Two Things

 Figuring It Out:

I am doing this "Where We Came From" series on The Guitar Ted Podcast and it has been a lot of fun hearing stories from people that were there back in
the earlier days of gravel racing.

I think the best part has been learning what the backgrounds of these people are. You maybe get a preconceived notion about someone, you know. Like, Mike Marchand, for instance, who I always assumed had been a top-tier racer all his life, when in fact that is not the case at all.

On Thursday I was able to chat with Greg Gleason, who won Trans Iowa twice and legitimately could have won twice more. He came onto the scene, seemingly out of nowhere, to take the top spot in Trans Iowa v10. He dominated the event with his presence at the front for four more years.

Of course, Greg did not "come out of nowhere" and we found this out during the latest Guitar Ted Podcast, which you can listen to HERE. It's a long episode, so this might be a good one for your next trip to a gravel event.

Now, we also spoke about current events, and Greg's opinion was decidedly on not supporting the "big-time" events. It's interesting to hear a strong opinion about this and why that is. In my opinion, Greg's proclivity for a certain kind of event speaks to his personality and his desire to have relational experiences versus purely competitive ones. But do listen to the episode and decide for yourself

From the 2010 Dirty Kanza 200 event. (Image by Guitar Ted)

There's A Hole In The Hall:

This coming Wednesday a small group of cyclists are going to be honored as the newest inductees into the Gravel Cycling Hall of Fame. An institution I am honored to be included in.

There was some chit-chat going around in 2021, when the hall was announced, which communicated an idea. An idea which stated the new hall of fame would not be "legit" unless I was a part of the first class of inductees.

I don't know about that, but one thing I do know is if the GCHoF wasn't going to be legit without my inclusion, then it certainly is not legit without the inclusion of Jim Cummings. 

Jim made a social media post concerning something not at all having to do with cycling, and was 'cancelled' for it. Now, the point he made is debatable, and most people probably have no idea whatsoever what it was he was talking about. (If you find yourself reading this and wondering "what did he say"? you fall into this category.)

I'm not saying what he posted was right or wrong, and to my mind, it has zero - nothing at all to do with gravel cycling. It is a point of no debate that without Jim Cummings and Joel Dyke, (who, by the way, is in the GCHoF), gravel cycling would not be what it is today. Gravel cycling was HUGELY influenced by what Jim and Joel did, along with their team and participants, which include several other GCHoF members, at one point or another.  It is as obvious as the nose on your face that Jim should be in the GCHoF. He's been nominated several times, yet..... Crickets. No reason given as to why he is being systemically excluded. 

So, when you see the start to finish coverage of Unbound this coming weekend, and when you hear the names of the latest GCHoFer's, just remember who is not being recognized, and should be. There is a gaping hole in that Hall of Fame that should be filled. All these people at Unbound are standing on the shoulders of a man they are not recognizing, and this just should not be the case.

Two Things

This is my photo of Jim Cummings (L) and Joel Dyke, co-founders of the DK200

The Guitar Ted Podcast Episode #66:

The latest podcast dropped last Friday evening. This one was inspired by you, the readers of Guitar Ted Productions. I received a couple comments which were questions and I took them to the podcast to give you all some longer answers. Plus we get N.Y. Roll's perspective as well. 

I also covered the recent news from the Gravel Cycling Hall of Fame. You can refer to the post I made when the news came out by clicking HERE. 

In that post I mentioned the issue I had with Jim Cummings exclusion from the Hall. While some of you may have noticed, some of you may not read the comments to my posts. I received a comment from a GCHoF board member who completely ignored the question of Jim's exclusion and instead restated that the current direction of the GCHoF will be maintained going forward. 

I only bring this up because I reference this in the podcast. So there is some context for my remarks should you choose to listen in. The episode can be accessed HERE on Spotify, or you can find the Guitar Ted Podcast on Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts from.

New PCL jersey

New Jersey Day:

The Pirate Cycling League (PCL) is an entity that has been around now for almost 20 years. You could argue that its roots go back further than 2006, but the jersey says 2006, so... I'm going with that. 

One of the latest designs for a jersey from the PCL just arrived here at GT Headquarters and I must say, I like it a lot! This jersey says - to me at least - what it is about gravel cycling that I found attractive in the first place. 

A couple of things come to mind immediately. First, gravel cycling was, at least originally, a rebellion. The act of putting on events, be they competitive or not, on gravel was an act of defiance in several ways. There was the rejection of overly complicated rules, uppity attitudes, and against the licensing/entry fees that seemed to be designed to fleece the rider and enrich....somebody. 

That is reflected in the motorcycle gang-like faux denim look with 'patches' and non-matching fonts. It also is a bit "punk rock" in that way. Knowing the mind(s) behind this, I'm leaning more punk rockish here. 

Then there is the historical aspect. The front features several "patches" which represent notable people and events from the PCL's past. You have "CVO", (Christopher Van Oyen) and the rainbow striped "g" for Randy Gibson. Two "pirates" that we lost far too soon. 

You've got the "TODR" patch (Tour of Dirt Roads), which represents the PCL's first event promoted that took in the area around Lincoln, Nebraska's dirt roads or "MMR's" as they are known as around those parts. 

Then maybe my favorite thing on the jersey is the "Hello" sticker. It hearkens back to a time when events were smaller, less structured, and everyone was interested in everyone else. No pretenses, just humans in honest fellowship. 

I need another jersey like I need a another hole in my head, but this spoke to me and I had to grab one. It will go alongside my other PCL jerseys and I'll likely be wearing this one a bunch during 2024. I know it may not matter to anyone else, but this PCL thing means something - to me, at any rate. 

The PCL's motto, "Ride Free", encapsulates so much of what I like about gravel and some gravel events from the past to the present. It eschews corporatization, barriers to entry, and any attempts to codify the sport by way of rules or a culture driven only by competition. 

