https://roadbikeaction.com/belgian-waffle-ride-photo-gallery/

GRIFFIN AND HIS BROTHER, CULLEN, RUN THE OPICURE FOUNDATION, WHICH IS DEDICATED TO BRINGING AWARENESS OF OPIOID ADDICTION, REDEFINING BEST PRACTICES FOR RECOVERY AND DEVOTING RESOURCES TO AFFECT POSITIVE CHANGE IN THE UTAH COMMUNITY AND BEYOND. THE BWR HAS PARTNERED WITH OPICURE FOR ALL THE EVENTS THIS YEAR. WE HAVE OUR FIRST OPICURE STORY OF THE YEAR WITH LUCIE KAYSER-BRIL, WHO COMPLETED THE WAFFLE. HER STORY IS BELOW GRIFFIN'S...

Griffin Easter
3rd Place

I didn’t know what to expect when I lined up for BWR California. I participated in two BWR Cedar City editions, but never the OG Hell of the West. In early March I suffered a concussion after crashing in training which shut things down for roughly 3 weeks. I still had good preparations before the race, but it was a small window to find the speed again. My course recon was the last dirt sector and part of Double Peak. Suffice to say, I had yet to see the meat and potatoes of the 137-mile monument.

One thing I did know, I was representing the OpiCure Foundation p/b Orange Seal Gravel Team. We have a very special partnership with BWR as their official national charity. We as well as Monuments of Cycling believe the bicycle and gravel community can act as a tool for those in recovery from opioid use disorder. We are in the Quadruple Crown and this marked race #1. Stoke levels were high.

I had many highlights on race day, one was before and another was after the race. Before the start, the national anthem started playing on the speakers. Then suddenly cut out. A small silence followed. But then one person began singing the words, and another in tow and another after that. I joined in and I could feel the mass of the 2000 Waffle riders grouped together connecting before taking to battle. It was memorable.

After the race, I watched as Lucie Kayser-Bril, our first sponsored rider in recovery from opioid use disorder, crossed The Waffle finish line and was immediately enveloped by her kids that had been anxiously awaiting her arrival. She is such an inspiration and seeing how the bicycle positively affects not just her but her family brought tears to the eyes.

But let’s dig into the race action. Here are a few other memorable moments...

VERSTANDSVERBIJSTERING
I did not have good legs, flashes of the 2017 La Vuelta a Colombia started going through my mind. I questioned how the rest of the day would pan out. Is this how hard it’s going to be all day? Matt Beers South African National Marathon MTB Champion was on the front setting a blistering pace. I managed to just hang on the front group and entered into DUBBELBERG TWISTENWEG OMGEKEERDE.

LEMONTWISTENBERG
Traffic cones, a u-turn in the distance and riders getting antsy. My gut told me I needed to move up. Right before we flipped the u-turn I made an acceleration and slotted into 3rd or so position. Exiting the turn we immediately entered the dirt. That dirt sector proved a big selection. There was dust, rocks, descents, rollers, screaming fans, and a legitimate mountain biking trail which bottle necked to a complete stop. The selections were beginning and we hadn’t even reached halfway.

ZWARTENBERG KORT
This was where the race entered into the business end. I'd guess we were roughly ten riders leading into this climb and sector. Alexey Vermeulen took to the front and all hell broke loose. As well as bikes, bones, teeth, legs and minds. The washboard terrain was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. There was no fast or smooth line. There was only the unforgiving watt zapping washboard line. I don’t remember much, but I do remember by the top of that climb and out the other end we were down to maybe six. Matt Beers, Alexey Vermeulen, Lance Haidet, Eric Brunner, Alex Howes, Peter Stetina and myself

SANDY BANDY
Two words, hold on. It was quite clear early on, Alexey Vermeulen was having very good day. He was fast on the flats and fast on the climbs. In this sector he was pummeling the dirt. I managed to be there but the legs were far from a hero day. We came to a road block at the end, dismounted, ducked underneath and back onto pavement.

BANDYWEG
Where the race was won. Alexey mounted up and by the time we all got through the gate he was floating away on the treacherous wall that awaited. I couldn’t make that move. So I hunkered in and kept things steady. We were three: Matt Beers, Eric Brunner and myself. Alex Howes bridged across to Alexey.

MUUR VAN DUBBELBERG
By this point I was with rider Matt Beers. We had split from Eric Brunner in the lower slopes. Race support was saying Alex Howes was only 1 minute up the road. Neither of us had attacking level energy so we agreed to keep it steady all the way up. We could see Howes in the distance. Beers and I entered DUBBELBERG TWISTENWEG he taking the lead. We stayed together throughout and finally exited back to descend what we started our day on. As we entered on the the descent we made contact with Alex Howes. We were now 2nd, 3rd and 4th on the road.

