Kings Cup Masters Gravel Race, 24 Sep 2022

My first gravel race, but certainly not my last. In fact this one race, even though it didn’t end how I wanted it to, has unexpectedly sent my racing future in a direction I’d never have expected. I entered the Kings Cup race as it is local and held on an area I’ve ridden several times in the past. At four times the cost of a CX race, I thought it was rather expensive and was going to be a two hour boring TT on gravel BUT gravel racing is far from this and worth the extra expense. The Kings Cup event had a festival vibe and I decided to head over to sign on and ride a lap of the course on the Friday evening. With an events village full of bikes, clothing and food stands, there was plenty to do after picking up my race pack and doing a recce lap.

The course was just under 16km in length and a mix of gravel fire trails, woodland tracks, several sand sections and sandy corners to catch people out. At 35 minutes for my recce lap, at an average of 14.5mph I was guessing we’d be doing 3-4 laps. Goal 1 was to finish, goal 2 was not to get lapped, and that’s as far as my race plan went, other than to set off slow and steady for the first lap, unlike my normal rocket out of the gate and suffer as the race unfolds. I arrived with plenty of time on race day so that I could watch the earlier races and take in the atmosphere. With good fuelling through the day and feeling well hydrated I went in to my age category race pen with a smile on my face, though feeling apprehensive being surrounded by so many gravel bikes with big 38-42mm tyres when I was on my CX bike with 33mm tyres.

The gun went and I was suddenly at the back of the pack, and my idea of starting slow and steady seemed to be a bad idea! Ten minutes later and I was on a long gravel fire road, with one other guy doing through and off, picking off riders in front. This felt like our club chaingang and I was loving it, beaming ear to ear. We worked well for 1.5 laps, picking up and soon dropping others as we passed. I then looked around to see my CG buddy had gone, later on finding that he’d punctured, bugger! Within minutes I was passed by the two leading riders from the age category that started behind me. I jumped on their train and sat in for a few minutes, soon realising that my pace was going to have to rise if I was to stay with them. After recomposing myself, I told them I’d ride through and off but not get involved in their battle (I did get involved, got shouted at by the eventual winner for dragging the other guy back when he’d attacked him, oops not my intention at all). I worked with these two guys for just under two laps, having to sprint out of every corner to stay on, and push myself to the limit. My luck ran out at the end of lap 3 when I double punctured (caused by a passed rider jumping on our train, losing control of his front end and clipping my rear wheel, resulting in me swerving into a big pothole). I hoped the tubeless sealant would fill the holes but after trying to pump the tyre up three times, realised my race was over. I’ve never felt so gutted and so happy at the same time.

I loved every minute, and wondered what could have been with a solid start and some luck. Looking at my lap times of around 30 minutes with an average 18.5mph speed, the finishing time of the last rider we passed, and the times of the two guys I had been riding with, I was on for 8th place at worst, even more gutted! I have found my calling and already entered my next gravel race. I’d rather race one gravel race/event a month than a CX race every weekend.

Tim Phillips