Friday News And Views

Flint Hills Gravel Ride/Run Registration Open:

Starting off this FN&V with a gravel event in Kansas called the Flint Hills Gravel Ride and Run. This event will happen on April 12th, 2025 out of Americus, Kansas. 

The event will feature a tweaked distance line-up of 20, 40, 80, and 120 miles. As event director Bobby Thompson says though, these distances are "ish", as in 20-ish, 40-ish, etc. Ha!

The event also holds the distinction of being the opening event of the Great Plains Gravel Cup series, which will be in its inaugural season next year. 

Find out more at: https://flinthillsgravelride.com/

Mammoth Tuff Now In UCI Gravel Worlds Series:

Recently a Velo.com story was published revealing that Mammoth Tuff, a gravel event in the Eastern Sierra, has agreed to become one of two events in North America slated to be in the 2025 UCI Gravel World Series. 

The event will host that race but will retain other distances and categories which will not require a license to participate in, according to the article on Velo. Also noted there was that Mammoth Tuff reached this decision to partner with the UCI, in part, due to falling participation numbers since the event's inception in 2020. 

Interestingly the fee the UCI is asking for putting their stamp of approval on an event in the Gravel World Series was revealed to be $10,000.00 which was reportedly cut in half for Mammoth Tuff. The Highlands Classic will be the other event in North America included in the series.
 

 Blog Schedule For November/December:

A friendly reminder to those loyal readers here and maybe news to those of you who are new here. The "end-of-year" blog schedule is about to begin! 

So, here is a brief round-up of what you can expect to see here soon:

• Bikes of 2024: A brief review of the bikes I used throughout 2024 with a list of any changes and future plans. Just a fun look at what I ride. 
• Rear View 2024: This is a quarterly review of all the highlights (and maybe some low ones!) from the year. Mostly focused on the blog here but I often pull in other life events as well. These are broken up into four parts and one will be seen each week in December. 
• Top Ten Posts of 2024: A list of the most viewed posts on the site for the year. I always am surprised by what gets looked at here the most, and I think you might be surprised as well!
• Top Images of 2024: I choose the best 12 images, one from each month, and post them in one post with some commentary where I deem necessary. 
• NEW! Top People of 2024: I decided after reviewing the year for these upcoming posts that I needed to fete those individuals who had a major impact on me and what happened during the year. So, these will be rolled out as single posts, some covering a single individual, some about groups. Stay tuned! I think this addition will be a good one! 
• A Look Ahead: The last post of 2024 will be dedicated to looking at what I see for myself and cycling in general for the upcoming year.  
• The Regular Stuff: There will be "FN&V's", the continuance of the celebration of 20 years of blogging, and the random current content posts. 
• NEW! The Best Podcasts of 2024: I'll do a single post concerning the most listened to podcasts of the past year with links in case you need to kill some time over the Holidays! 
  

So, as you can see, there is a LOT of content there! I'll start rolling some of this out next week because as things stand now, I have 47 posts accounted for and as of today there are 45 days left in the year! So, with anything current inserted into the mix, that will mean some days will be double post days. Make sure you scroll all the way through any upcoming posts because you might miss something if you don't! 

As always, THANK YOU for reading Guitar Ted Productions!

Don't Forget To Nominate The Next GCHoF Class!.

The Gravel Cycling Hall of Fame is still looking for good write-ups for their next class of inductees to be enshrined this coming May of 2025. 

The task is relatively easy: Ask the person you want to nominate if it is okay. Go to the GCHoF Nomination page. Then write a good, well written two paragraph article on why this person deserves to be feted. Send it to the GCHoF before November 30th. That's it!

Nominees will be named after voting by the electors. Thanks for considering this! 

From a recent patent filing by Lauf.

Is Lauf Going To Change Freehub Design Radically Soon?.

Mid-week news broke on a patent filing Lauf filed for a design using a radical new idea for how hubs are mated with a cassette and how those two components work as a freehub. 

