Belgian Waffle Ride is a different take on gravel race. Courses usually have around a 50/50 split between paved surfaces and “unroad,” what BWR calls anything not paved. At the first BWR Canada, the unroad included everything from rail grade gravel paths to steep, chundery FSR’s and short, but significant singletrack sections.
All that course variability makes bike and equipment choices more interesting. Here’s what five of the fastest pros, and one seriously committed Vancouver rider who finished the 218-km Waffle course on a fixed gear bike, rode on Sunday in the Cowichan Valley.
Haley Smith – Ibis Haka MX
Geoff Kabush – Open UPPER
Austin Killips – Nice Bikes
Nathan Haas – Colnago G3-X “Purple Rain”
Katerina Nash – Specialized Crux
Tyrone Siglos’ State fixie
Alright, so Siglos isn’t a pro rider, or sponsored at all. But the Vancouver rider did finish the entire 218-km Waffle ride on this State fixie. That is a hard feat to fathom. The course wasn’t just long, it was steep – up and down – with several singletrack sections. “The very first steep climb, my legs started cramping,” Siglos said when asked what the hardest part of the day was. “By about 100km, I settled in and started to think I was going to be ok.” Finishing was hard. Finishing on a fixie is next level, and Siglos absolutely earned the Category 12 Badass Ale finisher’s beer!
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Canadian Cycling Magazine…