By Dan Pedroza

In just over one year the Castell Grind gravel grinder bike race in Texas Hill Country has grown from "fun curiosity" status to "serious race" status.

While 2014 was the inaugural year for the event initially touted as a ride for bragging rights, 2015 turned up the volume to full race and brought out many big names from the road, mountain and cyclocross communities. For the 100k distance heavy hitter entries included names such as Black, Camp, Sheetz, Minard and Bonds. If you don't recognize those last names you need to brush up on your Central Texas bike racing history.

17/04/2015 - Grinding gravel. Credit: Curt Slaten
The 2015 course was identical to the 2014 course except that it was run in the reverse direction with the south loop covering the first 30k and then finishing the last 30k rolling through the north loop.  The strategy for 2015 varied greatly from the 2014 race.

In 2014 the front pack was comprised of approximately 40+ riders huddling together for the first ten miles at a pace of approximately 23-mph. Joey Machado rolled to the back of the pack and asked, "Are they going to keep this pace up the entire time?"  One by one that pack whittled down to about 20 top riders after the first 45k and eventually came down to a sprint between a pack of five.

For 2015 there was no swarm of riders sharing the draft for the first 15 miles. From the absolute start it felt like a mad sprint up the Keyserville hill for approximately five miles through deep sand or washboard tracks. The large pack group that was anticipated turned immediately into a train of riders all jostling for a good position weeding out the weaker grinders. At the mid-way 30k point there were just 17 riders working together and making notes as to who they would be sprinting with at the finish. A chase group of 10 riders followed through approximately four minutes later unable to keep up with the top dogs.

The final 30k north loop was a mixture of long climbs on dirt as well as rolling hills on asphalt roads.

17/04/2015 - Credit: Curt Slaten
Rey Madolora described the competition best stating, "You could hear a pin drop in the front group. Nobody said a word to each other, just the sound of suffering." Eventually a rider would speak up at some point on the route usually asking, "Is this where we turn?" trying not to repeat the mistakes made in 2014 when a front group made a couple of wrong turns and lost out on their bid for the win. Maybe next year's award for winning will be a Garmin?

While this battle continued the 75k and 30k riders were making their way through the finish line with little drama. The 75k route aka the 3/4 Grind came down to a final sprint between three riders, Eugene Mazzurana, Heather Wajer and your author. Mazzurana and Wajer had worked together over the final 30k to reel me in after I had been out in front by myself having conversations with the cows and roosters. With 5k to the finish they caught up, but I refused to give up the top spot in the final sprint.

After approximately three hours of hell on the dirt roads the battle was on for the 100k sprint. Twelve riders led the charge once they saw the spray-painted markings showing 1/4-mile left to the finish line. In this field of seasoned veterans it was ultimately the young legs of Stephan Hirsch that strategized the best out-kicking Scott Minard and Rob Kane, respectively, for the top podium position.

Rumors were swirling post-race that Minard did a large majority of the work throughout the race but he was still happy to take the second spot on the podium. The Hammer award went to Sol Frost for not only finishing 4th place overall in the 100k but doing so on a single speed.  Yes, a single speed bike on this grueling sufferfest. Madolora was able to hold on round out the top five finishers of this Who's Who field of cyclists.

Start your training now for the 2016 Castell Grind.  Frost may decide to bring gears.

For Dan's write-up of his own ride click here: Castell Grind Take Two

For information on the 2016 running click here or go to www.castellgrind.com

Dan Pedrosa is a member of the Bicycle Sport Shop Cyclocross Club in Austin. He rides a 2014 Specialized Crux on 40mm WTB Nanos and will never run on anything else.

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