Friday News And Views

Geoff Kabush's Tweet concerning Sea Otter pricing.

Sea Otter Pricing Balloons:

I saw the Tweet alongside this text last Tuesday evening. You can read it yourself, so I won't bother repeating it. You can see for yourself what is being pointed out here. 

It should only be noted as an addendum here that Life Time Fitness purchased Sea Otter in 2021. Is the new price a result of that purchase, or is it something else that is at work here?

Comments: Okay, on the one hand you've had a couple of years where Sea Otter has been affected negatively by the pandemic. Prices may reflect this due to an effort to recoup "lost revenues" and one could perhaps easily see that shipping and supply issues may have caused a rise in prices to some degree. But on the other hand, the price has doubled? 

Okay, commenters were pointing a very sarcastic finger at the popularity gravel cycling for the cause of this, but I don't think that is really what is going on here. I've seen this model for price increases at work before. Here's the deal...

The operating principle here is, what will the market bear? You do not know the answer until you "hit the ceiling" in regard to pricing. So, you raise the price every year by default until, well.....it doesn't work anymore.  Many events do this, not just Sea Otter. 

Also, 2022 saw mass participation at many events max out, possibly due to the fact that most people felt safe to go "do all the things" again. More demand = higher prices. Certainly, economic forces are at work as well, since inflation and higher prices for goods and services are going to put upward pressure on prices. Life Time cannot ignore this as well. 

So, you can say Life Time is "The Bad Guy", but there probably is some credence to seeing this as an economically driven decision to boost pricing as well with an eye to keeping profit margins intact. 

And c'mon! What'd you really expect after Life Time's takeover? Lower pricing? I don't think so....

From Bike Hugger's twitter feed.

And When I Die.....

I saw this on Twitter as well on Wednesday. A cargo bike conversion to a hearse. Electrified, natch! This was seen in France, apparently. I did not research the article. 

Comments: So, this makes sense in that Europe was developed well before automobiles and the streets are narrower, the cities more compact, and the rural byways are often wagon-wide if that. Modern highways exist, for sure, but the majority of Europe is not like America, which is car-centric as it gets. 

So, a hearse on a cargo bike, well that wouldn't fly around here. The church is often not on a cemetery site anymore, or never was, so a funeral procession can be miles, and miles, in length. Also considering the changeable weather, which can sometimes be pretty brutal, and the wild swings seasonally that we have here, well it comes as no surprise to me that I probably will never see anything like this in my lifetime. 

But if I were to die tomorrow....... 

Did you hate the 4 wheeled Hummer?

GMC Partners With Recon To Sell Hummer eBike:

 According to a recent "Bicycle Retailer and Industry News" article, Recon Bikes, an eBike manufacturer, is partnering with GMC's Hummer brand to sell their rebranded two-wheeled Hummer to consumers via Hummer/GMC dealerships. While the bike will be available direct to consumer, GMC has approximately 1000 dealerships where the possibility exists that this bike might be sold. Exact numbers were not released at this time for the amount of dealerships that will actually sell this bike alongside the behemoth Hummer EV Supertruck. 

The eBike has twin hub motors and can be modified by the consumer to go above the 20mph factory assist level up to 28mph. The bike also has a thumb operated "throttle".

Comments: A few things stand out to me about this. First, the "Supertruck" has a 3 second zero to 60mph performance. THAT should raise some alarms right there if you ride a bicycle in urban areas where this, and other high-horsepower EV vehicles are about to be unleashed. Second: The bike has TWO hub motors? Yep! It's advertised as an all-wheel drive vehicle. THAT should also be a bit of a scare. If you've ever ridden a throttle equipped HPC - essentially riding an electrified bicycle in "motorcycle mode", you understand why having two torque-monsters on a bicycle has the possibility of causing major mayhem. Third: The comments on the BRAIN article reveal the disconnect that US based bicycle purveyors have with these motorized rigs. One commenter bemoans the "modification" factor and another exclaims that it is "our right" to do what we please with vehicles on our own property. 

That's a lot to unpack, but it is a perfect microcosm of an example for why I believe that we are all looking at "mopeds" with electric motors, why this race to "more power" will end up making these into motorcycles, and why the whole lateral move to electrified transportation is not going to "fix" anything about car-culture. 