There are two ideas which are very 'outside the box' going on here. first, as seen in the first image, Lauf proposes a set of "pawls", or more like springs, really, which would be attached to the carrier for a traditional cassette. These springs are drawn in a way which makes them look like serpents, but the squiggly looking bits are actually meant to give a bit by stretching those elements which have the serpentine look out a bit, giving a bit of a softer engagement when the rider returns to pedaling after coasting. In another drawing on THIS PAGE those serpentine spring elements are drawn straight, so it appears that Lauf has not yet decided which way to go there. 

Again, from Lauf's patent filing.

But if I am reading this next image correctly, these serpentine elements are part of a unit that extends across most of the length of the hub shell. This is a radical departure from standard freehub design. 

This would mean that the entire inner hub shell would be a machined drive ring, essentially, which the serpentine elements would engage with. Furthermore; if the serpentine elements are staggered, as it appears is proposed, the engagement points could well be in the hundreds, if not thousands! 

Lauf apparently proposes to 3D print this according to a report I read HERE. Will this come to pass? If it does, I would think it would have a major impact upon the market, if it should prove to be more efficient and lighter in weight than traditionally designed free hubs. 

Sometimes crazy looking ideas end up changing the world, and then again, sometimes you see something that looks wild and it disappears. Which this will be is anyone's guess, but kudos to whomever designed this, because it is a very different take on a freehub design, at least as far as I know, it is. 

That is a wrap on this week! Look for 'end-of-year' posts to crank up starting next week here!

Friday News And Views

Paris to Ancaster To Celebrate 30 Years:

Many events in cycling have some semblance to the current gravel craze, and preceded the "Modern Era" of gravel by several years. The Flint Hills Death Ride, which was viewed as a mountain bike event by many people in the 1990's, is but one example of this.

Another prototypical cycling event that fits this theme is Paris to Ancaster. This Canadian cycling event was fashioned to mimic the Paris-Roubaix, the famous Pro road event that takes in several cobbled sections of French rural roads. 

While it never was billed as a "gravel" event, the Paris to Ancaster could fit that category in today's view. Regardless, after 30 years, it is pretty crazy to think that almost no US cycling media even mentions the event at all. Just another example of how media and the perceptions it foments amongst the cycling cognoscenti is not always a reliable measure of reality. 

For more on this April 28th, 2024 event, check out this LINK. 

Image courtesy of Gravel Earth Series

Gravel Earth Series: Truly A "World Series":

News broke last week about the new schedule of events for the Gravel Earth Series. The series started out as a mostly European gravel series of events, but that was not the end-vision for the organization. From their website;

"The Gravel Earth Series was born with the aim of driving Gravel to the highest standards.

Respect for the environment, love for the territory and values with a positive impact are the result of the creation of the first Gravel earth."

Comments; Ironic that the UCI Gravel World Series is not as comprehensive and inclusive as this series strives to be. But then, they have very different aims. 

Of course, since the cradle of "gravel" racing is in the USA, it hasn't gone unnoticed that the US gets only two events while Europe has several. Now, that may change in the future, but I find it rather curious that two organizations are making gravel events out to be Euro-centric, whether by design or omission, I don't know. 

The little trailer video on the site shows a lot of exotic locales and not a ton of what I would call "gravel" but that ship has sailed in terms of "what is gravel" a long time ago now. People use the term more in the vein of a "style" of an event than to help you determine what surface the event is on. 

Anyone interested in finding out more about the Gravel Earth series can go HERE for details. 

 

GCN+ Is Dead- Cycling Coverage To Continue On Warner Bros Max:

While many cycling fans have bemoaned the loss of cycling coverage from GCN+ news came out last week that the Warner Bros owned HBO Max will carry cycling racing and analysis as an add-on package to its sports coverage. The asking price for the add-on is reportedly $9.95 and, of course, whatever the level of Max you want to have in the first place. The report I saw mentioned that prices start at $9.99/month. 

Comments: I've got no horse in this race, because I don't stream cycling events. For my money, I'd rather be riding than watching, and many times watching a cycling event is like watching golf. Your mileage may vary there.

