Winter Views: Unexpected Mush

January thaw? Well.......maybe.

This Winter has been one for the record books. We've had flooding in late December, temperatures more akin to early to late March, and very, very little snow to speak of.

So, you'd think we'd be jumping for joy. Well, the single track has been more miss than hit, and we've had enough ice to make gravel travel fairly treacherous, off and on anyway. It's been in between so much that we cannot make out which way the weather is going around here.

The only thing I knew for sure was that the weekend was supposed to be warm. Not just "warm for January", but more like "warm for March". Like 50's! Weird......

So the cyclists in the area were all buzzing about getting some miles in January outside, which for most of us around here is very odd. I mean, a few of us do keep the pedals turning out of doors all year, but we're considered super-odd balls. So, there is that. But when it gets to be this warm, more "hardcore cyclists" will be out scheming to do miles in January. Most folks that did were on gravel, so the prevailing wisdom was to get up early, get the miles in, and avoid the melting messes. Apparently, mushy gravel is to be avoided at all costs.

Now I took a different viewpoint. One- at my age, falling is not a very good option. Especially on icy roads. Secondly, mushy gravel only makes you stronger. So, I followed my take on things, awaited the rising of the temperatures, and headed out around a bit before noon. I'd say I hit it juuuuust about right. Just about right for no ice and much mushiness!

There were a lot of snow packed sections where I rode. Fortunately the ice had turned to mush.

I could feel that there was a frozen base to the roads yet, but another day of this? Yeah, that will boil out that moisture too. Then it will be very mushy, with a LOT of rutting possible. I did find a couple of spots like that, and the wheels were sucked in so hard I about came to a stop. Glad I caught things in the in between state. The snow in the shadows of roadside trees was pretty packed and solid yet, so there were sections of snow I rode also. Quite the diversity of surfaces.

Cows in the stubble. I saw several fields like this where cows were grazing.

There was a slight breeze from the West. It wasn't bad, but it was there. The temperature was amazing. The Sun felt......almost hot, like it does in Summer when its rays hit your skin. That was odd for January. The Sun was also making short work of the snow and ice, despite the lower angle of its rays. Water was streaming down hills in ruts made by traffic. Puddles were everywhere. My fenders were a prized possession on this ride. They certainly paid for themselves. Unfortunately my chain did not benefit from the fenders though. It was sounding crunchy about half way through my planned route. Crunchy is NOT a good sound coming from a chain. Guitar amplifiers, cereal, and potato chips, yeah.....then it is a good thing. 

Which way do I go?

 

Money shot.

So, I got a good two hours in, I think. It was slow, tough, and just what I needed to get stronger. I am not taking any "big bites" just yet, and really, this is all bonus mileage anyway. There was no way you were going to plan for this in your training. It was a gift, and it looks that it will be "gifting weather" for a while yet, just not as warm as it was Saturday.

The temperatures will back down a bit, but we're still looking at bonus riding time outdoors. Hopefully all the ice will be gone now and things will firm up a bit. If they do, I'll be getting more gravel rides in than I ever dreamt I would in January here.

What's Up, GT?

A new fork on the Raleigh....

The end of the year business and the "State Of The Gravel Scene" posts have gobbled up all my space for recounting the day-to-day stuff around here. So, without further adieu, here's what has been happening since, or, around Christmas time.....

• Hours cut waaaay back at work. The business climate in bicycle retail has, well.......it sucks. Not just where I work either. But suffice it to say that the purse strings were tightened and Christmas time was a frugal one at the G-Ted household.
• 24hrs of Cumming entry: Sam, my co-conspirator in the 24hrs of Cumming last August started sending me some messages that were......cryptic. Then at the end I get a confirmation that I was in the 24hrs of Cumming and a "Merry Christmas" from Sam. This all a day ahead of registration opening, which.......I don't know how that worked. Point is, I am in with Sam. This time we will be known as "Team Snack Sabbath". 
• 20th Anniversary: Mrs. G-Ted and I celebrated our 20th Anniversary January 2nd. Again- a frugal affair, so no big deal, but it didn't matter because our family was together.  
• Sickness: Yep. Regular readers know I usually get sick around this time of year. Had a 24hr bug, recovered in a few days. 
• Renegade Gents Race 9.0: April 6th. The Careless Whispers are in for their 9th time. Lets see if we can get EVERY team member to the finish on the regulation course! 
• C.O.G. 100 Registration: Opened January 2nd. Sold out two thirds of the field within four hours and we only had a handful of spots left by the end of day one of the registration process. Sold all 75 spots in three days. Added 25 additional spots over the weekend. Pretty surprised by that, I won't lie. I figured finding 75 single speed freaks would be tougher than that.

Then this retro single speed stuff showed up.

Speaking Of Single Speed..........

I got a message between Christmas and New Years from Grannygear. He asked me if I might be interested in some single speed hubs he had, some old White Industries ENO hubs. I said yeah, and he said, no problem. Okay, so filed away for some other time.

Then on the day of my 20th wedding anniversary, I got a heavy box of pretty decent size. What? I opened it, and besides the vintage hubs, there were two Shimano square taper cranks with rings, a White Industries free wheel, two saddles from WTB, and to top it all off- the White Industries ENO freewheel tool!

Thank you, Grannygear! Wow! This is so cool. One of the cranksets is even a 180mm length! That one, a 9000 series crank, has a rare 34T Onza Buzzsaw chain ring too. The stuff needs cleaning and a touch of TLC, but hey! I ain't complainin'! First thing to do after a bit of polishing up will be to get a new set of bearings in the rear hub. Then I'll build up a wheel set for my Blackbuck rig with some rims from Velocity of some sort. Probably some Velocity Blunt SS rims. Anyway, these wheels are gonna be sweet.

That White Industries free wheel will probably end up on the Blackbuck at some point. It's a 21T or 22T job, too low for any gravel travel. The cranks...... Dunno yet. I probably will put one set on the Blackbuck and retire the ano-green Suginos I've run on there for the last ten plus years. One of the saddles is a Pure V, my favorite, so I'll have no trouble finding a home for that. The other is a well worn, possibly an OG from the 90's, WTB SST saddle. I have one and have broken my other. Good time to replace that.

So, there ya go. Some catching up, housecleaning, and whatnot from late last year till the present. Back to "regularly scheduled" postings tomorrow.

What's Up, GT?

A new fork on the Raleigh....

The end of the year business and the "State Of The Gravel Scene" posts have gobbled up all my space for recounting the day-to-day stuff around here. So, without further adieu, here's what has been happening since, or, around Christmas time.....

• Hours cut waaaay back at work. The business climate in bicycle retail has, well.......it sucks. Not just where I work either. But suffice it to say that the purse strings were tightened and Christmas time was a frugal one at the G-Ted household.
• 24hrs of Cumming entry: Sam, my co-conspirator in the 24hrs of Cumming last August started sending me some messages that were......cryptic. Then at the end I get a confirmation that I was in the 24hrs of Cumming and a "Merry Christmas" from Sam. This all a day ahead of registration opening, which.......I don't know how that worked. Point is, I am in with Sam. This time we will be known as "Team Snack Sabbath". 
• 20th Anniversary: Mrs. G-Ted and I celebrated our 20th Anniversary January 2nd. Again- a frugal affair, so no big deal, but it didn't matter because our family was together.  
• Sickness: Yep. Regular readers know I usually get sick around this time of year. Had a 24hr bug, recovered in a few days. 
• Renegade Gents Race 9.0: April 6th. The Careless Whispers are in for their 9th time. Lets see if we can get EVERY team member to the finish on the regulation course! 
• C.O.G. 100 Registration: Opened January 2nd. Sold out two thirds of the field within four hours and we only had a handful of spots left by the end of day one of the registration process. Sold all 75 spots in three days. Added 25 additional spots over the weekend. Pretty surprised by that, I won't lie. I figured finding 75 single speed freaks would be tougher than that.

