Mid South Gravel is a classic American gravel race that attracts most of the biggest names in the sport and this year was no exception. I take you through my unique bike setup for the race, the race itself, and the power output that was required to achieve the biggest result of my career so far.
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48 Comments
Amazing race. Congrats
Congratulation for a super stong effort/ 5 place and a very good video. The tyre debate is difficult. I have a small track back home that is rideable with both mtb and gravelbike and what is faster is hard to tell. Depends on everything, and my fitness of the day is a larger variable than the tyres. I have very similar times on both 2,6", 2,25" and 44 mm. 2,6 is better in a short sandsection, but sits on a more heavy bike.
Me watching this video while doing z6 intervals that are 50 watts below Dylan's "tempo"
So question on the wheel setup. You said you were running the AR60's. I have ran the prototypes of those on the road and found them to great on rolling terrain (anything less than 2 min climbs.) after that I find them very slow going up hill and did not make up the time on the descents. I ride the AR46's 99% of the time.. What is your take?
Congrats!
Congrats!!!
best?😂 but no world champion.
Call it 4th! Nice work dude
Congrats congratulations
Wanna better result? Have you tried gaining some weight?
Drew out there looking like a daggone baboon.
Gutsy race, Dylan. I am surprised you were able to stick at in the final act considering how many matched you burned prior! Your fitness is superb. I hope you stay healthy, should be a fun 2-3 months.
awesome result dude! Can't imagine throwing down that kind of effort
why not just use a MTB? more control and confortable ride
Try zip tieing them to your drops. Or further forward on the frame.
best result when freed of the Factor, not a coincidence
obviously you need to move the number with 1km to go if you're in a group, surprised not having it visible head on is allowed in the rules tho
Do you think the the race kings penalized your top end velocity in the sprint?
Thanks for the video! It's exciting to see your hard work paying off! Congratulations!
Loving your content 🙏🏻 would you mind sharing what lube/wax regime you use for a dry race like this ?, and does it last the distance ??
If the spirit of gravel is dead, it’s not because of road racing tactics. It’s because of roadies.
Many congratulations, a great result in a stacked field and being a second or two off the win must have felt good. TBH, your gains in the past twelve months suggest you haven’t reached your genetic potential and there might be more to eke out, augmented by smart gear choice and tactics. I confidently predict a top five in a lifetime series event this year.
That being said it wasn’t quite up there as a source of inspiration with your “come back from the dead” ride at unbound last year!
honest question, is it possible that your power output was the highest it has ever been because you were forced to push harder to stay attached to the group or bridge gaps with the wider tires? I agree with you that on the chunkier sections and singletrack you had an advantage, but at list from watching your video, a lot of the sections where people attacked seemed to be on longer sections of smoother gravel where the pace was high and I would assume, your tires didn't have as much of an advantage over the 40-45 range. It didn't seem like there was much opportunity to attack on sections where the wider tires had the most advantage. also, does getting into a sprint finish at the end make you think that the wider tires aren't worth it unless you can breakaway from the group and finish solo? I don't think you would ever say that you had the rolling resistance advantage in that finish on the road.
Brutal, damn this sounds so bloody hard. But stopping to change your shit is amateur hour, glad you learned. We have this in Pro triathlon with feed zones and dudes get dropped Al the time and never see the front again from taking way too long…
hey Dylan,
how many psi you had?😏
that aero hydro pack sure worked! congrats. I fight for every marginal gain too.
Very impressive ride!!
Why did you have to talk about mtb tires…now I have to go down another rabbit hole…
Really cool video. Fun to see you going up to the next level.
Aero body condom. Nice.
Power must have been the tires
I’m wonder if placing the number plate on the stem so that the number plate would be visible from the side but not the front would make a difference? 3D print a mount/holder to make it possible? At that point it’s borderline a faring 😂 but the timing chip would be closer to where it’s supposed to be😅
what is the software that they all use to analyze the power/HR data?
Please please please paint over those 1970s graphics on your bike🙈
What was your tire pressure ?
What system are we using to track wattage, power, etc.?
its amazing to see your jour journey to a top pro.
Insane man. Really insane that you got to this level. Im just curious: how much liters to drink did you bring to the start?
I'm going to do 5 UCI gravel races this year and they should all be finished within 4 to 5 hours. This is one of the thoughest decisions for me to make as there is the weight penalty, but also you don't have to worry about stopping to get new water
Excellent job Dylan. You’re a great competitor.
Can you mount the race # / plate on its long or short side on the fork's leg to keep it ahead of your head tube but also parallel to the bike's axis for aero?
Great job! I appreciate your videos that made me faster so far. I am an owner of a Korean road bike wheel company WHEELLAB., now I think I should develop a gravel optimized wheelset😂
That av spd is stupid fast havent seen felt in a while was sponsored buy them back in 2010 for xcm won every race i did on that bike crazy now i,m going to make one of those old carbon frames into a gravel bike with 2 inch tyres .
Well done mate dobt know how you breath in all that dust .
If you're in shorts, you'd have the dub
Great recap.
Re: chip timing and the difference of a chip on the front of the bike vs the top tube. These chips are RFID and won't be accurate enough to distinguish between those two positions. I use some of the more accurate chips on the market, and I trust mine to about 0.3s difference. I'll check the camera for any difference smaller than that, and this is much closer than 0.3 seconds.
As for the camera image: unfortunately, this image isn't the best to use as a finish image. It isn't perpendicular to the finish line. The winner should be the rider whose leading tire first crossed the plane of the leading edge of the red. This image seems to be a bit too late to answer that question.
(source: professional race timer, specializing in MTB and road cycling, with several hundred days of racing under my belt)
Missed showing the biggest difference between this years and last years bike – no rear drum brake this year! https://youtu.be/u7WBPnh8ukE?si=bolAtA2UIhLNgWTv&t=515
Nice
Attacking the feed zone. Classic, Strategic, and Easy.
Dude, I am a nobody period but even so when it comes to cycling… hope you read this… 1.) Tires… Schwalbe Hurricane DD 2.0 or 2.4 wire non-tubeless run as tubeless 2.) Flat out Military using minimum 8 oz but the more the better as this lasts the life of the tire.. do your research and hope you actually read and learn from this