Ken's story: Rough Road and Barry Roubaix

BaseCamp athlete Ken Carl shared his experience at the 2025 Rough Road 100 bike race in Illinois and the 2025 Barry-Roubaix bike race in Michigan.

Rain and sunshine, a double race report.

I am too old to be young, yet that does not diminish having fun. Birthday month for year sixty-nine. Born before space flight while RCA was amazing the world with color TV (a classic observation, so stereotypical for a person who only knew mono as a child).

Also season beginning race month. After a sad time for Mid-South we all looked forward to better days.

Racing started with Rough Road in Morris, Illinois. The puddle race. It had been raining for days prior and on the drive to the race. The hoped for sun did not come out, yet the rain stopped, and it was early April warmish. Rain puddles were everywhere; thus we never got dry or really warm. I crushed the first 25 miles and then I was crushed. Felt silly good at the beginning and did not temper my enthusiasm. Let the fun energy burn on and out. Fun to stay with a fast strong group. A moment of that youthful fountain. The payout was quick and costly. Right leg cramp, general pain. Power dropped 40 watts. Each puddle was colder then the one before. At mile 32 I turned around to the Circle K for much need hot chocolate and a warm place to stand. Amazing I kept the reset break to less then 10 minutes. The first few restart miles sucked. Then the next few sucked less. Then I began to get into the rhythm. Catch and pass. Find the zone and add a few watts. I cruised into the finish without incident. A reasonable first effort.

The missing jersey of Berry Roubaix. Let's start with the silly. I forgot to pack my BaseCamp Explore team race jersey. I forgot to pack ANY jerseys. My beautiful green long sleeve, my favorite Explorer BC short sleeve and vest were right where I left them, hanging above the bed ready for packing.

At least this was a new forget. This of course adjusted my timeline and stress expenditure. Thankfully they still had a few "official race jerseys" at registration. They only had a small short sleeve left, the display one. Due to not eating too much ice cream during winter BaseCamp training (or the sizing was generous), it fit. I did pack my BaseCamp arm warmers and a wind stop base layer.

Feeling snazzy and clever, got a warmup in and was 100% ready until the race started. About 100 yards in, my bike would not shift. Yes, I had put a fresh battery in that morning. Not believing the obnoxious reality, I relied on the SRAM app to confirm the derailer battery was kaput. Took a moment to dig out the extra battery and swap. During that time two more start waves had passed me by. My race plans were punched in the face. Did a bit of burning and churning to catch up. Later Coach Kathy Watts said I was at FTP and about for the first 20 min. Nothing like doing an FTP test to start a 4 hour ride. Again thanking our BaseCamp training, I was able to bonfire the beginning and have matches left for the day. The new plan was catch and release as many as possible. Being so far behind provides a target-rich environment. My main goal was still enacted, finish the 100K non stop. No rest stops, no refresh.

The race course thankfully was dry, fast, and fun. There were sections for speedy road runs, punchy hills, a bit of double track, and some sand to swim in. A shout out to gravel camp training. I rolled the double track well. Rode through all except the deepest sand traps and picked good lines through the pothole sections.

I was also able to apply my second goal: Maintain consistent power, strength, durability from start to finish. My average power and normalized were within 7 watts. Overall power was in Tempo zone. Felt good throughout and stronger than the week before.

Yep, having fun. No, have not looked at my placing or finish time yet. The fact I finished happy and 100% healthy is good enough for now.