The beginning of April for the last decade-plus has been mostly marked by my participation in the Gents Race. The team I have been a part of has been participating in this event since 2011 and I have been on the ride every year with the exception of 2020.
This is a great gravel event. I have loved it for years, and now it has become something of a reunion with regard to those guys that have been on the team all these years. I never see them unless it is at the Gents Race, and that is also true for many who are not on my team, but have entered this event along with me for many years. A "gathering of the tribe", if you will, and when it is over, I go my way and they all go theirs and maybe we'll see each other gain next time. Maybe not.....
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| My teammates on the "Careless Whispers" team at the Gents Race in April. |
Afterwards I was doing several gravel rides to get stuff reviewed and also to test out my brand new Singular Cycles Gryphon Mk3 which I had got together finally in March of this year. I was really very pleased with the bike and how it all came together. Which was a good thing since I bought the frame and fork sight unseen and waited a little over a year to get it!
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| Getting the Gryphon out on the gravel was a highlight of my Spring. |
Then it was on to getting ready to go to Emporia, Kansas again for the 2023 Gravel Cycling Hall of Fame induction and goings on. That will get covered in my next segment, but I was wanting to be in good shape for a ride which was planned and I wanted to take a few rides on my chosen bike, the pink BMC MCD.
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| Portents of things to come. Lots of fresh gravel and dust. The ongoing drought in Iowa is still not over in December here. |
The whole Spring time lead-up to the trip to Emporia was preceded by my swapping over the Karate Monkey to a flat bar set up. This was done to accommodate the review of the Velo Orange Utility Bar and Utility handlebar. After I got everything lined up for the bike, hand grips, a bag, some custom fabbed mounting hardware, I then had an errand to run with the bike.
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| The Karate Monkey in flat bar mode on a gravelly errand. |
The Gravel Cycling Hall of fame wanted each previous inductee to bring a jar of local gravel to eventually be put on display at wherever they end up getting a brick and mortar place to display stuff at. So, I rode out to the corner of Sage Road and Big Rock Road, which to me has always been a place of significance due to the "Big Rock". There I gathered my gravel and stowed it in the handle bar bag for the ride back home.
I don't know why, but that moment was one of those "kind of a big deal" moments in my life. Here I was, a member of a "hall of fame", riding my first "gravel bike", and gathering that substance that helped get me into that hall in the first place. I stood there for a while and just took the moment in.
It may not mean anything, but somehow, this was one of the highlights of 2023.
Next: Summer
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