Tuesday, May 14, 2024

Gravel Grinder News: Gravel Worlds Changes Venue

Image courtesy of Gravel Worlds social media.
Last week it was announced that Gravel Worlds would be changing its venue to be at the Sandhills Global Event Center on the Eastern edge of Lincoln, Nebraska. 

The change from the Fallbrook neighborhood means that the Gravel Worlds organization can now offer camping, with over 1000 camping spots. The event will begin and end on gravel, instead of the several miles of pavement running into and out of Fallbrook Neighborhood. Parking should be improved as well as access to more motels and hotels near to the event center. The finish will have grandstands for better public/support people's enjoyment.

Ironically enough, this is the very same venue that the first two Gravel Worlds events were run out of in 2010 and 2011. 

Comments: This is a nearly 100% positive change for this event. Nothing against the Fallbrook start and finish, but I felt the event had outgrown that venue and was impinging upon local Fallbrook residents who lived out that way. 

The Sandhills Global Event Center, while sounding a bit pretentious in name, is really a lot more "grassroots" feeling than Fallbrook. It is, in effect, a county fairgrounds, at its roots, so a gravel event kind of fits right in here, I think. 

Well, not really, I know it fits, because I was there in 2010. The event is about 50 times larger than it was back then, (not really, but you know what I mean) , but this events center is huge and will accommodate the event as it is now in a far better way. At least potentially it should. 

In my opinion this is a big move to the good for Gravel Worlds, but let me know if you think differently in the comments. 

1 comment:

MG said...

I’m obviously biased here, but I’m stoked for the move. Fallbrook was a great host in its time, but I agree that we’d outgrown it as a venue. This will be a fantastic change and will lead to it becoming a weekend-long event… not just a bike race.