Kae Takashita won the C.O.G. 100 in 2019

A Nice Throwback On International Single Speed Day:

Thursday I was tagged in a post on Facebook by Kae Takashita where she posted about riding in the 2019 C.O.G. 100. She was prompted by the Paul Components initiated "International Single Speed Day" which was observed on Wednesday. 

I enjoyed the fact that Kae said, "I believe it was the slowest century I had done...."which is saying something since she is an elite level athlete. To have provided such a challenge is a reward and confirmation of N.Y. Roll and my efforts to do exactly that- provide a tough challenge to overcome. 

So, while I am NOT going to revive this idea, I am proud and satisfied that I was involved in putting on a single speed only gravel event. To my knowledge this is the only time anyone has done such a thing. I am really glad that I did this with N.Y. Roll, who was a huge motivator and assisted me in every way to put on that event. 

Too bad that we were thwarted by COVID and that the 2019 version was the only one we were able to pull off. I regret that deeply and I apologize to anyone reading this for our inability to pull off the second C.O.G. 100 due to the circumstances of the times. 

The whole thing with the C.O.G. 100 is bittersweet, to be honest. It was my swansong of sorts, when it comes to events promotions, and I wasn't aware of that at the time. COVID precipitated my decision to get out of that mindset of putting on events for others, which is a good thing - for myself. My mental health and physical health has been rejuvenated as a result. But had I known that the 2019 C.O.G. 100 was going to be "it", I maybe would have done a few things differently. Maybe it's better I didn't know....  

Anyway, thanks to Kae! I appreciated the shout-out and the memory very much.

 That's a wrap for this week! Don't forget to set your clocks back this weekend (if that affects you) and charge up those lights!

Friday News And Views

Geoff Kabush's Tweet concerning Sea Otter pricing.

Sea Otter Pricing Balloons:

I saw the Tweet alongside this text last Tuesday evening. You can read it yourself, so I won't bother repeating it. You can see for yourself what is being pointed out here. 

It should only be noted as an addendum here that Life Time Fitness purchased Sea Otter in 2021. Is the new price a result of that purchase, or is it something else that is at work here?

Comments: Okay, on the one hand you've had a couple of years where Sea Otter has been affected negatively by the pandemic. Prices may reflect this due to an effort to recoup "lost revenues" and one could perhaps easily see that shipping and supply issues may have caused a rise in prices to some degree. But on the other hand, the price has doubled? 

Okay, commenters were pointing a very sarcastic finger at the popularity gravel cycling for the cause of this, but I don't think that is really what is going on here. I've seen this model for price increases at work before. Here's the deal...

The operating principle here is, what will the market bear? You do not know the answer until you "hit the ceiling" in regard to pricing. So, you raise the price every year by default until, well.....it doesn't work anymore.  Many events do this, not just Sea Otter. 

Also, 2022 saw mass participation at many events max out, possibly due to the fact that most people felt safe to go "do all the things" again. More demand = higher prices. Certainly, economic forces are at work as well, since inflation and higher prices for goods and services are going to put upward pressure on prices. Life Time cannot ignore this as well. 

So, you can say Life Time is "The Bad Guy", but there probably is some credence to seeing this as an economically driven decision to boost pricing as well with an eye to keeping profit margins intact. 

And c'mon! What'd you really expect after Life Time's takeover? Lower pricing? I don't think so....

From Bike Hugger's twitter feed.

And When I Die.....

I saw this on Twitter as well on Wednesday. A cargo bike conversion to a hearse. Electrified, natch! This was seen in France, apparently. I did not research the article. 

Comments: So, this makes sense in that Europe was developed well before automobiles and the streets are narrower, the cities more compact, and the rural byways are often wagon-wide if that. Modern highways exist, for sure, but the majority of Europe is not like America, which is car-centric as it gets. 

So, a hearse on a cargo bike, well that wouldn't fly around here. The church is often not on a cemetery site anymore, or never was, so a funeral procession can be miles, and miles, in length. Also considering the changeable weather, which can sometimes be pretty brutal, and the wild swings seasonally that we have here, well it comes as no surprise to me that I probably will never see anything like this in my lifetime. 

But if I were to die tomorrow....... 

Did you hate the 4 wheeled Hummer?

