‘New challenge’: 44-year-old Justine Barrow prepares for US gravel races

From esports world championships to the AusCycling National Road Series, age knows no bounds for Justine Barrow, who has landed in the USA with her gravel bike for her next challenge.

At 44 years old, the Victorian climber is showing no sign of slowing down.

She says her power and endurance are only improving with age, and she’s hoping to showcase her fitness when she lines up for some of the world’s biggest gravel races this season.

A latecomer to cycling, Barrow, a physiotherapist from Melbourne, only started road racing when she was 35.

Nine years on, she has represented Australia three times in the UCI Cycling Esports World Championships, finished runner-up in the road race national championship behind Amanda Spratt, and won several NRS races, including last year’s Tour of Tasmania.

Barrow also raced on the road in the USA in 2019 and in Europe with Roxsolt Liv SRAM last year.

Barrow admits it was difficult to join the elite ranks at a later age, particularly when it came to navigating large bunches.

“It was slightly frustrating racing in Europe on the narrow roads and with more riders, not being able to display my strength and fitness and managing the peloton as well as someone who has been racing since they were seven years old,” she said.

Now, Barrow is following the call of the wild.

Not afraid to go outside her comfort zone, Barrow has flown to the USA for five months to race in some of the world’s toughest, most notorious gravel races.

She has 11 races on her schedule, including three Lifetime Grand Prix Series events. Among them is Unbound – a 200-mile (320km) ultra-endurance challenge in Kansas.

It’s not a challenge Barrow is taking lightly. She has increased her training load and has been receiving coaching for gravel skills.

Aware it will push her to her limits, she hopes the long distances and climbing terrain will suit her style of racing.

“I’ve found it (gravel) is suited to me: the endurance aspect, and there are often lots of climbs. It’s a little more honest and there are generally less places to hide, and I perceive that to be beneficial to me.

“I’ve always got extremely high expectations of myself, but I feel less pressure. Nobody knows who I am, which might be a positive.”

In between races in the USA, she plans to return to Australia in June for the AusCycling Gravel National Championships in Derby, Tasmania.

She finished fifth at last year’s Gravel Nationals despite puncturing within the first 5km and taking 30 minutes to fix her bike issues.

Barrow said her “eyes lit up” when she saw this year’s course, which covers 106km and takes in 2,300 metres of climbing.

Her gravel campaign in the USA kicks off this weekend with the Desert Gravel Co2uT in Colorado, followed by Gravel Locos in Texas on May 20.