BWR UTAH WAFFLE COURSE HIGHLIGHTS

Saturday, October 17
Location: Policy Kings Brewery, Cedar City, UT
125 Miles / 201 Kilometers
6,000 Feet of Climbing
75% off-road
Numerous Cattle Crossings, Water Crossing or Foot Bridges
6 Feed Zones

We finally have a view on what a professional gravel race looks like during COVID. Today, BWR Cedar City revealed its courses for both a Waffle and Wafer ride, along with guidelines for participants in the middle of the current pandemic. The new course offers similar distances, with roughly half the climbing of its San Diego sister race. Regardless of the stats, the organizers promise the same Belgian flavored hype and challenge that comes with the the BWR experience. On Saturday Oct 17, the field of riders will roll from Policy Kings Brewery in downtown Cedar City for a 125 mile adventure that will comprise of 75% dirt and 6000ft of climbing.

All photos courtesy of Belgian Waffle Ride

The Cedar City Wafer Ride will also start with the Waffle Ride and will traverse a course 78-miles in length, the first 54-miles of which are on the Waffle course. The last 11-miles of the Wafer route also follow the Waffle course.

The Route

At 125-miles in length, BWR Utah is shorter in length than the San Diego event and only climbs half the amount (but will hit an altitude of over 6,500 feet), 75% of the course is in gravel, sand, rocks or dirt, and the headwinds from approximately mile-42 to mile-97 will have a definite bearing on whether people finish or not. This is not to discount the other challenges of the course, of which there are many, including the suggestion for tires at least 40mm in width. You can find the 75-mile Wafer route here.

COVID MEASURES

Leaving the start/finish line after being corralled along the road in clusters of 50 or less people, riders will all be wearing masks for the initial part of the day… all the way up until the green flag is waved at mile-four and the race commences. Riders must also wear masks at every one of the Feed Zones, where they will need to interact with others and fill their water bottles and/or retrieve pre-packaged food to help them survive. For the Waffle, there are six Feed Zone and four for the Wafer.