Gravel Mission - The Good, The Bad And The Ugly

Saturday was the Legion Post 197 Gravel Mission, with the help a Lt. Dan I had everything packed and in the car for the drive down in the morning. A strange thing occurred to me both Friday afternoon and Saturday morning, I had never driven to Eagle from either Lincoln or from Omaha that I could remember. Sure, I'd been there many times but via a bicycle on either a gravel road or the MoPac, I honestly had to use Google Maps to figure out the best route from Omaha to Eagle.




Thankfully, with Lt. Dan as my copilot, we were able to make it to Eagle on Saturday morning with a half hour to spare before the start of the race. Someone needs to let the GPS folks know that Hwy 63 is closed, I almost threw the thing out the window because it wouldn't stop telling me to make a U turn because I was on the wrong route... I fricken got there didn't I?






A lot of the usual Saturday crew came out for the race and a lot more of the not so usual Saturday crew, really good turn out for the race despite the threats of rain up until the night before the race.





A few last minute words and we were off with the 50 milers and the 100 milers leaving at the same time and all of us doing the same 55 mile loop.




Despite the on and off rain most of the week, the roads around Eagle were dry and fast. This helped to contribute to a pretty spicy pace heading out of Eagle.




I wasn't really planning on flying out at the start but the legs felt good and I wasn't on the 50 lbs Pugsley, so I decided to roll with it and see how things played out. It wasn't long before we were through Elmwood and pedaling away on the other side.


Sometimes it's good to not be first, this killer Chihuahua lit out after the folks in front of me and he was a quick little booger. Thankfully by the time I rolled up on the little guy he was all tuckered out and didn't give any chase to our group.


The next town we rolled into was Weeping Water, somehow I have never been to Weeping Water; on a bike or otherwise.




One of my favorite parts of the first loop was this sketchy as hell looking swinging bridge over Weeping Water Creek. While the bridge was a hoot to traverse two things came to mind while crossing on the bridge, it was a good thing it wasn't wet because that metal would have been as slick as walrus poop on an ice flow and it was also good I have had my tetanus shot recently.





Speeds were still pretty quick leaving out of Weeping Water and it wasn't too long before we were in Manley and the checkpoint. Since it was only a 55 mile loop and I didn't need anything I only slowed so that they could get my number and then pushed on.





A few more miles and we were through Murdock and the last little town before we were back in Eagle, legs were still feeling pretty good despite the quicker than normal pace so things were looking good for finishing a pretty quick first loop.


I ended up getting a second wind in the last quarter of the loop and had to back off a bit since I knew I was probably going to need that energy in the second loop. Dark clouds also started rolling in by the time we made it back to Eagle, I was hoping it was just going to turn overcast and not rain. Only time would tell on that one.


After checking in at the start but before heading out for the second loop, Sarah and I headed over to Casey's for a slice and a drink. I knew I would be totally dead in the saddle without some real food, I only get about 60-70 miles before the body starts slowing down without real food in it. Energy gels like Clif Bloks or even calorie drinks like Go Far only do so much for me and then it's real food or a real struggle finishing out a longer ride.





Not too much for pictures on loop 2, a lot of it was the same but backwards from loop 1 plus I didn't want to doddle too much. Sarah found out that all of the other women doing the 100 pulled out after the first loop so all she had to do was finish to get the hardware and the title. To her credit, she did not just coast in but hammered through the second loop like a champ... on a fat bike and she did in fact take home the fist place trophy for the women's 100 mile race. We did get caught in a brief rain shower but it wasn't overly heavy or very long and there wasn't really anything we could do about it so we just kept rolling.

Okay, so now the good, the bad and the ugly from my perspective.

The good, well there was a lot of good. I got to see one of my friends and usual Saturday crew ride like a beast and bring home first place in the women's division and I had the best seat of anyone to watch it play out. My nutrition, hydration and legs were on point; I did the first lap with a 14.4 average and the second with a 13.6 average on the Fargo. While not blazing fast, it was pretty quick for me so I'll take it. I did like the two lap format as you could break it down to two 50ish mile races/rides rather than focus on the big triple digit overall number. For me that seemed to make things go quicker, obviously still had to put in the hours but looking down and seeing you're halfway through a 50 mile loop rather than a quarter of the way through 100 miles is more uplifting. Not sure how many more races this year I'll push like that but it felt good Saturday to give it a little more speed than normal and still be able to finish it out strong. Route was great, took me to a few new roads and towns I'd never been to and the reverse loop 2 was different enough that it didn't seem like the same loop as loop 1. Bike was phenomenal, not one single issue with the Fargo, it performed flawlessly.

The bad... well, to be honest, there wasn't really a lot of bad for me. One thing that I did notice about the 2 loop format is that it enabled a lot of folks who signed up for the 100 to bow out after the first loop. More than a few folks who were originally in for the 100 stated that they were going to see how they felt after the first loop before totally committing to the 100. I felt that put folks in the wrong mindset, of course your going to be tired and not feel 100% after 55 miles, if you didn't go in with the thought process that it was a 100 mile race without and easy out it seemed you took the out. But that's just my perspective, everyone has their own race to ride and choices that best suit them.

The ugly. Well this one was more of an observation than anything else but I did notice a few folks skipped putting any sort of money into the donation jar. Now I get it, it was a free will donation but seriously, if you're riding around on a $1,500+ bicycle that you carried on your late model car/SUV/truck in a $200 kit; you CAN afford to put a few dollars in the collection jar and if you think you can't maybe you need to take a remedial math class. Everyone likes a free event and I get that, so $5-10 in a jar isn't going to break you by any stretch of the imagination and this type of behavior leads to races/rides moving towards a fee for entering. These small towns in rural Nebraska have started to really embrace gravel cycling and have seen how they can benefit the town financially but if you aren't contributing then  you aren't part of that solution. And don't even try to sell me on the idea you forgot, how many hours did you spend making sure the chain was lubed, the tires properly aired, the nutrition was bought and packed, the kit was prepared? Don't be a dick, reach into those pockets and free your wallet of a few measly dollars that mean the world to the folks in these towns.