WhiteStone Gravel Fest 2025
Hi, this is Kevin / @brainopera representing the @weekendgravelcrew. This ride story comes from my Instagram race report here.
Before I share the race report here, just wish to thank the race organizers and our SG & MY friends (obviously can’t tag all) who we mutually supported, be it navigation or photo/video taking!
The WeekendGravelCrew is a fun gravel cycling community and eleven (out of around 110 now) of us teleported from Singapore to Port Dickson, Malaysia to participate in our first (or second) gravel race.
Superb fun time at @whitestonegravelfest , so kudos to the organizing crews there, including @graveljerks and other Singapore and Malaysian gravel racers who made the scene as happening as it is today!
Pure gravel race as mostly Cat 1-2 gravel. Slight tricky moves for sandy river bank areas but lots of road for speed.
Aside from fitness, the ultimate decider was navigation and spatial awareness which was surprisingly important for a race which criss crosses itself, especially when you’re racing hard and fatigued. You can’t blindly trust your bike computer as you’ll sometimes reach a junction with lines going both directions.
You’ll overheard racers wishing @garmin indicating different colored lines for sequential routing. Also in the gravel off-road sections the map lines might not be perfect and you have to make judgement call while under fire to maintain racing position.
You also can’t just follow the guy in front of you or you’d accidentally clock extra miles and lose your position, unless you want to like ‪@maxiuswong. See his destination “Holland” video! Mostly rolling hills so if you moderate and pace you can leverage descents to ease the climbs.
However end point was a climbers highlight where the finished was at the hill top to the lighthouse. Elevation said to be similar to Mt Faber and it gets extra hard after 100+km of off-road torture.
This year’s relatively overcast weather helped with heat management. Looking forward to more gravel races with our new Malaysian friends!
Now where should we gravel race next? @rokkgravelrumble? @grebelkrusher in JB? Maybe the return of @yndgravelrace 🤓