Then this retro single speed stuff showed up.

Speaking Of Single Speed..........

I got a message between Christmas and New Years from Grannygear. He asked me if I might be interested in some single speed hubs he had, some old White Industries ENO hubs. I said yeah, and he said, no problem. Okay, so filed away for some other time.

Then on the day of my 20th wedding anniversary, I got a heavy box of pretty decent size. What? I opened it, and besides the vintage hubs, there were two Shimano square taper cranks with rings, a White Industries free wheel, two saddles from WTB, and to top it all off- the White Industries ENO freewheel tool!

Thank you, Grannygear! Wow! This is so cool. One of the cranksets is even a 180mm length! That one, a 9000 series crank, has a rare 34T Onza Buzzsaw chain ring too. The stuff needs cleaning and a touch of TLC, but hey! I ain't complainin'! First thing to do after a bit of polishing up will be to get a new set of bearings in the rear hub. Then I'll build up a wheel set for my Blackbuck rig with some rims from Velocity of some sort. Probably some Velocity Blunt SS rims. Anyway, these wheels are gonna be sweet.

That White Industries free wheel will probably end up on the Blackbuck at some point. It's a 21T or 22T job, too low for any gravel travel. The cranks...... Dunno yet. I probably will put one set on the Blackbuck and retire the ano-green Suginos I've run on there for the last ten plus years. One of the saddles is a Pure V, my favorite, so I'll have no trouble finding a home for that. The other is a well worn, possibly an OG from the 90's, WTB SST saddle. I have one and have broken my other. Good time to replace that.

So, there ya go. Some catching up, housecleaning, and whatnot from late last year till the present. Back to "regularly scheduled" postings tomorrow.

The Touring Series: A Quick Recap So far

A Guitar Ted Productions series

Thanks for joining me again on another adventure in "The Touring Series". This tour was dubbed the "Race Against Death Tour". This tour occurred in August of 1995. The three participants, Ryan, Troy, and your's truly, left from Cedar Falls, Iowa to try and get to Winter Park, Colorado in two weeks. Here I am reproducing the tale, mostly as it was posted on the blog in 2009. There are some new edits and additions. I also will add new remarks and memories where appropriate at the end of each post. 

 Once again, there were no cell phones, internet, social media platforms, or digital cameras in use by we tourers in 1995. I will post images where I can, but this tour wasn't well documented in images, so there probably will be very few sprinkled throughout. A modern image will be used only where it depicts things I want to clarify, like where we were in that part of the tour via a map image, or the like.
 
The "Touring Series" will appear every Sunday until it ends. Look for past entries by scrolling back to a previous Sunday's post, or type in "Touring Series" in the search box to find more. 

NOTE: This entry did not appear in the original series, and this and the next post will be largely new, or rewritten to better reflect the importance this part of the story holds in my life. Today's entry will be a reflection back upon what has been happening in 1995 and on the tour so far.......
________________________________________________________________________

The tour was about to embark upon, what was for me, the most pivotal moments of the tour, and a major shift in my life. I've been alluding all along to things which were contributing to my situation as this tale unfolded, but I want to take a moment before we get back to the story to really underscore this, because it was really very important to who I became in later years.

Of course, you probably remember my mentioning that I had gotten divorced from my first wife, the final divorce proceedings occurring less than one month prior to this tour. My first wife had gotten tied up in the methamphetamine trade and became addicted to that drug along the way. This all unbeknownst to me until late 1994 when, as they say, the excrement hit the rotating wind machine. My life was in a shambles for many months.

This settled down into something of a more routine, "normal" lifestyle by the Summer of 1995, but by no means was I "back to normal". Of course, when you are in the midst of such upheaval, you think you are fine, but I was really just making do. My friends were a bit more keen and tuned in to what was going on which was expressed at times as worry and concern. This tour, in many ways, was Troy and Ryan's way of "helping me out". Getting me away from what was going on was their idea of helping me cope. No harm in any of that, and in retrospect, I owe them a lot, because of where they helped me get to on Day Seven of this tour.

That all included my nearly wiping myself out due to heat exhaustion on Day 2, constant stress from riding very hard everyday for eight to nine hours a day in extreme heat. Bonking nearly daily, and for several days being severely dehydrated, as water became precious on the Great Plains. It was a miracle I hadn't "cracked" yet. Keep in mind that I was only one year removed from doing my first big days in the saddle on the "Beg, Borrow, and Bastard Tour", and I hadn't been doing any long rides since that tour ended a year before this one. Essentially, I went into this untrained.

Of course, you remember every oddball thing we'd experienced so far as well, which contributed to what was about to happen. The "spiritual darkness" we experienced in White River and all throughout the Pine Ridge Reservation was still fresh in my mind then, as well as witnessing the man "rise from the dead" in Scenic, which was described in the last post.

So, all the stage was set. I was none the wiser. But as I set off from Scenic on the hot, clear, calm Summer day, I had no idea what was going to happen that would change my life forever. The experiences encapsulated within the next 44 miles into Rapid City would be so bizarre, so memorable, and so unbelievable, you'd be forgiven if you thought I made it all up. That is was a dream. But it wasn't. It was all too real.

Next: I Give Up!

The Touring Series: A Quick Recap So far

A Guitar Ted Productions series

Thanks for joining me again on another adventure in "The Touring Series". This tour was dubbed the "Race Against Death Tour". This tour occurred in August of 1995. The three participants, Ryan, Troy, and your's truly, left from Cedar Falls, Iowa to try and get to Winter Park, Colorado in two weeks. Here I am reproducing the tale, mostly as it was posted on the blog in 2009. There are some new edits and additions. I also will add new remarks and memories where appropriate at the end of each post. 

 Once again, there were no cell phones, internet, social media platforms, or digital cameras in use by we tourers in 1995. I will post images where I can, but this tour wasn't well documented in images, so there probably will be very few sprinkled throughout. A modern image will be used only where it depicts things I want to clarify, like where we were in that part of the tour via a map image, or the like.
 
The "Touring Series" will appear every Sunday until it ends. Look for past entries by scrolling back to a previous Sunday's post, or type in "Touring Series" in the search box to find more. 

NOTE: This entry did not appear in the original series, and this and the next post will be largely new, or rewritten to better reflect the importance this part of the story holds in my life. Today's entry will be a reflection back upon what has been happening in 1995 and on the tour so far.......
________________________________________________________________________

The tour was about to embark upon, what was for me, the most pivotal moments of the tour, and a major shift in my life. I've been alluding all along to things which were contributing to my situation as this tale unfolded, but I want to take a moment before we get back to the story to really underscore this, because it was really very important to who I became in later years.

Of course, you probably remember my mentioning that I had gotten divorced from my first wife, the final divorce proceedings occurring less than one month prior to this tour. My first wife had gotten tied up in the methamphetamine trade and became addicted to that drug along the way. This all unbeknownst to me until late 1994 when, as they say, the excrement hit the rotating wind machine. My life was in a shambles for many months.