GMC Partners With Recon To Sell Hummer eBike:

 According to a recent "Bicycle Retailer and Industry News" article, Recon Bikes, an eBike manufacturer, is partnering with GMC's Hummer brand to sell their rebranded two-wheeled Hummer to consumers via Hummer/GMC dealerships. While the bike will be available direct to consumer, GMC has approximately 1000 dealerships where the possibility exists that this bike might be sold. Exact numbers were not released at this time for the amount of dealerships that will actually sell this bike alongside the behemoth Hummer EV Supertruck. 

The eBike has twin hub motors and can be modified by the consumer to go above the 20mph factory assist level up to 28mph. The bike also has a thumb operated "throttle".

Comments: A few things stand out to me about this. First, the "Supertruck" has a 3 second zero to 60mph performance. THAT should raise some alarms right there if you ride a bicycle in urban areas where this, and other high-horsepower EV vehicles are about to be unleashed. Second: The bike has TWO hub motors? Yep! It's advertised as an all-wheel drive vehicle. THAT should also be a bit of a scare. If you've ever ridden a throttle equipped HPC - essentially riding an electrified bicycle in "motorcycle mode", you understand why having two torque-monsters on a bicycle has the possibility of causing major mayhem. Third: The comments on the BRAIN article reveal the disconnect that US based bicycle purveyors have with these motorized rigs. One commenter bemoans the "modification" factor and another exclaims that it is "our right" to do what we please with vehicles on our own property. 

That's a lot to unpack, but it is a perfect microcosm of an example for why I believe that we are all looking at "mopeds" with electric motors, why this race to "more power" will end up making these into motorcycles, and why the whole lateral move to electrified transportation is not going to "fix" anything about car-culture. 

Kae Takashita won the C.O.G. 100 in 2019

A Nice Throwback On International Single Speed Day:

Thursday I was tagged in a post on Facebook by Kae Takashita where she posted about riding in the 2019 C.O.G. 100. She was prompted by the Paul Components initiated "International Single Speed Day" which was observed on Wednesday. 

I enjoyed the fact that Kae said, "I believe it was the slowest century I had done...."which is saying something since she is an elite level athlete. To have provided such a challenge is a reward and confirmation of N.Y. Roll and my efforts to do exactly that- provide a tough challenge to overcome. 

So, while I am NOT going to revive this idea, I am proud and satisfied that I was involved in putting on a single speed only gravel event. To my knowledge this is the only time anyone has done such a thing. I am really glad that I did this with N.Y. Roll, who was a huge motivator and assisted me in every way to put on that event. 

Too bad that we were thwarted by COVID and that the 2019 version was the only one we were able to pull off. I regret that deeply and I apologize to anyone reading this for our inability to pull off the second C.O.G. 100 due to the circumstances of the times. 

The whole thing with the C.O.G. 100 is bittersweet, to be honest. It was my swansong of sorts, when it comes to events promotions, and I wasn't aware of that at the time. COVID precipitated my decision to get out of that mindset of putting on events for others, which is a good thing - for myself. My mental health and physical health has been rejuvenated as a result. But had I known that the 2019 C.O.G. 100 was going to be "it", I maybe would have done a few things differently. Maybe it's better I didn't know....  

Anyway, thanks to Kae! I appreciated the shout-out and the memory very much.

 That's a wrap for this week! Don't forget to set your clocks back this weekend (if that affects you) and charge up those lights!

Friday News And Views

The new Trek bike packaging. (Hard to see a difference) Image courtesy of Trek

 Trek Tries To Reduce Waste In New Bike Packaging:

As a bike mechanic with well over 20 years of building new bikes experience, I can say with some authority that there are literally pounds of waste materials generated from every new bike sold. Plastic bits being the worst offense here. But there are also  rubber bands, cardboard, foam, Styrofoam, plastic film, tape, and even paper waste that can become a burden, not only on price, responsibility to the bike shops, but on the Earth. I've said it for years- While bicycles are often said to be a 'green' alternative form of mobility, the bicycle industry is far from 'green' in reality. The packaging of new bikes being one of the worst offenses here. 

Well, some companies are out to do something about this. I reported on something along these lines a year ago on RidingGravel.com in a report on a company that was seeking to reduce waste in packaging their recycled stainless steel bikes. Trek changed their packing up in December last year on some models and reduced some amount of plastic. You'd be hard pressed to see much of a difference. But, something is better than nothing, or actually increasing packaging, which is possible and happens. 