Yes, Gravel Worlds was a PCL event until recently. You could say that Gravel Worlds strayed from the molds cast originally by the PCL, and you'd get no argument from me. But now that the PCL has separated itself from Gravel Worlds, I think the ideas behind what the PCL stands for are better represented. That's just my opinion on matters.

Nominations Open

Posted on the GCHoF's Instagram yesterday

 You'd have thought that yesterday's post and today's were premeditated to coordinate with each other, but that's not at all the case. It is just a happy circumstance that yesterday the Gravel Cycling Hall of Fame announced that their nomination process would open up November 1st. 

Again, I said much of what I wanted to say about the "why" of this organization's existence. Today I will focus on the "how" of the process of nominating an individual or event/organization for GCHoF inclusion. 

I'm going to specifically take the case of Joel Dyke, the co-founder of the DK200 along with Jim Cummings. By the way, these are two guys I think should be shoe-ins for nomination and induction for 2023. 

As a matter of fact, they should have gotten in this year. But things being what they are, that did not happen. So, following is a true example of why that did not happen, and then I'll show you how it should happen. 

Joel Dyke was nominated this year, but to get inducted, you have to convince a panel of "judges" who are a diverse group of racers, journalists, and bicycle company folks. I know it may come as a complete shock to some of you, but the name "Joel Dyke" doesn't do anything for those who came into the sport in the last ten years, and especially since 2019, which is the date many say that this "gravel thing really took off". (Although, in 2019 they were saying "this thing really took off in 2015, so, yeah.....) 

The result of Joel being a person who has already "faded from memory" or was "lost to history" was that the nomination the Gravel Cycling Hall of Fame received, and what they had to go on, was a one word sentence. "Joel was the man", or something to that effect, was what I was told by LeLan Dains, the chairman of the GCHoF. That was not anything that moved the needle for the nomination committee. So, Joel, disappointingly, was not inducted into the first class, as should have been the case. But, the process relies on riders to tell the story, so here is how it maybe should have been written up:

Joel Dyke, (L) as seen at Trans Iowa v2 in April of 2006.

 I nominate Joel Dyke for inclusion into the Gravel Cycling Hall of Fame. Joel was the co-founder of the gravel event which eventually became the Unbound Gravel event, based out of Emporia, Kansas, home of the GCHoF, in 2006. Joel was integral to the early success of the modern day gravel scene. He, along with co-founder of the Emporia based event, Jim Cummings, forged a new identity not only for gravel cycling, but for the city of Emporia Kansas as well. The event that Joel helped create is now known world-wide as North America's premier gravel event. This would not have occurred without Joel's participation and influence.

Furthermore; Joel was already a well known cyclist and regarded as a fine "underground" events promoter within the Kansas City cycling community. His events drew cyclists from all stripes to get off the couch, move, and become a part of a welcoming community of cyclists. Joel's affable, outgoing personality helped draw in people. Armed with this and his experiences with events, Joel helped create the prototypical "grassroots gravel" experience for those early gravel events he and Jim Cummings put on in Emporia. Joel drew in influences from his participation in other early gravel events, like Trans Iowa, to expand on his repertoire of knowledge and tools to help the gravel scene expand and grow not only in Emporia, but all over the Mid-West.  

Joel Dyke is then an important figure for the early gravel cycling scene, and as a pioneer of the sport, he deserves to be included in the Gravel Cycling Hall of Fame. 

So, had THAT been the story the committee got, I have no doubt that they would have nominated Joel. (Not because I wrote that, but you get the idea here...) Of course, anyone who nominates a person for this needs to get their permission to do so, and in this case, since Joel tragically died several years ago, you'd have to ask his widow, I suppose. But there ya go. Write up something like that for Joel, (or anyone else you deem worthy), and send it in after November 1st to the GCHoF. Heck- you can even copy and paste what I wrote, I don't care. 

That's how it happened that Joel wasn't in on the first class of the GCHoF. This is one of the reasons why I wrote yesterday that it is sooooo important for us to get this all written down, recorded, and preserved somewhere so that these fans of the gravel cycling scene can know what the heck actually happened to get them where they are in the future. 

Without the Gravel Cycling Hall of Fame, you wouldn't know about many of us that were there. It may seem obvious to you now, but in another 20 years? Yeah..... Without that history being documented, those folks born today won't know about me, Joel, or anyone else who got them on gravel racing and riding in 2042 because of what we did "back in the day". Instead people might still be writing ding-dong statements like "this gravel thing has really taken off in the last few years", which even now is clearly not the case.  

So, it is important for you folks out there to participate and let your voices be heard with regard to what is and what is not important to gravel cycling. It doesn't have to be about certain people, but let's be real here- Without the people involved, gravel cycling wouldn't be worth a hoot. So, you will never get away from that bit. 

Nominations Open

Posted on the GCHoF's Instagram yesterday

 You'd have thought that yesterday's post and today's were premeditated to coordinate with each other, but that's not at all the case. It is just a happy circumstance that yesterday the Gravel Cycling Hall of Fame announced that their nomination process would open up November 1st. 

Again, I said much of what I wanted to say about the "why" of this organization's existence. Today I will focus on the "how" of the process of nominating an individual or event/organization for GCHoF inclusion. 

I'm going to specifically take the case of Joel Dyke, the co-founder of the DK200 along with Jim Cummings. By the way, these are two guys I think should be shoe-ins for nomination and induction for 2023. 

As a matter of fact, they should have gotten in this year. But things being what they are, that did not happen. So, following is a true example of why that did not happen, and then I'll show you how it should happen. 

Joel Dyke was nominated this year, but to get inducted, you have to convince a panel of "judges" who are a diverse group of racers, journalists, and bicycle company folks. I know it may come as a complete shock to some of you, but the name "Joel Dyke" doesn't do anything for those who came into the sport in the last ten years, and especially since 2019, which is the date many say that this "gravel thing really took off". (Although, in 2019 they were saying "this thing really took off in 2015, so, yeah.....) 