This settled down into something of a more routine, "normal" lifestyle by the Summer of 1995, but by no means was I "back to normal". Of course, when you are in the midst of such upheaval, you think you are fine, but I was really just making do. My friends were a bit more keen and tuned in to what was going on which was expressed at times as worry and concern. This tour, in many ways, was Troy and Ryan's way of "helping me out". Getting me away from what was going on was their idea of helping me cope. No harm in any of that, and in retrospect, I owe them a lot, because of where they helped me get to on Day Seven of this tour.

That all included my nearly wiping myself out due to heat exhaustion on Day 2, constant stress from riding very hard everyday for eight to nine hours a day in extreme heat. Bonking nearly daily, and for several days being severely dehydrated, as water became precious on the Great Plains. It was a miracle I hadn't "cracked" yet. Keep in mind that I was only one year removed from doing my first big days in the saddle on the "Beg, Borrow, and Bastard Tour", and I hadn't been doing any long rides since that tour ended a year before this one. Essentially, I went into this untrained.

Of course, you remember every oddball thing we'd experienced so far as well, which contributed to what was about to happen. The "spiritual darkness" we experienced in White River and all throughout the Pine Ridge Reservation was still fresh in my mind then, as well as witnessing the man "rise from the dead" in Scenic, which was described in the last post.

So, all the stage was set. I was none the wiser. But as I set off from Scenic on the hot, clear, calm Summer day, I had no idea what was going to happen that would change my life forever. The experiences encapsulated within the next 44 miles into Rapid City would be so bizarre, so memorable, and so unbelievable, you'd be forgiven if you thought I made it all up. That is was a dream. But it wasn't. It was all too real.

Next: I Give Up!

Minus Ten Review 2009- 1

NOTE- Starting with 2019, all "Minus Ten" posts will have the year they refer to in the title. After three years of doing these, I figure I'd better do something to make finding old "Minus Ten" posts a little easier. 

Ten years ago this week it was deep Winter in Iowa and I was trying to find ways to cycle whenever, and however, I could. Of course, back then I was doing this odd activity called cross country skiing. Remember doing that, Iowans?

Ironically enough, I spoke with a man last week, (December, 2018), at the shop and he was from Western New York. He mentioned he was here on a family Christmas visit. He also said he'd skied 34 times already. Thirty-four times?! I don't think I've cross country skied 34 times in the last ten years. Mostly because, well.......it was impossible. That and "fat bike". That came into my life late in 2010, so in another year I would fairly abandon cross country skiing for fat biking. Then Winter, well........Winter with snow, disappeared, for the most part, and as you know, it's been tricky to even see anything white here resembling snow in a long time.

Let's see, so what else was going on in early, early 2009? Well, a couple of years prior, in 2007, Pacenti launched the 650B tire for mountain biking and it was quickly lauded as the "best of both worlds", a tire that would quickly erase 29"ers, (those silly wagon wheels), and replace the too-small 26"er. Two years later, in early 2009, and what did we have but.........(yawn), not much of anything. I wrote a musing on this fact, then I made the following prognostication, just barely after 2009 started.

"I also still think that 650B will not go away, but it will most certainly not attain the popularity that 29"ers currently enjoy without unseating 26"ers or 29"ers."

Hmmm...... Looks like I had that correct, and 26"ers are now, for all intents and purposes, a dead wheel size for mountain biking. Of course, this was not due to riders picking up on the tweener wheel size. No, had manufacturers not foisted the wheel size on consumers by developing the 'new" enduro discipline, and introducing small wheel sized mtb's as 650B bikes and not 26"ers, the "B" sized wheels would have died out, assuredly.

Ice glistens in the branches against an early morning Sun on my way to work in 2009.

 I'm not saying that would have been the right choice, but the industry pretty much dictated that change, not the riding public. I think Europe, whose riders at that time did not want anything to do with 29"ers, embraced the 650B wheel size as a better "big wheel" alternative to 26'ers. Of course, eventually even Europe gave over and accepted the 29"er in larger numbers.

But it was painfully obvious, (both in the metaphorical sense and literally), that the bike industry was swinging hard for 650B by 2011. That hurt "Twenty Nine Inches", the website I owned at the time, and times were tough for anything new on the big wheeled side for a while. But back to 2009. By this time, in 2009, decisions were being made and this is when the whole 650B deal was started, but it would take two years for all of that to come to fruition on the retail side. Manufacturers, bitten by sitting on their hands when Trek/Fisher raked in the sales on 29"ers in 2007/2008, (along with other early adopters), wanted to create the next "big thing" in mountain biking and they saw a chance with 650B and enduro, or in other terms, by replacing what had been known as "long travel" 26"ers. (5"-6")

Of course, back then, all I knew was that three wheel sizes in the shops weren't going to cut it. I was correct. Then "Plus" wheels and fat bikes pretty much wrecked that scenario!

As a side note, I think, because I cannot verify this anymore, but I think this 650B post from ten years ago was the one that spurred a violent rebuke from a few 650B fanboi's from mtbr.com here on the blog. They basically decided to flood the comments with bile, and what they thought was funny. The blog didn't have comment verification or spam control.....until after this point. I ended up having to install that on the blog then. It was my first run-in with internet style "bullying", and it wasn't cool.

But, I learned a lot from that, and so in the end, it was all good. I also had to learn about all this spam management and comment moderation for "Twenty Nine Inches" anyway, so that was a trial by fire! It served me well. In the end, the bullying made me a better blogger and internet site owner, so I guess I should thank those numbskulls.

Minus Ten Review 2009- 1

NOTE- Starting with 2019, all "Minus Ten" posts will have the year they refer to in the title. After three years of doing these, I figure I'd better do something to make finding old "Minus Ten" posts a little easier. 

Ten years ago this week it was deep Winter in Iowa and I was trying to find ways to cycle whenever, and however, I could. Of course, back then I was doing this odd activity called cross country skiing. Remember doing that, Iowans?

Ironically enough, I spoke with a man last week, (December, 2018), at the shop and he was from Western New York. He mentioned he was here on a family Christmas visit. He also said he'd skied 34 times already. Thirty-four times?! I don't think I've cross country skied 34 times in the last ten years. Mostly because, well.......it was impossible. That and "fat bike". That came into my life late in 2010, so in another year I would fairly abandon cross country skiing for fat biking. Then Winter, well........Winter with snow, disappeared, for the most part, and as you know, it's been tricky to even see anything white here resembling snow in a long time.

Let's see, so what else was going on in early, early 2009? Well, a couple of years prior, in 2007, Pacenti launched the 650B tire for mountain biking and it was quickly lauded as the "best of both worlds", a tire that would quickly erase 29"ers, (those silly wagon wheels), and replace the too-small 26"er. Two years later, in early 2009, and what did we have but.........(yawn), not much of anything. I wrote a musing on this fact, then I made the following prognostication, just barely after 2009 started.

"I also still think that 650B will not go away, but it will most certainly not attain the popularity that 29"ers currently enjoy without unseating 26"ers or 29"ers."

Hmmm...... Looks like I had that correct, and 26"ers are now, for all intents and purposes, a dead wheel size for mountain biking. Of course, this was not due to riders picking up on the tweener wheel size. No, had manufacturers not foisted the wheel size on consumers by developing the 'new" enduro discipline, and introducing small wheel sized mtb's as 650B bikes and not 26"ers, the "B" sized wheels would have died out, assuredly.

