It was like a one-night stand, my buddy Zac said of the weekend's 80-mile dirt sportive in the pouring rain: "Fun at the time, but in the morning I had some regrets."
Put on by local cyclocross fanatic Michael Robson, ButterGold is a friends-of-friends event held on backroads around Boulder, Colorado. Robson, a former pro roadie turned pro photographer and purveyor of Butter products, is generally happiest when conditions are the nastiest. During the ButterGold's seven hours of continuous rain and splattering mud, the Aussie was all grins.
I used the event as an excuse to brutally test the Focus Cayo Evo 4.0 Disc, with a few modifications. The only substantial change was swapping out the stock 25mm Schwalbe Durano clinchers for 27mm Vittoria Pavés. Having spent the last few weeks on 28mm Continental SuperSports that ballooned up to 30mm on the BMC Granfondo's Shimano RX31 wheels, I'd been spoiled by all the cushioning. I also swapped the stock Fizik Arione for an Aliante, put on an SKS mudguard in utterly futile hopes of reducing road spray, and clamped on a Garmin Edge 1000 with a K-Edge to stay on track. (Or perhaps bail out and still find my way home.)
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Some pieces of equipment passed the gritty test with flying colours. Others, not so much.
I hoped the 'guard would keep the mud off my back and the insulated CamelBak would keep my drink hot. Both quickly failed
- The course: ButterGold, an underground 100mi sportive (abbreviated to 80mi for weather) with generous portions of dirt roads; staggered start for 100 friends of friends, with the goal of all coming together during the ride then hammering the final portion
- The equipment goal: Speed and comfort for a long day. Meaning, a road bike with a racy position (read: no enormous head tube); fat, plush tyres to soak up impacts from rough dirt roads without overly compromising speed on pavement; enough tyre clearance should rain turn the dirt to sloppy mud; an agreeable saddle. Also, reliable GPS to take shortcuts, should they be needed!
- The horse: A Focus Cayo Evo 4.0 Disc, with 27mm Vittoria Pavé clinchers replacing stock 25mm Schwalbe Duranos, Fizik Aliante replacing stock Arione, and Shimano Ultegra pedals, Garmin Edge 1000, K-Edge XL Mount, SKS X-Tra-Dry mudguard
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