The thing here is that there is a balancing act between getting a bicycle to a destination unscathed, (harder than you think), getting it to a destination in a mostly assembled state, and keeping costs reasonable, which is nearly impossible. I remember in the past, the least waste in packaging for a new bike was always an USA made Cannondale, which had everything zip-tied to a big cardboard plate which was then stuck in a box. The problem with those bikes was that almost nothing was pre-installed, but was often still in OE packaging, which- if you think about that, is another level of packaging bike brands have almost zero control over. Anyway, dealers hated the extra labor that building a Cannondale bike from a box took back in those days. So, despite the reduced waste in packaging, it wasn't practical in terms of doing business. When Cannondale went overseas for production, they ended up becoming packed like every other brand. It just made more sense from a money standpoint. 

Image courtesy of Bike Europe

So, I commend Trek for trying, but this will not be an easy nut to crack for them, or for any other big brand. 

UPDATED: Yesterday an industry news site, "Bike Europe", carried a post on their site saying that - at least out of one factory in Europe- Cannondale has developed a 100% recyclable bicycle carton and is shipping HPC bikes made in this Dutch factory across Europe now. 

So, kind of ironic, eh? But this is certainly a good sign and should point towards industry-wide rethinking on packaging for new bikes, as this idea has been set up as an 'open standard', meaning the ideas and ways to make this new bike packaging are free to any company seeking a way to make their carbon footprint that much smaller.  

The factory representative quoted in the story also claims that there is no additional costs to doing this. That's even better. Elimination of all foam, plastic, plastic type tapes, and PVC materials is awesome and I hope to see this packaging technique become more widespread. So, while I said that the monetary expenses looked to be the biggest barrier to change in this area, this story seems to contradict that thought. Hopefully it will prove out to work as they say it does.

HD "Serial #1" from the early 20th Century.

Harley Davidson Spins Off E-Bike As Separate Brand:

The "FN&V" has reported on the development of a Harley Davidson branded  HPC (electrified bicycle), before, but now it all looks to be coming true (sort of) in a Direct To Consumer model and the company will be a separate entity from Harley Davidson according to several media posts I saw on Tuesday. The company will be called "Serial 1", which is a reference to HD's first HPC (Hybrid Powered Cycle) which is known as "Serial #1", according to the same reports posted Tuesday. 

This becomes interesting since, obviously, it sends another brand in a crowded marketplace against established traditional cycling companies. While Serial 1 will use a DTC model for sales, these HPC's will be available through select Harley Davidson dealers as well, according to reports. This means that these bikes will enjoy a somewhat built in distribution model and possibly reach a new audience. This also points to how motorcycle sales have plummeted over the last several years, making electrified bicycles an attractive market for motorcycle companies to get into since the market share for HPC's is on the upswing. 

The 'Serial 1" company's first HPC offering.

The Serial 1 company has only one model on offer for a March 2021 release, but the reports I read mentioned possibilities of others in the future. Interestingly, some of these reports were from non-cycling publications and their discriminating view of the electrified two wheeler market was enlightening.

One publication alluded to an existence of an 'e-moped' segment of the marketplace. This is very different from what talking heads in the cycling industry say, as these sorts of throttle controlled HPC's seem to be invisible to the cycling industry, or they point to them and say that they are 'illegal' because these vehicles do not adhere to the three-class "e-bike" guidelines.  While this is a distinction I have called out as being silly, the cycling industry has been sticking to their guns on that point, saying that laws are being drawn up across the nation in support of a three tiered class system for what they call 'e-bikes'. See, this sort of ignoring of reality is what is going to cause the cycling industry to eventually fall to the wayside as a provider of motorized transport. 

Consumers could care less about the three tiered class rules. If someone is riding a cargo bike that happens to have pedals but is cruising along at 20mph uphill and not pedaling, this is the sort of magic that attracts their attention. In human terms, the race to the easiest option, the path of least resistance, is far to attractive to be ignored. I mean, look at all the gizmos we have in our lives nowadays. I used to manually turn on my radio. Now you ask your 'digital assistant' to do that task. But I'm a guy with a vehicle that has crank down windows and starts the engine with a key. So old fashioned and ya know......waaaay too much work! So, what do I know/

As consumer trends and desires change, I foresee what I've always said would happen here. The so-called 'e-bike' will eventually shed its nearly useless pedals and cranks as consumers look for easier to ride, more powerful, and eventually, less bicycle-like options for their mobility needs. Attaching motors to bicycles has been done before, and we are simply repeating history with a different motor type, is all. That Harley Davidson has a hand in this market is particularly ironic. 

