Carey's Cycling and Adventuring Chronicles: Sandlin's Shred Race Report

Sandlin's Shred is War Daddy's little brother. Even though it is only 32 miles, it has 5000 feet of punchy, technical gain. While War Daddy is touted as the hardest bike race in Kentucky, Sandlin's Shred could easily be purported to be the second hardest. Race director John Maggard, aka Trail_Sick, puts on a wonderful event, what with tons of schwag, raffles, food, and beer. I love love love the vibe of this grassroots event. The number of registered racers has grown throughout the years, from a small group of 40 in 2019 to 115 for this edition.

It has been 3 weeks since my knee injury. I had an MRI done 3 days ago, but would not know the results until the week after the race. My doctor was worried about a meniscal tear, while I was hoping for a Grade 1 medial collateral ligament tear. With a rapid improvement in pain over the past 10 days, I was hopeful I could at least ride, if not race, the shorter distance.

Although it poured rain the day before, I woke up to a warm 60 degrees and clear skies. Both races incorporate pavement, gravel/dirt, and trail. I can count on my fingers the number of gravel bikes that have attempted either race since its inception in 2019. I think I saw two this morning ... poor bastards 😆. I chose Ripley, my Trek SuperCaliber, with 2.3 Bontrager XR3 on the front and a 2.2 XR2 on the rear. I was running SRAM AXS with a 32T chainring and a 10-52 cassette. At 22 pounds, I would take the 3.5 pound penalty over my gravel bike.

After Trevor's shotgun start (he shotgunned a beer), it was fairly neutral for the first two miles on pavement ... well, until the e-bikes started up the climb. Then everyone began to hammer. I tried, but at this point my engine was not warmed up, and I was nervous about how my knee might respond to the increased wattage. The past 3 weeks had been easy spinning. So I let them go, along with 5 women.

Towards the end of the climb, I reeled in two of the women as we turned onto gravel. This 8 mile section was beautiful and the rains has settled the gravel/dirt and made it fast. I could tell my fitness was off, as I struggled on the climbs. Fortunately my knee stayed pain-free, even when I attempted to put more power down. This made me VERY happy, as the past 3 weeks had me fighting off the depression demon.

I managed to catch another woman at the top of the Rattlesnake Run climb. From there is was some fun descending down Gilbert Creek Road (gravel as well). It was here that I reeled in Sarah. I passed her on the descent, but when I turned off the gravel onto a short section of flat pavement, she was right back on. We shared pulls until we turned off onto a rocky double track road, which soon pitched up to the heavens ... the War Daddy climb! With an average grade of 11%, it climbed 600 feet over a mile. Sarah slowly pulled ahead, but then lost traction on the loose chunky rock, and began HAB'ing. I was able to make a pass, at a snail's pace, but I was still pedaling. I was bound not to get off and push, as my knee clearly did not like dismounting and HAB'ing.

Sarah soon caught back up to me as we crested the climb. Over the next 5 miles we would leapfrog each other as she was strong on the climbs and I was faster on the descents. Around mile 16, I was treated with a "new to 2023" section of single track. Old school and hand-cut, I giggled with excitement as I rode this 1 mile section. I also managed to pull away from Sarah. It was in great shape, save for a few muddy spots. As it dipped down into a creek and then abruptly turned up on the other side, I respected my knee's wishes, got off and walked it. I knew that any out of the saddle bursts of torque were off-limits.

Popping out onto more gravel, I motored over to the aid station at mile 18. The volunteers were super helpful. I was in and out in a flash, after topping off my bottle and grabbing a Gu. As I headed out of the aid station, I glanced back, half expecting to see Sarah, but did not.

Even though the course was well marked, when I came upon the mile section of gravel which you repeat on Sandlin's Shred, I momentarily lost confidence in my navigation. Memories of my navigational error at Gravel World's last year made me doubt myself now. So I stopped for a moment and zoomed my map out ... all was well.

I started pedaling again and began picking the pace back up when my left leg cramped! Holy cow, that hurt! At that moment I definitely knew that my fitness had tanked because I NEVER cramp. I also must have been pushing a little harder with my left leg than my right leg with the injured knee. I shifted into granny and began to spin easy until it released. "Meter your effort" became my new mantra.

Soon I hit the 6 mile section of single track, part of the Redbud moto trail system. The rains had made it muddy and slick. I was wishing for a dropper through some of the trickier descents. The HAB's grew in distance and number compared to last year when it was dry. My knee began to twinge with some pain during them. I managed to figure out how to place the right foot as to minimize any torque on the knee. I also wisely chose to walk a couple descents for fear of re-injury, although the walking was almost as scary.

After a bazillion mudholes, riding some, but skirting around most, I popped out onto the coal mine section. Only 6 miles to go, but damn, that's a long 6 miles! Felt more like 10! I was so tired but had to keep hammering. Around each corner I was hoping to catch a glimpse of first place. When that didn't happen, I was desperately hoping that the road would turn downward to the final descent to the finish line. That never happened! Like for a LONG time! I finally lost my shit with about 2 to go and started cussing the damn mine!😄😄😄

At last, there she was ... the rutted out, baby-head rocks galore gravel road! At this point, I lost all concern with my knee and just let Ripley eat this descent like a lab "hoovering" up chow! I rolled across the finish line in 3:11. My goal had been 3 hours, but I will gladly take the additional 11 minutes, because today was a huge success. Today my fitness hurt more than my knee, but that is something that can be improved.

And then I was told that I had won! The woman who was ahead of me was in the e-bike category, so yea me! Icing on the cake!

There was plenty of food and drink at the finish line, as well as a bike wash, so I cleaned up and then refueled while waiting the arrival of Dave and John, who raced the War Daddy. I must say, it was nice to just sit, relax, and chat amongst the Shredders for a few hours. I had briefly thought that I could have raced the big one, but realized, while icing the knee, that I had made the right decision. I hated not being able to defend the helmet, but there's always next year!

Both John and Dave had a good race, with John getting a few bonus miles missing a turn. Later that evening, there was an after party at Wendover B&B. The race director's family and friends brought home-cooked food and there was plenty of beer and moonshine for those that wanted to get saucy! After the meal, we all gathered around the fire and listened to guitar music, under a moonlit sky. Now THIS is what I call a well run small town big country event. Kentucky gravel is no joke!