Hey, I was just wondering if you could tell me what Grinduro is and what it means to you.
Just German only, I think.
Hey, I’m Miranda Miller I’m your host of this episode of SRAMtv.
We're in Hellenthal Germany for Grinduro.
I've never raced gravel, never been to a Grinduro, so we're gonna go find some people to kind
of tell us how it all works.
Let's go!
How many gravel events have you done in the past?
I did my first ever gravel event was the Steamboat Springs Gravel in 2019, then I had a two-year
hiatus - uh three years.
And I did one last weekend, well a couple of weekends ago I did the Rancho in Spain,
it was going really well until the 130k mark where I punctured because I didn't have tubeless,
and I didn't realize tubeless was a thing at gravel events.
But I think this weekend I have tubeless so for my third gravel event I'm third time lucky,
I'm feeling prepared.
Woah!
Pfff.
Way too high.
Where did you ride from?
I rode 300 kilometers and need a beer.
There it is – the man's got a beer!
So, I’m here with a World Champion, past World Champion, who just opted out of the
Pro category.
Can you fill me in on your mindset?
Yeah, when I got the question, I just felt it was super intimidating because, yeah, I
really did not know what to answer.
It was the first time that I really had to answer that question after retiring and I
was like, “well, no.
Technically no.”
And what brings you to Grinduro Germany.
Well, um, the format.
I've heard really good things about this format, and I was like, you know what we're gonna
try that out.
So, there's been a lot of talk around the pit that you are bringing the Heat this weekend.
What do you think about that?
I think maybe German only
You are very good at riding very long distances, aren't you?
Yes, and slow is key in long distance because you can you can continue for days and days
and days and weeks and months, and not Years yet.
What's your longest ride?
My longest one is I went to North Cape, so north of Norway it was like 4,600 kilometers.
Chill…easy…easy.
What's your favorite part about Grinduro?
Well, it's fun!
Carlos, you're definitely a little more well known for the road cycling, but uh here you
are at Grinduro Germany.
What inspired you to come here?
Have fun on the bike.
The season in Road was quite long and hard, and so at the end of the season I talked to
the team, and I happened to think, why don't do something different?
Going to ride gravel, you know, I think now it's quite popular.
And enjoy cycling life in a way you that you know is competitive and more social.
At Grinduro, we take our Prologues seriously.
So again, stand still start.
You get three attempts, and your fastest time will be on record.
Go, go, go!
I feel like I tried harder, but I don't know if I went faster.
Go, go, go!
It's too hard.
The first race day hammered rain and wind all night.
So, we're going to go see if there's any casualties in the campsite.
We came with the train all the way from Geneva to here, and then from the train station we
rode here in the dark.
It was awesome, it was really nice.
And you camped last night?
Yeah, we camped last night I was staying alone in the car, in the tent and I was really cold.
Ha-ha.
How was your sleep last night?
It was short and I was scared actually because I heard a little rain coming down and I was
about to leave, and thought “come on, I can't leave now.”
Yeah, I live one and a half hour away.
You could have gone home.
Ha yeah, I could have that’s why I stayed.
A rain party!
Pitter patter – better get at ‘er.
It was a wild one out there.
The first couple hours were actually kind of unbelievable, you know?
It was like raining so hard and like so windy, but at the time I was like I was warm, so
I didn't really care.
But like, I was just saying this is probably like the longest 50k I've ever done.
Uh, yeah it didn’t help that I had a double puncture…double puncture.
But I think this weekend I have tubeless so for my third gravel event I'm third time lucky,
I'm feeling prepared.
I'm curious to see like the singletrack stuff, because if it's like if it's like grass with
a little bit of you know gravel or whatever then that's going to be pretty grippy, but
if it's if it's blown out and it's just like a mud chute like everything else is.
I don't know how you're gonna stop or turn…So anyways, it's sick
Holy.
I can't ride down there.
Trying to record this on my GoPro.
This could be me dying on camera.
The day is over here at Grinduro Germany.
It was an eventful day.
Pouring rain in the morning, blue skies in the afternoon.
It almost felt like two separate days.
It's been an interesting experience getting to kind of meet everyone and learn how they
got here.
A common theme has been people just finding a new way to get into nature and experience
freedom.
Let's go talk to some racers before this party gets started.
So, Myles you race road bikes and gravel, and you're just getting into mountain biking.
Yeah.
You're a Cat 1 racer?
Cat 1 / 2, but who's counting?
Not me.
Ha-ha
I feel like it's a balance - especially at a race like this.
Setting your own goals for yourself about what you want to do, and you know feel good
have fun ride.
But obviously winning is contingent on how everybody else does as well, so I think it's
kind of this balance where you want to try to beat other people but at the end of the
day if that doesn't go according to plan, or someone like Carlos Verona shows up…and
you’re like, well that's like World Tour fitness and I'm never gonna have that, at
least right now.
You kind of have to manage expectations, so I think it's a tricky thing to do a little
bit, but I think that it also forces you to maybe look at the day that you want to have
and just feel good about the effort that you gave and how you rode your bike.
What are your initial impressions of gravel in Europe?
You know, lots of competition or like crazy roads, or what's stood out the most for you?
I mean like, what I'm most happy with gravel riding is like, if there is a race I can compete
and it's possible to win.
It’s not like road in Europe, so I'm happy with this and that's a big impression for
me.
It’s a thing that I can win, so I'm happy with it.