Gravel Worlds

A quick update... I'm so smitten by this gravel stuff that I decided to beg, plea, and grovel for a spot in the Gravel Worlds on 8/24 in Lincoln, NE.  Somehow I got in, and it probably didn't hurt that I threw out the name Joe Fox since he is a regular at these big gravel events.  So now I have 150 miles of single speed gravel ecstasy to look forward to!  This might be a lofty goal, but I'd love to finish in less than 10 hours.

2013 Farmhouse Classic

Yesterday was the 5th annual Farmhouse Classic gravel race, which was the second gravel ride I've ever done.  The first was the practice ride of the course last week, and after two gravel rides I'm pretty much hooked.  From the sound of tires cutting through the gravel to the peaceful tranquility of deserted gravel roads, it is a blast.  The race went very well and I got 1st place in the singlespeed category and 4th overall.  The weather was perfect, which combined with eating and drinking a lot made me feel really great throughout the ride.  I probably should have ended up 5th overall because Brian West (a really fast guy) got lost and ended up riding an extra 8 miles, but I would have been just as happy with that result.  I think Micah Gordon probably would have challenged me for the SS win if he would have had the course in a Garmin and a bigger gear, but I guess we'll never know.  Here is me stopping at mile 90 or so since I wanted a picture on the record for the event.  This was right after the hill I like to call the Alp d'Gravel (a nod to the Tour de France), which is a seemingly big hill that definitely hurts on a SS.

Next up is another couple weeks of hard riding followed by a rest period of a few days just to make sure I don't enter cross season fatigued.  It looks like my next race will be the weekend of 8/24 unless plans change.  There are gravel, road, and cyclocross options I'm looking at, and in all likelihood I'll probably start my cyclocross season that weekend near Des Moines, IA.

My First Foray Into Gravel Riding

For several months I've been hearing about the Farmhouse Classic, which is a gravel race held north of KC by Joe at Cycle City.  I've always heard of huge gravel events like the Dirty Kanza (a 200 mile race), but I never gave much thought to actually trying riding in the loose stuff.  I decided the Farmhouse Classic would be an excellent opportunity to give it a shot in a very relaxed setting.  I rode the course last week with a couple Cycle City guys just to make sure I didn't hate it, and I was blissfully surprised.  I wanted to give myself a challenge, so I decided to ride the singlespeed for the ride that would end up being between 95-100 miles.  It was more fun than I could have ever imagined, but I was pretty cooked at the end.  The biggest hills of the ride were between miles 80 and 95, so that was pretty tough.  But otherwise it was fantastic and I'm now looking forward to the gravel race this weekend.  I'll also be giving some serious consideration to participating in the Dirty Kanza next year.  A lesson learned was that bringing excessive amounts of water/Gatorade/etc would be a good idea because I cut it pretty close at the end and had to nurse my last bottle.  Below is a picture I borrowed from Joe's Facebook page.  I'm on the left and apparently in the middle of taking a couple of drinks from the way I'm holding my bottle by the handlebar, and John (I think his last name is Mathias) is on the left.  He is a former master's gravel world champion.  More to come after this weekend's race...

Masons Midsummer Meltdown MTB Race

I raced on Sunday in the Masons Midsummer Meltdown MTB race.  I was in the marathon category with 19 other guys and some of them were really fast mountain bikers.  I felt pretty great during the race for the most part, but my severe lack of guts and MTB skills definitely didn't do me any favors.  It turned out pretty well and I finished 7th out of the 19.  6th place was only a couple of minutes ahead of me so I can't help but think I should have kicked more on that last lap to try to catch him, but of course I didn't know he was that close until I saw the results.  The top 5 were all WAY ahead of anyone else.  I think they beat me by a good 20 minutes, but considering the MTB skills that group possesses I don't feel too bad about it.  The trails at Wyandotte County Lake Park were just incredible and it was a really great event, so Cliff Jones and crew deserve a ton of credit for both.  The bottom line: I had a lot of fun and it was a great 3.5 hours of intense training that will hopefully benefit me when cyclocross comes around (only 2 months or so away).

My next event will be the Farmhouse Classic, which is a 99 mile gravel race put on by Joe Fox at Cycle City.  I've heard great things about gravel riding and this event, so I'm excited to try them both.  I'll probably ride the course next week to get a feel for it and to decide on whether or not I should ride the SS or not, so that should be fun.