The result of Joel being a person who has already "faded from memory" or was "lost to history" was that the nomination the Gravel Cycling Hall of Fame received, and what they had to go on, was a one word sentence. "Joel was the man", or something to that effect, was what I was told by LeLan Dains, the chairman of the GCHoF. That was not anything that moved the needle for the nomination committee. So, Joel, disappointingly, was not inducted into the first class, as should have been the case. But, the process relies on riders to tell the story, so here is how it maybe should have been written up:

Joel Dyke, (L) as seen at Trans Iowa v2 in April of 2006.

 I nominate Joel Dyke for inclusion into the Gravel Cycling Hall of Fame. Joel was the co-founder of the gravel event which eventually became the Unbound Gravel event, based out of Emporia, Kansas, home of the GCHoF, in 2006. Joel was integral to the early success of the modern day gravel scene. He, along with co-founder of the Emporia based event, Jim Cummings, forged a new identity not only for gravel cycling, but for the city of Emporia Kansas as well. The event that Joel helped create is now known world-wide as North America's premier gravel event. This would not have occurred without Joel's participation and influence.

Furthermore; Joel was already a well known cyclist and regarded as a fine "underground" events promoter within the Kansas City cycling community. His events drew cyclists from all stripes to get off the couch, move, and become a part of a welcoming community of cyclists. Joel's affable, outgoing personality helped draw in people. Armed with this and his experiences with events, Joel helped create the prototypical "grassroots gravel" experience for those early gravel events he and Jim Cummings put on in Emporia. Joel drew in influences from his participation in other early gravel events, like Trans Iowa, to expand on his repertoire of knowledge and tools to help the gravel scene expand and grow not only in Emporia, but all over the Mid-West.  

Joel Dyke is then an important figure for the early gravel cycling scene, and as a pioneer of the sport, he deserves to be included in the Gravel Cycling Hall of Fame. 

So, had THAT been the story the committee got, I have no doubt that they would have nominated Joel. (Not because I wrote that, but you get the idea here...) Of course, anyone who nominates a person for this needs to get their permission to do so, and in this case, since Joel tragically died several years ago, you'd have to ask his widow, I suppose. But there ya go. Write up something like that for Joel, (or anyone else you deem worthy), and send it in after November 1st to the GCHoF. Heck- you can even copy and paste what I wrote, I don't care. 

That's how it happened that Joel wasn't in on the first class of the GCHoF. This is one of the reasons why I wrote yesterday that it is sooooo important for us to get this all written down, recorded, and preserved somewhere so that these fans of the gravel cycling scene can know what the heck actually happened to get them where they are in the future. 

Without the Gravel Cycling Hall of Fame, you wouldn't know about many of us that were there. It may seem obvious to you now, but in another 20 years? Yeah..... Without that history being documented, those folks born today won't know about me, Joel, or anyone else who got them on gravel racing and riding in 2042 because of what we did "back in the day". Instead people might still be writing ding-dong statements like "this gravel thing has really taken off in the last few years", which even now is clearly not the case.  

So, it is important for you folks out there to participate and let your voices be heard with regard to what is and what is not important to gravel cycling. It doesn't have to be about certain people, but let's be real here- Without the people involved, gravel cycling wouldn't be worth a hoot. So, you will never get away from that bit. 

The GTDRI Stories: Where Did This Come From? - Part 2

In 2006 I participated in the first DK200 which sparked ideas in my head.

"The GTDRI Stories" is a series telling the history, untold tales, and showing the sights from the run of Guitar Ted Death Ride Invitationals. This series will run on Sundays. Thanks for reading!

Once I got involved in Trans Iowa, I had pretty much transferred my riding to off-pavement. By this time I had a 2003 Karate Monkey I had set up single speed with drop bars and this became my de facto 'gravel bike'. Again- there weren't any 'gravel specific' bicycles or components at this point. We were borrowing what worked, and for many of us, the new 29" platform was making the most sense. It had a wheel size based on road bikes, and the momentum and stability of 29"ers was prized in gravel riding. 

It bears repeating here that the fact was that the DK200 guys, Jim Cummings and Joel Dyke, had researched and borrowed ideas and inspiration from Trans Iowa and that also comes into play with gravel ideas I had. I've told about how their event inspired later Trans Iowas, but it also inspired the Guitar Ted Death Ride Invitational. It did this in a couple of ways.

Firstly, when the DK200 was announced, I felt compelled to support it by attending and riding in it. This was because 'gravel cycling' was pretty much the DK200 and Trans Iowa. That was it. Note- There were other events "on gravel" but they typically did not bill themselves as "gravel events", as did the DK200 and T.I. The Colesburg race, which was going on then for an example, was billed as a "tune-up race" for the Chequamegon 40 MTB event. It wasn't until 2022 that they started calling that event the "oldest gravel grinder in the Mid-West". 

I was excited about what was happening with gravel events, and I know others were as well. The over-arching feeling I got back then was that this idea was so much fun - No governing bodies, rules that were minimal and easily understood. The do-it-yourself nature surrounding the entire thing. Pushing yourself beyond what you thought was possible. All of that. Event production, how you rode these events, and all the equipment choices were basically unknowns back in 2005-2006. 

I rode a single speed On One Inbred at the first DK200 (image above) and it wasn't the only single speed MTB 29"er at that event. Cyclo cross bikes were also a big deal back in the day, and you'd see a smattering of those as well. But enough about the equipment.....

The thing was that we all were very supportive of each other and wanted to see this take off. 

My '03 Karate Monkey circa 2006

Secondly, as far as how the DK inspired me, I was enamored of the longer, ultra-distance stuff and bigger rides appealed to me. It was my feeling at the time that longer events were preferable since I recalled how disappointed I had been with XC MTB events that cost a lot of money to enter and lasted maybe an hour- maybe and hour and a half. These longer "gravel grinders" were cost efficient for participants because you got an event which allowed you to ride as long as you wanted, and all day if you could. 

