Gravel & Grit
Winter weather tests the commitment to outdoor training, but as they say - it might rain on race day, and this season our 4F Femmes have certainly been tested by some truly horrid race conditions.
We kick off with AusCycling Gravel National Championships in South Australia, with a race report from Tracey Chapman.
Gravel Nats
The 2026 Gravel National Championships were held at the Ponderosa Pines in the Adelaide hills, South Australia on 30 & 31 May. The course was comprised of a 30km and a 20km loop and depending on your age, you did various combinations of both. M5+ women had to do 71km with 975m elevation which on paper seemed very achievable. However, Nature had other ideas…
This year, women had their own separate race start – actually their own separate race day - away from the men. The elite women went off first, then the M5 – M9 women, two minutes later. The M1 – M4 women went next, and originally I thought they would catch us, but they set out on the 30km loop of the course first while we did the 20km loop first. This was excellent. There was absolutely no way any age group or elite women’s race would be influenced by other categories.
I had heard that the course was flat, rough and very fast. Well, it was definitely the first two…but the ‘fast’ bit was a large misnomer due to a strong cold front rolling in the week of the race. Several days of rain created a heavy, sodden course and the forecast of 15 – 30mm of rain and a maximum temperature of 12 degrees on the day of our race had me questioning my life choices. But there was nothing I could do about it now. I drove my little 2WD hire car up the muddy access road to a paddock in the middle of nowhere. I went out to ‘warm up’ and came back colder, wetter and muddier than I could have imagined. A full change of clothes later I was ready to brave the elements once again.
The actual race was beastly. There is no better word to describe the beastly weather conditions, the beastly rocks on course, the beastly wind and the beastly mud that sucked all the speed out of your tyres and tried to tip you off your bike on every corner. I do not think I took my hands off the bars once. I had a Turkish Delight (my favourite race food) tucked into my top tube bag, but there was no way I could take the time to unzip that pouch, shake out the bar and put the wrapper back without coming a cropper.
The rocks on course were a square chunk of granite or ‘road ballast’ that you see between train tracks – the Swan View tunnel on the heritage trail is full of them. These rocks were scattered in large sections all over the course so making good line choices was paramount. Often, they were lying in wait, submerged under a puddle or concealed in long grass on the side of the road. Speaking of roads, many parts of the course had ‘suggestions’ of roads only. Some of the time we were riding over grassy paddocks and most of the time I was looking at my Garmin navigation as the course markings had either blown away or were non-existent.
By the 50km mark, as we approached the Start/Finish zone for the last time, I was really hoping the organisers would cancel the last 20km of the race. Rain was bucketing down, and the wind chill had turned the temperature down to two degrees. But I was not so lucky. The lumps of ice on the end of my legs had to keep pushing the pedals for another 50min before I could stop. I had paid for this experience right??
Finally, the race was over and I thought my ordeal had come to an end. But no, now I had to find a way to get my muddy bike and muddy body into a pristine white hire car. If you’ve seen photos of the Unbound Gravel race in the USA this year, you’ll know what I was dealing with. Everything was covered in mud, and with the rain continuing to fall and the wind howling, I found myself stripping off in a paddock, surrounded by spectators hiding in their cars with the engines on trying to keep warm and dry.
In the end, my memories of this race will be focused on the lovely people I met from all over Australia. One of the first people I bumped into was Anne Elliott from Qld who knew all the 4F members and was great fun to do a course reccie with. Interestingly, of the 34 women who raced, only 11 were from South Australia (32%). In the men, only 50 out of 131 were from SA (38%). For a race that was only 1 hour from Adelaide, this was very surprising. Perhaps they had done it the year before and decided they didn’t need to experience the crazy rocks again! Safe to say I am pretty sure I won’t be returning to this particular location any time soon. Nationals was definitely character building and I look forward to a more favourable experience in 2027.
👇Tracey & Anne (both took home silver medals), and a trashed bike at the end. Tracey had to replace both the headset AND bottom bracket bearings, plus a full service to clean out all the mud from the seat tube, stem, and new brake pads (which only lasted one race).
Devil’s Cardigan
It takes a special kind of crazy to race in Tasmania in June. I know, I’ve done it. Normally all the talk is about tyre pressure, but with start temperatures traditionally sub zero and lucky to reach double figures it’s all about what to wear.
This year we had a group of 4F racers head across to take on the Cardigan: Bec Kelly, Yael Gardner, Lily Handoyo and Jo Wilson. This was the final chance to qualify for the World Champs on home soil, and some of the party were on a mission.
The course starts with a big climb. Bec Kelly put down some watts to take an early lead in W50-54, and then had some anxious moments as the elite men came past on the treacherously rocky Dead Horse descent. The effort, followed by a long descent in cold conditions caused Bec to cramp. Fortunately Yael stopped to help - but unfortunately Yael then cramped! The rain the previous day had made some sections of the course difficult to negotiate and there was quite a bit of point and hope and just keep pedalling. Bec and Yael knew they were near the front of their age group, but not sure of they were riding for second or third so kept pushing. In the end, Bec came second securing her Q, and Yael finished third for a double Q!
From Jo:
A beautiful start on a crisp clear and sunny morning… Started well and then just wasn’t really feeling it. Struggled up the long climbs. But that’s not unexpected, I didn’t train doing lots of long climbs so found it hard to get my head around how to race, in the end just hung in there and tried to follow the plan. Ended up in 4th overall well behind 3rd place. Mixed terrain sandy/rocky/ muddy but stunningly beautiful course. in the tops of the climbs and a few struggled. I was pretty comfy just a bit cold towards end of the long descents.
AusCycling WA State Gravel Championships - Backroads Gravel
Geraldton is reknowned for it’s windswept landscape, and this year’s Backroads Gravel event added torrential rain to the mix to make for a very tough and muddy day out for all riders. Most have said it is the most challenging race they have ever done - even the ones who rode the peanut butter edition of SeVen.
No race report, but here are some quotes from 4F gravellers who took part…
That is the hardest race I have ever done - Deb L
Just cut and paste from my gravel Nationals race report. But add an hour more of pain and 50kph winds - Tracey C
Rain.. Brutal wind.. slushy mud. Repeat - Sue P
I think the word of the day was brutal! - Sue B
Hardest challenge I've raced so far but I persevered through the storm with 40-50km winds, rain, mud, mud, and more mud - Cathy B
Congratulations to everyone who took on the challenging conditions, and special mentions to our podium placers. Backroads 10 year age category results & State Championship 5 year age category results below.
100km Fields of Gold
30-39: 1 Naomi Evans
40-49: 1 Rhianna Farrell
State 40-44: 3
State 45-49: 1 Rhianna Farrell 3 Maya Zoranjic
50-59: 1 Tracey Chapman 2 Yael Gardner
State 50-54: 1 Tracey Chapman 2 Yael Gardner 3 Allie Cormack
State 55-59: 2 Sue Parora
60-69: 1 Deb Latouf 2 Ann Clifton
65km Lupin Loop
50-59: 3 Sherilyn Mathewson
60-69: 2 Giselle Hosgood
State 65-69: 1 Giselle Hosgood 2 Marguerite Braeckman
70-79: 1 Helen Trlin
State 70-74: 1 Helen Trlin
Many thanks to our 4F family & friends for all the photos. If anyone would like a credit let me know and I will add it!
Vanessa Johnson
