Planning Ahead

So where will I be riding in 2017? Image by W. Kilburg

With one month to go in 2016 I am starting to piece together a plan for 2017 rides. This will be a bit of a different look than in years past due to my business with RidingGravel.com, whose livery I will be sporting for 2017. (More on that later this December, hopefully.)

First off, I've been asked about fat bike racing and I am not going to enter any of those. They (mostly) are like XC mountain bike racing, which I also don't care for myself. It just doesn't do anything for me to do a circuit race. That's not interesting at all to me, but for those of  you who dig it, by all means..... Go for it. I'd rather do big mileage events that keep me engaged over a full day of riding that allows me to immerse myself in a place. Yes.....there are fat bike races like this. But I am not doing any fat bike racing this year, so there. Maybe next Winter.

So, that leaves gravel racing, and I am pretty sure my first solid commitment in 2017 is to doing the Renegade Gents Race on the first weekend in April. I may find something earlier than this, but I will play that by ear. I'm keeping options open there. No......not CIRREM. That is filled up already, and I have done that race once as well.

Then comes a period where I will be pretty tied up being a supporter or running an event or two. Trans Iowa v13, of course, and probably a Geezer Ride which will fulfill the director side. Then I will also be supporting at Almanzo 100 and at the Dirty Kanza 200.That takes me up to June.

June will hopefully be focused upon doing Odin's Revenge again. I had to bail on Odin's last Summer due to a family gathering I couldn't miss. So, this time I am hoping to be able to make it out there again. It is one event I really would like to complete. So that will be high on my agenda for sure.  This year really helped with figuring out a lot for my hot weather riding plan. Since Odin's is usually a pretty blazing hot deal, that should go a long way in helping me conquer this crazy event.<==UPDATE: ODIN'S HAS BEEN CANCELLED FOR 2017. This opens June wide for doing something else, but I have not considered what it may be yet.

GTDRI time is usually in July

July will bring another Guitar Ted Death Ride Invitational. I will have to decide upon a venue for this one, but I have had my eye on a certain section of the country for a while that I'd like to check out.

I probably won't do 150 miles, but I'll plan on 100 plus miles for sure. Wherever I decide to do the ride will eventually be the biggest factor in figuring out how far we'll ride that day. I'm not locked in to one certain place, I just have an idea. That could change, so stay tuned.

August is Gravel Worlds. I probably will go do this again. Either in a supportive role or as a rider, I haven't decided yet. But one way or the other, I feel this will be a solid for the schedule next year. After that, I am leaving things wide open. I have penciled in the Spotted Horse Gravel Ultra, but that event isn't a done deal for '17, and that is a long way off. UPDATE:<==The Spotted Horse is a go for 2017 according to an announcement on their webpage.  Registration opens May 1, 2017

The rest is open for discussion. I am keeping Fall pretty open for anything. Otherwise, this is my plan going into 2017. Feel free to convince me to try something else out there in terms of gravel events. I'm all ears, but if it is during Spring, I probably will be too busy already.