Ice glistens in the branches against an early morning Sun on my way to work in 2009.

 I'm not saying that would have been the right choice, but the industry pretty much dictated that change, not the riding public. I think Europe, whose riders at that time did not want anything to do with 29"ers, embraced the 650B wheel size as a better "big wheel" alternative to 26'ers. Of course, eventually even Europe gave over and accepted the 29"er in larger numbers.

But it was painfully obvious, (both in the metaphorical sense and literally), that the bike industry was swinging hard for 650B by 2011. That hurt "Twenty Nine Inches", the website I owned at the time, and times were tough for anything new on the big wheeled side for a while. But back to 2009. By this time, in 2009, decisions were being made and this is when the whole 650B deal was started, but it would take two years for all of that to come to fruition on the retail side. Manufacturers, bitten by sitting on their hands when Trek/Fisher raked in the sales on 29"ers in 2007/2008, (along with other early adopters), wanted to create the next "big thing" in mountain biking and they saw a chance with 650B and enduro, or in other terms, by replacing what had been known as "long travel" 26"ers. (5"-6")

Of course, back then, all I knew was that three wheel sizes in the shops weren't going to cut it. I was correct. Then "Plus" wheels and fat bikes pretty much wrecked that scenario!

As a side note, I think, because I cannot verify this anymore, but I think this 650B post from ten years ago was the one that spurred a violent rebuke from a few 650B fanboi's from mtbr.com here on the blog. They basically decided to flood the comments with bile, and what they thought was funny. The blog didn't have comment verification or spam control.....until after this point. I ended up having to install that on the blog then. It was my first run-in with internet style "bullying", and it wasn't cool.

But, I learned a lot from that, and so in the end, it was all good. I also had to learn about all this spam management and comment moderation for "Twenty Nine Inches" anyway, so that was a trial by fire! It served me well. In the end, the bullying made me a better blogger and internet site owner, so I guess I should thank those numbskulls.

The State Of The Gravel Scene: 2019- Part 3

Guitar Ted's Note- this will be the final post in the series and as always.....NOTE: Large doses of "my opinion" will be handed out in gloppy dollops today. You've been forewarned.....

Late in the Fall I posted about the situation as I saw it regarding the status of gravel events, their growing numbers, and the future of gravel events in an article entitled, "The Message". I basically was saying that gravel events, as a genre, weren't on the decline and that grassroots gravel stuff wasn't dying. Here is a quote from that piece:

 "In my opinion, this kind of repudiates the belief on many folks parts that "gravel" is jumping the shark, about to decline, or has "sold out". Rather, I believe that the true, "grassroots" nature of this genre' is getting even stronger. It tells me that despite the groans and complaints I read when events charge more than a dollar per mile to enter a competition, or when events make outlandish claims in marketing, or even when "the roadies show up", that gravel grinding at the grassroots level is not dying. Quite the opposite, actually."

Since I covered that topic there, all I will say here are a few more thoughts on what I've noticed since the Fall.

Hopefully you have been keeping up with these posts over the last few days because what has been hot in the bike shops and online is also driving events. The "hot thing" is gravel, like it or not, and anyone with a hankering to put on an event, for whatever reasons, is probably not looking at doing a criterium, time trial, paved road race, mountain bike race, or anything not "gravel" related. It's interesting when you see some of the long running "monster cross" races, originally outgrowths of cyclo cross, now say they have gravel sections, or are outright calling themselves gravel races now. You know things have changed in focus when that happens.

There is another thing that has been an undercurrent in the scene for many years, which I have been talking a lot about over the past couple of interviews I have given. That is that "small town America" has latched on to gravel rides as a way to increase tourism and boost their economies.

The Cherry Grove Community Center benefited greatly from the 2018 Almanzo events.

No doubt success stories such as those coming out of Emporia, Kansas, Hastings, Michigan, and formerly, Spring Valley, Minnesota, are driving small town promoters, local chambers of commerce, and regional progressive thinkers with a bicycling bent, to take a look at gravel events. The possibilities are not lost on these areas which have languished in the past and generally are off the beaten paths. Paths which have rendered many great localities as invisible to the Interstate traveler. A good gravel ride/event can reinvigorate a community, give them a much needed economic boost, and provide a sense of pride for the local residents in their community.

This has also made things easier for would be promoters to start events. Towns and villages open up their arms, generally, when they understand how even having a gravel event pass through their town can provide great benefits. Gravel Worlds is such an example. The villages of Valparaiso and Malcom Nebraska have reaped the economic benefits from just having riders come and support local Boy Scout troops, charities, and of course, the local businesses. Gravel promoters who are sensitive to the mutual benefits of having towns and villages be a part of their events are seeing greater cooperation when it comes to allowing their events passage. Sometimes even as far as towns and villages providing venues and home bases to work out of for events at reduced costs, or free.

While most of the stories are positive, unfortunately, not all are. Almanzo, being the most notable example now. Spring Valley ran the event with Penn Cycles, a shop out of Minneapolis, until recently when the event was taken back by its creator, Chris Skogen. There was some sort of dialogue between Skogen and the community of Spring Valley which went awry, precipitating Skogen's action to pull the event from Spring Valley and move it. Northfield, Minnesota was eager to accept the event and become its new host, leaving Spring Valley in the lurch. This will, obviously, be a negative to the local Spring Valley economy, but not just for Spring Valley.

As a part of RidingGravel.com, I was a volunteer at the Cherry Grove checkpoint location which was at an old school house converted to a community center. Last Spring, the local manager of the venue put out a free will offering bucket and claimed a "significant portion" (the care-taker's words, not mine) of the yearly budget for the upkeep of the center. Obviously, that won't be happening this Spring if the event has moved to Northfield and the course is what I have heard it is going to be. That's a sad casualty and not what I like to see happen to Cherry Grove, but it is what it is.......

That said, you can see how gravel events are now not just oddball sideshows anymore. (Well.....some of them are. Like my events! HA!) They have become a significant part of culture in some communities. They have had, and will continue to have, significant economic and health benefits for small villages and towns for years to come.

The State Of The Gravel Scene: 2019- Part 3

Guitar Ted's Note- this will be the final post in the series and as always.....NOTE: Large doses of "my opinion" will be handed out in gloppy dollops today. You've been forewarned.....

Late in the Fall I posted about the situation as I saw it regarding the status of gravel events, their growing numbers, and the future of gravel events in an article entitled, "The Message". I basically was saying that gravel events, as a genre, weren't on the decline and that grassroots gravel stuff wasn't dying. Here is a quote from that piece:

 "In my opinion, this kind of repudiates the belief on many folks parts that "gravel" is jumping the shark, about to decline, or has "sold out". Rather, I believe that the true, "grassroots" nature of this genre' is getting even stronger. It tells me that despite the groans and complaints I read when events charge more than a dollar per mile to enter a competition, or when events make outlandish claims in marketing, or even when "the roadies show up", that gravel grinding at the grassroots level is not dying. Quite the opposite, actually."

Since I covered that topic there, all I will say here are a few more thoughts on what I've noticed since the Fall.

