Come on out to the Lincoln Cross Race tomorrow for some PCL swag!

PCL T-shirt available for 10 bucks

PCL koozies - only available for folks that are racing

Gravel Worlds!

Well, this is the official announcement that Lincoln will be hosting the Inaugural Gravel World Championship. The Good Life Gravel Adventure will be the 2010 Gravel Worlds. Stay tuned for more info.

PCL Tuesday Night ride announcement

The Tuesday night PCL Crit is done for the year. Thanks to all the riders who came out to The Bridges near Denton again this year to make the Tuesday Night Crit a success. The Crit will continue on next year.

Now it's time to transition over to cyclocross!

Lottery Ticket update from the GLGA

The PCL crew met tonight and went through all the 171 Nebraska Powerball Lottery tickets. Unfortunately, we didn't hit the big one and didn't come away with anything worth splitting amongst all the participants (unless you want some jingle - as in change). So if you were counting on retiring with our winnings, hopefully you didn't tell your boss to "Take this job and shove it!"

Thanks again to Nebraska Lottery for the scratch off tickets! BTW, did anyone get anything off those scratch offs?

Troy thanking our Nebraska Lottery sponsor at the first checkpoint in Valparaiso, Nebraska.

Scott Bulfinch's wife took a couple of pics that he has graciously shared with us (see below). The first is of the start and the second is of Scott finishing the event. The GLGA was Scott's personal record for longest ride. Very impressive!

The roll out from the Mopac Trailhead at 6 AM

Congrats Scott!

The Good Life Gravel Adventure - pics!

Thanks again everyone for the kind words and praise. We're just happy that you folks traveled to Lincoln to spend a beautiful late summer day riding bikes with us. We love the gravel roads surrounding Lincoln and also love to share those roads with folks such as yourselves. That's what keeps us motivated to keep putting on PCL events.

Here are some pics of the finishers. Unfortunately, I didn't get everyone at the finish. Also check out pics from John Mathias' wife in her Flickr set. If anyone else has pics that they want to share, send me an email and I'll put up a link.

Overall winner Troy Krause - Lincolnite

Second place - Jim Winklepleck - Lincolnite

"Honey, can you come pick me up?"

Third place - Jeremy Fry - Waterloo, IA

Fifth - John Vondracek, Fourth - Mike Marsh and Sixth - Trevor Madden - All Lincolnites

Since they all came in at the same time we had them draw straws with the medals to determine the order.

Seventh - Dave McLeod - Lawrence, KS and Eighth - John Mathias - Olathe, KS

Ninth - Joe Fox - Parkville, MO

That big smile says it all!

First place SS - Chris Hansen - Lincolnite

Chris laid down and didn't move much for about an hour after finishing. I was beginning to get worried. Great race Chris!

Tenth - Joel Dyke - Kansas City, KS

First place wicked sideburns award

Second SS - Jeff Bonsall - Lincolnite and 11th Mike Miles - Omaha

12th - Kevin Burke - Lincolnite and 13th - James Blake - Lincolnite

Longest ride of the year for both of these guys. Kevin rode his road bike to boot!

Third SS - Rafal Doloto - Omaha and 14th Scott Bigelow - Lincolnite

15th - Steve Fuller - Johnston, IA (no photo!)

(pictured above) 16th - David Rowe - Lincolnite, 4th SS - Warren Wiebe - Lawrence, KS, 17th - John Flynn - Lawrence, KS and 18th - Kirk Hutson - Lawrence, KS

Warren's poor front wheel with the Kevlar spoke fix. It was enough to get him to the finish. Note the front brake is disengaged.

Missing a pic of 19th - James Peters - Omaha, NE and 20th - Scott Bulfinch - Lincolnite

21st - Aaron Gammel - Lincolnite

Party!

First place Female - Janna Vavra - Lincolnite

The best finishing photo pose of the event

Fifth place SS - Nathan Swanson - Lincolnite!

SS 26 inch wheels!

Missing a pic of 2nd place Female Kelly Kostman - Lincolnite

Pictured above is 22nd - Kip L'Heureux - Lincolnite

I believe they both set personal distance records as well.

23rd - Gus Miller - Seward, NE and 24th - Steve Hurless - Lincolnite

26th - Steve McGuire - Iowa City, IA and 25th - Don Reed - Malvern, IA

6th place SS - Mike Beck - Lakewood, CO and 7th place SS - David Pals - Marengo, IA

27th - Pete Lira - Jacksonville, IL

28th - Oliver Banta - Lincolnite

Oly rekindled his love of gravel on Saturday!