The 200 mile distance seemed a bit over the line for me as far as making things more on the "fun" side, so my thoughts were something a hundred plus, but maybe not more than 150-ish. That might be fun, and then that kind of worked its way into my thoughts for a "Death Ride" that I could do in the Summer on gravel. Since the DK200 was a big loop course, that worked its way into my ideas as well. In fact, the whole event idea for the GTDRI was loosely based around the DK200 profile, just not as long.

But then I got to thinking, "This needs to be a group ride." Not so much an "event", per se', as much as just a 'happening' that you could join in on, if you were so inclined. Plus, I didn't know what I was doing in terms of putting on events in 2006. I was all-new to this, and putting on another event, which I deemed necessary to further gravel grinding, wasn't so much in my wheel house. Besides, that "big-event" feel wasn't my bag anyway. So, I made it a group ride, no-drop, and kept things low-key.

My idea was 'to invite people' to my 'death ride' idea that I had been doing all along. Jeff Kerkove was privy to my spoken thoughts on the matter, since we worked together at the time. He encouraged me to take the idea to the public via a blog. Thus the "Guitar Ted Death Ride Invitational" was born. Jeff actually set the blog up, and that's how the abbreviation came about for it, because a web address with the entire name would have been ridiculous. So "www.gtdri.blogspot.com" it was, and I was off and running toward putting this thing on in 2006. 

 Next: Announcing the idea, and putting it into effect.

The GTDRI Stories: Where Did This Come From? - Part 2

In 2006 I participated in the first DK200 which sparked ideas in my head.

"The GTDRI Stories" is a series telling the history, untold tales, and showing the sights from the run of Guitar Ted Death Ride Invitationals. This series will run on Sundays. Thanks for reading!

Once I got involved in Trans Iowa, I had pretty much transferred my riding to off-pavement. By this time I had a 2003 Karate Monkey I had set up single speed with drop bars and this became my de facto 'gravel bike'. Again- there weren't any 'gravel specific' bicycles or components at this point. We were borrowing what worked, and for many of us, the new 29" platform was making the most sense. It had a wheel size based on road bikes, and the momentum and stability of 29"ers was prized in gravel riding. 

It bears repeating here that the fact was that the DK200 guys, Jim Cummings and Joel Dyke, had researched and borrowed ideas and inspiration from Trans Iowa and that also comes into play with gravel ideas I had. I've told about how their event inspired later Trans Iowas, but it also inspired the Guitar Ted Death Ride Invitational. It did this in a couple of ways.

Firstly, when the DK200 was announced, I felt compelled to support it by attending and riding in it. This was because 'gravel cycling' was pretty much the DK200 and Trans Iowa. That was it. Note- There were other events "on gravel" but they typically did not bill themselves as "gravel events", as did the DK200 and T.I. The Colesburg race, which was going on then for an example, was billed as a "tune-up race" for the Chequamegon 40 MTB event. It wasn't until 2022 that they started calling that event the "oldest gravel grinder in the Mid-West". 

I was excited about what was happening with gravel events, and I know others were as well. The over-arching feeling I got back then was that this idea was so much fun - No governing bodies, rules that were minimal and easily understood. The do-it-yourself nature surrounding the entire thing. Pushing yourself beyond what you thought was possible. All of that. Event production, how you rode these events, and all the equipment choices were basically unknowns back in 2005-2006. 

I rode a single speed On One Inbred at the first DK200 (image above) and it wasn't the only single speed MTB 29"er at that event. Cyclo cross bikes were also a big deal back in the day, and you'd see a smattering of those as well. But enough about the equipment.....

The thing was that we all were very supportive of each other and wanted to see this take off. 

My '03 Karate Monkey circa 2006

Secondly, as far as how the DK inspired me, I was enamored of the longer, ultra-distance stuff and bigger rides appealed to me. It was my feeling at the time that longer events were preferable since I recalled how disappointed I had been with XC MTB events that cost a lot of money to enter and lasted maybe an hour- maybe and hour and a half. These longer "gravel grinders" were cost efficient for participants because you got an event which allowed you to ride as long as you wanted, and all day if you could. 

The 200 mile distance seemed a bit over the line for me as far as making things more on the "fun" side, so my thoughts were something a hundred plus, but maybe not more than 150-ish. That might be fun, and then that kind of worked its way into my thoughts for a "Death Ride" that I could do in the Summer on gravel. Since the DK200 was a big loop course, that worked its way into my ideas as well. In fact, the whole event idea for the GTDRI was loosely based around the DK200 profile, just not as long.

But then I got to thinking, "This needs to be a group ride." Not so much an "event", per se', as much as just a 'happening' that you could join in on, if you were so inclined. Plus, I didn't know what I was doing in terms of putting on events in 2006. I was all-new to this, and putting on another event, which I deemed necessary to further gravel grinding, wasn't so much in my wheel house. Besides, that "big-event" feel wasn't my bag anyway. So, I made it a group ride, no-drop, and kept things low-key.

My idea was 'to invite people' to my 'death ride' idea that I had been doing all along. Jeff Kerkove was privy to my spoken thoughts on the matter, since we worked together at the time. He encouraged me to take the idea to the public via a blog. Thus the "Guitar Ted Death Ride Invitational" was born. Jeff actually set the blog up, and that's how the abbreviation came about for it, because a web address with the entire name would have been ridiculous. So "www.gtdri.blogspot.com" it was, and I was off and running toward putting this thing on in 2006. 

 Next: Announcing the idea, and putting it into effect.

Friday News And Views

 Nathan's Miles: Vinton's Glow-In-The-Dark Trail (From Baker Ent. Facebook page)

 The U.S.A's Longest Glow-In-The-Dark Trail:

A bicycle trail that glows in the dark? Yes, and it is located just South of where I live about 38 miles away. The trail, claimed to be the longest of its type in the U.S., has aggregate embedded in it which glows in the dark when exposed to sunlight.