Hopefully you have been keeping up with these posts over the last few days because what has been hot in the bike shops and online is also driving events. The "hot thing" is gravel, like it or not, and anyone with a hankering to put on an event, for whatever reasons, is probably not looking at doing a criterium, time trial, paved road race, mountain bike race, or anything not "gravel" related. It's interesting when you see some of the long running "monster cross" races, originally outgrowths of cyclo cross, now say they have gravel sections, or are outright calling themselves gravel races now. You know things have changed in focus when that happens.

There is another thing that has been an undercurrent in the scene for many years, which I have been talking a lot about over the past couple of interviews I have given. That is that "small town America" has latched on to gravel rides as a way to increase tourism and boost their economies.

The Cherry Grove Community Center benefited greatly from the 2018 Almanzo events.

No doubt success stories such as those coming out of Emporia, Kansas, Hastings, Michigan, and formerly, Spring Valley, Minnesota, are driving small town promoters, local chambers of commerce, and regional progressive thinkers with a bicycling bent, to take a look at gravel events. The possibilities are not lost on these areas which have languished in the past and generally are off the beaten paths. Paths which have rendered many great localities as invisible to the Interstate traveler. A good gravel ride/event can reinvigorate a community, give them a much needed economic boost, and provide a sense of pride for the local residents in their community.

This has also made things easier for would be promoters to start events. Towns and villages open up their arms, generally, when they understand how even having a gravel event pass through their town can provide great benefits. Gravel Worlds is such an example. The villages of Valparaiso and Malcom Nebraska have reaped the economic benefits from just having riders come and support local Boy Scout troops, charities, and of course, the local businesses. Gravel promoters who are sensitive to the mutual benefits of having towns and villages be a part of their events are seeing greater cooperation when it comes to allowing their events passage. Sometimes even as far as towns and villages providing venues and home bases to work out of for events at reduced costs, or free.

While most of the stories are positive, unfortunately, not all are. Almanzo, being the most notable example now. Spring Valley ran the event with Penn Cycles, a shop out of Minneapolis, until recently when the event was taken back by its creator, Chris Skogen. There was some sort of dialogue between Skogen and the community of Spring Valley which went awry, precipitating Skogen's action to pull the event from Spring Valley and move it. Northfield, Minnesota was eager to accept the event and become its new host, leaving Spring Valley in the lurch. This will, obviously, be a negative to the local Spring Valley economy, but not just for Spring Valley.

As a part of RidingGravel.com, I was a volunteer at the Cherry Grove checkpoint location which was at an old school house converted to a community center. Last Spring, the local manager of the venue put out a free will offering bucket and claimed a "significant portion" (the care-taker's words, not mine) of the yearly budget for the upkeep of the center. Obviously, that won't be happening this Spring if the event has moved to Northfield and the course is what I have heard it is going to be. That's a sad casualty and not what I like to see happen to Cherry Grove, but it is what it is.......

That said, you can see how gravel events are now not just oddball sideshows anymore. (Well.....some of them are. Like my events! HA!) They have become a significant part of culture in some communities. They have had, and will continue to have, significant economic and health benefits for small villages and towns for years to come.

The State Of The Gravel Scene: 2019- Part 2

 NOTE: Large doses of "my opinion" will be handed out in gloppy dollops today. You've been forewarned.....

Today in part 2 of my "State Of The Gravel Scene" I want to take a look at the hardware side of gravel cycling and where it could be going.

First of all, it is a gross understatement to say that the cycling industry is in upheaval. It is really worse than you might think. To say that this industry is very sick is not hyperbole in any shape or form.

All the more reason for the industry to latch on to the only forms of cycling, at this time, that are in any sort of "growth mode". It's pretty obvious that gravel cycling is one of those areas. The other- electric assisted, "hybrid powered bikes", are the other, and yes, there are electric motors on bicycles meant for gravel riding. (An example of which you can read about on "Bike Radar" as they cover the slightly over 40lb, slightly over 4K Cannondale Synapse NEO Gravel) So, you could say that in some ways the two are actually one thing. But for the purposes of this post, I will only address the fully human powered version of cycling.

Again- perspective is a good teacher. Only six years ago we had gravel products, but only enough that might account for the the fingers on one hand's worth. Tires were just being produced specific for gravel. Bicycles were just emerging for the discipline. Now, on the door step of the last year of this decade, we cannot count the numbers of bicycles, tires, wheels, clothing, and even handle bar tape that is "gravel specific".

And the end of it cannot be seen yet.

Conversely road bikes are in a nose dive in terms of sales figures. No doubt, a preponderance of notable deaths portrayed in media, both established and social, has given pause to those who once gave the open road all their cycling miles. Reports stream in of "distracted drivers" and fear rises which has certainly driven more numbers to the gravel/back road scene. But that doesn't completely account for the rising numbers of sales in the genre'.

I was saying back ten years ago that a gravel bike, should such a thing become reality, would make way more sense for most riders, be they riders of pavement or not, than the typical "racing bred" machine. The versatility a gravel bike can bring with rack mounts, fender mounts, and more used to be the sole domain of heavy tubed touring bikes meant to haul heavy loads. What a "gravel bike" does is different than that. It has the capabilities to hang with the paved road club ride, be a commuter hack, and go off pavement. Like......way more off pavement than a typical racing bike can with more stability and comfort than any racing bike could ever give you. Essentially, what I said then was that this style of bike was what 90% of the non-racing cycling public should be riding if they are not mountain biking.

Several years ago this carbon, Di2 equipped gravel bike cost a little more than 5K. That's "cheap" now.

So, now that people are figuring this out, coupled with the fear of being on pavement, road racing style bikes have not been moving as well in the market. This has pushed more gravel/back road bike development. Even on the high end. We're seeing more "halo" type offerings. Bikes in the five digit price category. I know of at least a couple slated for release in 2019 that are going to top out at well above $10,000.00 and I am sure I do not know about all of the future offerings. This was totally unthinkable even just a few years ago.

Another facet behind this would be part of what I was talking about yesterday- the attendance of more Pro level and semi-pro level road and mountain biking athletes at gravel events. Getting a top ten placing with a well known rider on your gravel rig is now a big deal, apparently, for the marketing departments. Gravel is stealing the spotlight from traditional road racing, and especially in the USA, where anything other than the Tour de France barely raises an eyebrow.

Types of gravel bikes are going to morph along with these changes in marketing and what is perceived as "cool" by the former road race driven product managers and marketers. I look for more "road racing" style gravel bikes to be foisted back upon the average consumer with the typical claims of efficiency, low weight, and........stiffness.

Former and current road racer types typically slag on "gravel bikes" as being "unresponsive", heavy handling, and porky. Well........of course they would. That's coming from a smooth road racer perspective. Keep in mind the same Pros don't like racing on gravel sections in the European events. Quite the disconnect there, but you know, racing drives the brands, and average riders aren't in positions of decision making, typically, in these brand's marketing and development departments. You know this when you see marketing copy that reads, "These are the kind of bikes we want to ride". Which is to say, probably not what the mainstay of riders really want in gravel/back road bikes. But what else is new?

2019 Warbird- Currently "cutting edge", but I don't think it will stay this way.

So, that means, in my opinion, that the current trend in gravel/adventure drop bar bikes to have tons of braze-ons, wheel swap-ability between 650B and 700c, and big, 2" tire clearances will eventually give way to something more "racy" in the future.

