The Rift Gravel Race 2025…Iceland’s brutal gravel race

Join me as I head back to Iceland for The Rift gravel race 2025! My second go at this one in the pro women’s field. One of the most stunning but brutal gravel races in the world. 200km of volcanic gravel.

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Chapters:
0:00 Reykjavík
1:24 Pre race
2:42 My bike computer screen
5:55 Race day
11:20 Post race

Special thank you to Lauf for looking after me this whole weekend!

Good morning from Raikovic. I’m here at the harbor just taking a little morning stroll before going for a ride today. And yeah, I got here last night, went for pizza with LA, which was so nice and got to see their headquarters for the first time. So obviously LA is an Icelandic brand. Also, I’m mispronouncing it. It’s Lof, but because everyone in England pronounces it Lao, I also pronounce it Lao. So yeah, I went to Louis HQ and we had pizza and then I came and stayed in the city and I’m just going to go and get um I think I’m going to get coffee and pastry before my ride today. Just feeling it. But yeah, the Rift is happening again on Saturday and I’m so excited cuz last year I didn’t get to race. I just had to watch. But this year I’m back racing at that bun. After my solo coffee date, I went for a ride with some of the Laugh team in a little forest near Rekovic. Here’s my midride snack of choice. It’s pretty good. It’s a bit squashed. This is quite a good post ride spread. In Kenya, I’ve been having an issue with my front brake rubbing. So, Antoine, the L mechanic, replaced the rotors and pads and also service the pistons, which we thought was going to solve the problem. So, we have just arrived in, which is how you pronounce it. I’ve been taught. I’ve absolutely absolutely masserated that pronunciation. But here is our little cabin. So, I don’t think this has ever been used before. And look who came for the ride. Okay, you caught me. I’m not decent. What are you doing? Welcome to my budoir. Hi, welcome to my crib. This is so nice. Look at the snowy mountain. Just got some snow in the distance. Really nice. I hear No, no, no. The guy I guess that works. We’re home. Here is the pre-race day breakfast. We’ve got some protein granola, which I just got excited by. And then we’ve got Icelandic ski, which is actually really delicious. And yeah, made Courtney a slightly smaller bowl for her non-carb loading. I am carb loading. I’ve got a big day tomorrow. I need to remember so many names. I’ve got to fuel my brain. Rift is tomorrow and I’m super excited. I’m just out spinning now and yeah, it’s gorgeous out here. I’m out here checking out the course and I thought I’d show you how I set up my um bike computer screens. So, I’ve got a Chorus Dura and basically in the app you can choose what’s on the screens and I change it for different races based off what’s happening in the race. So, I’ll show you what I’ve done this time. So, this is the top of the first climb. And as you can see here, I’ve got a climbing screen on. So, I can basically see what percentage elevation was like the average of the remaining bit of the climb like the current elevation, how much more meters of climbing to go, and then the distance of the climb. And I can flick between. So I can be on that screen and then look at the whole profile and then I’ve set it up. So basically I can see my 3se secondond average power, the time um distance and then I do another screen which is quite similar but heart rate, average power, time. This is the screen I tend to race with. And then I also sometimes look at this like I might want to see my normalized power in the race just so I can see my effort level. And then for this race I’ve added elevation gain because it’s such a hilly race. I want to know exactly how much climbing I’ve got left. Okay, we’ve just been doing a photo shoot and hopefully my bike is being fixed as well. So, I’ve been having a problem with my bike for the past three races where the front brake actually know both brakes been rubbing and it’s a problem with the calipers where the pistons basically aren’t moving back. So, I get it fixed at the start of the race and then I start racing and then mid race the pistons get stuck on which has not been ideal and it’s yeah it’s happened the past three races that I’ve done. So, spoken to tram here. They’ve got my bike. It’s this is the fourth mechanic now that is looking at my brake and I think we’ve decided that I just need a new caliper. So, I might just get my caliper replaced. But yeah, not ideal pre-race stress. At least this time my bike might not be rubbing. My front brake might not be rubbing mid race cuz that has been quite problematic for the past few races. It’s not that cold, is it not? I love this energy. It’s not homemade sadly. What are our bowls of choice? So, there’s only tiny bowls. So, Courtney’s going to have a plate. And then this is Maddiey’s carb bowl. It’s a salad bowl. Yeah. For size. Can you show the other bowl? Cuz I don’t think it’s doing it justice. I just don’t think this is the right size for before a 200k race. But this is not right. Just making very simple dinner. Talk me through, chef. We’ve cooked some pasta. 