Gravel History With Guitar Ted: The "One Speed Open"

 Many of you dear readers are aware that my last event which I promoted was the C.O.G. 100, a single speed only, 100 mile event on gravel. At the time that we were putting this on, (N.Y. Roll and I), I thought we might have been the only ones to do such an oddball thing. But as it is with many things, I have forgotten more than I remember. 

Case in point: We did a big rearrangement in the G-Ted household recently where furniture that hadn't been moved in over a decade got moved. I know.....the horrors! Dust bunnies, scraps of paper, petrified bits of.....what?!! I won't go into further details. I think you get the picture here. 

One of the things moved was a bookcase that I used to stash things relating to gravel events which were sent to me back in the day. See, I was once the only person that seemingly cared to come up with a gravel race calendar, so sometimes event promoters would send me a trinket, a poster, or something to show their appreciation of my work. Those were nice gestures, and so I wanted to honor that by saving the stuff which had been sent over. Most of this was in the form of posters. 

Well, Mrs. Guitar Ted made a discovery of a handmade poster, a print, which was from a race in Fort Collins, Colorado called the "One Speed Open", or "OSO" for short. The event ran from 2008 - 2012, near as I can tell.

Amazingly, the event blogsite is still up. You can check it out HERE. But what I wanted to point out is a bit of the description for the event from that blog page. 

"The OxSxOx has a different route every year, mostly gravel... as much of it as can be found for a good, fun loop. No one knows this route until maps are distributed during registration.

 For those not familiar with this kinda riding out on County roads:

 You will find not only gravel but also nice hardpacked sections as well as sandy spots and washboards at times.
Hills... it may not look like it when driving a car through but, they're there; not very steep, however,these are sustained, gradual climbs.

Equipment: The ideal tire for this will be one with some bite and volume to it. Cross tires from 32 to 40c are just about ideal depending on your weight and style of riding. I'm sporting Maxxis Razes in 35 and weight 120...for a hint."

A 'different route every year", mostly gravel, no one knows the route until maps are distributed. (MAPS!!) Hmm...... I like the sounds of all of that, but then again, I would. Wouldn't I? Yep, and that's all I have to say about THAT. 

I do recall searching for any new news on this event after 2012 so I could update the calendar, but after a few years I gave up on them. And then that whole Idea must have sat in the back of my brain waiting to emerge as the C.O.G. in 2018. And it was a great idea, but I forgot the OSO and its influence on my decision to help put on the single speed only century. 

Well, now I hope I have rectified that a bit. It's never too late, they say.....