During the event, maintain a sustainable pace to conserve energy. Trust your preparation and resist the urge to push too hard early on. Staying hydrated is essential, so be sure to sip your hydration mix regularly, especially in warmer weather. Most importantly, don’t forget to enjoy the experience! Gravel cyclist and Shimano Gravel Alliance Rider Ibai Fradejas perfectly captures this sentiment:
“My REBOUND 2025, will not be very ambitious in kilometers, but in participation. Wanting to surpass last year's 50 attendees, from Shimano HQ. As important will be my kit as carrying a good camera to document the experience.
The GRX configuration of my bike will be Di2 2x12v 48-31 11/34, being the same that I've been using in recent years, except in extreme outings where I ride a mechanical 1x12, for simplicity.
“For the event, stay with friends at home, making a short stop with a Specialty Coffee, until the last one arrives, and then we will go together to the starting/meeting point, the new Shimano headquarters in the Basque Country. The route, to make it affordable to “everyone”, will not be very long, I have recovered one of the tracks of Deiadar Gravel, in the surroundings of Bilbao. After the trip, I'm sure the guys from Shimano have prepared something to eat for us, maybe some delicious pizzas like last year, I'm already dreaming about them.”