That all said, many that do care seem put out by the fact that GCN+ was only cycling and could be listened to in native tongues of broadcasters worldwide. Now you have to have a package of sports that you may not want, listen to "experts" from other fields try to dissect cycling events, and maybe not every race gets any coverage. I don't know, but it all sounds like a step backward from where things were with GCN+. 

Flint Hills Gravel- Old School Gravel Still Exists:

The Flint Hills Gravel event will take place next year on April 13th in Americus, Kansas, which is a small village just North of Emporia, Kansas. 

This event is right outta my playbook for Trans Iowa: A new course every year, cue sheet navigation, you don't know the course till you get there. I like all of that. Plus the field is limited to 120 riders (for the longest distance of 120 miles.) There are also 80-ish and 35 mile course options with GPX files for those who want the "modern experience".

Registration is open and can be found HERE. 

Comments: I love this sort of an event where the course is navigated by cue sheets and you don't have a bunch of chances for supporters to be seen out on course because the GPX files allow for that. You get a more "real" experience of being "out there", if that's what trips your trigger. That's my cup of tea, but I get that some folks would find cruising in a bigger group along roads easily navigated by the "beep" of a GPS device. 

I'd dearly love to go ride this event because I've been in those hills and it is awesome to ride there. But my job isn't conducive to doing weekend events anymore so, alas! I won't be able to go. But you should.

That's a wrap on the second to last FN&V of the year! Thanks for reading Guitar Ted Productions and I hope you all have a safe and happy Holiday weekend! 

Registration Season

This time of the year isn't all about football, Black Friday and its variants, or eating turkey leftovers. Nope! It's Registration Season! 

That means that these gravelly good times many like to have are open to your interest now. later?

maybe not so much, as these events have field limits and time limits to accept your registration, so here are a few of the events that are opened up for registration now that you may not have realized were taking names. (And your money, natch)

Flint Hills Gravel Ride /Run:

This is Bobby Thompson's event and he is a very passionate fan of the Flint hills, having grown up there, and of gravel riding. This is an event where the people behind it truly are caring and fully invested in seeing that you have a great experience. Plus, this is an alternative to what Life Time is doing down there, which isn't saying what Life Time is doing is bad, but look.... That event is gargantuan and more corporate driven.Not at all what this Flint Hills Gravel ride is like. 

Plus you can run/walk it as well! (This seems to be the novel offshoot of gravel bicycle events these days.) Anyway, you can get more information HERE and registration is open now. The event is on April 13th, 2024, by the way.

The Solstice 100:

This is a gravel race that is held out of Beatrice Nebraska on or near the solstice in June. This year it is June 22nd. 

I've been to this event when it was held at a different venue and it is another, smaller, well run event that has people behind it that are pouring out their hearts to make sure that you have a good time. 

They offer three distances: 100, 50,and a 30 mile course. Their unique offering here is a three-person relay team category, so you don't have to go it alone! Of course, there are categories for masters, fat bikes, and single speeders. 

Registration opens up for this one on December 21st, the equinox, (those clever event directors!), so you'll have to wait a bit to jump on this one. Details can be found HERE. 

Gravel Worlds:

Well, of course, you've probably already have heard that Gravel Worlds has opened up registration. The event will occur on August 22 - 25, 2024. Registration can be found HERE. 

But what you may not know is that there is also a Winter event connected with Gravel Worlds called "Winter Endurance". 

This is a bicycle event on gravel roads which will be held outside of Lincoln, Nebraska on February 17th, 2024. That could mean a fat bike would be good, or.... Maybe a gravel bike. Depends on what kind of Winter we get in the Mid-West. 

So, there are three events, well four if you count Winter Endurance, that might be good to check out for your 2024 cycling plans. These are events I am impressed with or have participated in over the years that I would recommend. 

Otherwise I have no connection to any of these events and I am not responsible for anything that they are doing, have done, or will do in the future. I have to post that disclaimer because I have had people in the past think I am an organizer of any event I post about. Which is obviously weird, but hey! It has happened.