Apparently it only needs 15 minutes of direct sunlight to glow for 15 hours!  This trail should get a lot of attention here in Iowa over the next several years. It has a glowing section of approximately two miles in length, (the trail is three miles overall), and it passes by a couple of Vinton's schools which were attended by a former resident and Vinton city employee, Nathan Hesson, who first dreamed of this trail. He died, unfortunately, before this trail could be realized, and it is dedicated in his memory. Called "Nathan's Miles" trail, the City of Vinton dedicated and opened the trail just this past Tuesday.  

I'll have to scoot down there again someday to check this out. I was last through Vinton on my aborted century ride last Summer but I did not see anything of this new trail at that time. Maybe I can even time it right to go through in the dark and see what this trail can do.

First Annual "UG" To Occur This Weekend:

You know, this event is big, and it is following the coat tails of one of the original gravel grinders of the modern era, the Dirty Kanza 200. (That was its name, whatever your politics/thoughts are on that.) This 'new' event happens for the first time this  next weekend. (Thanks to "RonDog" for catching my mistake!)

Here are my thoughts concerning this. I'm probably the only person that thinks this way, so never mind me, but here we go....

The whole kerfuffle with the DK name and the ouster of its former original co-director, (the other co-director, Joel Dyke, voluntarily left DK around 2011), was driven by social justice issues and with an aim to remake the old event into something which would not resemble much of the heritage of the past DK event- Things which were deemed to be offensive. Okay, that is a valid and understandable action which leaves us with a new name and new race directors, none of which are related to the old DK event with the exception of Kristi Mohn. 

Okay, so now you have an odd situation. The former name and former race director, Jim Cummings, were largely responsible for the event's effects on the community of Emporia, Kansas, which were deemed to be positive. These gains in tourism, economic impact, and let's not forget prestige in the international racing community, were things which the new owner of the event, Life Time Fitness, and the community business folks did not want to have 'go away'. 

How do you separate the one from the other? On the one hand, you have a 'turning of the page', a new event, for all intents and purposes, and on the other, you have people and business entities wanting to hold on to the money, (let's be honest here, that's the bottom line), which has great potential to benefit said entities and concerned people. Things which that old name and the old race director brought to the area. Actually, you can do this. But Unbound Gravel seems to be wanting to walk the fence on it. 

On the one hand, they haven't said that this event is a new beginning and that any and all ties to that past event which shall not be named are now cut. They could do it like this: "That part is over. The Past. We now, for the first time, begin a new event with better ideals and with the same focus on challenge, etc....." But no, we get uncomfortable references to the DK200, and in some situations, it is painfully obvious that there really is no 'cutting of the ties' to the Dirty Kanza 200. Especially when 'the continuance' of certain ideals are being carried over in terms of things the old DK200 did for rider recognition, the references to this being whatever year it is of the event, and so on. 

I just find that all totally unnecessary. Just stop it. Make a full cut from the old and start again with this being 'Year One' and make your own heritage. But no, the uncomfortable truth of the matter is that fear of losing economic impact and prestige makes for words and actions that say one thing but hold the hand behind the back for the cash on the other. 

And that's just my take. Like I said, I may be the only person on Earth that sees things that way, and I am fine with being told I'm crazy and wrong if that's the case, but that's how I see it. 

UPDATE on the Wesley Martin YouTube Channel: I was made aware on Wednesday that the link in my story called "Just Passing Through" about Wesley Martin for his You Tube channel was not working. I fixed it, but here it is again in case you tried and missed last Wednesday. I apologize for the inconvenience. But go check it out, like, and subscribe to his channel. It's a great little look at everything he is seeing on his 3000 mile bicycle trip which will eventually take him and a friend to California. 

Just as a sample, he rode a mystery trail before meeting his traveling companion and it is a hilarious episode. I won't say more, but do go check out his channel. 

WARNING: Self-Plug Coming! If you listen to his Day 15 entry you'll hear Wesley heaping praise on Andy's Bike Shop. I guess he was pretty impressed by us and said as much in that entry. It is nice to hear it, honestly. After years of pretty much no feedback on my work at the old job I was pleased to get some positive commentary and it made me feel pretty good. Also, Andy gave him one of the shop shirts and he was wearing it for the next two days! Pretty cool all in all.

So, Wesley, I doubt you'll ever read this, but if you do- "Thank you!" And also- Here's to a safe, adventurous, memorable trip for you and your traveling companion. I'll be following along on the You Tube channel to see what happens.

The WAR brand is part of the new Ross Bicycles.

Ross Bicycles Returns, Has Gravel Bike, (Of Course!) :

Rumors and bits of news had been coming for a few years in the trade papers that Ross Bicycles was coming back. You may remember the brand for their chromed out early 80's mountain bikes. By the late 80's/early 90's Ross Bicycles seemingly faded away, never to be heard from again.

Well, now they are back and they do (or will) have mountain bikes again. However; as you are all probably well aware by now, Gravel® is what you HAVE to be selling, so Ross Bicycles has a gravel model dubbed the Evader GSR under the W.A.R brand of their company.

Comments: It looks to be a consumer direct brand and the prices are okay looking, nothing spectacular here for an aluminum frame/carbon fork and SRAM Rival bits. The frame looks a LOT like the Viathon from Walmart, what with the big dropped drive side chain stay and lowered seat stay design. The geometry is what I would expect- not very inspiring, to me at least, and so this isn't anything that trips my trigger. It is just interesting that Ross Bicycles is behind this and that the brand is making a comeback.  

Okay, that's a wrap. This is a BIG weekend in the U.S.A. Stay safe, have a great holiday, and roll some wheels somewhere! Thank you for reading!

Friday News And Views

 Nathan's Miles: Vinton's Glow-In-The-Dark Trail (From Baker Ent. Facebook page)

 The U.S.A's Longest Glow-In-The-Dark Trail:

A bicycle trail that glows in the dark? Yes, and it is located just South of where I live about 38 miles away. The trail, claimed to be the longest of its type in the U.S., has aggregate embedded in it which glows in the dark when exposed to sunlight.

