How does Ben Perry fuel for those crazy long gravel races?

There are a few Canadian former pro road cyclists who are pretty terrible at retiring. There’s Rob Britton, for example, who retired back in 2021, but still does all kinds of very, very long gravel races. The same can be said for his compatriot Ben Perry. Perry retired in 2024, but he is still very much a bike racer, on the gravel. And just like on the road, he’s pretty damn quick.

So far in 2025, he’s had a slew of results.

He was fourth at the famous Traka 360, a 360-km mixed terrain race around Girona. It was Perry’s first go at the full 360, having raced the 200-km version over the past two years. He knows the roads (and trails) there since he’s been based there. He also won Ontario’s long-running Paris to Ancaster race just before. Although life as a one-man show is a little different than riding for a pro team, he’s digging it. He’s ridden for some big teams—from Astana to Human Powered Health.

“I’m really enjoying gravel racing. As a privateer, I get to basically be the president, GM, coach, and athlete of my own ‘team’—which is just me,” he said. “I also really enjoy being able to choose my sponsors. I’m close with all of them, and in most cases I get to play a big role in development, which is super cool. In road racing, you often have to speak through clenched teeth about gear you don’t actually like or wouldn’t recommend. But now, I love everything I use—because I never reached out to any company whose stuff I didn’t already like.”

Ghost of the Gravel crowns Canadian champions in Alberta’s backcountry

Although Perry has had lots of big results at the nationals—he has been under-23 and junior champ, as well as a few silver medals at the elite level—he’s never worn a maple leaf jersey in the latter. Until now. On Saturday, Perry took the elite gravel national championships in Alberta.

“I’m so proud to be Canadian. I can’t wait to bring the custom jersey to Europe and show the world what it means,” he said.

With some of these gravel races being an all-day affair, shall we say, fuelling is crucial. How does he do it? The nationals, for example, were 3:25:43. Which is nothing compared to, say, Traka, which is almost 12 hours of racing.

“My strategy, basically, is simple—I have a timer set on my Wahoo that goes off every 30 minutes to remind me to eat,” Perry explains. “Each time, I take in a 50-gram carb gel, so that’s 100 grams of carbs an hour just from gels.”

 

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He adds that his bottles also contribute, depending on conditions. “In the heat, I’ll go with isotonic drinks—usually some in the hydration pack and about 70 grams worth in the bottles. I try to drink half a litre an hour, which gets tricky when the race is intense.”

All told, it adds up to a consistent fuelling rhythm. “If I just eat every time the timer tells me and keep sipping from the bottles, it basically works out to 100 grams an hour. In a really hard race I’ll stick to isotonic only, but in shorter ones I load the bottles with more carbs—just the more, the better,” he says.

Look for Perry in his brand new national championship jersey soon!