Some of this depends upon how the racing scene changes- or does not change- in the coming years. Self-supported racing has driven current design, but if that was to go away, you are going to see changes made which will reduce versatility in these bikes. Costs will dictate this to some degree, as will the overall health of the industry going forward. In fact, all of the above quickly becomes a moot point if we see a big change in what brands survive, and which ones do not. How bikes are bought and sold will also be a big player in all of this. Gravel bikes as we know them could easily become a thing of the past. It just depends on how the next couple of years go in this crazy industry. Easy come-easy go.

Of course, there is enough product out there already to sustain gravel riding for what.......a good decade? Maybe longer. Which brings to mind another longstanding issue with all of us- there are already enough bikes to go around. Do we even really need new ones? That's another post for another day.....

Next: Part 3 where I will discuss events and their seemingly ever increasing number, variety, and differing styles.

The State Of The Gravel Scene: 2019- Part 2

 NOTE: Large doses of "my opinion" will be handed out in gloppy dollops today. You've been forewarned.....

Today in part 2 of my "State Of The Gravel Scene" I want to take a look at the hardware side of gravel cycling and where it could be going.

First of all, it is a gross understatement to say that the cycling industry is in upheaval. It is really worse than you might think. To say that this industry is very sick is not hyperbole in any shape or form.

All the more reason for the industry to latch on to the only forms of cycling, at this time, that are in any sort of "growth mode". It's pretty obvious that gravel cycling is one of those areas. The other- electric assisted, "hybrid powered bikes", are the other, and yes, there are electric motors on bicycles meant for gravel riding. (An example of which you can read about on "Bike Radar" as they cover the slightly over 40lb, slightly over 4K Cannondale Synapse NEO Gravel) So, you could say that in some ways the two are actually one thing. But for the purposes of this post, I will only address the fully human powered version of cycling.

Again- perspective is a good teacher. Only six years ago we had gravel products, but only enough that might account for the the fingers on one hand's worth. Tires were just being produced specific for gravel. Bicycles were just emerging for the discipline. Now, on the door step of the last year of this decade, we cannot count the numbers of bicycles, tires, wheels, clothing, and even handle bar tape that is "gravel specific".

And the end of it cannot be seen yet.

Conversely road bikes are in a nose dive in terms of sales figures. No doubt, a preponderance of notable deaths portrayed in media, both established and social, has given pause to those who once gave the open road all their cycling miles. Reports stream in of "distracted drivers" and fear rises which has certainly driven more numbers to the gravel/back road scene. But that doesn't completely account for the rising numbers of sales in the genre'.

I was saying back ten years ago that a gravel bike, should such a thing become reality, would make way more sense for most riders, be they riders of pavement or not, than the typical "racing bred" machine. The versatility a gravel bike can bring with rack mounts, fender mounts, and more used to be the sole domain of heavy tubed touring bikes meant to haul heavy loads. What a "gravel bike" does is different than that. It has the capabilities to hang with the paved road club ride, be a commuter hack, and go off pavement. Like......way more off pavement than a typical racing bike can with more stability and comfort than any racing bike could ever give you. Essentially, what I said then was that this style of bike was what 90% of the non-racing cycling public should be riding if they are not mountain biking.

Several years ago this carbon, Di2 equipped gravel bike cost a little more than 5K. That's "cheap" now.

So, now that people are figuring this out, coupled with the fear of being on pavement, road racing style bikes have not been moving as well in the market. This has pushed more gravel/back road bike development. Even on the high end. We're seeing more "halo" type offerings. Bikes in the five digit price category. I know of at least a couple slated for release in 2019 that are going to top out at well above $10,000.00 and I am sure I do not know about all of the future offerings. This was totally unthinkable even just a few years ago.

Another facet behind this would be part of what I was talking about yesterday- the attendance of more Pro level and semi-pro level road and mountain biking athletes at gravel events. Getting a top ten placing with a well known rider on your gravel rig is now a big deal, apparently, for the marketing departments. Gravel is stealing the spotlight from traditional road racing, and especially in the USA, where anything other than the Tour de France barely raises an eyebrow.

Types of gravel bikes are going to morph along with these changes in marketing and what is perceived as "cool" by the former road race driven product managers and marketers. I look for more "road racing" style gravel bikes to be foisted back upon the average consumer with the typical claims of efficiency, low weight, and........stiffness.

Former and current road racer types typically slag on "gravel bikes" as being "unresponsive", heavy handling, and porky. Well........of course they would. That's coming from a smooth road racer perspective. Keep in mind the same Pros don't like racing on gravel sections in the European events. Quite the disconnect there, but you know, racing drives the brands, and average riders aren't in positions of decision making, typically, in these brand's marketing and development departments. You know this when you see marketing copy that reads, "These are the kind of bikes we want to ride". Which is to say, probably not what the mainstay of riders really want in gravel/back road bikes. But what else is new?

2019 Warbird- Currently "cutting edge", but I don't think it will stay this way.

So, that means, in my opinion, that the current trend in gravel/adventure drop bar bikes to have tons of braze-ons, wheel swap-ability between 650B and 700c, and big, 2" tire clearances will eventually give way to something more "racy" in the future.

Some of this depends upon how the racing scene changes- or does not change- in the coming years. Self-supported racing has driven current design, but if that was to go away, you are going to see changes made which will reduce versatility in these bikes. Costs will dictate this to some degree, as will the overall health of the industry going forward. In fact, all of the above quickly becomes a moot point if we see a big change in what brands survive, and which ones do not. How bikes are bought and sold will also be a big player in all of this. Gravel bikes as we know them could easily become a thing of the past. It just depends on how the next couple of years go in this crazy industry. Easy come-easy go.

Of course, there is enough product out there already to sustain gravel riding for what.......a good decade? Maybe longer. Which brings to mind another longstanding issue with all of us- there are already enough bikes to go around. Do we even really need new ones? That's another post for another day.....

Next: Part 3 where I will discuss events and their seemingly ever increasing number, variety, and differing styles.

The State Of The Gravel Scene: 2019- Part 1

NOTE: Large doses of "my opinion" will be handed out in gloppy dollops today. You've been forewarned.....

At the beginning of 2018, exactly one year ago, I wrote a series of posts dubbed "The State Of The Gravel Scene". I took the subject as a bit of a quick historical ride from the beginnings of the modern gravel road riding/racing era until that time in 2018. If you want to review what I said, please look just under the header of this site and you will see a link to the page where I have that series, all four posts, end to end, so you can read them.

In this new year, I wanted to address where we are now and where, in my opinion, we are going. Part of this will be drawn from a post I did just about ten days ago called "A Gravelly Prediction". (Hit the link to read that one)

So, oddly enough, the day I posted the "prediction" post in December a new USAC CEO was appointed which resulted in "hopeful" direction changes for the "governing body" which oversees road racing in the United States. One of those directions the polled professional riders and team managers wanted to see was a move into "grassroots", gravel events.

"Our sources want USA Cycling to expand participation at cycling’s grassroots levels, bring non-traditional events under the governing body’s umbrella, and maintain stability and consistency within its own ranks."- From a "Velo News" article posted on-line December, 26th  2018.

In my predictions, I stated the following: "My feeling is that many events are going to see Pro level teams, more Pro level riders, and Pro only gravel racing in the near future. There will be a national points series started by........someone. Probably not USAC, but maybe."