OPWINDEN
I did not do my homework. The finish was not your traditional road race finish. We turned right onto the starting corral and quickly took a left downhill towards the Expo. Barriers narrowed and the order was Matt Beers, myself and Alex Howes. Turn, twist, left, right, finish line!
I managed to hold onto third finishing in the same time as 2nd. We both crossed the line and immediately grinned and fist bumped, with copious amounts of dirt covering our faces. We had finished our first BWR California and had a hell of a good time doing it.

EN FIN
I want to say thank you to BWR for putting on an incredible event. This had long been a bucket list race and I am so honored to say I’ve survived the Hell of the West. The stoke is still coursing and I cannot wait to ship out for BWR North Carolina. Thank you to all our partners for believing in the OpiCure Foundation mission. We couldn’t be here without you all. With that, I’m off to bed!

OpiCure Foundation p/b Orange Seal Gravel Team 

BWR California Race Weekend Recap

Thursday April 28, 2022

AM

The idle of three vehicles reverberated across three different states. Utah, California and Arizona. Our first Belgian Waffle Ride was at the cusp of beginning. Utah included both President and Community Director of OpiCure Foundation, Cullen Easter and Sydney Berry respectively.  California sat Lucie Kayser-Bril our first sponsored rider in recovery and her two children Emil and Aggie. Arizona simmered Vice President Griffin Easter. The date was April 28th and the mission was The Scandia Motel in beautiful Carlsbad, CA. All three teams turned the dial of their radios to ten, and put the pedal to the metal…actually into Eco, gas prices are not cheap these days ;).

Lucie Kayser-Bril is our first sponsored rider in recovery from opioid use disorder. She found OpiCure Foundation through an application we sent out to the Utah recovery community and our connection has been kismet ever since. She and her two adorable kiddos drove out a day earlier, in order to make the obligatory day trip to Legoland. It’s safe to say all now have advanced degrees in block building.  Fast forward to 4pm April 28th, and everyone who hailed from their respective domains arrived at the quaint yet beautiful Scandia Motel. BWR California had begun.

PM

Thursday night was the BWR course preview kick off with none other than Michael Marckx.  He combed through the daunting course that lay ahead, including 137-miles, dirt and an elevation gain of 11,000 feet. None of our riders had any previous race experience at a BWR California, so emotions like nerves, anxiety and bewilderment permeated our minds.  Luckily, our worries were eased knowing we have some of the best partners in the cycling business behind us: Orange Seal, Canyon Bicycles, Kenda Tires, ENVE Composites, Giro, ProBikeKit USA, Morvelo, BWR, Know Your Script, Peak State Fit, Bliz Eyewear, University of Utah Health, Huntsman Mental Health Institute, Larry H. Miller Group of Companies and SRAM.  That collective belief in the mission of OpiCure Foundation, using the bicycle and gravel community as a tool to help assist those in recovery from opioid use disorder, reaffirmed we were more than ready to take to the start line Saturday morning.  Lastly, President and Vice President of OpiCure Foundation, Cullen and Griffin Easter, had the incredible honor to talk to the event’s attendees about the mission at OpiCure Foundation as well as our incredible partnership as the National Charity Partner of the BWR Series.  

Friday April 29, 2022

AM

BLEEP, BLEEP, BLEEP 7:00AM.  There were mixed reports of sleep quality from the night before from the OpiCure Foundation crew.  Apparently beds are not created equally. First item of business, coffee and fast!  A quick head count and we hit the Carlsbad sidewalks.  A warm and inviting coffee shop specializing in, you guessed it, coffee welcomed our patronage.  Bagels and cream cheese, a variety of instant oatmeal and a small array of pastries were at our disposal.  But most importantly, the crew was beginning to smile. The first sips of coffee had commenced.  The rest of the day would be no problem.  

We left the Scandia Motel just before 9AM to register, have our bikes looked through one last time by the mechanic team over at Canyon Bicycles, preview some of the 137 miles of terrain, say hello to our incredible partners based at the Event Expo and for Lucie to take part in the Ice Cream social ride at 2PM with her kiddos and one of our incredible OpiCure Foundation volunteers for the weekend Katie Bonebrake.  

Registration, check!  Bikes looked through and ready to rip, check!  Lucie and Katie got kitted up and rolled out with the many other fellow Ice Cream socialites while Emil and Aggie went ahead with the Canyon peeps to wait for their arrival and of course, eat ice cream cones basking in the warm California sun.  

At the same time, Cullen, Sydney and Griffin headed out to preview the starting climb, final dirt sector and final challenge Double Peak.  The starting climb was a new edition to the race and we all agreed it was the safest and best way to find your group for the day.  The dirt sector was very hootable and hollereable.  Double Peak was slow and steep.  These sections were just the tip of the iceberg but quickly confirmed the infamous Hell of the West title.

