XXV.SIX/AEIGHTRACERBLOG – UTOPIAGRAVELSUPPORT
- eightbikeco5
- Apr 10
- 8 min read
The first weekend in April has always marked the real start to racing - back in the day it would have been my first National Points Series Race, but nowadays as a mechanic first and racer second, it’s now the first Spanish Gravel Support trip of the year. Whatever the race, these first ones are a true test of grit, and who’s nailed the long winter of training. Most of the riders have new bikes/equipment, and no one really knows how well they are going until you go head to head...
Obviously being a Gravel Race, you’d build up, and bring out a Gravel Bike right? Wrong.
I stock Fifty-One Bikes at the AEIGHT MANUFACTORY, and they also sponsor one of my riders, Jesse Yates. We’re trying to approach the season a little differently this year and Jesse came up with an ambitious plan for the first few months of the year. He raced, and won, The Atlas Mountain Race with his brother, which he did aboard a custom built mountain bike. He then spent some time out in Spain training in the sun using his 2024 OG Series Assassin Gravel bike - both on road with Zipp 303/Schwalbe Pro One’s, and off road with Zipp 101 XPLR/Schwalbe G One R’s. Back at base, I received his Sika Road bike back from Fifty-One and rebuilt that, and this would be the bike which I would bring to Utopia!
Why? Well, of course he’s racing his Assassin at Utopia, but following the race, near Baza in Southern Spain we immediately headed up to altitude at Sierra Nevada, for him to spend a couple of weeks recovering and training, and crucially sleeping up high. For this he’ll be on the Sika which I brought out, whilst I’ll fly home with his Assassin, to get ready for Traka! But that’s getting ahead of ourselves - first Utopia.
I’ve never been this far south in Spain and from the moment we touched down everything about the landscape was on another scale - the hills are massive rolling beasts that sit lazily in the harsh sun, with barely a drop of water to sustain them. The trees are scrubby and knarled by the harsh conditions and the eagles float wearily around waiting for their prey. Humans have built themselves homes straight out of the rocks and we stayed in one such cave, 20 minutes from the course. Jesse and his coach/DS/Dad, Sean, recced the start and finish areas of the course on Thursday as I flew in. Then on Friday we headed out into the desert to recce the tech/feed-zone, and the western edge of the course which was possibly the hardest area.
In the afternoon I spent a few hours cleaning and prepping everything ahead of the race. I built myself a small work area just behind the van, in the sun, and happily tinkered with everything, chaining Jesse’s gearing setup and giving the bike a once over, following a week’s worth of training. Then we went down to the town to pick up number boards and sign on. It was the first chance we’d had to see a startlist, and it was clear that a lot of great riders were opening their season here. We met up with our friend Sam, who also needed a quick adjustment to his bike, and as I got on with that, it was nice to chat about bikes, training, and it really felt like the racing season was about to start!
Back at the cave we had dinner watching an old racing movie and got an early night.
Saturday morning came around fast and we loaded up the van with everything we’d need to hand for the race, plus everything else we’d need for later tucked away. We arrived just before dawn and as the sun rose, Sean and Jesse warmed up down the main road. Shortly before 8:30 I headed up to the start to take bottles and jackets. As the riders disappeared into the chilly morning air I jumped into the van to head them off at the 25km mark!
One thing that’s changing in Gravel racing is the emergence of teams, and the Classified team here had three strong riders, one of whom had decided that his job was to explode the race from the beginning. With Atlas and some other work events in Jesse’s legs, he was really looking forward to a strong, but steady start. When I saw the riders at the top of the first climb 14 rider had made the selection, and there was only a 45 second gap back to group 2 which included Jesse, but crucially the next two sections were being ripped apart by brutal headwinds. The lead group forced the pace and built their gap up to five minutes fairly rapidly as riders behind looked at each other and Jesse was trapped in group two!
When the race doesn’t go to plan you have have to use it for training and get what you can out of it - this is the case for both rider and mechanic. I’m pretty well drilled on what I need in the pits, but even so, for the first event of the year there’s always something you could improve upon. I made some notes and focused of doing a nice job of helping both Sam and Jesse, who both had a good plan with bottles and gels. Getting everything in the right place at the right time isn’t rocket science, but there's still an art to it. It’s also important to get some decent photos and/or videos for the riders and whilst this mustn’t get in the way, it’s also an important way to show off what we do - the mechanic ends up with lots of jobs, but they’re all quite fun!
