#MyGravelWorlds: Colin Strickland

When was your first Gravel Worlds?  2017 was my first Gravel Worlds.

What was the biggest hurdle/most difficult challenge? The biggest challenge of the race was staying on top of nutrition and hydration to ensure that the body has enough fuel supply to keep going for the 7 hour effort it takes to win the race. 

What was your highest Gravel Worlds moment? My highest Gravel Worlds moment occurred about 5 minutes after starting my final attack 20 miles from the finish when I realized that I was going more or less flat out, but it felt like a sustainable effort. I saw my chasers going hard as well, but I was still able to stretch the gap without going into the red. This was my highest moment, feeling good enough to roll the dice 6 hours into the race.

What is your favorite Gravel Worlds story? My favorite story is actually kind of a tragic one. Tanner Ward of Oklahoma Bicycle Project bridged solo up to the winning breakaway of 5 after a 30 minute solo effort to get there. Tanner was tragically DROPPED from the breakaway around mi 100 when he slowed to take a rolling pee off the bike. Unfortunately, Tanner did not let the rest of us know what he was doing, so we kept rolling along and eventually concluded that he had a mechanical issue. We would have happily slowed up for him. It was definitely a tragic/slightly comical way to exit the winning breakaway in a 150mi race.

How did you feel when you finished? When I finished the race I felt decent, surprisingly. The final hour of the race was spent going fat out in solo time trial mode, so it was quite intense. After getting off my bike and starting to "re-hydrate", the exhaustion of the days effort set in and I took a 2 hour nap until podium ceremony and celebration. It was the largest single effort I have ever put in on a bike.

In one phrase, what is Gravel Worlds to you? Gravel worlds is an opportunity to explore your limits of your mind a body in a dynamic and competitive setting.