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| Gotta Know Where To Go! |
First off, you probably inferred by my "Water Carriers" posts that something was up, and this is it. Gravel Worlds! I needed to have the ability to carry enough fluids to get from place to place on the route and not be in a deficit. Well, as you know, that has been addressed.
So, here we have the 'rest of the story', so to speak. First up is navigation. I already showed off my home made cue sheet holder, and the next order of business from a navigational point of view was to get some way to count down the miles so I could follow cue sheets. Now, yes- Gravel Worlds has downloadable GPS navigation for their courses. But the thing is- I do not own a GPS unit that allows me to follow a course. My Lezyne computer is kind of a dinosaur in that you have to have your phone linked up to it to be able to use turn-by-turn navigation, which I always thought was bogus. So, I never bothered to ever try it out. Heck, sometimes I leave my phone at home. I like it that way. So, having to tether my phone to a navigation device seemed dumb to my way of thinking.
Anyway, so I needed to go the old school route, and thankfully Gravel Worlds does cues yet. Otherwise, honestly- I probably wouldn't go. Any event that assumes you will have an expensive piece of gear to be able to come to their event is not my kind of event. Nuff said.....
Okay, so I have this Sigma computer on there, and it is a wireless unit, so we'll see how that goes. As long as it counts mileage, it will make my job easier. That and tell me the time, (which I don't really need now since I wear an Apple watch) - that's all I need. So, I'm good to go there once I get the cues from Gravel Worlds and print them out. Elevation gain? Who really cares? It is what it is. Ya gotta ride the course and whatever hills they put in there. Doesn't really matter now or afterward what the numbers are to me. It'll be hard, I know that!
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| The KOM Tube Strap |
I tried that and it was a winner. Now, I may not carry what I have in it now- a tube, tire lever, CO2 cartridge inflation system- but I do need to have a spare tube, the tire levers, and I think I'll be throwing on a Stan's NoTubes DART tool. That should do it there.
I could have gone with one of the three tool rolls I have on review, but for some reason I just do not want to do that for Gravel Worlds. I really wanted to keep anything off the saddle or on the seat post proper. Part of my minimizing scheme. That said, I may change my mind here. Stay tuned.....
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| The Redshift Sports ShockStop Seat Post and Ravemen Tail Light. |
The one and only time I finished Gravel Worlds was a time a used a shock absorbing seat post. I remember it made the wash-boarded out roads livable and it saved me from a lot of saddle fatigue. Over a 150 miles, these sorts of products pay dividends.
Well, I have at my disposal a Redshift Sports ShockStop seat post which was reviewed for RidingGravel.com once upon a time recently. (*Insert standard disclaimer here) So, I figured, why not use it? It weighs more than the Whiskey carbon post that was in there, but as I said- this is a looooong ride. Comfort and rider freshness is king. This seat post is dialed and works really well. So, I'm using it. By the way, this bike already was fitted with a Redshift Sports ShockStop stem as well. So, I've got that benefit going for me up front also.
I'm also going to be using one of the Ravemen tail lights, but likely not the one shown. I have one that mounts on the seat stay which is there, but not shown in the image here. The seat stay mounted one has a longer run time, a better mount, and so it won out for the job at Gravel Worlds. (*Disclaimer: I paid for these lights at a discounted rate for test and review on RidingGravel.com)
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| A look at things as they sit now. |
Okay, so I've gotten things dialed in with a bit finer focus now, but there is still work to do. I need to get my nutrition lined up and do a dry run packing that onto the bike. I'll likely tweak out the tube strap cargo, figure out which of a myriad of multi-tools I want onboard, and maybe a few other odd-ball things here and there. But what you see here, minus the dust, is pretty much what I will be pedaling out of Lincoln Nebraska in a couple of weeks time.
Oh, and there is one major change yet to be revealed. That would be the race-day wheel and tire set up. These wheels and tires are heavier than what I will be using, and that was planned ahead of time. I may get in a quick ride or two, but pretty soon I'll be swapping over to the other set of wheels to make sure everything is copacetic with that wheel and tire combo.
Questions, thoughts, concerns? Leave me a comment. Otherwise, stay tuned.....
*Standard Disclaimer Page can be found under the header: To save my having to write out my disclaimer for various items and products I use, I have written a "Standard Disclaimer" and made it a page with its own description/explanation. You can access it under the header where it says "Standard Disclaimer". I will only add in disclaimers now if there is a modification, as with the Ravemen lights which I did purchase with my own money, but at a discounted rate. Thanks!
2 comments:
G-Ted,
You do you, but I do take exception to this statement - "Any event that assumes you will have an expensive piece of gear to be able to come to their event is not my kind of event."
Let's be honest. We all have bikes that cost in the thousands. For the cost of your bag setup, or that fancy seatpost or even the MSRP of all of your bottles and cages, you could get a computer that has GPS tracking. And yes, hydration is vital, but GPS courses provide tons of utility. So to call the computer a barrier to entry, seems like a random slight against this one piece of equipment. Just something to think about. Ride on!
@Unknown - Thanks for the comments. Here’s my take on them -
First of all, and most obviously, to be in a bicycle event, one must have a bicycle, if all else is a moot point, right?
I could, if I do chose to do so, have just one bicycle, ride it in all the gravel events I have done and will ever do, and have the cost of that bike be pennies of investment for the privilege of being able to do that over “X” amount of years.
Any gravel event I am aware of, or would be interested in, does not govern bicycle types, so I could use whatever bicycle my heart desired.
Now, what is the barrier to entry beyond that? Entry fees- gotcha. Okay, maybe travel, overnight expenses? What else is sort of built in to all of this?
Navigation for events is the responsibility of the promoter. If the promoter wants to be as inclusive as possible, making navigation by marking the entire course and/or providing a map/cue sheet with your entry fee is probably a wise way to do that, yes?
Making the choice to have navigation be done solely by GPS? That places a burden beyond the basics on the participant. One would have to have- at the least- an expensive GPS compatible computer to do the route, agreed?
I could, and I have done this, ride with cue sheets without a computer of any type at all. So, again, in MY opinion, any event that ONLY offers a GPS route option is being not as inclusive as they could be, and I would not want to be a part of that event due to the extra burden of having to have more equipment than you really need to have.
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