First time gravel racer’s take on 2025 Big Sugar Classic (25 mile)

First off, let's get some details out of the way: -I'm an NWA local
-Very junior baby gravel rider, started in April of '25
– 27 y/o woman
– I rode a '24 Kona Stura LTD with flats on some knobby 50's (too much tire imho)
– finished the 29.5 miles in 2 hours and 50 minutes during a thunderstorm.

TLDR; Bike fun, hills hard, tires too big

So I just did the 25 mile (really 29.5) version of the Big Sugar Gravel Classic on Saturday and I've got some thoughts and feelings.

The route: starting in downtown Bentonville is fun and flashy, but the downside is that half of the 25 mile route is paved road. I expected a bit more fun chunky gravel, but the climbs included felt punchy and punishing enough that it's hard to complain too much. Over all not bad and I'll happily ride that route again as a training day. I did think it was a little silly of me to pay $100 to ride the gravel practically in my back yard a few times a week, but it was still enjoyable and I had fun doing goofy stuff in front of the photographers stationed along the route.

The people: I didn't interact much with the race staff and volunteers, only at packet pickup (which was a shit show, I had to ask for directions a few times to even get to the entrance) and the half-way aid station. The other racers on the other hand were delightful! We had a small mechanical at one point and a few lovely people stopped and asked if we needed assistance and others offered much needed encouragement while I huffed and puffed up the last large hill. Lots of laughs and shouted praise were had by all.

The bike set-up: I'll start off by saying my Kona Sutra isn't much of a racer. She's not the fastest or the best climber, but neither am I so it's a good match. It's almost completely stock with the exception of narrower drop bars and different tires. The seat dropper is a godsend and I recommend it to everyone (I am deficient in "bike skills", so I'm fairly timid on chunky stuff and drop that bitch down OFTEN). I typically have 42's on, and did most of my training with those bad bois, but we swapped for 50's two days before the race and it felt like overkill. They felt boggy and slow compared to my more nimble 42s. I also made the mistake of not training with the new tires, thinking it wouldn't make much of a difference. Silly me. I rode with an old set of flats, they're not the grippiest but they did the trick. I think a goal for my this next year is to get comfortable clipped in, as I can definitely see the benefits.

Anyway, that's just my experience. It was fun, I'll do it again, and it was a learning experience (looking at you, knobby 50's 🫩).

10/10 would do again.