Final finishers! 8th place SS - Matt Wills and 9th place SS - Jim Fobben - Lincolnites!

Hey! There's Steve!

The Good Life Gravel Adventure - Results & Recap

Congrats and thanks to all the folks who toed the line this year for the second annual The Good Life Gravel Adventure. Grassroots events such as the GLGA are possible because folks like yourself step up to the challenge. We had a very talented and diverse group of riders this year from all over the Midwest. Smiles were abundant throughout the day, no one got lost or hurt, and the weather couldn't have been better. Mission accomplished.

Above are the official results. Take a look and let me know if I have anything listed incorrectly. If you wanna protest...sorry! The results are official. :)

50 riders started the event and 39 finished. The official start time was 6:10 AM so all finish times have been adjusted to reflect ride time. I have received vary reports on total elevation gain from riders who completed the GLGA. The range of elevation gain based on GPS cycling computers is 8100 to 9500 feet. Anyone who completed in the event can attest to hilliness of the course. That's Nebraska!

Thanks again to all the sponsors, riders, volunteers, friends and family members who made this event possible. It's always fun to see folks excited about riding their bike all day. That was definitely the case this past Saturday. Until next year!

The Good Life Gravel Adventure - Final reminders

Hey folks! The Second Annual The Good Life Gravel Adventure is here! Saturday August 29, 2009 at 6 AM from the Mopac Trailhead the adventure begins. Here are some final reminders and miscellaneous info.

• Lincolnites, please ride to the Mopac Trailhead or have someone drop you off. I'd like to conserve parking spaces for out of towners.
• All riders, please try to be at the Mopac Trailhead by 5:40 AM. This will allow for enough time to conduct a pre-ride meeting prior to the start. The ride will start at 6 AM sharp.
  
• There will be a sign-in sheet for you to complete prior to the start. Nothing major, just sign your name, jot down your age and a cell number that I can reach you at during the ride (cell phone number in case of an emergency).
• Please bring a white light for the front of your bike and a red tail light. Blinky lights are the minimum.
  
• Please come prepared with tubes, tools, water, food, cue sheet, cell phone, etc.
• Please bring enough money to purchase four Nebraska Powerball Lottery tickets (four dollars) in Valparaiso, Malcolm, Denton and Cortland. Those tickets will be collected at the finish. Any winnings will be split amongst all participants.
  
• Also bring some cash for beverages and food at the convenience stores (checkpoints).
  
• Please obey all traffic laws and stay to the right on the gravel roads. Especially when approaching the crest of a gravel climb! Automobiles have been known to travel very fast on the gravel roads.
• Some dogs will give chase. Do not throw anything at the dogs! Treat them with respect as if they were your dog.
  
• Come prepared to have a good time and most importantly, enjoy yourself!

See you Saturday morning bright and early!

GLGA after party

Yia Yia's

1423 O Street

Lincoln, NE

9pm

Come down after the GLGA for a slice of pizza, the largest beer selection in town, and some post gravel adventure relaxation.

The Good Life Gravel Adventure - Cue Sheet

Adobe pdf file of the cue sheet available here thanks to Rafal!

Alright folks, here it is. The cue sheet for the 2009 The Good Life Gravel Adventure. This is only a jpeg image. I don't have capabilities to post this as a Microsoft Word document on blogger. If you would like a copy of the Word document to set up a cue sheet for yourself, send me an email (coreycycle@hotmail.com) with the subject line of "GLGA". I encourage folks to make their own cue sheets, but I will have some available at the start if you choose not to do so. The cue sheets that I will have available will be on 8 1/2 x 11 standard letter paper in a landscape format. You can fold the cue sheet into a tri fold and place in a plastic bag for the event. I will try to make a simple map for the backside of the cue sheet as well.

A tip on reading the cue sheet....if the cue sheet indicates L on 112th St, that means once you reach the intersection with 112th St, you turn left. Continue on that road until the next turn.

