Bike: a gravel bike that can fit a minimum of 45mm tires. Personally I have a Trek Checkpoint. I have no complaints but there are many good bikes. Fitness: this comes down to volume. Building the amount of endurance/z2 hours you do weekly and monthly. Generally, the more volume you can do and recover from will be beneficial along with a couple days of high intensity workouts. How to train: structured training that periodizes your season. I’d recommend TrainerRoad. You can structure a Base, Build and Peak program spanning several months leading into a priority race. Structuring training in this manner will best prepare you. I’ve been with TrainerRoad for 7+ years, and although I’ve now altered my training to fit my needs, their approach has prepared me for years. I’ve seen huge improvements with their methodology and I’d recommend their “Master’s” programs.

@@mi-xc Great advice and I will look into a more sustainable training regimen. Love your videos, best of health 👍

Best thing to do to improve stamina is to increase your weekly volume on the bike. Try to add in more volume by 1 hour of endurance each week. I don’t do anything off the bike except 2x strength training during winter (Base phase). I’m on a 2023 Scott Spark for XC.

Thanks. It was truly a race of just survival and keeping your bike in somewhat working condition.

Thanks! I can’t believe my GoPro died 5 minutes from the finish.

@@mi-xc no spoiler!! Hahaha

@@humbertosilvacunha2810 , lol

Thanks. Nice race yourself, in very tough conditions.

Yeah, difficult to keep clean in those conditions.

Thanks! Conditions were brutal but also fun. However my bike didn’t think so.

It was bad when we went through I can’t imagine how much worse it was as the weather continued. We were lucky that we could at least ride all the sections.

Thanks! We have a professional photographer (Rob Meendering) that takes pics for most of our Michigan races, he does an amazing job.

Thanks!

Thanks! Yeah, that tree 🌲 was poorly placed and shouldn’t have been there. Yup, I use race videos for my TR workouts as well.

Yeah it gets pretty competitive, but for the most part everyone is respectful and don’t race reckless. No time to rest though, I had the Lumberjack 100 mountain bike race the following weekend.

Yeah, it's sandbagging. They don't want to get dropped in their normal category so they drop down and ruin the race of that lower category.

I think the rear camera gives a good perspective on the dynamics of what’s happening in the group.

There are plenty of steep punchy climbs, particularly in northern Michigan. We just don’t have any longer hills. The dunes in Arcadia are pretty amazing.

Thanks. Took me years to work out the camera and overlays properly, but I think I got it dialed.

Thanks, I’ll try!

Yes, why? Do you think that it’s too low?

@@mi-xc I thought it was low for your effort, your physical shape is very good! Congratulations, I'm following you

@@PrimaveraGravatas Thanks!

Yes.

Thanks and yeah that fat bike guy was super strong!

For Hart Hills I raced Elite. For gravel races that don’t have Elite I’m in the 40-49 age group. For some MTB races there is also an Elite 40+ (masters) age category.

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@@mi-xc hmm…strange…you deleted the comment. I was able to make something similar using Telemetry-Overlay, still working on the formatting as the default template was a bit much. Great content…keep it up!

Molte grazie!

Thank you.

I mean, I did have a broken rib, concussion and road rash from my ankle to my hip. Did the best I could considering 😕.

Thanks. It was my first mechanical in years of racing, so I was definitely overdue!

Thanks. Yeah, the group got a little too big, but it’s better than being solo!

Thanks!

Yes

Yeah she was fast, pretty sure she took 2nd overall female.

Nice! It was definitely a big group for the second half.

Thanks. I redeemed myself this year (2024) and had a much better and safer race with no crashes!

Yeah for sure. I learned my lesson and now I quickly try to avoid sketchy riders.

Thanks!

Thanks! Good racing with you and it was a close one at the end.

Nice, glad it could help!

Ivan the Terrible section starts at mile 46 with the worst part starting around mile 46.5. It begins at 2:19:25 in the video.

Sorry you don't like the rear camera view, but I think it gives a good perspective of what's happening behind me. Maybe I'll consider making it a bit smaller. Thanks for the feedback.

Thanks! I'll consider that next time uphill.

Thanks. Typically my weekly rides are 2-3 hours and my weekend rides are 3-4, for a total of about 15-20+ hours a week. I may throw in a few longer 5+ hour rides, but not often because it take too long to recover and disrupts training.

Sorry, I’ve never done the Big Frog.

yes, I have disc brakes

You shouldn’t have to walk anything so road shoes will be fine. Yeah, conditions look like they’re going to be bad, so I’m skipping it this year.

It was crazy. Probably shouldn't have continued with a broken rib and concussion, but glad I was able to finish without further issues.

Thanks! Racing starts up again for me in about a month, can't wait!

@@mi-xc OK I will follow them good luck

Thanks, that was the 3rd gravel race that I’ve ever done.

@@mi-xc I just watched one of your other vids while I was on the trainer. The crash. I hope you're all healed up by now.

@@vic0mark, yeah all better now. Had a concussion, broken rib and bad road rash. The bike was ok though! I actually raced a couple weeks after that crash (Waterloo G&G). You can see in that video I took it a bit easier.

@@mi-xc Glad to hear that. Waterloo isn't far from me. I think I've ridden part of that route before. Thanks for uploading these videos. They give me something to watch while I'm training.

Nice! It’s a great race.

Thanks!

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