Belgium Waffle Ride NC recap - 131 miles of gravel

On June 10th, we participated in the 2023 Belgium Waffle Ride NC. Appropriately named "The Hell of the East" and "The Most Scenic Race in the World" the 131-mile course was scenic, challenging and fun. This was my first "real" gravel event and my first time participating in a BWR event. Karel participated in the inagural event in 2021 (which was a shorter distance).

We knew most of the race course as we only live ~45 minutes from the event venue (Kanuga) but the three private (un)roads kept us on our toes....literally. These rocky, rooty segments were so steep that we were often hiking our bikes up the unrideable sections. But that added to the "fun" of the event. We covered 14,692 feet, which included long uphills and flowing descends and rode on rocks, roots, gravel (of course), road, single track, sand and grass. We even biked through a barn! The course was well-marked, the volunteer and police support was great and all participants were encouraging and nice.

Here's a video of the course that I made with my Go Pro Hero 10. 

  

Karel finished the event in 9:24.35 (6th AG 45-54, 46th overall) and I finished in 10:57.19 (2nd AG 35-44, 11th overall female). 

RESULTS HERE

We checked off a few firsts at this event. This was the longest distance we've ever ridden, the longest time spent riding a bike (continuously) and the most elevation gained in one day on a gravel bike.

As Karel and I were talking on the drive home, we both felt that the race was challenging but not hard. This is because we expected it to be hard and our expectations met our reality. We were mentally prepared for a very long day of riding and that helped us throughout all 9 and 11 hours of racing. Going into the event were both a little nervous for the day because of all of the "firsts" that we would be experiencing but as soon as the race started, we were mentally ready for whatever the day would bring.

Below is a video recap discussing the event. In this discussion, we talk about: 

• Bike specifics going into the event - how we set up our bikes for this terrain (tire pressure, tools, tire selection, etc.)
• Knowing the course, downloading the course
• Pre-ride to test things out and wake up the legs
• Nutrition planning for the event
• Event morning (weather, meal, parking, lining up, etc.)
• Mindset going into the event, how we each mentally approached the distance
• Event recap - climbs, descends, terrain types, hike a bike
• Any setbacks throughout (I had a flat tire)
• Aid stations/fueling throughout
• How we felt at the finish and the next 24 hours

  

With almost 11 hours of riding, I had a lot of time to think. I couldn't stop thinking about all the riders who were in the event doing something really hard. It's so easy to become a creature of habit and avoid new or different experiences due to fear, fear of failure, worrying about what others may think or complacency.

I can do hard things.

How many times do you tell yourself this? Is it once a month, once a year, once a week or once a day? You have the ability to do hard things, you just need to believe this to be true. Comfort often leaves to contentment but it doesn't lead to growth. Stepping out of your comfort zone isn't easy when you approach something unknown, challenging or new but discomfort is the only way for meaningful change to happen.

You'll never know how strong you are until you try.
Doing hard things requires grit, perseverance, courage and self-belief.

But most of all, you must believe that you can do hard things.

 

Before

After