Dirty One Thirty - 130km of every kind of gravel imaginable

Route details
Distance: 119km
Vertical elevation: 2500m
Temperature: Around 0-8C

We did it! About 2,500m of climbing in 120km of gravel, and I need a massage!! Ouch!

A frigid start and it didn’t warm up much after that. More than eight hours later and we crossed the finish line!!

JHH driving to the race with wind turbines and a beautiful sunrise in the background.

Northumberland is an incredibly picturesque part of the world.

The guy next to us at the start - Paul - had to mount a frozen bike after camping at the site the night before! Brrrr

A chilly start at minus 3 degrees. We thought we would be shedding those layers, but nope!

John waited for me to catch up through the whole race, as always.

Love this picture - JHH smashing it and me suffering in the background lol

After a very optimistic start with beautiful tracks and feeling really strong on the climbs, I was then in pain for the entirety. Honestly though, the first 20km I was thinking what's the point of gravel racing anyway? It was so smooth, I thought why don't we just ride on the road??

But quickly, I realized that the smooth gravel tracks would soon be a distant memory.

I had a terrible headache (my brain was bouncing around over all the bumpy rocks and trails), and eventually I just convinced myself I had something really serious like appendicitis or a bladder infection from not having a pee on the course. These are the kind of tricks my brain plays to try to get me to stop punishing myself! 
 😂
I didn’t, of course, have appendicitis or a bladder infection - despite the pain I was feeling. But within an hour of getting off the bike I was fine, with the exception of sore knees, neck and shoulders. Happy days!! 

Lots of people stopped to photograph this lovely art in the middle of the ride.

And the big smiles come out at the finish! ;)

If anyone wants to know anything about the ride, let us know! We’re happy to share what we’ve learned while it’s still fresh in our minds. 😁