{"id":1532534,"date":"2024-06-24T10:25:35","date_gmt":"2024-06-24T07:25:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1532534"},"modified":"2024-06-24T10:25:35","modified_gmt":"2024-06-24T07:25:35","slug":"5-surprising-cyclists-we-met-at-the-migration-gravel-race-in-kenya","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1532534","title":{"rendered":"5 Surprising Cyclists We Met at the Migration Gravel Race in Kenya"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n
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Published June 24, 2024 10:25AM<\/div>\n
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MAASAI MARA, Kenya (Velo) \u2013 It is a well-worn trope now that gravel is the place where WorldTour pros come to retire and couldn\u2019t-hack-it World Cup mountain bikers find their stride. At this point, however, that is much too reductive.<\/p>\n

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Gravel continues to be a space that invites \u2014 and intrigues \u2014 all types of cyclists and even athletes from different sports. It\u2019s not uncommon to find a non-gravel cyclist participating in a gravel race like the Traka or SBT GRVL. However, it takes a different type of non-gravel cyclist to travel around the world to an event like the Migration Gravel Race in Kenya.<\/p>\n

The MGR is special on multiple levels: the four-day stage race unfolds in the Maasai Mara, a remote area of preserved wilderness in southwestern Kenya. The race organizers have worked with Maasai tribesmen to stitch roads into routes; Maasai are also the race\u2019s course marshals, moto drivers, and cooks. Participants camp each night, taking showers with water heated over campfires. Neither the riding nor the off-the-bike life is for the faint of heart.<\/p>\n

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This year\u2019s edition of the MGR saw nearly 200 intrepid riders from 35 countries sign up for the adventure in the Mara, and there were plenty of non-gravel cyclists among them. We talked to five of them to see why they decided to give this adventurous gravel race a go.<\/p>\n

Maja Wloszczowska \u2013 Two-time Olympic XCO silver medalist<\/h2>\n

Two-time Olympic silver medalist Maja Wloszczowska has been enjoying life since she retired three years ago. The Polish mountain biker has been keeping fit training with her good friend (and Tokyo gold medalist) Jolanda Neff. Off the bike, she spends time volunteering with the Phoenix Foundation, a non-profit that encourages kids to participate in sports.<\/p>\n

She\u2019s also been riding gravel, but as \u201cmore of a hobby rider,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

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Nevertheless, when her friends from the Phoenix Foundation pitched the idea of a group trip to Kenya for the MGR, Wloszczowska didn\u2019t need too much convincing to go.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt first I was like, \u2018oh, my back doesn\u2019t need that, I don\u2019t need that suffering after so many years of the career.\u2019 Then I decided, if I don\u2019t go now with them I\u2019ll probably never go.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Wloszczowska joined about 10 other participants who were part of the Phoenix Foundation, and the Olympian often put herself out front when there was a headwind. She was always smiling and having fun, despite the challenging course conditions.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t have too many opportunities to spend such an amazing time in an amazing place with amazing people so I feel privileged to do that,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Chris McCormack \u2013 Four-time triathlon world champion<\/h2>\n

Another rider who came to the MGR with the Phoenix Foundation was four-time triathlon world champion Chris McCormack. McCormack said he first learned of the event from another Aussie and Phoenix ambassador, Freddy Ovett.<\/p>\n

He admitted that his first impression of the event did not match the reality.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought we were gonna be watching giraffes and see some lions and cruise around on bikes,\u201d he said. \u201cThen a week before the race I went onto YouTube and was like, \u2018shit, should we bring mountain bikes?\u2019 This is legit. We were very unprepared.\u201d<\/p>\n

McCormack, who has twice won the Ironman world champs in Kona, said that after stage 1 of the MGR, he was in tears.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI couldn\u2019t believe it. I think I wrote, \u2018note to self: prepare for something like this.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

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Nevertheless, McCormack ultimately felt grateful for the experience. It also reminded him of the importance of the Phoenix Foundation\u2019s mission of getting more kids into sports.<\/p>\n

\u201cI often think to myself, \u2018we\u2019re blessed to have the opportunity to do this, so we do these things while we can because one day we won\u2019t be able to.\u2019 It\u2019s the mindset and ethos of foundation. Sport is good. Sport should become a part of your life. Being out there and participating and doing things with your peers is worth doing.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Miranda Miller \u2013 2017 downhill world champion, three-time Canadian national downhill champion<\/h2>\n

