Graveller Q&A: Rob Britton
In the lead up to TransRockies Gravel Royale, we spoke to a number of pro riders about their preparation for the race, why they’re excited to attend, and all things gravel.
Rob Britton is a former professional road cyclist, most recently for the Rally Cycling team. During his road racing career, he won the Tour of Utah as well as the Tour of the Gila, among other top results. He announced his retirement from road racing last year and set off on his own to race gravel this year, supported by brands like Felt Bicycles.
What has attracted you to gravel racing this year?
In general, it’s something that I've really enjoyed long before it was kind of pop culture. We used to ride around on ‘cross bikes on mountain bike trails. Then obviously, the bikes have changed so much and now you can take your road bike just about anywhere. It was a passion that I couldn't ignore much longer. And it was something that was taken away from my focus. On the road, I just sort of kept exploring more and more down these little gravel roads and dirt roads even last year, pushing the limits of what my road bike could do. I had this itch that I needed to skratch and I kind of got to the point where road racing, even though it's more lucrative compared to the risk of going out on your own to do gravel, It just wasn't worth the commitment and sacrifice for what I was getting out of it. The excitement and trying something new like gravel is too much to ignore. Things kind of lined up and I made the move at the end of last year and I’m super stoked to do it.
What does your training look like heading into this season and the TransRockies Gravel Royale?
I don't think it's necessarily that much different than training for the road. I mean, the thing that I was really good at racing on the road was just my general endurance for extra long stuff. I love going out and riding in excess of five, six, seven hours sometimes. I really enjoy these big, long days, and I think that's kind of a massive strength for gravel racing as a lot of these events - that's what makes them unique is they kind of breach into this uncharted territory. Most road races don't go over four to five hours. There's kind of like a benchmark for the road race; the classics are maybe six hours but you don't have nine hour road races. I really enjoy it anyway, so the training I did for the road sort of suits it almost better. I don't get in trouble from my directors or coaches for riding my bike too long now because that’s sort of par for the course for these things.
Why did you sign up for TransRockies Gravel Royale?
In Canada, there's basically two big stage races in the Rockies. You have TransRockies and you The B.C. Bike Race. With Felt sponsoring TransRockies and Easton as well, It was like this perfect partnership. It's a race that my two biggest sponsors are promoting and it's essentially my backyard. Racing all through the Canadian Rockies, which are just an iconic climax of our country. You don’t get that opportunity very often. So when it was available, I was really, really stoked to actually finally be able to do it.
Have you noticed any differences between the gravel scene in Canada and the US?
I don't know if Canada necessarily has an official gravel off-road scene. With the exception of World Tour races in Quebec and Tour de Beauce, there's not a lot of international recognition for racing on the road in Canada. I think the same is true with gravel. We don't really have a scene. I think each province has a couple of little things, but no one outside of those provinces has really heard of all these events. I think stuff like TransRockies is doing a good job of promoting what Canada has to offer and really growing that fan base and people doing it and participating. I think we're really kind of in the infancy of having races of an international caliber in the country. The last three years haven't really been very friendly for the growth of bike racing pretty much anywhere.
What will your bike setup look like for TRGR?
The frame is Felt obviously. They have a new one coming out, which is super exciting. For the terrain I know that's out there, I'd probably be running about a 40mm Schwalbe G-one tire, and then because of my partnership with Easton that comes with connections with Fox as well. So I think for the TransRockies there's a good chance that I'll probably be running the new Fox suspension gravel fork, which is something else coming out in the near future. I've had a chance to ride it here and it’s a lot of fun. I think for certain courses it's a huge advantage.
Do you have any advice for riders taking on a stage race for the first time?
The best advice I ever got is related to nutrition for these things. It's sort of like your recovery is your fuel and your fuel is your recovery, and it's just sort of like day in day out. You're always kind of eating for the next thing and recovering for the next day. That's the hardest thing during stage races. It's so easy to get depleted and then your recovery stops, and if your recovery stops your performance stops. It's just a super vicious cycle. Over four or five days, you kind of have to be topped up all the time. So there's no such thing as eating too much. These events are about recovering enough in between, and that means different things to different people. Some people are going to be in it for the win in their age category, and then other people are going to be in it just for the experience of doing something like this. So you need to just really focus on your goal so that each day you can kind of get the most out of yourself. That's probably the best advice I could give is, off the bike, just treat yourself well because those days back to back to back really add up, and it can make the last couple days really drag on if you're behind the eight ball a bit.
What are you most excited about at TRGR?
There's a lot of history in the TransRockies events, like TransRockies Stage Race and Singletrack 6, which are some of the massive original mountain bike stage races. And so the pedigree and excellence of these events has existed for the last couple of decades. It's pretty cool to have that organizing committee and that knowledge base transitioning over to putting on a gravel event. I think anybody who's considering doing it should definitely jump on board because it’s going to be an awesome race and you can treat it however you want. That's the thing about gravel. You can have people that are super competitive, and they're racing to win outright and other people who are just racing to challenge themselves. And after the last couple of years, hopefully COVID is all behind us and everyone gets that opportunity to take advantage of the personal challenge. Regardless of your race, it's going to be challenging for everybody. The terrain in the area is super difficult and I think super unique compared to a lot of gravel races. I guess I don't know a ton about different courses, but I do know Canadian gravel tends to be a lot more gnarly than a lot of other places.