Valeria Vornik: how the resident doctor did the Pokrov gravel race

Guest

Useful from the issue

1. Check the route in recent days

   The field on the route was plowed a couple of days before the start, and we learned about it from the participant. The control passage should be done as close as possible to the race, especially on agricultural land.

2. Narrow passages through settlements are dangerous

   The passage, which is quietly tolerated on reconnaissance, can cause a conflict when dozens of riders are riding there. It is better to coordinate or bypass sections through the co-op and private territories.

3. Camp and race are different tasks

   Lera divided the training into a camp and a race. Entertainment for those who do not go, you need to prepare in advance, otherwise they will be forgotten in the hustle and bustle.

4. Look for help nearby

   The first race is easier to do where there are people of their own: Lera's parents drove the team, looked at the points and helped at the start. Local reliance simplifies the entire organization.

5. Choose a logistics location

   Vladimir was chosen because it is convenient to get there from Moscow, St. Petersburg and Nizhny Novgorod, and dachas, highways and closed facilities interfere with the Moscow region.

6. Do not put the race close to the next one

   The participants complained of fatigue when the "Cover" went right after the Tsar Grader. Post dates with other organizers so that people have time for both races.

7. A beginner needs a safe place to ask questions

   Women's races, according to Lera's experience, give newcomers the opportunity to ask anything without toxic answers. This keeps people in the bike.

A bike for a thrill

In winter, Lera almost doesn't ride: the trainer is assembled behind the chest of drawers, but now there's a Christmas tree in its place, and that, in her words, is more important. She goes to the gym, sometimes rides around the neighborhood on a city bike and honestly admits that every spring she comes into the season wondering how to ride 50 km at all. The opening of last season was harsh: instead of Greece, friends went to Abkhazia and immediately on a broken road, after which it was painful to sit on the saddle the next morning.

Lera has been cycling seriously since 2019: she bought a single-speed bike, a helmet, and a lock, and then rode it to Vladimir with a friend in regular sneakers and with a backpack. There was a period when she used to ride over a hundred kilometers in the morning with a triathlete friend and thought about competitions, but her interest in long distances faded, and now she rides for fun and trips. Her plan is to change her road bike to a gravel bike, which she's been working towards since 2021, because she's tired of constantly adjusting the saddle on a shared bike.

"Reverse" as a reference point

Lera got to the last "Reverse" spontaneously, on a carbon gravel with wide tires borrowed from a friend: on it, she says, she flew like a swallow. It was right after the state exams at the medical school, and the race felt like a way out of a dark cave into a bright world: mutual assistance, discussions after the finish, a party until the morning and a whole city of tents, which then disappears in a few hours, leaving only trees.

Ilya recalls that after the Tsar Grader, several people also stayed in the forest until Monday. Lera confirms: after the "Covers", the family with the children stayed in their parking lot until Wednesday. She did not want to copy the "Reverse", but admits that any event somehow borrows successful ideas from others.

The camp and the race are two different projects

Lera divides the "Cover" into two parts: the camp and the race. The main goal was just to gather friends and acquaintances to hang out together, so the emphasis was on entertainment. Many of the plans — games and competitions for those who do not go to the race — were forgotten in the rush, but according to reviews on social networks, everyone is happy with the atmosphere.

Lera herself was able to rest only by nine in the evening, when she finally sat down on a folding chair and sat on it until two in the morning — ate, looked at the sky, danced a little. Ilya confirms a familiar feeling: the organizer's brain is busy with other processes, and he hardly sees his own event. On Sunday, by four o'clock, everything was dismantled, the garbage was collected, and an empty clearing in the rain, according to Lera, had an existential crisis.

The plowed field and the defenders of the SNT

Expectations and reality did not completely coincide with the race, and Lera does not deny organizational blunders. The last control passage of the route was at the beginning of the week, and on Friday the participant who went to ride the route reported that the field had been plowed over. It turned out that in the chernozem areas the field is left for several years, and then plowed without any public schedule — judging by the freshness of the chernozem, on Wednesday. The race videographer, however, was glad of such action.

The second problem was a section between two parts of a semi-abandoned SNT. The exit to the road without a shoulder was considered more dangerous, so the route went along an abandoned road through a makeshift barrier and a small bridge. When two or three people passed through there on a reconnaissance mission, no one objected, but on the day of the race, local women first shouted and then started hitting participants with the chain from the barrier. One of the riders persuaded them with a story about support for sports from above, but Lera still considers this section dangerous.

Who does the first race

The backbone of the organizers is five or six friends in a general chat, who enthusiastically took on the main tasks. There are dozens of assistants around: someone made a website, someone brought to the artist for inscriptions and merch, someone brought a motorhome, someone gave out numbers. Lera considers everyone who had a hand, even morally, to be the organizers.

A special role is played by parents who live near Vladimir. They were the first to support the idea, fed and drove the team on reconnaissance, went to see the points for the camp according to the sent geo-positions; Lera counted on their help with initial investments. Vladimir was chosen both because of this and because of logistics: there are too many dachas, highways and closed facilities in the Moscow region, and Vladimir is easily accessible from Moscow by car and train, there is a train from St. Petersburg, not far from Nizhny Novgorod.

Money, social networks and plans

Whether there will be a "Cover" in 2024, Lera does not want to promise: state examinations and accreditation are ahead again, and the first race was one big rush. If they gather, they will most likely move the date closer to August so as not to stand close to the Tsar Grader — last time the participants complained that they were tired after Ilya's race. The sore point is the price of the slot: I just want to go to zero, and with free practice in residency, every trip rests on money.

Both admit that they do not like SMM. Lera deleted Instagram and felt great, but she understands that she will have to drive it for the race or find a person. Ilya was lucky: in 2023, the backbone of the organizers formed around him, and he handed over the social networks to them. He also talks about his plans: the Tour de Selishchi and the Tsar Grader on June 29, as well as the cyclocross series combined with the St. Petersburg guys with points scoring.

Moscow Community and women's races

The Moscow cycling community seems more fragmented to Lera than the St. Petersburg one, although she notes that these are personal feelings. A couple of years ago, according to her, there was a strict division into clubs, and in some they judged by appearance: coming to a ride in a T-shirt instead of a jersey was embarrassing. Now there are many clubs, coffee rides and evening rides from bars and cafes, and you can come to all of them.

Her own entry into the community is the women's Races: there you can ask any question without condemnation, from how to change the camera to purely feminine — what to do during menstruation and whether you need underwear for bibs. In the general community, you can get an arrogant answer to such questions, after which a person closes up and stops riding. The main thing, Lera reminds, is not to forget what it's all about: to ride, see new places and meet people, and not for the sake of showing off kilometers.

Timestamps

1. 00:00What is the issue about
2. 00:47Jokes from the camp
3. 02:22How are you and what's going on in winter
4. 05:17How long has he been riding
5. 07:44Bike change
6. 09:24Race "Reverse"
7. 14:06Organization of "Covers"
8. 24:24Who helped with the organization
9. 26:51Pochemu Vladimir
10. 30:16Will there be a race this year
11. 31:31Moscow Cycling Community
12. 35:03Women's pokatushki
13. 40:00Trips with a bicycle
14. 43:34Tour de Selishchi and Tsar Grader
15. 47:13Social networks and race dates

Mentioned in this episode

Pokrov · Reverse · Tsar Grader · Tour de Selishchi · Instagram