Apparently it only needs 15 minutes of direct sunlight to glow for 15 hours!  This trail should get a lot of attention here in Iowa over the next several years. It has a glowing section of approximately two miles in length, (the trail is three miles overall), and it passes by a couple of Vinton's schools which were attended by a former resident and Vinton city employee, Nathan Hesson, who first dreamed of this trail. He died, unfortunately, before this trail could be realized, and it is dedicated in his memory. Called "Nathan's Miles" trail, the City of Vinton dedicated and opened the trail just this past Tuesday.  

I'll have to scoot down there again someday to check this out. I was last through Vinton on my aborted century ride last Summer but I did not see anything of this new trail at that time. Maybe I can even time it right to go through in the dark and see what this trail can do.

First Annual "UG" To Occur This Weekend:

You know, this event is big, and it is following the coat tails of one of the original gravel grinders of the modern era, the Dirty Kanza 200. (That was its name, whatever your politics/thoughts are on that.) This 'new' event happens for the first time this  next weekend. (Thanks to "RonDog" for catching my mistake!)

Here are my thoughts concerning this. I'm probably the only person that thinks this way, so never mind me, but here we go....

The whole kerfuffle with the DK name and the ouster of its former original co-director, (the other co-director, Joel Dyke, voluntarily left DK around 2011), was driven by social justice issues and with an aim to remake the old event into something which would not resemble much of the heritage of the past DK event- Things which were deemed to be offensive. Okay, that is a valid and understandable action which leaves us with a new name and new race directors, none of which are related to the old DK event with the exception of Kristi Mohn. 

Okay, so now you have an odd situation. The former name and former race director, Jim Cummings, were largely responsible for the event's effects on the community of Emporia, Kansas, which were deemed to be positive. These gains in tourism, economic impact, and let's not forget prestige in the international racing community, were things which the new owner of the event, Life Time Fitness, and the community business folks did not want to have 'go away'. 

How do you separate the one from the other? On the one hand, you have a 'turning of the page', a new event, for all intents and purposes, and on the other, you have people and business entities wanting to hold on to the money, (let's be honest here, that's the bottom line), which has great potential to benefit said entities and concerned people. Things which that old name and the old race director brought to the area. Actually, you can do this. But Unbound Gravel seems to be wanting to walk the fence on it. 

On the one hand, they haven't said that this event is a new beginning and that any and all ties to that past event which shall not be named are now cut. They could do it like this: "That part is over. The Past. We now, for the first time, begin a new event with better ideals and with the same focus on challenge, etc....." But no, we get uncomfortable references to the DK200, and in some situations, it is painfully obvious that there really is no 'cutting of the ties' to the Dirty Kanza 200. Especially when 'the continuance' of certain ideals are being carried over in terms of things the old DK200 did for rider recognition, the references to this being whatever year it is of the event, and so on. 

I just find that all totally unnecessary. Just stop it. Make a full cut from the old and start again with this being 'Year One' and make your own heritage. But no, the uncomfortable truth of the matter is that fear of losing economic impact and prestige makes for words and actions that say one thing but hold the hand behind the back for the cash on the other. 

And that's just my take. Like I said, I may be the only person on Earth that sees things that way, and I am fine with being told I'm crazy and wrong if that's the case, but that's how I see it. 

UPDATE on the Wesley Martin YouTube Channel: I was made aware on Wednesday that the link in my story called "Just Passing Through" about Wesley Martin for his You Tube channel was not working. I fixed it, but here it is again in case you tried and missed last Wednesday. I apologize for the inconvenience. But go check it out, like, and subscribe to his channel. It's a great little look at everything he is seeing on his 3000 mile bicycle trip which will eventually take him and a friend to California. 

Just as a sample, he rode a mystery trail before meeting his traveling companion and it is a hilarious episode. I won't say more, but do go check out his channel. 

WARNING: Self-Plug Coming! If you listen to his Day 15 entry you'll hear Wesley heaping praise on Andy's Bike Shop. I guess he was pretty impressed by us and said as much in that entry. It is nice to hear it, honestly. After years of pretty much no feedback on my work at the old job I was pleased to get some positive commentary and it made me feel pretty good. Also, Andy gave him one of the shop shirts and he was wearing it for the next two days! Pretty cool all in all.

So, Wesley, I doubt you'll ever read this, but if you do- "Thank you!" And also- Here's to a safe, adventurous, memorable trip for you and your traveling companion. I'll be following along on the You Tube channel to see what happens.

The WAR brand is part of the new Ross Bicycles.

Ross Bicycles Returns, Has Gravel Bike, (Of Course!) :

Rumors and bits of news had been coming for a few years in the trade papers that Ross Bicycles was coming back. You may remember the brand for their chromed out early 80's mountain bikes. By the late 80's/early 90's Ross Bicycles seemingly faded away, never to be heard from again.

Well, now they are back and they do (or will) have mountain bikes again. However; as you are all probably well aware by now, Gravel® is what you HAVE to be selling, so Ross Bicycles has a gravel model dubbed the Evader GSR under the W.A.R brand of their company.

Comments: It looks to be a consumer direct brand and the prices are okay looking, nothing spectacular here for an aluminum frame/carbon fork and SRAM Rival bits. The frame looks a LOT like the Viathon from Walmart, what with the big dropped drive side chain stay and lowered seat stay design. The geometry is what I would expect- not very inspiring, to me at least, and so this isn't anything that trips my trigger. It is just interesting that Ross Bicycles is behind this and that the brand is making a comeback.  

Okay, that's a wrap. This is a BIG weekend in the U.S.A. Stay safe, have a great holiday, and roll some wheels somewhere! Thank you for reading!

Feedback

 Recently I got a nice email from an old friend of Trans Iowa who had listened to the "Riding Gravel Radio Ranch" podcast recently. He was remarking about a way that Andy and I were describing 'winning' in terms of how that worked out for the early grassroots gravel scene. 

I've written a lot about the differences between what has happened with the big, corporate backed gravel events, the media narratives, and the perceptions that gravel races = Pro roadie-like events versus challenges, democratic experiences, and rider engagement both socially and with the events. There is some overlap, to be sure, between these things, but what we discussed on the podcast really distills this down to a finer point. 

