Jackson Hotchkiss Cycles 550 Miles In Spain’s Gravel Earth Series
Over the course of three days earlier this year, Lexington native Jackson Hotchkiss pedaled more than 550 miles through Spain’s mountainous terrain as part of the Gravel Earth Series, an international cycling tour.
Competing with Ink Properties Racing, a team based in Greenville, S.C., Hotchkiss flew to Barcelona to race alongside renowned cyclists. His love for the sport, which eventually led him to compete in such an intense race, stemmed from his home environment.
“I got into cycling when I was in early middle school because my brother had a pretty severe heart condition that prevented him from doing a lot of mainstream sports,” Hotchkiss said. “The doctor suggested cycling, and I started cycling to support him.”
Since then, Hotchkiss has turned that support into a passion, racing competitively in high school for the Miller School of Albemarle, a boarding school known for its elite cycling program. Over time, Hotchkiss’s dedication deepened, eventually leading him to compete in large-scale events like international tours.
“A lot of my teammates from Miller School went straight to race professionally for European teams,” Hotchkiss said. “I’d always seen people do that, and I really wanted to race as well, but I just hadn’t had the opportunity. I finally got into a situation with my team this year where it was possible, and we started racing abroad.”
On Feb. 6, Hotchkiss and his teammate, Andrew Blackstock, spent over a week camped out in Girona, Spain — the staging ground for this leg of the Gravel Earth Series called Santa Vall.
“We had biked over 50 hours, which is around 550 miles,” Hotchkiss said. “The hardest day was probably the first because we weren’t really sure what we were getting into yet.”
Hotchkiss began training in December to prepare for whatever terrain he might encounter. During his most intense weeks of training, he would bike up to 400 miles in a week.
In addition, he arrived in Spain a week early to train on the Spanish terrain, which is known for its mountainous landscape.
“A lot of times you would get up onto a mountain and you could look out over the coast, which was really cool,” Hotchkiss said. “But there was not a lot of flat ground.”
During his training, Hotchkiss cycled from Girona to the French border.
“We found out we were only 65 miles from the French border,” Hotchkiss said. “So we rode up to France, stopped at a small city on the coast, went to this little cafe, and biked back. The ride totaled around 140 miles and took eight hours, but that was one of the biggest highlights of the trip. I’d never done a ride through two countries before, so it was pretty awesome.”
Hotchkiss said Girona is a unique location for the race.
“I did not know this until we got there, but it’s a central location where a lot of professional European teams race,” Hotchkiss said. “They come to Girona in mid- to late-February to finish up their training because the weather is so nice.”
Hotchkiss said that another highlight was getting to ride next to world-class cyclists.
“It was pretty wild to be lining up with people that have won gold at the Olympics,” Hotchkiss said. “We would be out for a training ride and pass this group of riders, and you’re like ‘oh, I watched that person race on TV last week.’” To help riders stay on course during such long and scenic routes, the Girona tour was carefully mapped out with clear directions.
“We got there a week early to preview the course,” Hotchkiss said. “You wouldn’t really think about it, but when you’re riding in a large group of people you can’t really see what’s in front of you. You just have to follow the wheels.”
In addition to previewing the course, Hotchkiss came prepared with other materials to help him understand the course.
“Everybody who rides has a little Garmin GPS unit on their bike,” Hotchkiss said. “You can download the course onto the unit and it will tell you when turns or inclines are coming up.”
In addition to the GPS unit, Hotchkiss carried a small kit to fix his bike if any of his gears or tires broke during the race, but other than that, he did not take any supplies with him.
“Most events have support for the racers if for some reason something catastrophic happened,” Hotchkiss said. “You just have to make it to one of the designated areas, and they’ll have medical teams there and ready.” Hotchkiss finished the race strong, though he said he was not gunning to win.
“I was never going to win a race of this caliber,” Hotchkiss said. “Cycling in general is a lot bigger in Europe, and it’s very elevated compared to the racing in the United States.”
However, Hotchkiss said he learned a lot competing in the Gravel Earth Series in Spain.
“Everyone was serious, but people would be cracking up before or after the race,” Hotchkiss said. “It was good to see that at the end of the day you’re just riding your bike because it’s fun. So honestly, it was good to not forget why I do it and to remember to keep it fun.”
Hotchkiss is currently living and training in Lexington until his cycling season concludes in August. After that, he will be moving to Boston, Mass., to pursue a master’s degree in urban planning at Tufts University.
