Flatlick 50 Race Report

 

Sniper

It was good to get back to one of Keith Cottingim's BoonDoggle events in Kentucky.  I love the grassroots feel of these low key events.  It would also be a good tune up for Gravel Worlds, which was just 2 weeks after. The Flatlick 50 is a revised edition of the Kentucky Gravel Championships, which I did back in 2019 and 2020. It kept all the good parts (with a few sections in reverse), left out the Horselick Mud Slog, and added a new section.  It was still a mixed surface, what with some doozy double track interspersed between sweet gravel and smooth pavement.

With less enhancements and 18 miles of pavement,  I chose to ride my Trek CheckPoint with 40mm Bontrager GR1's.  Starting temperature was right at 70 degrees.  It was a 3 mile neutral roll out, which I like because then I don't have to do a warm up.  Once we turned left off of Hwy 421, the race began.  There were still a few rolling miles of pavement left, and I settled quickly and by myself.  There were only 21 racers, 2 being women, so I treated this race as an ITT and wasn't going to worry about my overall position.

Mill Creek was a new section of gravel which I absolutely loved.  What with little gravel and a hard base, it was fast.  This dumped me out onto Hwy 290, where the first climb of the day was, a little over a mile.  Legs were feeling darn good!  Making short work of this climb, I continued to fly along the next section of gravel, Indian Ridge Road.  I caught back up to Spaz (John Switow) here and sat on his wheel.  Gotta practice drafting for Gravel Worlds!

After 4 miles of buttery goodness, the spiciness began as we hit the double track descent down to Hwy 89.  John let me go ahead and I just let Sniper do all the work.  It wasn't as chewed up as I remember, but there were still a few off-camber slick spots where I did some "white knuckling." I managed to pass a couple racers (one being Jordan's Dad) here.

But once I hit the pavement, they soon caught back up.  Perfect!  I tucked in behind them for some free speed. This 6 miles was flat, so it was good to hide from the wind.  The next gravel section was S Tree Lookout Tower Road.  In KGC, I came down this.  Now I was going up, the first mile of which was pretty steep.  The next 3 miles was a more favorable grade.  The legs were still spry, so I alternated between seated and standing. 

At the top was the first manned aid station (mile 21).  I stopped and let the volunteers refill one bottle while I inhaled a gel.  I commended them on a less than 10 second pit stop and hit the next section with renewed vigor.  Man, I was feeling, dare I say, sparkly?

The next section was a 10 mile loop, most of which was fast gravel.  I managed to catch back up to a racer who dropped me on the steep climb prior to the aid station.  Here we traded pulls along the rolling S Tree Road. 

As we turned onto the Carpenter Ridge descent, several side by sides were behind us.  We stopped to let them go by on this double track steep muddy descent (I had climbed this during KGC).  That was a mistake, as they were slower than us ... WTH?  Frustration was quickly replaced by gratitude, as when something happens that I get mad about, I tell myself that this is probably a blessing in disguise.  As in this case, it probably saved me from crashing, breaking my body, and missing the remainder of the season.

Once it flattened out, the side by sides were gone.  The other fella fell back once we began climbing up Sheltowee Trace.  At the top I stopped at the same aid station (this time, mile 33) and filled one bottle for the final push.  Lear Road was a 2.5 mile double track section that started off semi-smooth, but then became a bit gnarly towards the bottom.  Several mud holes of unknown depth I walked around, not wishing to potentially sink up to my hubs. This dumped me back out onto Hwy 89 for a short bit back to the Indian Ridge double track.  

As I began the climb, I heard thunder close by. Uh oh!  I had noticed the clouds were rolling in and the temps dropping, but now what I did not want was for it to rain on this section as well as the final miles of gravel.  So I asked the legs for a little more and they obliged.  I did end up HAB'ing a short 10 yard section, as it was not worth the risk of my wheels sliding out over the off camber mud and roots.  

Finally I hit the smooth gravel of Indian Ridge and was able to put the hammer down.  The thunder was getting louder and more frequent.  I flew down the Hwy 290 descent (which I had climbed earlier that day) and then rode back up Mill Creek.  

As I turned off Mill Creek back onto pavement for the final 8 miles, it began to rain.  Lightly at first which felt good.  With about 3 miles to go the heavens opened up, the wind began whipping, and lightning was dancing all around me.  Shite!  I no longer felt tired as the surge of adrenaline fueled my legs for the final minutes.  Those pavement kickers could not even slow me down.  

I crossed the finish line in 3:58, first woman, and accomplishing my goal of a sub-4 hour time.  It rained for another 30 minutes or so, which helped to clean the grime off my bike.  That was nice, as I had to load it back into John's van and did not want to trash his vehicle.  There were showers at the Flatlick campground, which felt oh so good.  And then I was treated to 2 hearty hamburgers, prepared by Keith's family.

Such a fun course.  A healthy and interspersed mix of varying terrain and surfaces.  I never got "bored" by it.  A few hearty climbs to punish the legs and some spicey double track to keep my skills honed.  Just wish I knew how to get more peeps to attend this event.  Cost to play is relatively cheap, the course was well marked, the aid stations stocked well, and the volunteers were on their game to get you in/out quickly.  I cannot say enough about how well this event was run.