On BikeReg. It's a great event. I was hoping that they would have held the price but nope they raised the fee by 35% to $175, $215 if you wait till June. Not surprised at all at the fee increase, especially since the event got such fantastic reviews.
Well crap... my initial replay was erased. I’m in for the 210 again this year. Mark needed a guinea pig to test that registration was working so I was actually the first to sign up... I told him I expect the number 1! I also told some friends that for every day they delay I get a 5 min head start... up to 40 minutes now!
I know Mark put a lot of time and thought into the fees for this year. It seems to be a very fine line between paying the bills and growing the race. I’m also surprised at the number of hours he and Matt put in. We all joke about how being a RD is living the dream... just make races and ride bikes! Apparently there’s a bit more to it than that, lol.
The MI gravel scene is looking to be perfect for a C2C build with the new date.
March - Melting Mann (35 or 60) April - Barry (I want to spank my 63 time from last year, but was told the 100 was pretty damn epic) May - Hellkaat Hundie June - C2C
One of my idiot friends sent me some info on Land Run in March... it’s not s MI race but that might be hard to pass up. I’m also looking at the DaMn b/c 210 across MI just isn’t far enough.
My tentative event schedule for 2019 (well, from now till next year at this time):
September - Route 66 225 in IL October - Founders Fall Fondo 62, Lowell 50 November - Iceman 30 Dec., Jan., Feb., March - Trainerroad on my Kicker March - Waterloo Grit and Gravel 60 April - Barry Roubaix 63 (I'd do the 100 if I was 30 years old and gonzo crazy), Lowell 100 May - Horsey Hundred in KY, The Bear 100 in WI, Almanzo 100 in MN, June - Dirty Kanza 206 in KS (if I get in), Michigan Mountain Mayhem Spring Classic 100, C2C July - Holland 100, RAIN 160 in IN and summer recovery, local rides, trainer, August - ODRAM 143 September - Route 66 225 in IL, Pony Express 120 in KS October - Hibernator 100 in WI
Naturally there are other life events that could change this schedule but I hope not and I hope I stay healthy enough to get through them all. It will also depend on the weather. I'm not going to ride is a blizzard or in lighting or a tornado. I generally don't like getting wet that much either. We shall see.
My tentative event schedule for 2019 (well, from now till next year at this time):
September - Route 66 225 in IL October - Founders Fall Fondo 62, Lowell 50 November - Iceman 30 Dec., Jan., Feb., March - Trainerroad on my Kicker March - Waterloo Grit and Gravel 60 April - Barry Roubaix 63 (I'd do the 100 if I was 30 years old and gonzo crazy), Lowell 100 May - Horsey Hundred in KY, The Bear 100 in WI, Almanzo 100 in MN, June - Dirty Kanza 206 in KS (if I get in), Michigan Mountain Mayhem Spring Classic 100, C2C July - Holland 100, RAIN 160 in IN and summer recovery, local rides, trainer, August - ODRAM 143 September - Route 66 225 in IL, Pony Express 120 in KS October - Hibernator 100 in WI
Naturally there are other life events that could change this schedule but I hope not and I hope I stay healthy enough to get through them all. It will also depend on the weather. I'm not going to ride is a blizzard or in lighting or a tornado. I generally don't like getting wet that much either. We shall see.
Damn Derek! That’s a busy schedule! I’ll have to look a few of those up as I’m looking for a couple of “destination” races since I’m not doing Ironmans anymore. I was thinking about Land Run, DaMn and UnPaved PA, but you tossed some out I haven’t heard of.
I can’t remember where you’re located, but if you’re ever riding in the GR area and want company let me know!
Jmosey you won't regret doing the Pony Express 120. I know that the Rain 160 is a roadie ride Derek, how many of the others are roadie rides? The Unpaved is out my back door but not trained enough and thought the fees were a little bit high for my blood. I do hope it takes on though so I can ride it maybe next year. Zman
Roadie Rides are: Route 66 in IL, Horsey 100 in KY, Michigan Mountain Mayhem in Boyne City, Holland 100, RAIN, and ODRAM. All of these rides are for the most part on lazy back off the track paved roads and all are relatively inexpensive, some even free. I don't like cars. When on a bike cars suck. And I don't like paying much to ride, especially to ride on free public roads.
For the gravel road rides the most expensive is DK and C2C. I don't know why. Gravel road rides really started in MN. In MN the philosophy of the event developers is to find a way to hold them for no entrance fee, or as low as possible. Almanzo, the Bear, The Hibernator are either free or very low cost events. And there are others too. Plus they find a way to give out lots of free swag.
I live on the east side of the metro Detroit area, Grosse Pointe to be specific. I can ride around my community just fine but I'm limited to 30-35 mile loops. Getting out on longer rides means riding in heavy traffic, which is not safe. Quite frankly I'd rather just ride on the trainer than ride in traffic. If I want to ride gravel I have to go north of 25 mile road into Macomb County. That takes about 45 minutes via car. Again, I can't see driving my car to ride. So, back on the trainer as it's a more time efficient. I've found that from a fitness perspective an hour on my trainer equals about 2 hours out on my bike on a flat road. obviously it's boring, except I can watch TV.
I would love to live on the west side of MI. Lots of great hilly gravel and paved roads too. Plus all the really neat rides are out that way.
