6 Traka Takeaways
200km, or 360km? Safety, and livestreams.
It’s Traka weekend over in Girona, Catalonia.
It’s a race that is rapidly becoming the ‘Unbound of Europe’, and it’s a race that I started this morning.
I had a bit of a stinker, but here are some takeaways.
1. It’s the second biggest gravel race in the world
This week has confirmed Traka’s spot as the second biggest gravel race in the world. Discounting UCI Gravel Worlds, of course.
It attracts talent not just from gravel, but also MTB and road . It’s sponsored by the world’s biggest brands, and thousands of people come to race it.
What’s crazy with Traka is that I can only see it growing more. There’s room for a bigger expo, and to grow the offerings to amateurs.
Girona has been crazy this week - like absolutely bloody wild. There are more bikes than I’ve ever seen in this already bike-heavy town, and the prestige is coming to the race.
It’s not quite at Unbound levels, and I don’t think it ever will be, but it’s getting there.
2. 200km, or 360km?
The 200km race has always been the premier race at the Traka.
In the eyes of almost everybody, winning the Traka meant winning the 200km. This year, the organisers offered more Gravel Earth Series points to the winner of the 360km, which in effect made it the premier distance.
In addition, the 360km race was live-streamed, which was very well done, but also played into Klassmark pushing it as the weekend’s bigger event.
Not only did this split the talent across two races, but it also made it quite confusing to follow. Those competing in the GES overall favoured the 360km, while everyone else opted for the 200km. The 200km field was stronger and deeper, but some race favourites skipped it due to the 360km.
We need to pick a distance.
It seems that if Klassmark had their way, then it would be the 360km; if the riders have theirs, it’ll be the 200km.
3. We need to talk about safety.
Somebody has to say it, this race isn’t safe. I’m not talking about the course because, while it was more technical than most, that is what it is. I’m talking about racing full gas on open roads.
The organisers get around this by stating on their website that it’s a ‘non-competitive bicycle outing’, but, come on?!
There were more markings this year than last, but I still believe a course this technical needs to be marked with signs. And, road closures in places, too.
If this is going to become the second biggest race in the gravel world, we can’t have people racing full gas down open twisty descents. It’s a serious accident waiting to happen.
4. Hats Off
While I wasn’t a fan of the course, I’d say overall, this Traka has been a runaway success. A cracking livestream, lots of activations, and many happy riders.
This event has grown fast, and while it’s far from perfect, it’s on the way up.
5. Gravel is always a meme
No matter how much the sport grows, it’s so funny seeing how much of a meme it has become. It often felt like there were more cameras than bikes, more content than results.
It’s peak gravel in a way only gravel can be.
6. DNF’ing sucks
I called it a day after about 40km of racing. I have this annoying asthma-allergy-chest thing that has been bugging me for a couple of weeks. When going full gas, I start to get a tight chest, then I cough, then I start hacking up what feels like a fur ball. That leads to dry heaving, which leads to puking.
This happened on the first climb today and made me call it a day pretty quickly. Riding home, I was a mixture of sad and mad. I’ll get this sorted, but nobody wants to get off early.
Bonus: White shorts are cool
I didn’t last long in the race, but my shorts were cool.
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Bummer about your race.