PM

We made it back to the Scandia Motel and had some downtime to organize race food, install our number plates and go down to the beach to bask alongside the beautiful Pacific Ocean.  After satiating our appetites with crisp salty ocean air we worked up quite the appetite.  Cullen glanced at Griffin and said, “When you’re here you’re family?” Griffin grinned and responded with, “When you’re here you’re family.”  At our first trip to Oklahoma racing The Mid-South we ate dinner at the world famous Olive Garden and haven’t looked back. Endless soup, salads, breadsticks and heaping plates of spaghetti.  Need we say more?  That night, Ben Raybould, another OpiCure Foundation volunteer joined us at Olive Garden for what has now become an OpiCure Foundation pre-race tradition.

April 30, 2022

AM

Imagine a motel bed, now imagine a buffet of oatmeal, yogurt, bananas, coffee (in cardboard bowls), peanut butter, cold hard boiled eggs and nowhere to sit. Breakfast was served and it was 430AM.  Perhaps our “restaurant” was non-traditional, however, the quality of food and goal of packing in calories was superb. Everyone was fueled and ready to roll out to the start of the Belgian Waffle Ride San Marcos 2022.

We parked just past the start line amongst the fantastic road safety police team for the day.  The air was crisp.  Race day was here. Lucie was smiling from ear to ear.  Cullen, Sydney and Griffin were laughing.  The work was done.  All that was left was to ride, and enjoy it.  The number of riders totaled roughly 2,000 people.  Things can be hectic before the gun goes off.  So before we made it to our respective positions in the pack we huddled up, put our fists together and chanted OPICURE!  

The course and race did not disappoint.  Below are very brief recaps of how our riders fared.

Griffin: Rode to an incredible 3rd place finish.

Cullen: Rode a strong race but early on suffered a hard crash.  He split his chin which required an ER visit to have stitches put in.  Fortunately, besides soreness and the stitches he came out fairly unscathed.

Sydney: Was tackling the course when she heard of Cullen’s crash and pulled out to rush to the hospital and help.  She is Cullen’s fiancé.

Lucie: Finished sub 10hrs and an incredible 9th place in her age category.  

All in all, The OpiCure Foundation p/b Orange Seal Gravel Team rode an incredible BWR California.  Everyone’s experience embodied the full array of emotions that make finishing a BWR event such an accomplishment.  The feedback from Lucie confirmed once again that the bicycle and gravel community can help change the life of someone in recovery from opioid use disorder.  We want to thank everyone at BWR and to all our partners who believe in the mission of OpiCure Foundation.  We truly couldn’t be where we are today without the support.  We will have two in-depth race recaps from Lucie Kayser-Bril and Griffin Easter in the coming days.  In the meantime, planning for BWR Ashveille has already begun.  So with that we wish everyone a fantastic week and look forward to seeing you all at the next BWR race!  

Lucie Kayser-Bril 

BWR California Race Recap

Waffle: Women 35 to 44 : 29 Racers - Final 9th

Why does the bike help?

The road to recovery is a long, winding and bumpy road. Not very different from Saturday's BWR course... And for many of us, starting with me, it was filled with relapses, struggles and moments where giving up and taking the easy road seem like an option. I failed, a lot. Even with the best intentions at heart, I couldn't reach my goals.

Biking restored a sense of self-worth. Whatever the mileage of the course, however long I spend on a bike, it is the one place where I learned to not let my mind take over. Lining up in the morning with all the other bikers, to try to finish something that seems pretty impossible, pushing your mind and body hour after hour to finally cross that finish line is a feeling like no other. On a bike I learned that I CAN reach my goals, and that as long as you go in the right direction, one pedal stroke after the other, nothing is impossible.

REFLECTING BACK, LOOKING FORWARD

Whether your recent race was a “personal best, a “DNF,” or somewhere in between, now is the time to reflect—making written notes even—on how things went and why.

Start with reviewing what went well from the race, so that you can be sure to incorporate it into your next race. This includes factors like physical performance (such as pacing) and your gear and fueling choices.

Next, take note of areas of opportunity, such as consuming too many or insufficient calories or fluids, timing them wrong, going out too fast, or choosing the wrong gear. These extremely helpful “lessons learned” can lead to improvement next time.

Instead of allowing these setbacks (and don’t worry, we all have them!) to be “stumbling blocks,” turn them into “stepping stones” so that you can achieve greater success in your future races.

For recovery and future adventures, check out Hammer Nutrition’s fuels, supplements, and recovery products made for athletes just like you here.

ABOUT US:

Monuments of Cycling is committed to delivering the most unique cycling events in the country, offering experiences for the most elite athletes on the planet, as well as those in awe of them, through the creation of world-class races that engage riders in myriad and unexpected ways. Our mission is to inspire riders of all stripes to reach, grow and aspire to new levels of fulfillment and joy, finding unusual avenues to test their physical and mental fortitude. To learn more, visit www.MonumentsofCycling.com.