Gravel Worlds '15 Report: Getting There

Looking out over Lincoln, Nebraska to the South

Gravel Worlds happened over the weekend and my friend Tony and I headed down toward Lincoln leaving Waterloo at 10:00am. The trip was enjoyable and went by quickly. We pulled up into Lincoln and our first stop was Cycle Works bicycle shop where the race registration was taking place.

As we pulled up to the open garage door that acts as a breezeway to get into the shop, we saw a small, cordoned off area where there were a few bicycles in racks. Not bikes for sale, mind you, but some very special bikes. One I recognized immediately from recent social media posts. It had day-glo panels over a black frame and was to be Yuri Hauswald's rig for his first attempt at Gravel Worlds. Yuri is the reigning Dirty Kanza 200 champion, and he and past DK 200 champ, Dan Hughes, cooked up some crazy theme based upon the Japanese character Godzilla and one of Godzilla's nemesis, Mothra.

The bikes were custom painted or stickered up, and they even had t-shirts printed up, which you can get at the DK200 store, as I understand it. Standing near these fabulously painted rigs were the two riders themselves, Yuri and Dan, showing off the creations to whomever was within ear shot. We walked up and when the conversation came to a dead spot, I interrupted and introduced myself to Yuri.

The Specialized is "Mothra" and the Marin is "Godzilla".

Dan Hughes explaining how his "Mothra" bike will dominate to a listening bystander

I had the honor of interviewing Yuri Hauswald for the Riding Gravel Radio Ranch after his Dirty Kanza win. It was a very good interview, mostly because of Yuri, of course, so I was keenly interested in talking with him in person. He was great to meet and we chatted for about 10-15 minutes.

During his conversation with me, he revealed that he was running the new Clement MSO tubeless rated 36mm tires. So, it looks as though we'll be seeing those coming down the pike at a later time. I would look for further details on those shoes coming from Interbike.

So, anyway, we got registered up, got our brandy snifter with the PCL logo on it, some Gravel Worlds socks, our cue sheets, and I bought a Gravel Worlds poster. After that we skedaddled over to the hotel, secured our rooms, put our bikes away, and went back to the bike shop where they were serving brews and we hung out and chatted with fellow gravel riders.

Tony and I were looking for grub, so we finally decided on Yia Yia's Pizza, (recommended if you are ever in Lincoln), and then we hit the beds. I fiddled around with my stuff, fretting about all the fine details, but I was in my bed by 9:15pm. The plan was to get out of the motel by 5:15am and head over to the start. Then the game would be on......

Tomorrow: The Dust, Wind, Heat, and Hills