The Things They Loved & Loathed - Men of the BWR
Welcome back for Part II in our series, The Things They Loved & Loathed. After hearing from the Women of the BWR yesterday, today we present you with answers from 8 Men of the BWR…
Brian McCulloch
LOVED
The BWR is a brutal crucible, one that tests every rider's mettle. One man's hell may be another's oasis. For me, I really enjoy the technical sectors that test rider and equipment. Sections like the rock-chute at the start of Stuur Uw Kat or the rock garden at Kakaboulet are personal favorites of mine. The low light conditions of Stuur Uw Kat from the tree cover make that a particularly treacherous section in my opinion.
LOATHED
Oddly enough the section I like the least is the final climb out of Black Canyon AKA the ZWARTENBERG. It's essentially a fire-road climb and you have to have massive watts to go fast. I don't have an abundance in the wattage department so I always suffer to go fast in the section. But hey, that is the mystique of the BWR, everyone will suffer at the hands of the course or Mother Nature... more likely both. Can't wait for more!
Follow Brian on Instagram 📷
Sandy Floren
LOVED
My favorite part was the first dirt sector, called the “Lemontwistenberg.” We rode it in both directions, and it lived up to its name, full of twists and turns, ups and downs and even a few rock gardens. After a chaotic start to the race, it was nice to settle in on a long section of fun, technical terrain.
LOATHED
Least favorite part had to be the final climb, the Muur van Dubbelberg. It was brutally steep at the top and after nearly 130 miles my legs were screaming at me for the entire ascent. But I was able to push through and survive it, thanks to the awesome descent I knew was coming, and especially the fans going crazy cheering me on to the summit.
Follow Sandy on Instagram 📷
Ted King
LOVED
My favorite is the top of Black Canyon. It means I’ve gotten halfway through the race, I’m hopefully in the lead group, and it’s largely, mostly, somewhat, arguably all downhill from here. Ish.
LOATHED
My least favorite place is Double Peak. Until an earthquake comes along and levels that summit, little whippersnapper climbers will always go faster up than I will!
Follow Ted on Instagram 📷
Peter Stetina
LOVED
What I loved: I loved the return of the BWR to an even bigger and better event, just just a re-creation of 2019. Course-wise I really enjoyed the moment when I could make my move in Questhaven & Double peak and I think putting the u-turn on Del Dios highway higher up enabling the peloton to string out more ws a wise call and made it safer.
LOATHED
What I didn't: I didn't particularly enjoy the crit-cross finish; The chunky stuff through the expo didn't really add anything to the event I feel and had the opposite effect. Lastly, I don't normally cramp but there is something about the return trip on the mule and del dios, I cramped on the mule coming home, it seems I can't avoid that!
Follow Pete on Instagram 📷
Payson McElveen
LOVED
Lemontwistenburg or the Questhaven climb.
LOATHED
Least favorite the opening 14 miles of sketchy pavement. And kind of the last few miles too. Just kind of dicey with all the cars, stoplights, and high speed.
Follow Payson on Instagram 📷
Dylan Johnson
LOVED
I think I enjoyed all the singletrack and gravel throughout the course. However, I didn't feel super confident on it as traction was so limited especially on what were basically wide road tires but those sections definitely added to the fun factor.
LOATHED
The downhill road start (Del Dios) was extremely sketchy, probably the sketchiest start to a race I've ever experienced. My positioning into the single track wasn't great as a result of me being too timid in the start. I much prefer a course that doesn't have any race-deciding features in the first third where everyone is there and fresh and accidents can happen.
Follow Dylan on Instagram 📷
Alex Howes
LOVED
Loved the technical rocky stuff even though it was my undoing.
LOATHED
Wasn’t a fan of the stretch on the highway. It was pretty sketchy for a bit with some big RVs and cars that were not happy about passing 4000 riders.
Follow Alex on Instagram 📷
Alexey Vermeulen
LOVED
Favorite part are the flat dirt sectors where you get to pick lines!
LOATHED
Least favorite part by far is the start; scary and stressful!
Follow Alexey on Instagram 📷
A special thank you to the 15 pro gravel athletes that took the time to answer these questions! And if you haven’t done so yet, let us know your favorite and least favorite parts of the BWR course in the comments below.
