
April 21, 2022 What we did today/what is that like? Yuipica road race, which is six laps of a 14-mile circuit screaming downhill with 152
April 20, 2022 What we did today/what is that like? Highlands Circuit Race, which is 20 laps of a 5-mile circuit with a gigantic hill.
What the hell is HRV? Heart rate variability, or HRV for short, is the rhythm of your heartbeats. It turns out that the heart doesn’t
Workout success or failure starts well before you hit the start button on your device, sometimes days or weeks before the workout begins. Executing a
Not everyone is the same as you. This realization hits around the age of two and is why toddlers go through the terrible twos and
Some mornings when you wake, you can feel yourself leaving another you behind. Have you felt that lately? Since it’s January, it’s my duty to
Coaches in the circles I run in often joke that they wouldn’t have a job if athletes figured out that all they need to do
The best Thanksgiving I ever had, I began wrapped around the toilet of our Airbnb until 3:45 am, spewing out every mouthful of curry I’d
“So, what are your goals for SBT GRVL?” my wife asks. “Well, I’d love to make it ten minutes into the race without a catastrophic
It’s dreaming season. Many of my athletes are coming off a break from training, spending every pedal stroke on their bike thinking about the races
“Matttttti?” My mom called. “Something just happened to your bike? Come up here and take a look.” I was half-naked in the basement bedroom, ready
This year has been rough. Someone asked me what success would look like on the bike in 2021, and I said: “earn one upgrade point”
Dopamine is a neuromodulator, which means that it affects many neurons in your nervous system. Dopamine influences neural circuits involved in pleasure, motivation, craving, movement,
I took a wrong turn, not that it mattered. Until my technical ability rises above a garbage truck, I will never do well in gravel
I’ve been in this movie before. In the guts of Kanza, it took 100 miles. In Belgian Waffle Ride, I managed to delay it until
For no reason, I started screaming. No one heard my screams. I was 168 miles into Unbound 200, and by this time, the 960 or
After the Black Canyon Climb, about halfway Belgian Waffle Ride, I stopped and grabbed a water bottle from a small aid station. Two women suddenly
In 2014, I made a critical error that haunts me – I didn’t do a local cyclocross race. Both of my roommates were doing it.
Storytime. Something happened recently that none of you know about because you don’t follow obscure European sports on pirated foreign feeds using VPNs to avoid
It’s no secret that power meters have fundamentally changed the way cyclists train, and why not? Used correctly, they can be an incredible tool to
I downed the last sip of my espresso, threw on my shoes, and opened the basement door. It was 6:14 am, and if I was
I’ve spent years failing badly at bikes so you don’t have to. I have a mortgage, two kids, a wife, a dog that doesn’t listen, a weakness for Miller Lite, and fish frys – but I can still turn a pedal if I have to. Chances are we’ll get along just fine.
C’mon now – let’s get fast together!
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