International Singlespeed Day- November 2nd, 2020:

There is literally a 'day' for everything under the Sun, right? I mean, even the Sun gets its own day once a week. (Sorry! I couldn't resist!) Anyway......I found out that International Singlespeed Day is 11/2/20 this year. Maybe it's the first year for this/ I don't know. I've never heard about this before this past week anyway. But you all know that sort of talk is right up my alley! I love me some single speed bicycle action. 

Well, however it started, I'm certainly in on this. Now the dilemma for me is which one? Which single speed device do I celebrate this day of being in the wrong gear at all times? How do I choose just one to be at oneness with? I suppose it comes down to gravel or single track, and then I go from there. Gravel narrows things down to three main rigs and dirt means I could go with one of two, maybe three if you allow a 'dinglespeed' and I keep it in one range. 

My predilection is to go on a gravel ride, since, ya know, I have this quest thing to finish up. So, that could all change depending upon weather and family obligations, or the fact that this falls on a Monday. We'll see. But this has much more appeal to me than a "World Fat Bike Day" which almost always is on opening day of deer shotgun hunting season here, and I do not want to be in the woods on that day! Heck, I stay off gravel on that day, generally speaking. But yeah.........stay tuned on this single speed deal.  

NOTE: For my opinions and comments on yesterday's announcement concerning the Unbound Gravel event in Emporia, Kansas, I wrote a post about that yesterday.  Click Here to see it.

That's a wrap for this week! Have a great weekend and get out and ride!

Friday News And Views

The new Trek bike packaging. (Hard to see a difference) Image courtesy of Trek

 Trek Tries To Reduce Waste In New Bike Packaging:

As a bike mechanic with well over 20 years of building new bikes experience, I can say with some authority that there are literally pounds of waste materials generated from every new bike sold. Plastic bits being the worst offense here. But there are also  rubber bands, cardboard, foam, Styrofoam, plastic film, tape, and even paper waste that can become a burden, not only on price, responsibility to the bike shops, but on the Earth. I've said it for years- While bicycles are often said to be a 'green' alternative form of mobility, the bicycle industry is far from 'green' in reality. The packaging of new bikes being one of the worst offenses here. 

Well, some companies are out to do something about this. I reported on something along these lines a year ago on RidingGravel.com in a report on a company that was seeking to reduce waste in packaging their recycled stainless steel bikes. Trek changed their packing up in December last year on some models and reduced some amount of plastic. You'd be hard pressed to see much of a difference. But, something is better than nothing, or actually increasing packaging, which is possible and happens. 

The thing here is that there is a balancing act between getting a bicycle to a destination unscathed, (harder than you think), getting it to a destination in a mostly assembled state, and keeping costs reasonable, which is nearly impossible. I remember in the past, the least waste in packaging for a new bike was always an USA made Cannondale, which had everything zip-tied to a big cardboard plate which was then stuck in a box. The problem with those bikes was that almost nothing was pre-installed, but was often still in OE packaging, which- if you think about that, is another level of packaging bike brands have almost zero control over. Anyway, dealers hated the extra labor that building a Cannondale bike from a box took back in those days. So, despite the reduced waste in packaging, it wasn't practical in terms of doing business. When Cannondale went overseas for production, they ended up becoming packed like every other brand. It just made more sense from a money standpoint. 

Image courtesy of Bike Europe

So, I commend Trek for trying, but this will not be an easy nut to crack for them, or for any other big brand. 

UPDATED: Yesterday an industry news site, "Bike Europe", carried a post on their site saying that - at least out of one factory in Europe- Cannondale has developed a 100% recyclable bicycle carton and is shipping HPC bikes made in this Dutch factory across Europe now. 

So, kind of ironic, eh? But this is certainly a good sign and should point towards industry-wide rethinking on packaging for new bikes, as this idea has been set up as an 'open standard', meaning the ideas and ways to make this new bike packaging are free to any company seeking a way to make their carbon footprint that much smaller.  

The factory representative quoted in the story also claims that there is no additional costs to doing this. That's even better. Elimination of all foam, plastic, plastic type tapes, and PVC materials is awesome and I hope to see this packaging technique become more widespread. So, while I said that the monetary expenses looked to be the biggest barrier to change in this area, this story seems to contradict that thought. Hopefully it will prove out to work as they say it does.