Basically, it boils down to a choice: Do we want singular "Winners" or do we want everyone to feel like a winner. This can be a fine balance, and even some events you'd throw under the bus, maybe, are actually pretty good at doing the right things. Or they were. Here I will bring up that event formerly held in Emporia Kansas, the Dirty Kanza 200. I know.....we aren't supposed to 'name the name', but that's what it was called. The name doesn't matter in this discussion. What matters is that Jim Cummings and his crew made everyone that they could feel like a winner. Yeah, a big hoopla, fancy-pants finish line experience may not be your cuppa, but ya gotta admit, a LOT of people responded to that treatment in a very positive way. There was a big winner overall, but that wasn't THAT big of a deal, until near the end, where I feel like things got tilted too far in the direction of catering to the Pro/Media/Corporate side. 

There are other events which feature challenges, where if you can manage to get through to the end, you are celebrated, and maybe even if you don't make it, you still feel like a winner. It was upon THAT foundation that "The Gravel Scene" was founded. This happened without any sense of organized racing, without much of any help from the cycling press, and without any support from the cycling industry early on. It didn't need those things to become wildly popular. Why? Because of what I described above- everyone was welcomed, everyone was made to feel important. Winners all. 

But now I am hearing about events being put on with big prize money to five places down, or a big purse for Pro class riders, or events with nine million age divisions, (I jest, but you know what I mean), and lotteries to even get a chance to get in some of these events, like those are good things for everybody? 

Are not these the very reasons many people grew tired of criterium racing, road course racing, XC MTB, and other highly categorized, winner take all, cut throat mentality events? I would say, YES! And yet we want to start going down that road with gravel events, eh? Good luck with that.....

We know the end of that road, and it has a "Dead End" sign on it.

Feedback

 Recently I got a nice email from an old friend of Trans Iowa who had listened to the "Riding Gravel Radio Ranch" podcast recently. He was remarking about a way that Andy and I were describing 'winning' in terms of how that worked out for the early grassroots gravel scene. 

I've written a lot about the differences between what has happened with the big, corporate backed gravel events, the media narratives, and the perceptions that gravel races = Pro roadie-like events versus challenges, democratic experiences, and rider engagement both socially and with the events. There is some overlap, to be sure, between these things, but what we discussed on the podcast really distills this down to a finer point. 

Basically, it boils down to a choice: Do we want singular "Winners" or do we want everyone to feel like a winner. This can be a fine balance, and even some events you'd throw under the bus, maybe, are actually pretty good at doing the right things. Or they were. Here I will bring up that event formerly held in Emporia Kansas, the Dirty Kanza 200. I know.....we aren't supposed to 'name the name', but that's what it was called. The name doesn't matter in this discussion. What matters is that Jim Cummings and his crew made everyone that they could feel like a winner. Yeah, a big hoopla, fancy-pants finish line experience may not be your cuppa, but ya gotta admit, a LOT of people responded to that treatment in a very positive way. There was a big winner overall, but that wasn't THAT big of a deal, until near the end, where I feel like things got tilted too far in the direction of catering to the Pro/Media/Corporate side. 

There are other events which feature challenges, where if you can manage to get through to the end, you are celebrated, and maybe even if you don't make it, you still feel like a winner. It was upon THAT foundation that "The Gravel Scene" was founded. This happened without any sense of organized racing, without much of any help from the cycling press, and without any support from the cycling industry early on. It didn't need those things to become wildly popular. Why? Because of what I described above- everyone was welcomed, everyone was made to feel important. Winners all. 

But now I am hearing about events being put on with big prize money to five places down, or a big purse for Pro class riders, or events with nine million age divisions, (I jest, but you know what I mean), and lotteries to even get a chance to get in some of these events, like those are good things for everybody? 

Are not these the very reasons many people grew tired of criterium racing, road course racing, XC MTB, and other highly categorized, winner take all, cut throat mentality events? I would say, YES! And yet we want to start going down that road with gravel events, eh? Good luck with that.....

We know the end of that road, and it has a "Dead End" sign on it.

Trans Iowa Stories: The Myth Of The Triple Crown

Dan Hughes shortly after winning T.I.v13 Image by Michael Roe

 "Trans Iowa Stories" is an every Sunday post which helps tell the stories behind the event. You can check out other posts about this subject by going back to earlier Sunday posts on this blog. Thanks and enjoy!

Once the gravel scene got rolling, and I would say this would have been around 2007 or so, there was an idea batted around. This idea had to do with promoting the Mid-West as the "center of gravel racing". It was, most likely, a way toward a path which has manifested itself in another way, and I think it is easy to see now that time has passed us by. But back in these days, I am not sure anyone really had the vision that maybe only one or two others did at the time.

This is the story of the mythical "Triple Crown of Gravel".

Trans Iowa inspired the Dirty Kanza 200. That's not a claim that is up for debate. It's been said many times by Jim Cummins, the co-founder of the DK200, and it was also acknowledged by the late Joel Dyke, the other co-founder of that Kansas event. So there was a certain kinship that developed early between us and our events.  At some point early on in both events timeline, Jim had brought up the thought of coming up with a "triple crown" with me, but at the time he was thinking along these lines, he didn't have a particular third event in mind. What other "like minded event" could it be? There were two- the T.I. and the DK.  I recall that Jim thought it might be desirable to have that third event be in Nebraska, a natural choice because of geography and the interest in gravel riding at the time in Nebraska.

