The time has come for a new champion to wear the jersey: the 2025 Gravel National Championship. Pete Stetina details his experience returning to USAC racing, including the unique course demands, the challenges of race organization, and what he fueled with as he went all in for the coveted Stars and Stripes.
When the Last Grizzly, a new Gravel Earth Series Stage race in Utah, got canceled this spring, I had an open weekend that just so happened to fit in with the National Championships. In studying the course with my coach, Dennis Van Winden of Orange Seal Academy, it proved to be enticing enough to lure me to renew my USAC license for the first time in years and commit.
The driftless region of Minnesota is unique; low river valleys provide steep climbs up to an agricultural plateau rather than an immediate descent, meaning if one can create a gap on said uphill, it’s harder for chasers to come back. The course was built brilliantly, with nine 1-mile climbs, twisty roads, and a few minimum-maintenance roads thrown in for exhilaration and spice. I personally loved the local flair of riding through an apple orchard (the region’s notable export) and an actual gravel quarry!
USAC has its own recipe for racing, and this feels quite different from the other mainstay gravel races one is accustomed to: Rather than relying on the spirit of self-sufficiency with one or 2 aid stations, they place aids approximately every 20 miles. If you happened to catch my pre-race What’s in Pete’s Pocket installment on Instagram, from a performance aspect, it was about running as light as possible for the climbs and having my support crew have their own race to make it to each aid before I did.
One tip I’ll give outside that video is that my 5am hotel breakfasts have leveled up immensely thanks to The Feed. Some performance oatmeal packets and quality instant coffee go a long way. All you need is a banana and hot water and you have a self-sufficient pre-race meal in minutes.
It’s here that I must say that while USAC passed with flying colors in course design, they failed in production: In the first hour, the only moto allocated to the pro race disappeared to follow the small breakaway rather than the massive peloton as we hurtled at 40mph downhill leading into a highway merging with no shoulder, there was no road control or volunteers. I happened to be leading into the turn, and as I saw the situation, I slammed on the brakes and yelled a warning. As I stopped, a car careened past at 60mph. The rider behind me crashed into my rear wheel, but overall, the group stayed safe. For an organization whose main selling point is regulation and rider safety this was egregious in my eyes. Additionally, they had set the timing of the different categories so poorly that us lead pros merged with the lead Junior 17-18s and masters in the final hour. With a written rule that no mixing of categories was allowed but all categories racing for a prestigious national title, it was a mess to put it mildly. The officials afterwards said it wasn’t possible to plan for such things; In truth they should never have played with a game of minutes and should have set the starting times much bigger with a range of average speeds in consideration. They were on total defense and blamed the racers instead of owning the logistical blunder.
In the pro race, those 9 hills became 9 all-out Vo2 efforts to whittle the field…by the halfway mark, I sensed the opportunity and jumped away with defending champ Brennan Wertz. It felt right and the upcoming terrain would make it tough to chase. Then I botched it all: I slid out in a corner, giving my quad a massive charley horse and making my hip resemble ground beef. Alas, racing fortunes can turn on a dime like that. I spent the rest of the race on the back foot, chasing back to the group into the base of the climbs, only to be tailed off and restart that draining scenario.
I rolled home in a lackluster 9th with no one to blame but myself. Deflation turned to happiness, though, upon hearing fellow NorCal pro (and friend) Bradyn Lange took the biggest win of his budding career. He seemed more surprised than anything, but many of us weren’t and all knew it was only a matter of time given his abilities.
I have a chance to write my wrongs in eight short days. Ranxo, the Gravel Earth Series finale in Spain is coming up, and I’ve got all the Swiss RX supplements ready to fight jet lag and boost the immune system.
So, What Was In Pete's Pocket?
Light and fast. That was the focus – since this USAC gravel race offered aid stations every 20mi.
750ml Race Day Bottles with a Maurten 320 x Mortal Hydration cocktail
SiS Beta Fuel Gel attached to each
SiS Nootropics Beta Fuel Gel for a boost
Clif Bloks to mix things up
Photo Credits: Jim Merithew (@tinyblackbox)
