Gravel Worlds 2016 - The Prelude

Gravel Worlds was last Saturday, it was a hell of a lot of fun and a kick in the shorts at the same time. I apologize for the tardiness of this post but the race was on Saturday and then on Sunday I jumped on a plane and flew to Kentucky for work and was out there taking care of business until yesterday but I'm back now so lets get this thing rolling...


Heading down to Lincoln early Friday afternoon I was really hoping that I had learned enough and rode enough since last year to be able to not repeat the events of the previous year. As has become the norm, I take a half day off of work to get to the registration early and help out where I can and then go check into the hotel and prep for the impending race. Cycle Works, the Pirate Cycling League and the Petervarys welcome you to Gravel Worlds 2016.


I tried to convince Tracey and Jay that I was super busy but they just followed me around until I promised to take a picture with them. Kidding of course, they are cool people and are very gracious as I am sure they get bombarded with requests for photos and such everywhere they go that people recognize them. I'm not sure if I could do that day in and day out myself so it was really rad of them to stop and pose for a shot with me.


In addition to the normal registration, this year Salsa Cycles and Club Ride Apparel came down and had bikes to ride and clothes to fondle if that was your sort of thing and really, who isn't into cycling clothes and bicycles... well, nobody I want to know.


During registration there was a little confusion as it turned out that there were two of me, well two Rob Evans' any way, one racing in the men's open and the other riding in the fat category... bike not dude, although there could be an argument made for that also. As it turned out this would be the closest I'd get to the other me as he simply crushed the course the next day, taking the overall win with a blistering time of 8 hours and 16 minutes. The lady photo bombing us is Amity Gregg and she is no slouch either, turning in a time of 9:44, which was good enough for third in the women's open division and 35th overall. So basically this photo was the only time I was even with the other Rob and in front of Amity, both are way too fast for this guy.


Since there was a demo going on and Salsa brought several of their new rides, I decided to give one or two a try. For all it's kooky, crazy looks I was pretty amazed at the ride of the Woodsmoke. Those uber short chain stays had the bike turning on a dime, yet the big 29+ tires provided enough stability so that you never felt out of control or twitchy like any 26" bike I get on does any more and in this more subdued colorway the asymmetrical chain stay isn't as noticeable.




Everyone seemed to want to take the Woodsmoke for a spin and it seemed like everyone really liked the way it rode, I think it'll be a big seller despite it's Franken-bike looks.




I also managed a ride on the Timberjack and the new Mukluk, the jack laced up with 27.5+ tires was fun to ride as well but it didn't awe me the way the Woodsmoke did. Don't get me wrong, I think the Timberjack is a great bike and a fitting replacement to the El Mariachi in the Salsa lineup but at the same time it didn't stand out or wow me like the Woodsmoke or even the new Mukluk did. The Mukluk was also a pleasure to ride, the carbon frame was light and stiff and even on those fat 5" tires it rode like a much more nimble bike than you'd think it would be by looking at it.



In addition to the bikes that were available to ride, it was great to talk to some of the fellow competitors that would be toeing the line at the race as well, some I see more frequently than others but all a pleasure to talk to.


This would be Sarah's first Gravel Worlds and what more badass of a way to show up for your first Gravel Worlds than on a Brompton, in a dress. While she might look like a cycling commuter I assure you, she's a super strong gravel crusher and you'd better bring your legs if you want to keep up.


The #sovag gang was well represented at Gravel Worlds with Janelle, Ed, Brian, Gary, Jamie, Sarah, Stephanie, Joe and myself all racing and Matt lending a hand as a volunteer due to prior family commitments that kept him from racing.


Haven't ridden much with Josh but he is a strong rider in his own regards, ended up 74th overall and 44th in his category. Great job Josh.



Scott and William came down for the registration, Scott as you might remember rode with Brian and I at the Tour of Dirt Roads and helped make it a great ride and a great day. I'm not sure if William is that into riding that he's crazy enough to take on a 145 miles of gravel but what he lacks in cycling desire he more than makes up for in general fun dude to hang out with-ness. We probably shouldn't have been allowed to hover around the kegs of beer unsupervised.


Always good to see Damon as well, he's always there in the background helping to make sure things are organized and running smooth but we need to get this guy back out from behind the scenes and atop a bicycle a little more often. His sock game was impeccable!

In an effort to not turn this post into a novel or a really long novella and put everyone to sleep I'm going to break it into two posts, the registration and then the race itself. So, with that said I'll leave you with a few shots of the bikes of Gravel Worlds for this post.


145 miles of gravel is tough, it's super tough on a fat bike but it's near impossible on a bicycle without wheels.



Several Powderkegs showed up for Gravel Worlds, if I can find a riding partner and a loaner Powederkeg I'd love to try one of these events aboard one of these bad boys. Imagine the pictures I could get if I wasn't concerned with that silly steering bit!




The Powderkeg wasn't the only flavor of tandem however, there were a total of 6 teams entered in Gravel Worlds... now those guys/gals are crazy.













