Maybe The Horses Are Onto Something

Lazy is defined as someone lacking energy, showing a lack of effort or care... as I sit here writing this I am sitting in Colorado, sipping my morning coffee with a great view of Byers Peak without a care in the world. If that's lazy then sign me up!


Last weekend I spent on the saddle of my Stormchaser, surrounded by friends, pedaling 62 miles of gravel in a headwind. While the effort was definitely more substantial than it is right now, the amount of fucks given were no more or no less present then they are right now about most things in life outside of the ride. Instead I was just being present in that moment, sharing it with those that wanted to share their time with me. Is that Lazy also, if so sign me up, twice!




The Lazy Horse Gravel Grind out of Ohiowa, Nebraska is by far my favorite event of the gravel season. The sense of community, generosity and goodwill overflow the river of human decency during the 6 or so hours we spend winding our way through small, rural Nebraska towns and villages with odd names. Every single one of those towns, Alexandria, Bruning, Belvidere and Gilead are not only happy to see us but they might enjoy the event more than those who ride it do. The smiles on the faces of the church ladies who baked pies, the old men with stories to tell about "the good ole days of (insert town name here)" to anyone willing to listen, the overall feeling of being welcomed as part of their community is something you don't get with most gravel events. Lazy ain't so bad sometimes, hell if lazy had a physical embodiment it might be a small village on some dusty gravel road in the middle of Nebraska farm land. Provided you're not there during planting or harvest because ain't nobody got time for lazy then. 




Jackie, Justin, Julie and Jim (apparently only people with a J first name can be a part of this team) put on a fabulous event every year with courses that are equal parts fun and challenging but just enough challenge that they won't make you contemplate why you're out there doing it. In the ever increasing need by events to want to draw huge crowds, covet "big gravel names", find every hill and put on a spectacle of a show it's nice to see a contradictory event still flourish. Let's be honest with ourselves, most of us are closer to being a pro couch potato than we ever will be a pro cyclist... so why do we aspire to be that which we aren't instead of finding those events that embrace and celebrate what we are in the cycling world?




I'm not saying to forsake those big events, I myself have and still do participate in them, all I'm saying is give the little guys a look also, you might be surprised how much fun they really are. Jackie and I have started a trend to try to find and ride in the smaller, lesser known events that are within a few hours drive of where we live in an attempt to continue to embrace the true ethos of what gravel was all about when it trickled onto the scene, when very few people batted an eye at the small gathering of cyclists that for some reason rode the dirt instead of the nice, smooth pavement. I speak like I'm 100 years old and have been riding gravel for decades but truth be told I got into gravel not even 10 year ago in 2015. Even in that microcosm of time things have changed dramatically in the world of gravel. The other day I read a post on the social medias that went a little something like this "Gravel is dead, it's now just road racing on gravel roads." and well, maybe they aren't wrong.


Maybe I'm just the old curmudgeon yelling at the clouds in the sky and kids walking on my lawn, that is a distinct possibility but the joy that the small gravel events bring to my inner being is well worth the label. Find small gravel again, embrace events where event directors can still address the starting line by yelling, find rides that give more than they take. It's way easier to rope a lazy horse than it is a race horse.  

Check out the video from the event on the YouTube.

 

Cocaine Pony

Saturday was the fifth running of the Lazy Horse Gravel Grind out of Ohiowa, Nebraska. One of the unique aspects of the LH is that it's a gravel tour rather than a gravel race and usually the pace it much more casual. This was not really the case this year however, perfect temps, very light winds and a relatively flat course had the pace a bit more lively than years past.


I was really attempting to keep the pace low at the beginning but started lagging a bit behind so I stepped it up, I can do any pace you want to do as far as fast or slow but once I get in a groove that's the pace I'm in for the rest of the day. So fast it was going to be on this day. It wasn't just our group though, everybody was flying and this kept the SAG stops pretty hopping. Seemed like all of the stops were wall to wall cyclists, that is not the norm for this event either. Generally we are spread out and there would only be a handful of people at the SAG at the same time.


About the only thing slowing us down on Saturday was the train.




The course was fantastic this year, not that it hasn't been in the previous iterations but this one was something special. A great mix of MMRs, flat sections, hills and a little bit of butt puckering deep gravel to keep you honest about things.




There were a few changes as far as the communities we visited, thankfully Belvidere made the cut again this year. It's a great little town and the ladies of the town go all out with walking tacos and pies.



Lost some of the initial group before Belvidere so I hooked up with fellow single speeders, Todd and Joe heading out to Bruning.





Rolled into Bruning in record time drafting off of Team Angry out of Omaha.



Oddly enough I'm not sure if anyone ate in Bruning like we usually do, one of the side effects of most of the riders sticking together in a big group is that lines were longer than normal and that might have contributed to the drinks only in Bruning but still one of my favorite stops.



Dave hit his second or maybe third wind heading out of Bruning so I grabbed on and we cruised back to the end. I know I sound like a broken record here but this was a fast year, looking back at the previous 4 years of the event we only finished faster one year. In 2019 we finished in 4 hours and 10 minutes but it was also 10 miles less distance that year, this year we finished in 4 hours and 15 minutes at our highest average MPH of any of the years at 14.6 mph. It was also the first time I can remember not only being back before the prize give away started but being back with enough time to shower, eat and chit chat a bit. Crazy how nice weather and flattish course can really change the overall speed of an event, I think even some of the SAG stops were a little surprised at the speed and volume in which riders showed up this year. That has nothing to do with the event organizers and it's not a hit on the event in any way, it was just the perfect conditions this year for fast times laid down by everyone. Maybe next year there needs to be more hills to spread the group out.


