We have enjoyed racing the Freedhem 76 Gravel race a few times now and the boys (Kyle and Reid) did their first 100 mile ride / race this year with the Freedhem 106. It’s a nice grassroots event that has a great turnout. I feel like the Freedhem has become one of the top gravel races in Minnesota.
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Results
2024 Freedhem Gravel Results
Lynn (46 mile) – 27th
Reid (106 mile) – 28th
Kyle (106 mile) – 20th
Steve (106 mile) – 9th
2023 Freedhem Gravel Results
Lynn (46 mile) – 26th
Reid (106 mile) – 13th
Kyle (46 mile) – 3rd
Steve (76 mile) – 17th
2021 Freedhem Gravel Results
Steve (76) – 8th
Race Notes
2024 Race Notes
Reid, Kyle and I raced the 106 miler while Lynn raced the 46 miler. Big congrats to Kyle and Reid as this was their first 100 mile ride or race and it was on gravel! As a bonus, I got to race with and around the boys for the first 25ish miles until things started getting real spicy and the group started breaking down and blowing apart. Proud of these guys! Kyle and Reid are a couple of tough dudes and own their rides. They put themselves out there knowing it’s going to be hard, figure it out and get it done on their own. Each race or ride, they learn a bit more and I love hearing their stories from the race.
Steve’s Specific Recap
A bit of recap on my (Steve) ride… A group of 4 broke off about mile 30 with 8 or 9 of us chasing. At almost 40 miles in, that chase group was down to 4 of us until around mile 70 when I drifted off the back and solo’d my way into the mile 72 water station. Up until that point, I had been averaging 20.1 mph. When I pulled into the water station, the other 3 were still there filling bottles and packs. I happen to notice 2 other 100 milers rolling by while we were filling up and I rolled out soon after, figuring the other 3 would catch me and could try to jump back in with them again when they caught back up.
There were 6 racers out in front of me now, but 2 of the others caught me a few miles later and I didn’t have the legs to stay with them as I was starting to suffer from my poor hydration planning… I only grabbed one water bottle at the 72, but should have filled up a couple bottles and found myself with more fuel mix than I needed and not enough plain water. It all seemed to stack up on me quick.
Later down course, I made a another mistake thinking there was a water stop at the entrance to the sand trap and was planning to fill up there. I had grabbed a hand up can of coke rolling through what I thought was neighborhood samaritans set up by the road a couple miles prior, still thinking there was a water stop a couple miles ahead at the sand trap.
As it turned out, what I thought was neighborhood samaritans, was the actual water stop I was looking for. With that said, I was out of water and the dehydration was deep now. After putting myself in a deep hydration hole, I suffered badly the last 15ish miles. I coasted some downhills trying to get cramps out and my average speed dropped to 18.3 by the finish.
At the end of the day, I still had a good ride. I had plenty of fuel, but was low on straight hydration. After the race, I drank 5 bottles of plain water within a couple hours of finishing and still woke up dehydrated in the morning.
2023 Race Notes
Kyle made the overall podium out of 122 finishers in the 46 miler, with Reid finishing 10 places behind him in 13th. In the same event, Lynn finished 26th and 85th overall. In the 76er, I finished 17th with 121 finishers. We also had a few Maklin friends out there with 2 other Steves doing the 46 and Greg doing the 106 mile course! We were glad to get back to this one after doing it a couple of years ago! This race was definitely growing.
2021 Race Notes
I had stopped for a rider that had crashed in front of me in the rocky atv trail and fell back off the front group. A couple riders came up behind me and we started working together to chase down riders in front of us. As we worked together, we eventually ended up with 7 or 8 of us I think and then I got spit out the back after a couple guys poured the heat on up a hill right after I took my pull. I learned a lesson about my timing there. That group ended up getting split apart after that and I was able to chase down a couple of them by the finish.
Bike Setups
2024 Gravel Bike Setups
Reid
Bike: Niner RLT 9 RDO
Wheels: HED Emporia GA Pros
Tires: 43mm Panaracer Gravel King SK
Drivetrain: Shimano GRX 810
Kyle
Bike: Niner RLT 9 RDO
Wheels: HED Emporia GA Pros
Tires: 44mm Vittoria Mezcal Gravel Endurance
Drivetrain: Sram Force XPLR
Lynn
Bike: Drop Bar MTB – Niner AIR 9 RKT w/ Sram Force & GX Eagle
Wheels: Bontrager XXX rim w/ DT Swiss 240 Hub
Tires: Vittoria Barzo (front) / Mezcal (rear)
Drivetrain: Sram Force Controls/Crank, GX derailleur w/ XX1 Cassette
Steve
Bike: Bianchi Arcadex
Wheels: HED Emporia GA Pros
Tires: 45mm Challenge Strada Bianca Handmade Pro
Drivetrain: Campy Ekar
2023 Gravel Bike Setups
Reid
Bike: Niner RLT 9 RDO
Wheels: Stans Grail CB7
Tires: 38mm Schwalbe G-One Bite
Drivetrain: Shimano GRX 810
Kyle
Bike: Niner RLT 9 RDO
Wheels: Stans Grail CB7
Tires: 36mm Donnelly X’PLR MSO
Drivetrain: Sram Force XPLR
Lynn
Bike: Salsa Warbird
Wheels: Bontrager Aeolus 37V RSL
Tires: Vittoria Barzo (front) / Mezcal (rear)
Drivetrain: Sram Force Wide 2x
Steve
Bike – Niner RLT 9 RDO
Wheels – HED Emporia GA Pro
Tires – 40mm Challenge Strada Bianca Handmade Pro
Drivetrain – Sram Force AXS 1 X drive (38t chainring w/ 10 – 36t cassette)
2021 Bike Setups
Steve
Bike – Salsa Warbird
Wheels – Bontrager Aeolus 37V RSL
Tires – 45mm Donnelly EMP
Drivetrain – Shimano GRX 810
Fuel/Hydration
2024
Steve
-72 oz USWE pack with 3.5 pouches of SIS powder mix
-2 bottles with 1 pouch each of SIS mix on the bike
-1 bottle plain water on the bike
-1 SIS gel about 20 minutes before the start
-1 SIS gel about 20 minutes in
-1 SIS gel about 10 miles from the finish
-Would ditch one of the SIS bottles in exchange for another plain bottle of water next time. The SIS powder and gels that I had was plenty of fuel.
Videos
2024 Videos
Steve GoPro’d the entire gravel race and was going to put the data overlay on it and upload it to YouTube at some point. Will update here when it is. Will probably also clip together a condensed highlight video as well.
