Did 500km+ ride exactly one year after my first 250km

One year ago, as total newbies, my two friends from work and I signed up for a 250 km gravel race, with absolutely no idea what we were getting into ( reddit post from previous race). Somehow, we managed to finish it in 17 hours, with many, many, many pit stops and a pretty slow moving speed.

Since then, I’ve fallen in love with gravel cycling and started riding more and more. With each ride, my endurance improved. Even with a four-month break due to injury, I still made huge progress.

Today’s 500 km ride went smoothly. We finished in 29 hours and 50 minutes, with only four hours of total breaks for shops, food, and pit stops, and no sleep at all. I still had plenty of energy left in the tank. At this pace, I probably could have gone another 100 to 150 km.

I didn’t feel any discomfort (I bonked at 150km for a moment but quickly reacted with good amount of sugar). I fueled well, kept an eye on my heart rate, and made sure not to spike my effort. I wanted to stay in a steady Zone 2 the whole time.

After 400 km, I actually felt fresh and ready to push hard to the finish, but I decided to stay with my friends.

Gravel cycling is awesome