Sunday, September 7, 2008

The Good Life Gravel Adventure - Course Recon

Finished recon of the course yesterday and am very pleased. The recon started off badly when we ran into some road construction within the first 2.3 miles. That's why we did the recon. Sometimes a course looks great on paper/PC, but isn't feasible on a bike. Bikely.com (or any mapping software for that matter) doesn't always clearly indicate small "doglegs" (chicanes) in roads that can throw a rider off. All of those "doglegs" have been identified and the cue sheet has been updated accordingly to make the route easy to follow. All ambiguity should be eliminated to prevent riders from going astray.

Speaking of dogs, there was only one dog who gave chase and it gave up rather quickly after a stern finger point and a very loud, "No!".

Some rerouting will be necessary with a little bit of tarmac to get back on course due to the construction in the first few miles, but other than, there were no other major problems identified during the recon. I was very excited to find numerous DIRT roads on the course. Also came across a small section of LOOSE GRAVEL road that will test a rider's strength and technical ability.

The first 40 to 50 miles are relatively flat with the next 60 miles consisting mostly of "rollers". The Bohemian Alps to the north of Lincoln are included in the route. The final 15 miles are slightly downhill or flat.

The start time has been modified to 6 AM. Starting an hour earlier will maximize the daylight. Please adjust travel plans accordingly!

The Adventure will begin at the Mopac Trailhead in Lincoln, NE located on 84th street.

Required items for the event:

Headlight (white bulb)
Taillight (red)
Cyclocomputer that can indicate mileage (necessary for reading the cue sheet)
Cellphone

The morning of event (Saturday September 20th) we will have rider check-in starting at 5:30 AM. The Adventure starts at 6 AM with a neutral roll out down the Mopac Trail.

I will be posting the cue sheet within the next 10 days for riders to preview and format/print for themselves if they choose. I will also have copies of the cue sheet available at the rider check-in on September 20th. Posting the cue sheet will allow riders to format the cue sheet to their preference. The cue sheet that I have will most likely be a standard 8 1/2 x 11 inch double sided sheet of paper in a vinyl sleeve.

Friendly Reminder: You are responsible for you! Please be sure to have a bail out option! The course keeps you close to Lincoln if you need to pull the plug. Please be sure to have someone available to come and get you if that becomes necessary.

Please feel free to email me questions, comments or concerns at coreycycle@hotmail.com

8 comments:

d.p. said...

Excellent! Looking forward to it.

Marc Walter said...

Il pirate Marco Pantani.

Mayhem and mischief

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofijQUF8vHQ

This one to cheer u up
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcuCSQLImHo&NR=1

Harp said...

I hope I can make it. Looks good.

bllloooooooooggggg said...

I have to photograph someone's lame wedding that day. If I didn't I would totally go for this.

htop said...

we'll have a limited supply of pcl tshirts, med/large, 10bucks. plenty of stickers. our "prize vault" has been growing steadily, you will be amazed!!!

Marc Walter said...

You know this the day after Pirates Day http://www.talklikeapirate.com/

I'll be shivering me timber and takin care of me hangover

dale said...

Any cue sheet instructions yet?

If wind could cause you to ride opposite direction, maybe having good to have reverse instructions?

We rode a century Sunday reverse and it would have been nice to have.

dale said...

I forgot you were doing electronic sheet, people can reverse it themselves.