The Gravel Rouser

For anyone not familiar with the infamous Gravel Rouser, it is a 4 day stage "race" in the Athens area sponsored by Athens Bicycle. (I put race in quotes because while it is somewhat competitive, it is kind of like in Whose Line Is It Anyway, the points don't really matter). This would be the fourth year in a row that I planned to attend all four events, racing where I could, helping where I could, and riding the rest. If you enjoy riding your bike in a semi-competitive environment,with a not-too serious attitude, with some level of a party atmosphere, in March when you can get wet and cold and muddy, then you really need to put this on your calendar.

Thursday - Escape the Asylum
Thursday's stage was a cyclocross race at the Ridges, that is, the old Athens Lunatic Asylum. The property is now owned by Ohio University, but back in its day, was well know for lobotomies. It was open from 1874 until 1993. Perhaps one of the better known residents was Billy Milligan. The facility has a fascinating and depressing history. Anyway, Joey set up a pretty dandy course around the grounds that included grass, broken walkways, and some brick roads. Unlike a true CX race, there were not any barriers or steps. Still a fun one mile lap. Under clear skies and cold temperatures  I started in the middle somewhere and it only took about a lap for everyone to find there spot. I managed to overtake a few riders on the course with my singlespeed Monocog. After first banging bars with Ryan Curtiss, he sat in behind me for a few laps finding where he was faster. With about 1-1/2 laps left, he passed in one of those spots and I was unable to get back around. Finished 5th (Fun fact: Blood tastes like metal because of its iron content. Some studies also show that intense exercise can increase pressure on the lungs, which allows red blood cells to leak into air sacs, possibly causing that metallic taste. The first hard effort of the years can hurt.)

Around the old heating plant.

Friday - Basswood Time Trial
And the rains came. Friday's event was a downhill time trial. I am not fast going downhill. I mentioned to one of the young riders that I have to go to work the next week. Plus, I volunteered to be the starting timer which meant I got to pull down the flagging on my way down the hill so I had a good excuse to go slow. And it rained. The trails were slick, It was cold. I even went to the local sporting goods store and bought a rain jacket. Everything I had was covered in some degree of mud bu the finish. At least there was some food and beers at the shop afterwards. This one night was about the social aspect of riding far more than the racing.

A nice sunrise to start the day.

Saturday - The Gravel Rouser Classic
Saturday cleared up, some, kind of. The temperatures were a little more mild, but it started foggy, a brief rain shower, a little sun at one point and ended cloudy with increasing winds. I helped get the group of 63 riders out of town and through the major intersections. Then it was grinding out the back road miles via King Hollow to Lake Hope. There, most riders headed up Irish Ridge where they would join the trail at the 4 way and compete in a XC time trial. I headed up the reverse way to make part of the course and finish time for the race. I am happy to help but standing in the woods for an hour + sure zaps the legs for the ride back to Athens. After timing, we headed to the snack stop. This year it even included some Ridge Runner coffee! I pounded a cup and put some more in one of my bottles for the ride back via Moonville and another long climb back in to Athens Co. I think I ended up with around 45 miles, while races put in more. The event ended at Jackie O's taproom where there would be Kiser's BBQ waiting.

Ready to roll out.

Somewhere near King tunnel.

Great group of guys to ride with.

Sunday - Grab n Git
So this used to also be a doughnut party. That was nixed this year in favor of grilled burgers/dogs/chips. I was sad. The Grab n git is a ride through the city of Athens to find various checkpoints and perform whatever test or task they had for the riders. The route is free and open, up tot he riders to figure out the best way. I have to say I started out flying. That was, until I couldn't find the second checkpoint. To make up for lost time, I ended up riding up Terrace Drive, a climb that was once included in Bicycle magazine's 100 best local climbs. I managed to gain back about half of my lost time and came in to the finish at 4th place. But, since the score is also dependent upon the scores at each stop, and since I was the unluckiest rider in the top 5, I dropped to 5th overall.

Finishing also meant I received another Wolfman Award (given to though that finsih all 4 events).

