Race Report: 2025 Truckee Tahoe Gravel — Men’s Long Course

Date: 6/28/25

AVRT Racers: David Domonoske

Top Result: 13/166

Course: https://www.strava.com/routes/3168622351695908608
100 miles of beautiful gravel through the Sierra Nevada mountains. After 7 miles of pavement, the real racing begins with a 6 mile moderate dirt climb, followed by 9 miles of chunky, flat gravel. The long climb of the day begins at mile 23 with some steep, rocky terrain before continuing up 3 miles of steady 5.5%. After topping out at 7600 ft, a long road descent takes us all the way down to 5000 ft. A hot, exposed climb takes us out of the Sierra Valley, and then a stunning descent continues North back up to Sierra Brooks. The final climb is a gradual 2.5% for 7 miles, before the last 28 fast and rolling miles lead back into Truckee.

Nutrition: Pre-race, I ate a lot of pasta (so much pasta) the night before and tons of oatmeal (take your biggest tupperware and fill it) in the morning. I started the race with a bladder with 200 grams of carbs, 2 bottles with 100 grams each, a Ziploc bag of fruit snacks, and 6 pieces of cinnamon twist bread. I took water bottle hand ups from aid stations at mile 41 and 60, filled a bottle with electrolyte mix at 81, and a final water bottle at mile 90.

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/14945989746/overview

Race Recap:
This isn’t an event that I specifically trained for, so I went in with a fun mindset — zero expectations, but still entertaining the possibility of doing well. I’m not a climber and I knew I wouldn’t be able to climb with the front group, but the course features a lot of flats. I expected my endurance to pay off on such a long race, so I rolled up to the start line cautiously optimistic that it could be a good, albeit long, day.

I started the day off on the wrong foot by staging at the back, under the impression that the beginning was going to be neutral and I’d be able to move up through the group during the first few paved miles. It wasn’t neutral, and I was stuck behind a lot of people that had no interest in staying with the front group. My max heartrate for the day was 9 minutes into the race as I closed gaps to get up to the front — whoops.

Once we hit the first climb, I just rode my own race. I set my power at the upper end of tempo and ignored what everybody else was doing. Dozens of people passed me, but I did what I felt was the fastest way for me to get to the finish. A group of 5 formed and we rolled through the next flat section together. We flew through some rocky descents, and I was happy to be in a small group where I could see the road and rocks, rather than being consumed by a large dust cloud with no visibility.

As we started the long climb, I fully expected to be dropped by the people around me. We climbed up the steep chunky section together, and I set the tempo going up the gradual climb. Again, I set my power where I thought I could hold it, and I was pleasantly surprised to see the group behind me dwindle from 5 to 3 to 1, until I was riding by myself.

At the top of the climb, I fit as many fruit snacks as I could physically fit into my mouth and then bombed the descent. I caught a few others until it was 5 of us crossing the valley floor. The group dropped me at the beginning of next climb, but it was long, hot, and exposed, with plenty of time for people to crack. I just kept riding at my own pace and pouring water on myself to stay cool. By the top, there was only one rider left in front of me from that group.

The descent was gorgeous and I was able to enjoy it for a little extra as I faced off with some obstinate cows. I grabbed another water bottle at the bottom and began the final shallow climb. This is where my endurance started to really pay off. I reeled in the rider that had been sitting just a few seconds ahead of me for the previous climb, and then another. After reaching the top, all the climbing for the day was done and I just had 30 miles of false flat descending left.

I kept the pressure on the pedals and started to reel in more riders. I’d push a little extra as I approached each rider so that I passed with enough speed that they’d have to sprint to catch up. Only one rider got on my wheel, and I was able to drop him in a rougher gravel section soon after. Everything was cramping and I was at risk of blowing up, but I was able to sustain the pace all the way to the finish. By the time I crossed the line, I had moved all the way up to 13th!

It was a fantastic day and a great race. If anybody’s looking to scratch a little gravel itch, this is a great way to do it that’s not too far from home.