There was a possibility of the third event becoming the one which Nebraskan Skip Cronin helped put on. It was a very challenging, mostly dirt road and remote event that ended up being a one-off and never happened again. Then, in 2008, the Pirate Cycling League put on the first "Good Life Gravel Adventure". It was a 150 mile challenge and in its first year it drew a handful of riders, but the 2009 version saw much greater interest. The PCL started talking about a "gravel worlds" back in those days, and that sort of grand thinking was something that perked up the ears of Jim Cummins who then poked around with the triple crown idea again. What the PCL was doing was right up the pipeline of where the DK200 was going, and the PCL took some cues from both T.I. and the DK. I am sure that the 2009 announcement of the AGRS (Almanzo Gravel Road Series) "Race For The Cup" in Minnesota was another influencer upon this renewed talk of a "triple crown". There were a few emails going around between myself, the PCL, and Jim Cummings back then discussing how a triple crown might work.

I recall that I found several difficulties with the idea. How would a points system be set up so that riders could accumulate points from one event to another fairly and in a way that was easy to understand? How would the differing events come to terms with the difference in opinions regarding rules? Would there be a separate "governing body"? Would there be entry fees? Prizing?

There were far too many obstacles to getting there, in my mind. Add in the fact that I would have had to make some fundamental changes to Trans Iowa, which, frankly were not going to happen due to my loyalty to Jeff Kerkove's original ideas, and as far as I was concerned it was a no-go.

So, maybe you can blame me for the death of the "triple crown" idea. But I do recall that the PCL wasn't super jazzed on the idea either. That said, it is fun to look back and think "what if"? Had a true "Triple Crown of Gravel" series been set up, where would that be now? I'm betting things would be a heck of a lot different these days.

The whole idea died then, or so I thought, until April of 2017 when Dan Hughes crossed the line first at Trans Iowa v13. Afterward, in Dan's race report, he mentioned something about being the only "Triple Crown" winner. See, he had won Dirty Kanza, Gravel Worlds, and at that time, Trans Iowa. Dan, being fairly close to Jim Cummins back in the day, may have found out about the Triple Crown idea from him. Especially when you think about Dan winning the very first DK. It maybe would have been discussed back then, in 2006. But however Dan came to his knowledge of such a myth, it was just that, a myth. There never was a "Triple Crown of Gravel", but if anyone could lay claim to such a thing, it would be Dan.

Next week; I talk about how Trans Iowa was influential early on, but soon became the outlier in the young gravel scene in "How This Event Became "The Trans Iowa"".

Trans Iowa Stories: The Myth Of The Triple Crown

Dan Hughes shortly after winning T.I.v13 Image by Michael Roe

 "Trans Iowa Stories" is an every Sunday post which helps tell the stories behind the event. You can check out other posts about this subject by going back to earlier Sunday posts on this blog. Thanks and enjoy!

Once the gravel scene got rolling, and I would say this would have been around 2007 or so, there was an idea batted around. This idea had to do with promoting the Mid-West as the "center of gravel racing". It was, most likely, a way toward a path which has manifested itself in another way, and I think it is easy to see now that time has passed us by. But back in these days, I am not sure anyone really had the vision that maybe only one or two others did at the time.

This is the story of the mythical "Triple Crown of Gravel".

Trans Iowa inspired the Dirty Kanza 200. That's not a claim that is up for debate. It's been said many times by Jim Cummins, the co-founder of the DK200, and it was also acknowledged by the late Joel Dyke, the other co-founder of that Kansas event. So there was a certain kinship that developed early between us and our events.  At some point early on in both events timeline, Jim had brought up the thought of coming up with a "triple crown" with me, but at the time he was thinking along these lines, he didn't have a particular third event in mind. What other "like minded event" could it be? There were two- the T.I. and the DK.  I recall that Jim thought it might be desirable to have that third event be in Nebraska, a natural choice because of geography and the interest in gravel riding at the time in Nebraska.

There was a possibility of the third event becoming the one which Nebraskan Skip Cronin helped put on. It was a very challenging, mostly dirt road and remote event that ended up being a one-off and never happened again. Then, in 2008, the Pirate Cycling League put on the first "Good Life Gravel Adventure". It was a 150 mile challenge and in its first year it drew a handful of riders, but the 2009 version saw much greater interest. The PCL started talking about a "gravel worlds" back in those days, and that sort of grand thinking was something that perked up the ears of Jim Cummins who then poked around with the triple crown idea again. What the PCL was doing was right up the pipeline of where the DK200 was going, and the PCL took some cues from both T.I. and the DK. I am sure that the 2009 announcement of the AGRS (Almanzo Gravel Road Series) "Race For The Cup" in Minnesota was another influencer upon this renewed talk of a "triple crown". There were a few emails going around between myself, the PCL, and Jim Cummings back then discussing how a triple crown might work.

I recall that I found several difficulties with the idea. How would a points system be set up so that riders could accumulate points from one event to another fairly and in a way that was easy to understand? How would the differing events come to terms with the difference in opinions regarding rules? Would there be a separate "governing body"? Would there be entry fees? Prizing?

There were far too many obstacles to getting there, in my mind. Add in the fact that I would have had to make some fundamental changes to Trans Iowa, which, frankly were not going to happen due to my loyalty to Jeff Kerkove's original ideas, and as far as I was concerned it was a no-go.

So, maybe you can blame me for the death of the "triple crown" idea. But I do recall that the PCL wasn't super jazzed on the idea either. That said, it is fun to look back and think "what if"? Had a true "Triple Crown of Gravel" series been set up, where would that be now? I'm betting things would be a heck of a lot different these days.

The whole idea died then, or so I thought, until April of 2017 when Dan Hughes crossed the line first at Trans Iowa v13. Afterward, in Dan's race report, he mentioned something about being the only "Triple Crown" winner. See, he had won Dirty Kanza, Gravel Worlds, and at that time, Trans Iowa. Dan, being fairly close to Jim Cummins back in the day, may have found out about the Triple Crown idea from him. Especially when you think about Dan winning the very first DK. It maybe would have been discussed back then, in 2006. But however Dan came to his knowledge of such a myth, it was just that, a myth. There never was a "Triple Crown of Gravel", but if anyone could lay claim to such a thing, it would be Dan.

Next week; I talk about how Trans Iowa was influential early on, but soon became the outlier in the young gravel scene in "How This Event Became "The Trans Iowa"".