The Wolfman Awardees

My bikes are still muddy and I am still tired. Can't wait until next year.

Spring is Rising

Ah spring. The grass is growing, the days are longer, the time change has occurred, and the Gravel Rouser is in the books.  I'll first back up a couple weeks.

One of my favorite back roads to ride is called Buzzard Den road. Slightly wider than a single lane, it is lined by old coal mine owned land and until last year, acres of pine (Mead paper company just logged it), and only a couple of homes. Within the last few years one of these homes and farm has started to grow. They now have over 50 in their herd of katahdin sheep and another 50+ laying hens. To manage the farm and to keep the occasional mountain biker from steeling sheep they also have two Great Pyrenees and two Shepards.  Find A Way Farm as it is called (http://www.findawayfarm.com/) was nice enough to show Brock and I around. After Brock finished terrorizing the sheep, chasing the chickens, and playing catch with Kira (one of the Shepards) we purchased a couple dozen fresh eggs and headed home. If you are interested in any cuts of lamb or fresh eggs, I encourage you to check with them.

Herding (chasing) the sheep.

Literally just a few hours old.

That brings us up to one of my favorite bike events of the year, the Gravel Rouser. This four day stage event is only slightly competitive and sure to put the hurt on the legs. I again committed myself to be a Wolfman (completing all 4 events) as well as volunteering wherever needed. The first event was a circuit road race. We would complete a total of three laps on some county and township roads with one screaming downhill on a dry-weather only road. I decided to ride my Redline Monocog 29er Flight that I have set up with dirt drops and 34:17 gearing. The back side of the circuit has a long climb with the steepest part (average 8%, peaks around 11%) is about a half mile long. On the first lap, I managed to mash my way up the hill staying in eyesight of the leaders (who brought out the skinny tired road bikes). Following the big climb is several rollers with short, steep shots. By the time I got around the first lap I was tasting blood and had to pull out my asthma inhaler.  The bike was the right choice for the downhill though taking it comfortably but the climb is where it was won. By the second time around, I was hurting and even walked a few yards as my lungs burned.  Finished mid to back of the pack but still had a good time.

The second event was a single track time trial which I was the starting timer (so no official time for me). The trails were in great shape except for a giant mud hole about mid course. As usual, a couple of young and super fast riders took the podium among a largish turnout, but also as usual, the rest of the riders were largely there for fun anyway.

After two days of riding in near perfect March weather, it all changed. Saturday turned to cold with rain and even a bit of snow for the Classic event, a round trip back road ride to Lake Hope from Eclipse Co. Town with a little single track XC time trial in the middle. After helping with registration, I rode sweep on the course out to the lake, again on the SS. Weather was in the upper 30's and cloudy with periods of rain. While moving, it wasn't too bad.  Once I arrived at the lake I moved in to position to help with the TT timing. This equated to standing in the woods, in the rain for about an hour while all my muscles got cold. It was a long ride back to Athens. Kind of a blast, kind of a miserable day on the bike.

Sunday morning was the Grab & Git, a scavenger hunt by bike in the City of Athens followed by lots of coffee (from Ridge Runner Coffee) and donuts. I was making really good time until I realized I skipped a checkpoint and had to make a large detour, finally finishing mid pack. But coffee and donuts, so who cared!

Smiling before the rain really turned on and I got really cold.

The aftermath of the Classic.

This guy showed up just for the donuts.

Event buttons including the Wolfman Award.

And more photos at the Athens County Convention and Visitors Bureau photo site.

That gets things up to Easter. Ethan is finishing his driving portion of AAA school, so Shelly and he were gone most of the day Saturday. We then had to drive back to Pomeroy after Ethan left his jacket in the instructors car, but we made the most of it with a stop at the Court Street Bar and Grill for burgers and fried catfish. Easter Sunday started early as I prepped to get to church for sound checks then off to Shelly's grandparents for Easter lunch, then to my parents for Easter dinner (I did manage to ride from one to the other though, so at least there was some 11 odd miles in there), then back home over 12 hours later.

All the best bars have church pews, right?

Enjoy!