Iowa Gravel Series

Ross Hansen, a physician’s assistant and lover of all things endurance sports, joins the Iowa Gravel Series Podium Podcast to share his origin story. A relative newcomer to the gravel scene, Ross dove into the world of gravel grinding after a stress fracture effected his running goals. Fortunately, he signed up for a two gravel races and has been on the podium each time! Seems like he’s made a good pivot.

In this episode, two IGS races:

• Silver City: A crash-filled (but ultimately successful!) first race.
• Soldier Cutoff Hill Duro: A challenging course with some unique features that left Ross wondering if the organizers were “screwing with us.” (Spoiler alert: he loved it!)

We also dig into:

• The challenges of navigating loose gravel and steep hills.
• The importance of tire pressure and trusting your bike.
• Ross’s training philosophy; are hot dogs and mac and cheese all we need for the podium?
• The joys of learning new things in middle age.

It’s a fun chat, so we hope you get inspired to tackle some new adventures (and maybe a few hills) yourself!