Now it looks like I was on the right track. But really, the writing was on the wall. There was an article published online three years ago, which I have referenced here several times before, that said that USAC was bleeding cash. The participation numbers were falling. It was pretty obvious then, as it is now, that the move toward gravel racing was in full swing and that was negatively affecting USAC's coffers. Not to mention their athlete pool. It has been obvious for years to this writer, along with many others early to the gravel scene, that this "grassroots" development was in reaction to what USAC had created over the years. That being an elitist, non-welcoming atmosphere with events laden with rules and monetary expenses for its participants.

USAC probably should have seen the train-a-comin' ten years ago, but you knew they had to react, or become completely irrelevant. Pro riders, semi-Pros, and developing youngsters are all now heading to gravel events, and have been, which has become a big problem for USAC. Coupled with the demise of several road races, criteriums, and time trials which had been the mainstay of their business, and it doesn't take much to understand that without a major overhaul, this business is in big trouble.

Many gravel rides are not fueled by the "typical" competition based formats.

 However; from what I am reading in that linked article from "Velo News", I am not sure that USAC "gets it". Obviously, they haven't totally been asleep there since all this gravel stuff started happening. They did make a gesture in the insurance area, and waived their strict one day licensing fee requirements for gravel races several years ago. This (mostly) fell on deaf ears, in fact, many people probably are not even aware that USAC had done this.

Meanwhile, in an effort to jump the gun on USAC, the USECF started Gravel Grinder Nationals. This year, 2019, will be their third year of offering a National Championship jersey in several categories to a "National Champion". The USECF may not be familiar to many folks, but they have done "adventure races" for years and were a group that started off from a very similar place that the entire gravel scene has. They certainly do have rules, but their structure seems a lot less "snooty" and less cumbersome than that of the traditional road scene.

Perhaps it is the "end game" for each organization that marks the differences. USAC is the "development funnel" for Olympic and world professional cycling. This elite level of cycling is dependent upon money to survive, first, and relies heavily upon "talent" to justify its existence. They need a talent pool willing to spend money, and a categorization scheme to weed out the best of the best. A web of nearly unimaginable rules props all of this up, along with fees from licensed riders and races that pay for sanctioning. In contrast, at least from the perspective of a gravel rider, you simply register for Gravel Grinder Nationals, read a few simple rules, and show up to ride. Easy-peasey. Once you've participated you can go off and do whatever.

And in the end, no one in the gravel scene seems to really care. No offense to the Grinder Nationals folks, but you can win that USECF National Gravel Grinder Champions jersey, and you can win Dirty Kanza. Guess which one has more prestige, notoriety, and is more hotly contested? You could say the same for Barry-Roubaix, Gravel Worlds, and several other well known gravel events. Of course, this all could change, but in my opinion, I have seen no real ground swell of opinion to make me think otherwise. Maybe someday the Grinder Nationals will be THE thing, but for now it is much like any other gravel event. Other independent events have developed their own level of prestige, or not, in the gravel scene and most people take it for what it is.

Allison Tetrick wielding her sword as the women's champion of Gravel Worlds

That all to say that USAC should take note that perhaps no one really cares to be shunted into a pipeline which grinds out thousands of "unworthy participants" only to have a few cutthroat finalists be chosen to become "Pro" level cyclists. Of course, along the way these individuals give up literally everything to be used up and spit out the other end with not a whole lot to show for it. Sure- some will sign on for the glorious possibilities, but in the Age of Information, we all know what price that road demands.

Maybe training hard to do your best within your means, have fun, meet others of like mind, and see how that community is accepting and welcoming at events with simple rules and reasonable entry fees is alien to USAC and their internal mechanisms. However; unless they inherently understand why the gravel scene grew, they will be condemned to commit the same mistakes on dusty unpaved roads as they have on the paved ones.

Or they could just co-opt the scene and buy their way in. That was one of the "hopeful directions" mentioned for USAC to go in by the Pros and team managers above here. Imagine if USAC somehow got the Dirty Kanza 200, Barry-Roubaix, The Crusher in the Tushar, the Belgian Waffle Ride, and maybe Rebecca's Private Idaho, or Gravel Worlds, along with a few other marquee events, to all become "points events" for a USAC Gravel Championship. You can also imagine how then these events would have to be homogenized somewhat to be part of that. Maybe that's just too outside of the box, but it would give USAC a strong foothold into the scene.

Otherwise it is going to be a long, uphill battle for the organization to be part of what is now a pretty embedded, very independent, vibrant scene. It'll be interesting to see how the organization, which has been seen in the past as the "embodiment of evil" for gravel cyclists, try to get their feet in the door. I'm not saying they cannot do it, but from what I've heard as feedback from the gravel scene in the past, USAC shouldn't expect the welcoming mat to be set out for them.

Tomorrow- Part 2

The State Of The Gravel Scene: 2019- Part 1

NOTE: Large doses of "my opinion" will be handed out in gloppy dollops today. You've been forewarned.....

At the beginning of 2018, exactly one year ago, I wrote a series of posts dubbed "The State Of The Gravel Scene". I took the subject as a bit of a quick historical ride from the beginnings of the modern gravel road riding/racing era until that time in 2018. If you want to review what I said, please look just under the header of this site and you will see a link to the page where I have that series, all four posts, end to end, so you can read them.

In this new year, I wanted to address where we are now and where, in my opinion, we are going. Part of this will be drawn from a post I did just about ten days ago called "A Gravelly Prediction". (Hit the link to read that one)

So, oddly enough, the day I posted the "prediction" post in December a new USAC CEO was appointed which resulted in "hopeful" direction changes for the "governing body" which oversees road racing in the United States. One of those directions the polled professional riders and team managers wanted to see was a move into "grassroots", gravel events.

"Our sources want USA Cycling to expand participation at cycling’s grassroots levels, bring non-traditional events under the governing body’s umbrella, and maintain stability and consistency within its own ranks."- From a "Velo News" article posted on-line December, 26th  2018.

In my predictions, I stated the following: "My feeling is that many events are going to see Pro level teams, more Pro level riders, and Pro only gravel racing in the near future. There will be a national points series started by........someone. Probably not USAC, but maybe."

Now it looks like I was on the right track. But really, the writing was on the wall. There was an article published online three years ago, which I have referenced here several times before, that said that USAC was bleeding cash. The participation numbers were falling. It was pretty obvious then, as it is now, that the move toward gravel racing was in full swing and that was negatively affecting USAC's coffers. Not to mention their athlete pool. It has been obvious for years to this writer, along with many others early to the gravel scene, that this "grassroots" development was in reaction to what USAC had created over the years. That being an elitist, non-welcoming atmosphere with events laden with rules and monetary expenses for its participants.

USAC probably should have seen the train-a-comin' ten years ago, but you knew they had to react, or become completely irrelevant. Pro riders, semi-Pros, and developing youngsters are all now heading to gravel events, and have been, which has become a big problem for USAC. Coupled with the demise of several road races, criteriums, and time trials which had been the mainstay of their business, and it doesn't take much to understand that without a major overhaul, this business is in big trouble.

Many gravel rides are not fueled by the "typical" competition based formats.

 However; from what I am reading in that linked article from "Velo News", I am not sure that USAC "gets it". Obviously, they haven't totally been asleep there since all this gravel stuff started happening. They did make a gesture in the insurance area, and waived their strict one day licensing fee requirements for gravel races several years ago. This (mostly) fell on deaf ears, in fact, many people probably are not even aware that USAC had done this.