Some really rad racing rigs for sure, it's always interesting to walk around and look at other racer's bike, gear and setup choices compared to your own, even if it does make you second guess yourself at times but the night before the race is not the time to go changing things.


After shooting enough pictures to keep a one hour photo in business for weeks in ye olden days of film, it was time to get to the hotel and unload before the dark clouds decided to unload themselves. Turned out to be a wise decision, I had just finished offloading the bike at the hotel and parking the car when the skies opened up and lots of water fell from the sky. That rain would play a part in tomorrows race for sure, soft or wet gravel is a whole different animal than dry, fast gravel; especially when faced with 145 miles of it.


But that's a tale for a different day, much like Jay and Tracey, this post is riding off into the sunset.

Next up is the race itself, stay tuned for the final Gravel Worlds 2016 chapter.

Sailing the Pugs

Gravel Worlds is this week and of course it's going to be a hectic one for me with lots of other life things going on before Saturday but one decision that is out of the way is the choice of bikes for the race. Last year I tried GW on the Farley and I pulled out at mile 92, no fault of the Farley mind you but I decided maybe a change was in order. So, in came Pugs and I'll probably run it just as you see it here, about the only change that I might make would be a front fender if it's going to be sloppy wet and it looks like there is a real chance that might be the reality for the beginning of the race with the forecast as it is now. WHAAAAAA, a fender on your bike for a race? I know, that's crazy talk but eating 150 miles of gravel sounds less fun than the minimal drag I'd have with a fender. Those big Knards kick up a crap ton of slop when the gravel turns to soup and the front one throws it straight into your face, I'm hoping it won't come to that but if necessary I think the fender will make an appearance to save both the mug and the bike from the worst of the gravel soup.


Why the Pugsley you are probably asking, well it certainly isn't the lightest or most nimble of bikes but it's comfortable as hell and really it was always going to be a fat bike any way you sliced it for me.

A couple of reasons I chose the Pugs, the steel frame is very forgiving and the geometry puts me in a more upright position than the Farley. The 3.8" Knards roll fast and handle really well on gravel, I have been nothing but impressed with them and I think they are a much better tire than they get credit for.

Ergon cockpit, the GS2 grips with bar ends give me ample hand positions which help with hand fatigue. The SRX3 saddle has been a god send, after the Omaha Jackrabbit last year I knew I needed to swap out the crappy Bontrager saddle that was on the Farley so I decided to spend a few dollars and get a quality saddle. I got a SRX3 for the Farley and loved it so much I got another for the Pugsley and boy howdy have they made a world of difference and my sit parts have been happy ever since.

I see a lot of folks ditching racks and frame bags, I rode GW last year with my Osprey pack and for the most part it as OK but all that water and supplies weigh on you after awhile and add fatigue to your shoulders and back. Running extra bottle cages and the rack/trunk bag will keep everything off of me and on the bike, either way I'd be carrying the same stuff but this way should make it a bit more comfortable in the later miles.

I think you see a pattern here, this year I'm trying to get as comfortable as is possible on a bicycle I'm going to be spending 10-15 hours on, in a row... non stop, well OK, there will be occasional stops but for the most part you gotta keep on pedaling, just keep pedaling. I have a cross bike and I've ridden it on gravel but I always feel like I got the crap kicked out of me on it. Is it a faster bike, maybe but to be honest I tend to settle into a pace and just grind away at that pace. My riding style seems to be that, smooth and steady and it reflects in the fact that almost any bike I ride I end up somewhere around the 10-14 mph range depending on how much effort I'm willing to put into it. I've had Pugs on rides in excess of 95 miles and I've managed to still ride in that range, besides speed isn't my main concern. Only one person from every category is going to win, everyone else loses... that's right, if you're not first you don't win, only a small fraction of those entering Gravel Worlds are going to win and everyone else is going to lose (the race anyway, personal goals aside) so unless you've got the ability to be in that top 1/2 percent or less of people entering it would seem that riding something that's not going to beat the shit out of you would be paramount on your bike choice list. That was my philosophy when choosing Pugs and I think it's one that gives me a really good chance of finishing and maybe even finishing with a decent time. Plus, anyone who is familiar with the Addams Family cartoons might remember that Pugsley Addams was often shown at the park with his creepy version of a sailboat with all the other "normal" kids... that's just fate right there folks, boats, pirates and a Pugsley.

A-Tisket, A-Tasket, A Belly Full Of Brisket

“It's tough to make predictions, especially about the future.”

~ Yogi Berra

I think Yogi Berra was a weather forecaster before he was a baseball player and manager, it wasn't supposed to rain on Thursday night but it did any ways, which of course really threw a wrench in our SMNDFBR plans of riding in Wilderness Park. Luckily the usual crew is kind of a go with the flow group so the switch to gravel went off without so much as a hitch.


The new plan was to casually ride out to Lippy's BBQ in Malcolm, eat some brisket and then ride back to the shop. Matt was looking like he might try the whole route on just the one wheel.






