David Millar at Traka 560

When preparing for a ride that will last three-straight-days, what would you do? A little soul-searching? Examine the history of bike racing, perhaps? Anything to discover what in the world induced you to undertake such a crazy event. That’s at least how former pro and Factor’s Brand Director, David Millar, is spending the last few hours before he sets out on the Traka 560 totally unsupported gravel adventure.

His pre-race blog gives you a little look into the thoughts of a hardened roadie who has found himself inexplicably at the avant-garde of gravel. Or maybe it’s just a case of coming wonderfully full circle.

Back to cycling’s roots

It didn't take long after the invention of bikes for people to begin racing them. The first official road race was held in 1869 from Paris to Rouen. It was 130 km and took the winner, an Englishman called James Moore, 10 hrs and 25 minutes to complete. I think we can safely say that roads at the time were not what they are today, they were gravel tracks, occasional paving stones (pavé) and the rules were somewhat different, one stating that riders were not "to be trailed by a dog or use sails" - which seems odd in 2025.

The gravel bit isn't odd; people often ask me about the evolution of gravel racing and the direction it's going. Well, it's hiding in plain sight. Today's WorldTour peloton is where gravel ended up, because the origin story of today's cutting-edge, high-speed road racing begins with rogue riders journeying into the unknown on mad adventures. Those earliest races have a lot more in common with today's ultra gravel events. The grainy black and white images from the early 1900s capture lonely riders in dust clouds, covered in dirt, wrapped in tyres, prepared for anything and everything that awaits them. There was no peloton, there were no team cars, and they had zero support. They were adventurers.

A young race with an old soul

Which brings me to Traka. The first running of the event was in 2019, when close to a hundred people took to the line to tackle what we thought was a new-fangled form of bike racing. Fast forward to now, and the Traka takes place over four days with 4000 people taking part. It is truly indicative of the explosion of gravel and this return to where cycling began.

There are four events at Traka: the 100, 200, 360 and this year's new addition, the 560. The numbers represent the kilometres covered, starting and finishing in Girona. Officially, none of these are races. They're not UCI events. They are considered participation events, yet every distance will have riders racing for the win. We have our Factor Racing riders represented in all but the 100.

Rob Britton will be in the 360, where he finished second in 2024. Matt Holmes, Magnus Bak and Jacob Vaughn will be in the blue ribbon, no holds barred, 200. I will be taking part in the inaugural 560 Adventure, which also happens to have 10,000m climbing, and is the only event that is completely unsupported.

Rob Britton

Matt Holmes

Magnus Bak

Photo credit: sonam.cc / pasnormalstudios

Why am I doing it? Well, the organiser invited me to do it, which is the main reason. Yet I didn't say no, which is more interesting, especially considering how I've always thought of ultra events of the likes of 560 to be absolutely insane and borderline stupid. I thought they were self-indulgent and weird. Which, I guess, they are, yet perhaps that's not such a bad thing. I have no idea how I'm going to go, I've never ridden this far in my life.

It's daunting and a journey into the unknown for me. It's something new, and I've got a quiet white noise of fear about where it's going to take me. I don't get that much anymore in my life - it feels good.

The 560 Bike

The OSTRO GRAVEL goes endurance. Although built for speed, the OG can also happily cruise at a lower velocity. This was proven at the Migration Gravel Race in Kenya, where it was my guardian angel through terrain which would have been better suited to a mountain bike. For the Traka 560, I’ve done a full conversion. The essence is the same, although in the spirit of adventure, much has been added. 

Firstly, tyres: 45 Continental Terra Speed. These seemed the best choice as they claim some of the lowest rolling resistance in the category and high puncture resistance. The terrain isn’t so bad, and the weather is forecast to be warm and dry, so mud isn’t a concern, and the course is 40% road. So I needed something that could do everything well. I’ll be running about 1.9 bar pressure. The wheels are Black Inc THIRTY FOUR. These are all-round stellar wheels for gravel, and near as dammit bomb-proof.

An aero cockpit and adventure gearing

I’ve put on the AB03 Integrated Aero Barstem with Extensions. This isn’t just for aero benefits, but also to offer an alternative position to stretch out and shift around. Although the more I’ve been using them, the more I see just how huge the aero benefits are, which will no doubt come in handy on some of the longer road sections.

As for gearing, I’m on SRAM RED XPLR, I’ve swapped out my usual 44 to a 42 ring, and with 10/44 at the back, I should be covered for nearly all scenarios. I’ve added two blips onto the extension so I don’t have to get out of position to change gear.

My brakes are HOPE RX4+; these are insanely powerful calipers, and combined with the HOPE discs, these could stop a truck, which is effectively what I’ve turned the OG into.

Pedals are also HOPE, the Union RC, a hipster alternative to SPD, and in my opinion, better, although I can’t explain why.

Seeing the light

As for lights… I’ve got the fear, so I have perhaps overdone this. I’m not running a dynamo, so I have gone for the LUPINE Blika with two batteries, a 6.9a big one and a reserve 3.5a. That’s not all though, I’ve also got a Garmin Varia UT800 just in case. On the back, I’ve got a Lezyne Strip Drive Pro 400+.

Bags are POC prototypes that will be coming to market soon. They’re super light, and although both designed for the top tube I flipped the bigger to go underneath as having anything on the top tube doesn’t work for me as my knees are so close to the frame they brush against them and this I simply can’t handle on 5km ride, let alone a 560km ride. This is also the reason I’ve put the tyre levers in between the seatpost and the POC bag I did put on the top tube, it pushes the bag out just far enough to stop my legs rubbing on it. The seatpost bag is also a top tube bag that I’ve put there, as it serves as a roomy emergency bag for my spares and tools.

There are some little things that I’ve also put on there, MUCOFF valves and bar end tubeless puncture plugs, both in anodised green to match the flash of colour on the fork. 

I’ve made use of the extra bottle cage mount under the down tube, to allow me to carry three bottles, I won’t have all bottles filled up at the start, I just figured I’d need to be sure to have the ability to carry a lot of water for when I go deep into the wild and night.

As for my saddle, I'm using a WTB Silverado with Ti rails. This is my trusty choice for mountain biking, and it proved its comfort at both Cape Epic and Migration Race, which both involved very long, uncomfortable days in the saddle. Under the saddle, I’ve put a MUCOFF B.A.M Instant Repair aerosol just in case… I also have a Black Inc mini pump and Multi-Tool and two cartridges and a spare tube, and a Restrap patch tyre repair roll.

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