Miranda Miller traveled all over the world during her career as a pro downhill mountain biker. But despite the stamps in her passport, she didn\u2019t truly get to see\u00a0<\/em>many of the places she competed.<\/p>\n

In the past three years, she\u2019s completely changed that. With the support of SRAM, Miller has helped create and produce the Here, There, Everywhere film series. Now in its third season, the series examines some of the lesser-explored aspects of cycling like creativity and art, competition away from performance, and adventure.<\/p>\n

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Before she traveled to Kenya, Miller was in Namibia with a film crew, learning all about how bikes are built at Onguza Cycles, a custom brand founded by ex-pro Dan Craven.<\/p>\n

The Migration Gravel Race wasn\u2019t for \u201cwork,\u201d however. Miller traveled to Kenya on her own volition (and with the help of Rapha, one of her sponsors). Although she doesn\u2019t ride much gravel at home in Canada, Miller did a fair bit of it last year for the series, including the Yomp Rally, FNLD GRVL, and SBT GRVL. The Migration Gravel Race sounded like the coolest event of all.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was the opportunity of a lifetime, and I couldn\u2019t pass it up,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

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Rob Gitelis \u2013 Founder and CEO of Factor Bikes<\/h2>\n

The riders on East Africa\u2019s Team Amani and the Black Mamba Development team ride Factor Bikes, but that\u2019s not the whole reason that Rob Gitelis, the founder of the brand, came to Kenya for the Migration Gravel Race.<\/p>\n

\u201cI looked at it and said, \u2018I\u2019m 56 years old and how many more years will I be able to achieve this kind of goal?\u2019 Gitelis said. \u201cI should not delay anything any longer so I decided to come.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Despite the fact that Factor supports a number of gravel racers, the MGR was Gitelis\u2019 first gravel race and, admittedly, one of his first times riding gravel at all.<\/p>\n

However, he was pleased to meet the riders from East Africa who have been riding his bikes for the past three seasons.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always appreciated what Amani is all about so it\u2019s really cool to meet the riders for the first time,\u201d he said. \u201cThey\u2019re really humble and appreciative which is kinda a different feeling than meeting so many professional bike riders.\u201d<\/p>\n

David Millar \u2013 Four-time Tour de France stage winner<\/h2>\n

Two years ago, Gitelis invited former road pro and cycling commentator David Millar to do the Cape Epic stage race. Millar had to decline, so when Gitelis invited him to do the MGR this year, he knew he couldn\u2019t back out of it.<\/p>\n

Having done the Traka, Millar had slightly more gravel racing experience than Gitelis, but not much. He researched the MGR a bit through articles and videos and thought he had a pretty good idea of what the four-day race entailed \u201cbut nothing prepared me for what it is,\u201d he said. \u201cNothing.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Millar, who retired from the WorldTour in 2014 after winning stages at all three grand tours, lives in Girona where he describes the gravel as \u201cvery civilized.\u201d<\/p>\n

This was not the case at the Migration Gravel Race, where riders faced numerous soul-sucking mudpits on stage 1 and a long, technical stage 2 before a tamer, shorter stage 3 and a more Girona-like stage 4.<\/p>\n

Millar, who was writing daily blog posts about his experience, said that he was blown away by how challenging the experience was.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first day, I came out of it shell-shocked \u2014 this is nothing like I expected and it\u2019s been like that ever since,\u201d he said \u201cIt\u2019s been the most incredible experience. I haven\u2019t gone this deep since I was a pro. It was truly magical.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Published June 24, 2024 10:25AM<\/div>\n
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Source URL: https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/gravel\/gravel-racing\/5-surprising-cyclists-we-met-at-the-migration-gravel-race-in-kenya\/<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Published June 24, 2024 10:25AM MAASAI MARA, Kenya (Velo) \u2013 It is a well-worn trope now that gravel is the place where WorldTour pros come to retire and couldn\u2019t-hack-it World Cup mountain bikers find their stride. At this point, however, that is much too reductive. Gravel continues to be a space that invites \u2014 and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1532538,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[71],"class_list":["post-1532534","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","tag-velo-outsideonline-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1532534","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1532534"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1532534\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1532538"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1532534"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1532534"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1532534"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}