Fantastic event, fantastic weather, and fantastic friends to ride with. The crew that puts on the event are top notch also... I might be a little biased about that since I'm dating Jackie but she does put in a lot of work to help make the event what it is. They really have something special in this ride. If I had one hit on the event it would be that in all of the 5 years I've been going I have never, ever, ever won any of the SWAG... seems rigged to me. Kidding, slightly, maybe. 

 

2021 Slothful Stallion

Three years ago at the height of gravel races popping up all over the place and former road racers gravel-tating to those races, the tiny burb of Ohiowa decided to go another way and hatched an idea for a gravel tour instead of a gravel race. That idea became the ride with a thousand monikers or if you're speaking officially, the Lazy Horse Gravel Grind. Not a lot has changed in the format of the ride in the three years it's been around and not much really needs to change. While there were about 40 miles of new roads on the long course this year we still hit up the same small towns that we did in the previous two versions and I was quite okay with that. I'm a big fan of supporting the rural towns of Nebraska that are off the beaten path, these are true American treasures and they are dying off. You can tell that the small towns that route passes through go all out to show their appreciation for the cyclists and welcome us with opened arms.  Seeing the same volunteers year after year you start to recognize them and they start to remember you also so it's almost like an extended family reunion. What's not to love about that?

I'm not sure who is in charge of tourism in Nebraska but the fact that they are not shining a spotlight on the almost endless miles of virtually car free gravel almost borders on criminal. It wouldn't take too much effort, IMO, to meet with some of these small rural villages and string together several gravel routes that both Nebraskans and visitors could travel. The only real requirement would be to find enough villages with lodging and services available, even if that lodging was camping. Even our neighbors to the east have figured out that bicycles bring in money.  






New this year was a fully dry start. Until this we hadn't had one of those yet, the previous two years it rained the night before and left the roads a little more supple than even the #supplelife folks would like. One of the perks of the Lazy Horse is that you can make it whatever kind of ride you want. If you want to go fast, you can. If you want to go slow, take in the scenery and enjoy the time with friends you can do that too. It's like one of those choose your own adventure books that were popular in the 1800s when I was a young lad but with fewer paper cuts. With the roads being bone dry and a little dusty someone flipped that adventure book to race mode to start out and we booked it out of the gate at a blistering 16.7 mph average to the first town. That might not sound like all that quick of a pace for the seasoned gravel connoisseur but the town elders really get a kick out of the fat bikes so we try to oblige them so a pace near 17 mph is plenty fast when your pushing portly bicycles with bulbous tires. When nicely adorned for a full day of adventuring the Pugsley is equal in weight to 3+ of those nimble carbon bikes that are popular with the go fast crowd.


Alexandria, NE was the first town we rolled into and just like previous years the burritos at the church were delicious. Also on course again this year was event photographer Andrea who always seems to be in the right place at the right time to get the great shots.


There were a fair amount of minimum maintenance roads on the course this year, something we missed out on the last two years due to the overnight rain. As fun as they are when dry nobody wants to ride down one when it's wet if they can help it. I was super stoked that everything worked out his year because they were all in fantastic shape and were a blast to ride.



If you hadn't connected the dots just yet the ride is put on by the winery turned beer-ery(?) of the same name so there is no shortage of ice cold barley pops to help with hydration and socialization.




Gilead is a perennial favorite of the group, the pie never disappoints whether you eat it by itself or go upscale and pair it with a scoop of ice cream and a super swanky banquet beer. While small town Nebraska folk might look at you funny for photographing your food, they don't much care how you take your pie.






Next up on the tour is Belvidere, Nebraska which has become known to us as the official home of the walking taco, some in the group will forgo food earlier in the ride to save room for the tacos served in the village park. Despite knowing that Belvidere, Nebraska and Mr. Belvedere have no connection what-so-ever I always half expect to be greeted by Christopher Hewitt donning a tie, sweater vest and English accent when we arrive at the park. It has never happened... not even once... despite my unfounded and unfettered giddiness when we roll into town. While it would be near impossible to get Christopher Hewitt since he passed in 2001, one might be able to convince Stacy (Fergie) Ferguson to make an appearance.... what, you didn't know that Fergie of Black Eyed Peas fame once had a brief roll in Mr. Belvedere? Your lack of 80's sitcom trivia knowledge is disturbing.



The last stop on the Lazy Horse express is always Brunning, Nebraska and the volunteer fire station. Larry is a big hit here and they call him out by name and might have even given him a ride on the fire truck but who among us doesn't love Larry.







Despite having all day to ride the 60ish miles, we always seem to just make it to the raffle drawing and this year was no exception. I had a gift care waiting form me from an earlier drawing but didn't take home any of the raffle swag this year. Food was good, beer was good, showers were refreshing, I got to spend all day riding with friends and I made a new fur buddy at the end... that was win enough for me.