Has it really been nine years since my first Belgium Waffle Ride (BWR) or, as it was once known, The Spy BWR? A lot has changed in the drop bar segment of cycling since 2014, and that includes BWR. Now on its 12th edition, BWR San Diego is now one of a series of events across the country. Each one offers a unique perspective and challenge to cycling.
For many, the challenge of riding any of the three distances alone is enough, but the reason BWR remains one of the most anticipated events on everyone’s calendar each year is its over-the-top atmosphere. Fun and competition are perfectly balanced. Then toss in the dynamic of bike and gear selection for the dirt segments, and you have an event that cyclists from all disciplines want to experience.
While most ride drop bar bikes, the before and after parties feel more like a mountain bike event where everyone is stoked to be together. Sure, it is one of the nation’s most contested and competitive events, but you don’t get that feeling when you are there. Even listening to the heavy hitters that were highlighted at the BWR Pro Press Pulpit on Friday would leave any rider debating their bike, tire, and overall equipment choices.
While I’m no pointy end rider, I have ridden in a few of these over the last nine years, and each year they are similar but never the same. For this edition, I’m going to try a different approach and give the Wanna Ride a try. In reality, this is tough for me because I always like to push myself, but I want to experience the full spectrum of what BWR offers, and this would also give me the opportunity to also be at the finish for the winners of both the Wafer and Waffle distances. Don’t get me wrong, a 45-mile ride with 4500ft of climbing is still going to be challenging since I already know there are going to be a lot of industry friends that are working the booths doing it and looking to get finished quickly.
MY BIKE OF CHOICE
To be completely honest, I set out to build a bike for the full pull 130-mile, 11,000ft Waffle ride that now has over 50 miles of unroad, aka dirt. Knowing that a lot of that dirt is fast and historically “smooth,” that means over 100 miles of road riding if you ask me. So like I have in the past, I set out to build a road bike with a target of 30-32mm tires.
Looking back at my first BWR, I rode a Giant TCR with 28mm tires that rubbed the frame. Back then It was tubes, rim brakes, and gravel hadn’t really been defined. I still think that would be a great bike option for someone looking to win, but having a slightly larger tire is probably the best bet for most these days.
When Chris from Litespeed told me there was a new flagship road bike coming out, I immediately knew this was a top contender for me. Then I was told the Spezia has room to fit up to a 35mm tire, so for me, it was almost set in stone that it would be the bike for BWR.
A flagship bike of course comes equipped with a flagship drivetrain, and the 12-speed Shimano Dura Ace with semi-wireless shifting was more than I needed. The 50/34 crankset and 11-34t cassette offer a 1:1 for climbing. This might seem like enough for most normal rides, but at BWR, you have the imfoumouse Double Peak climb in the last few miles. There really isn’t a good gear combination to tackle that best at the end of any ride.
The next and probably most debated aspect of any BWR bike is the wheel and tire combo. While the Spezia was delivered with an amazing set of Zipp 303 Firecrest wheels, I wanted something a little different. A set of Cadex AR 35 wheels with matching Cadex 32mm Classics road tubeless tires. The AR 35 offers a 60-tooth ratchet driver for almost instant engagement, great for the dirt sections. The highlight of the Cadex line of wheels is the high-tensile-strength carbon spokes. Beyond weight savings, the carbon spokes offer improved lateral stiffness and response.
The last debatable choice I made is to use road pedals and shoes. Sure, I wrote a whole article on why this is probably not the best choice, but I do believe that if you are going to ride offroad with road pedals, the Wahoo Speedplay design is the safest. Maybe not the least problematic because they are almost unusable if they get mud or dirt in them from walking or a hike-a-bike section. I don’t plan on walking too much, but after listening to the pros talk about how they walked a lot of dirt sections during recon, dirt pedals are probably the way to go for most.
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