HD "Serial #1" from the early 20th Century.

Harley Davidson Spins Off E-Bike As Separate Brand:

The "FN&V" has reported on the development of a Harley Davidson branded  HPC (electrified bicycle), before, but now it all looks to be coming true (sort of) in a Direct To Consumer model and the company will be a separate entity from Harley Davidson according to several media posts I saw on Tuesday. The company will be called "Serial 1", which is a reference to HD's first HPC (Hybrid Powered Cycle) which is known as "Serial #1", according to the same reports posted Tuesday. 

This becomes interesting since, obviously, it sends another brand in a crowded marketplace against established traditional cycling companies. While Serial 1 will use a DTC model for sales, these HPC's will be available through select Harley Davidson dealers as well, according to reports. This means that these bikes will enjoy a somewhat built in distribution model and possibly reach a new audience. This also points to how motorcycle sales have plummeted over the last several years, making electrified bicycles an attractive market for motorcycle companies to get into since the market share for HPC's is on the upswing. 

The 'Serial 1" company's first HPC offering.

The Serial 1 company has only one model on offer for a March 2021 release, but the reports I read mentioned possibilities of others in the future. Interestingly, some of these reports were from non-cycling publications and their discriminating view of the electrified two wheeler market was enlightening.

One publication alluded to an existence of an 'e-moped' segment of the marketplace. This is very different from what talking heads in the cycling industry say, as these sorts of throttle controlled HPC's seem to be invisible to the cycling industry, or they point to them and say that they are 'illegal' because these vehicles do not adhere to the three-class "e-bike" guidelines.  While this is a distinction I have called out as being silly, the cycling industry has been sticking to their guns on that point, saying that laws are being drawn up across the nation in support of a three tiered class system for what they call 'e-bikes'. See, this sort of ignoring of reality is what is going to cause the cycling industry to eventually fall to the wayside as a provider of motorized transport. 

Consumers could care less about the three tiered class rules. If someone is riding a cargo bike that happens to have pedals but is cruising along at 20mph uphill and not pedaling, this is the sort of magic that attracts their attention. In human terms, the race to the easiest option, the path of least resistance, is far to attractive to be ignored. I mean, look at all the gizmos we have in our lives nowadays. I used to manually turn on my radio. Now you ask your 'digital assistant' to do that task. But I'm a guy with a vehicle that has crank down windows and starts the engine with a key. So old fashioned and ya know......waaaay too much work! So, what do I know/

As consumer trends and desires change, I foresee what I've always said would happen here. The so-called 'e-bike' will eventually shed its nearly useless pedals and cranks as consumers look for easier to ride, more powerful, and eventually, less bicycle-like options for their mobility needs. Attaching motors to bicycles has been done before, and we are simply repeating history with a different motor type, is all. That Harley Davidson has a hand in this market is particularly ironic. 

International Singlespeed Day- November 2nd, 2020:

There is literally a 'day' for everything under the Sun, right? I mean, even the Sun gets its own day once a week. (Sorry! I couldn't resist!) Anyway......I found out that International Singlespeed Day is 11/2/20 this year. Maybe it's the first year for this/ I don't know. I've never heard about this before this past week anyway. But you all know that sort of talk is right up my alley! I love me some single speed bicycle action. 

Well, however it started, I'm certainly in on this. Now the dilemma for me is which one? Which single speed device do I celebrate this day of being in the wrong gear at all times? How do I choose just one to be at oneness with? I suppose it comes down to gravel or single track, and then I go from there. Gravel narrows things down to three main rigs and dirt means I could go with one of two, maybe three if you allow a 'dinglespeed' and I keep it in one range. 

My predilection is to go on a gravel ride, since, ya know, I have this quest thing to finish up. So, that could all change depending upon weather and family obligations, or the fact that this falls on a Monday. We'll see. But this has much more appeal to me than a "World Fat Bike Day" which almost always is on opening day of deer shotgun hunting season here, and I do not want to be in the woods on that day! Heck, I stay off gravel on that day, generally speaking. But yeah.........stay tuned on this single speed deal.  

NOTE: For my opinions and comments on yesterday's announcement concerning the Unbound Gravel event in Emporia, Kansas, I wrote a post about that yesterday.  Click Here to see it.

That's a wrap for this week! Have a great weekend and get out and ride!