Meanwhile, in an effort to jump the gun on USAC, the USECF started Gravel Grinder Nationals. This year, 2019, will be their third year of offering a National Championship jersey in several categories to a "National Champion". The USECF may not be familiar to many folks, but they have done "adventure races" for years and were a group that started off from a very similar place that the entire gravel scene has. They certainly do have rules, but their structure seems a lot less "snooty" and less cumbersome than that of the traditional road scene.

Perhaps it is the "end game" for each organization that marks the differences. USAC is the "development funnel" for Olympic and world professional cycling. This elite level of cycling is dependent upon money to survive, first, and relies heavily upon "talent" to justify its existence. They need a talent pool willing to spend money, and a categorization scheme to weed out the best of the best. A web of nearly unimaginable rules props all of this up, along with fees from licensed riders and races that pay for sanctioning. In contrast, at least from the perspective of a gravel rider, you simply register for Gravel Grinder Nationals, read a few simple rules, and show up to ride. Easy-peasey. Once you've participated you can go off and do whatever.

And in the end, no one in the gravel scene seems to really care. No offense to the Grinder Nationals folks, but you can win that USECF National Gravel Grinder Champions jersey, and you can win Dirty Kanza. Guess which one has more prestige, notoriety, and is more hotly contested? You could say the same for Barry-Roubaix, Gravel Worlds, and several other well known gravel events. Of course, this all could change, but in my opinion, I have seen no real ground swell of opinion to make me think otherwise. Maybe someday the Grinder Nationals will be THE thing, but for now it is much like any other gravel event. Other independent events have developed their own level of prestige, or not, in the gravel scene and most people take it for what it is.

Allison Tetrick wielding her sword as the women's champion of Gravel Worlds

That all to say that USAC should take note that perhaps no one really cares to be shunted into a pipeline which grinds out thousands of "unworthy participants" only to have a few cutthroat finalists be chosen to become "Pro" level cyclists. Of course, along the way these individuals give up literally everything to be used up and spit out the other end with not a whole lot to show for it. Sure- some will sign on for the glorious possibilities, but in the Age of Information, we all know what price that road demands.

Maybe training hard to do your best within your means, have fun, meet others of like mind, and see how that community is accepting and welcoming at events with simple rules and reasonable entry fees is alien to USAC and their internal mechanisms. However; unless they inherently understand why the gravel scene grew, they will be condemned to commit the same mistakes on dusty unpaved roads as they have on the paved ones.

Or they could just co-opt the scene and buy their way in. That was one of the "hopeful directions" mentioned for USAC to go in by the Pros and team managers above here. Imagine if USAC somehow got the Dirty Kanza 200, Barry-Roubaix, The Crusher in the Tushar, the Belgian Waffle Ride, and maybe Rebecca's Private Idaho, or Gravel Worlds, along with a few other marquee events, to all become "points events" for a USAC Gravel Championship. You can also imagine how then these events would have to be homogenized somewhat to be part of that. Maybe that's just too outside of the box, but it would give USAC a strong foothold into the scene.

Otherwise it is going to be a long, uphill battle for the organization to be part of what is now a pretty embedded, very independent, vibrant scene. It'll be interesting to see how the organization, which has been seen in the past as the "embodiment of evil" for gravel cyclists, try to get their feet in the door. I'm not saying they cannot do it, but from what I've heard as feedback from the gravel scene in the past, USAC shouldn't expect the welcoming mat to be set out for them.

Tomorrow- Part 2

Happy New Year! C.O.G. 100 Update

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Okay, now with that out of the way, make sure your head is clear because the following information regarding the upcoming C.O.G. 100 Single Speed Gravel State Championship is very important.

Tomorrow is registration day! Registration happens at 8:00am CST and will be facilitated by BikeReg.com at THIS LINK!

Now- Before y'all get excited that Guitar Ted is putting on a gravel event again- HEAR THIS! We set this up around my idea of doing a SINGLE SPEED ONLY EVENT. So, I mean single speed only! Don't sign up, take up one of the 75 spots, only to be DQ'ed at the start line because you thought zip tying your levers to only operate in one gear was good enough. IT WON"T WORK. Don't even think about it. 

I am limiting this event to folks who have clearly dedicated themselves to a single speed device. Therefore; you may only have ONE chain ring and ONE cog on the bike you bring. If your rig has a flip-flop hub, (if you don't know what that is, you probably are not a single speeder anyway), I will allow the bike as long as BOTH COGS ARE THE SAME TOOTH COUNT. Or, obviously, you could leave the other side of the hub bare, with no cog. That'd probably be best. Okay? 

A couple of notes on registration. We've publicized that the event fee is going to be $35.00. You might have noticed that the BikeReg.com site says $30.00. Well, there are fees charged by BikeReg, and whatnot that will bring your total at check-out to $35.00, We thought it would make sense to publicize your TOTAL cost, instead of the minimum fee. 

Next thing is that I feel this event will fill up quickly. I know someone out there is going to have their feelings hurt when they don't get in. Look- We've been on social media pimping the registration time in the days ahead of this. We have said to you- "It's going to fill up!", so if you missed out, we did our level best to warn you ahead of time. Please do not ask me, or N.Y. Roll to let you in. It is what it is......

Finally- N.Y. Roll and I have decided on a path of transparency regarding money. You will get a full accounting of where the money that you spent went to in the coming days which will be on the C.O.G.100 site. Stay tuned for this.  

Happy New Year! C.O.G. 100 Update

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Okay, now with that out of the way, make sure your head is clear because the following information regarding the upcoming C.O.G. 100 Single Speed Gravel State Championship is very important.

Tomorrow is registration day! Registration happens at 8:00am CST and will be facilitated by BikeReg.com at THIS LINK!

Now- Before y'all get excited that Guitar Ted is putting on a gravel event again- HEAR THIS! We set this up around my idea of doing a SINGLE SPEED ONLY EVENT. So, I mean single speed only! Don't sign up, take up one of the 75 spots, only to be DQ'ed at the start line because you thought zip tying your levers to only operate in one gear was good enough. IT WON"T WORK. Don't even think about it. 

I am limiting this event to folks who have clearly dedicated themselves to a single speed device. Therefore; you may only have ONE chain ring and ONE cog on the bike you bring. If your rig has a flip-flop hub, (if you don't know what that is, you probably are not a single speeder anyway), I will allow the bike as long as BOTH COGS ARE THE SAME TOOTH COUNT. Or, obviously, you could leave the other side of the hub bare, with no cog. That'd probably be best. Okay? 

A couple of notes on registration. We've publicized that the event fee is going to be $35.00. You might have noticed that the BikeReg.com site says $30.00. Well, there are fees charged by BikeReg, and whatnot that will bring your total at check-out to $35.00, We thought it would make sense to publicize your TOTAL cost, instead of the minimum fee. 

Next thing is that I feel this event will fill up quickly. I know someone out there is going to have their feelings hurt when they don't get in. Look- We've been on social media pimping the registration time in the days ahead of this. We have said to you- "It's going to fill up!", so if you missed out, we did our level best to warn you ahead of time. Please do not ask me, or N.Y. Roll to let you in. It is what it is......

Finally- N.Y. Roll and I have decided on a path of transparency regarding money. You will get a full accounting of where the money that you spent went to in the coming days which will be on the C.O.G.100 site. Stay tuned for this.