After the tech zone the riders went out into the Gorafe desert for the hottest and steepest part of the race - as they climbed back up to where I was the race got blown to bits - gone were any meaningful groups except the first four riders on the road and Jesse’s group of five... he then did a great job motivating them, and they started to reel in the riders in front of them who had been detonated from the initial lead group. Sean had always planned on a slightly shorter day out, and he jumped in the van at the tech zone, and then we both headed out to catch Jesse up. The gaps between riders were now huge, as the wind swirled around the course and Jesse was doing a great job of leap-frogging people. We saw him one last time before dropping down to the finish, where Sam and Jesse rolled home within a minute of one another, in 12th and 13th. A big tough brutal bastard of a day, and some brilliant race pace miles in the legs.
Jesse and Sean were in good spirits at the end and criticised each other’s rides as only a father and son of this palmares can! We cleaned and packed everything and headed up the hill to Sierra Nevada! My lodgings were at a paltry 1250m, but made the perfect cache for storing gear and making dinner, before Jesse headed up to over 2000m to get the benefit of the altitude. The benefit of my ski lodge was the toasty underfloor heating, whilst the Yates’ needed every layer available for a couple of nights in the van!
On Sunday I inherited the Assassin and despite the brakes being the wrong way around we promptly launched ourselves down the mountain for a coffee by the lake. The frame and the equipment is very similar to what I run so I felt relatively at home, and we had a super relaxed cruise along the Canales Reservoir, before heading back up the mountain. The Yates’ debrief from the race was still going on and the only thing which could mute it was the tour of Flanders which we watched outside a bar halfway up the mountain - Perfect Sunday!
Monday came around quickly and I got up early for one last spin in the hills! I found two roads which were even steeper than yesterdays one and then I treated myself to a double cafe con leche in the Flanders bar, before boxing up the bike and heading to the airport. Our final job was to help Jesse move in to his apartment for the next two weeks of altitude training before a quick bit of lunch and the long drive to the airport where Sean and I discussed everything from Land Rovers to Chinese Bikes - a great trip and perfect prep for our next few races.
Photos by Glen Whittington
2025.RIDERS - GLENWHITTINGTON
#aeightracer – Bike Rider / Framebuilder / Mechanic - Glen started racing in 1998, initially specialising in XCO and Solo 24-Hour Mountain Bike. He became a mechanic in 2002, working in shops and also for professional race teams. During this time he spent more time racing ‘Cross and Road, and then also TT. In 2013 he built his first bespoke frame and then spent several years at Roberts learning the art. Since then he’s designed, tested and now sells his own frames/bikes to the public as part of his ÆIGHT brand - you can find his business Instagram account here.
2025.RIDERS – JESSEYATES
Jesse started cycling in 2013, initially with TT’s and then with some local road races, while being supported by his Dad. In 2015 he got a taste for racing in Britany and this led to two seasons on a French team living abroad while on The Dave Rayner Fund. Then he joined Team Wiggins in 2018, racing across Europe. After a years break he continued road racing before making the switch to competing in off road events and Ultra races in 2022/2023 where the most notable result has been a Badlands Pairs win and a host of top ten places. In 2024 he stepped things up with strong rides at Traka 360 and at Unbound in Kansas, coming as the first British rider - supported on the ground by AEIGHT.
Jesse is sponsored and supported by Fifty One Frames (available at AEIGHT), CAMS, SRAM Groupsets, Zipp Wheels, Schwalbe Tyres UK, Time Pedals, SN Vitae BBs, Exposure Lights, Fizik Tapes and Saddles, Ten Eighty (Oakley) Glasses, OTE Nutrition, Sean Yates Coaching, Restrap Bags and The School House Clinic. You can follow him on Instagram, Strava and YouTube.
GOT WHAT IT TAKES TO RACE WITH US?
We’re always looking for riders to be part of our ÆIGHT CØLLECTIVE. The #aeightbikeco is about doing things a little differently - Rather than a jersey being the common theme, we kit our riders out with bespoke steel bikes and handbuilt wheels made in our Sussex workshops, the ÆIGHT WHEELWØRKS and the ÆIGHT MANUFACTØRY. We then support each other at events and races regionally, nationally and internationally - whether that’s for mountain bike, ‘cross, gravel, crit, road or TT - it’s what we call, the #aeightbikeco
The best part is that we’re not asking you to leave your team or club - that includes racing in your club/team kit. We’ve got certain brands that we work with, mostly so we can standardise shared equipment, but your own sponsors and clubs are almost always welcome. We have some strict qualifying criteria but don’t be put off by this – if you’re interested in being part of the #aeightbikeco then please get in touch by emailing your racing CV to eightbikeco@gmail.com
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