Thursday, February 15, 2024

Gravel Grinder News: Hall Of Fame Inductees & Rock Cobbler Race Report

The Gravel Cycling Hall of Fame has announced its 2024 class. 

The Gravel Cycling Hall of Fame announced four new inductees to the Hall on Wednesday morning. The new class will consist of Linda Guerrette, Selene Yeager, Nick Legan, and Jay Petervary. The GCHoF will install these four new members to the hall on May 29th in a special ceremony at the Grenada Theater in downtown Emporia,Kansas. People who are in Emporia for that weekend's gravel event are also welcomed to come see these four individuals be feted for their contributions to the gravel scene.Tickets to the banquet at the Grenada Theater are available now via the Gravel Cycling Hall of Fame site. 

Comments: I was a bit surprised at first when I saw who had been elected into the Hall, but after some reflection I have come to see that these four should have been pretty obvious choices. Nothing against any of them, (I had one of the four on my final ballot), but what the electors are seeing as "important" is not necessarily what I see as the Hall's reason for being. I think all you have to do is look at the first class, compare it to last year's, and then see the progression to this year's class and - if you've been around the gravel scene since the early days, you start to see a pattern developing. 

While I am an elector, it is important to remember that there are a lot of current media and current cycling industry folks who are also electors and they don't know what they don't know. Added to that is the way the Hall guides you in electing people which is going to lean toward "famous/well-known" and not so much on "historical impact". Also, they mention a world-wide view, which again leaves some stories worthy of the Hall (my opinion) on the cutting room floor. But in the end, to paraphrase "The Dude", "That's like, just my opinion, man."

 Rock Cobbler Race Report:

Wednesday I received a "race report" video from Tim of Cassette & Co. for the Rock Cobbler, an event recently held near Bakersfield California. Without further comment, here is the full clip:

3 comments:

Amanda said...

"Added to that is the way the Hall guides you in electing people which is going to lean toward "famous/well-known" and not so much on "historical impact"." What do you mean by this, Ted? You think there was a suggestion to lean towards well-known over historical impact?

Guitar Ted said...

@Amanda - I think you answered your own question. ;>)

Amanda said...

I'm not understanding what/when/where that suggestion was though through the communication. Was there communication around this other than the email sent to vote?