2 minute cook time because it’s fresh pasta. And then we stir in some tuna. Zero cook time. Pesto. Zero cook time. Sweet corn. Zero cook time. We don’t have a colander. So that’s our challenge. This actually looks edible. Here’s dinner. Do you like it? God. There’s You know what? Tuna pesto pasta. There’s just nothing that slaps like that. It is so good. And every single time I’m like manifi like chef’s kiss. This was my race day breakfast at 4:45 a.m. with the rain. It is raining quite a bit this morning, so I found a coffee and I’m hibernating from the rain. Good morning from a sunny, beautiful Iceland. Got my hydration vest ready. I’m keeping as warm as I possibly can until the last minute. Um, as you can see, we’re experiencing sunny spells, light wind, slight showers. Um, we’re feeling okay. We’re ready to go. I’ve been to the L multiple times, which is always a good sign. You’re building up for a 200 km race or 140. It’s crazy. You’ve done all of the hard work already getting up to this. So, I just crashed. It was so silly. Hit my face. It doesn’t actually hurt that much, but my front brake is completely jammed on. So, I can’t get going again. I need to try and find a way to get picked up. I’m such an idiot. It’s just stuck. I hope it just won’t move. So, my front wheels just stuck with the brake on. And I just think I’ve got a faulty caliper and I’m kicking myself for not changing it yesterday, but I just didn’t want to be a pain and like it would have required a lot of effort to change. And I thought they’d fixed it. We all thought they’d fixed it. I’ve just got a dodgy caliper, I think. But I hit a rock. I was like overtaking a gun in the technical bit and I hit a rock. Went over the bars and then my face hit another rock just here. But it’s actually not that bad. It’s just a bit swollen. I’ve got to go to a wedding next weekend. My cousin’s wedding. So, I hope this clears up. At least it’s not my own wedding. Oh, but yeah, my car review on by Gracie is this is quite cool. But yeah, I think Bad Luck must come in five threes. This is my fifth crash now. So frustrating. So good. So good. So good. Cool shots. That is the volcano. Wow. Is that Heckler? Heckler. Yes. Wow. That’s awesome. Actually got quite a bad cut. Mhm. Oh no. We going to go for it. You reckon you can do this in the car? He’s done it many times. We’re basically vertical. Oh my god, you’re beautiful. It looks like what? I peed myself cuz I leaked the liquid all over me in my lap. Hold on. Coming up, we’ve got another 140 km. Looking like I wet myself. I went to hospital with actually the CEO of LA’s parents and basically a teammate. So, another LA wants a ride and I got myself a hot dog for the road. We’ve made it to the hospital. Drew’s come for morale cuz I don’t want to get stitches alone. We’ve had it glued. That actually doesn’t look too bad. Maddy’s joined the party. Whoop! We’re on a platform. She’s got half a lip, but we’re here in a boogie for three more hours. Oh, stop being so sad, Sack. I think you look beautiful. I think Scars are fit. free. This is karaoke now, guys. Yes, we have a 200. Finisher approaching the finish line. Everyone final rider coming in. This is amazing. Welcome to the end of the rift. You’ve done it. You’re sensational. We are so so proud of you. And don’t forget to accept your amazing gift as our final rider of the race. That my friends, is the rift over and out. Good morning. I’m looking like a puff of fish today. My mouth is like not properly opening. I actually don’t feel that bad. It’s just here that hurts. It’s just cosmetic unfortunately. I mean, luckily, but also unfortunately cuz I don’t like my face looking like this. And hopefully it won’t scar. They said it will. So, just have to deal with that or grow a mustache. Nice scrambled eggs on toast. They have to face. But it my smile on face is actually really hard to eat. So, I’m doing tiny bites. And I poke it in the right hand side. I’m going to syringe feed her. This is so bad cuz my other passion apart from cycling is eating. What time is it for now? What time? I don’t even know. What are we doing? We’re going to the pool party.