It really was a beautiful day to be out in the county on bicycles, one of the nicest we've had around here in awhile and one that makes me yearn for the less humid days of fall that are to come. Most of the crew on Saturday were the normal gang of hooligans but we did have two new participants this week, Hae Jin and Dena. Both of them did really well considering the rest of us have been riding together for most of the summer so we are similarly paced at this point. Missed Todd again for the second week in a row, might have to go kidnap the guy if he doesn't show up soon.




You can always tell when it's a bit more mild of a day after a few weeks of heat, there always seems to be a longer bridge stop when it's comfortable to sit for a while in one place without sweating to death. Saturday was one of those days, we probably could have sat there for hours shooting the breeze but smoked beef was calling us and we had to answer.




Bluff Rd. was our route out to Malcolm and it was crazy busy; we encountered just the one truck on the road from what I remember. I bet you couldn't even get that few vehicles if you did in fact own a road and it was a welcomed pace from the more populated roads closer to Lincoln.




A few more miles and the posse ambled into Malcolm on our steel horses just a few minutes before high noon and almost a full hour after Lippy's had opened for the day. Perfect timing if you ask me.





It's probably a good thing we beat the stagecoach into town, the city slickers might have thought they had accidentally stumbled into the livery stables instead of an eatery as I'm sure we smelled none too fragrant. Thankfully we had the joint to ourselves... or maybe because of the smell we had it to ourselves, either way as is usual great BBQ was had by all. It really is some of the best I've had in Nebraska, if not the best I've had in Nebraska.



Once we were stuffed we rode ALL the way to the Malcolm General Store for another break and something to wet the whistle.


Jamie was channeling her inner Rocky Balboa on the way out of Malcolm.




Because we'd been hitting it pretty hard the last two rides, we switched things up a bit by taking McKelvie Road back and shortening the route by about 20 miles. I can't say as I've ever been on McKelvie but it was a great road, might have to throw it in the mix more often.


Lots of hoppers this time of year, haven't seen this many on the gravel roads in a few years. The poor suckers were pinging off the down tubes like crazy, not sure it killed any of them but probably didn't help their smarts any with bouncing their heads off the frames.






A few more hills and a few more miles and we were back on the pavement heading into the home stretch back to the shop.


A few more miles after that and we were back and another great SMNDFBR was in the history books. No ride next week because of Gravel Worlds, if you've signed up I'll see you out there; if not you really should consider it for next year. Rad race put on by a super rad group of people, plus it's only 150 miles of gravel in the height of summer.


That's it for the ride portion of the blog but if you're a bag nerd like me, read on.

I'm usually a pack guy, I love all the room, compartments and pockets that one provides, even if you don't use the bladder for hydration it's still nice to have one to carry all the essentials you'll need to support yourself on a longer ride. However there have been times lately where I don't want all of that on my back as it does tend to fatigue the shoulders and back after awhile but seat bags haven't been cool since the fanny pack was all the rage, if it ever was. I stumbled upon this guy while searching for alternatives to a back pack, they are seat bags by definition but with some cool factor to them. My initial thoughts when I first saw them was that they were kind of a mashup between a Blackburn Outpost seat pack type bag and a more traditional seat bag in it's design if not in size as it's much smaller than an actual bike packing seat pack. Right now bike packing seems to be pretty hot and why not, what's not cool about bike packing bags?




This is the Arkel seat bag and it's just as awesome as it looks, available in 5 different colors and totally waterproof... well as long as you don't get a hole in the dry bag (the dry bags are replaceable at a reasonable price, I know this because I left one in the holster on the roof rack when I was cruising down the interstate; holster made it but dry bag did not) and it even has a reflective light clip on the rear flap so you can leave it on day or night. They have thought of everything in this great designed little seat bag but I've come to expect great designs from Arkel so it's not all that surprising.



I opted for the more subtle black for my personal ride but seeing the orange in person, I'd rock that one too. The thing I found great about this bag vs. others out there is that it's two separate pieces. A stiffish, plastic holster and then the dry bag much like some of the bike packing seat bags out there as I mentioned before. This combination allows you to leave the holster on the bike at all times and when you come to a stop and go in somewhere all you need to do is undo one clip and take the dry bag part with your valuables in it with you.


I'm not a packing expert by any means and even I could get all of this into the dry bag, the second plastic bag is just for organizing money, drivers license, phone and/or debit card within the dry bag and not because I was worried about moisture getting into the dry bag. It's everything you need on a road ride or even mountain bike ride or shorter gravel ride and not much more than you need will fit so you don't have to worry about over packing, this tends to be a problem for me with back packs. If it's got all that room, you must be required to fill it up; right?


Even with all of that junk in the bag you can cinch it down to a nice, small and compact form factor once the dry bag is in the holster. I have not personally taken it on single track but I also don't feel like it wouldn't work, with the separate holster you can really secure the bag and I think if it bounced around it would be minimal and probably unnoticeable.



Arkel seat bag, great little bag and in stock at the shop. One orange and a few black but we can order you one in silver, yellow or red as well and at only $40 it's well worth the money.