As you can see on the map, the longest stretch before an aid station (convenience store) is the first leg at 43 miles to Valparaiso. The next section to Malcolm is only 23 miles. After Malcolm, Denton is only 15 miles away. Cortland is 24 miles away from Denton and the finish is 34 miles from Cortland. The mileages listed are approximate! Bikely estimates the mileage and we noted during our pre-ride that they are very close, but slightly low. A cyclocomputer would be a very useful tool for this event. For example, on Branched Oak Rd you have a 14+ mile stretch. The next turn after getting onto Branched Oak Rd is NW 40th St. Not, I repeat, not N 40th St which you ride by on Branched Oak Rd around mile 8 of the 14 miles prior to reaching NW 40th. Please be attentive at all intersections and look for street signs. There are two intersections on the route that do not have street signs. We have hopefully clearly explained where to turn at those intersections.

Please plan accordingly for water and food. And remember, you must purchase a Nebraska Powerball at the listed convenience store.

Below is a Bikely tool for you to check out the route as well. You can look at a bigger version of the Bikely map if you register for a Bikely account (bikely.com) and look up "GLGA". Now you will notice that the total mileage is 140 which is slightly longer than we had originally intended. The first and last stretches of the event are relatively flat with the bulk of the rollers in the middle. There is a great mix of gravel, Minimum Maintenance Road dirt, a couple very small white rock sections, and minimal pavement. That's all I'm gonna say about the route. You'll have to find out the rest on Saturday!

The Good Life Gravel Adventure - Bikely Map

GLGA Final Dry

Share your bike routes @ Bikely.com

The Good Life Gravel Adventure - Next Saturday!

It's only a week away! The PCL crew is wrapping up the bits of prep work and are test riding the route today. Wish us luck!

I'll have some pics of the checkpoints up on the blog as well as the Bikely.com route and the cue sheet by the end of the evening Sunday. You can format the cue sheets anyway you like. If you don't make your own cue sheet, I'll have some at the start. If you got a GPS unit, go for it!

Some friendly reminders:

• Please try to be at the Mopac Trailhead by 5:40 for necessary pre-event info
• Every rider MUST at the bare minimum have a front white blinky and a rear red blinky light
• Things to bring nclude: cell phone, cash money (bring enough $ for four lottery tickets and also enough to feed yourself throughout the day), food (if you don't wanna eat convenience store food all day), tube(s), multitool, pump, water bottles/hydration pack, ziplock baggie for lottery tickets, compass (hopefully you won't need this)

If it looks like the weather is gonna be bad the day of or leading up to the event, I will post a wet route which bypasses the dirt roads. Trust me, it's for the best if it's wet out.

Look for more updates soon!


Disclaimer: All riders are own their own after leaving the start/finish area. This is a self-supported event. You are responsible for you. Please train accordingly and bring all the necessary gear and equipment.

The Good Life Gravel Adventure - Only two weeks away!

Are you ready to ride some sweet Nebraska gravel and dirt roads?

The second annual The Good Life Gravel Adventure is less than two weeks away! The PCL crew has finalized the course. The cue sheets will be posted the week prior to the event. All participants are encouraged to make their own cue sheets (allows you to format to your liking), but I will have cue sheets available at the start if you don't make your own.

As a reminder, we will begin and finish the event at the Mopac Trail Head (84th Street) in Lincoln, Nebraska (same spot as last year). The Mopac Trailhead is located at 600 S 84th Street in Lincoln, Nebraska (use Google Maps to find it!). The Mopac Trailhead has parking and restrooms available. I encourage all locals to ride to the Trailhead as to allow more parking for out of towners. If you have any questions about the start/finish area, please contact me.

The adventure begins on Saturday August 29, 2009 at 6 AM! Please be there at least 15 minutes early so I can get a head count. A neutral roll out will take place down the Mopac Trail.

Riders will ride to the following towns which will serve as checkpoints: Valparaiso, Malcolm, Denton and Cortland. You will be required to purchase Nebraska Powerball Lottery tickets at each of those towns as proof of reaching the checkpoint. All Nebraska Powerball tickets will be collected and verified at the finish line. The tickets will then be pooled and any winnings split amongst the race participants.

All riders are own their own after leaving the start/finish area. This is a self-supported event. You are responsible for you. Please train accordingly and bring all the necessary gear and equipment. Fortunately, most checkpoints will be less than 30 to 40 miles apart. The checkpoints (small town convenience stores) will have ample refreshments for thirsty and hungry riders. Bring some cash along!

This is a FREE event (actually you will need to spend about 4 bucks on Nebraska Lottery tickets). There will be prizes and medals, but most importantly, there will be Gravel Glory.

Please shoot me an email if you are interested in coming to the Adventure. Please use The Good Life Gravel Adventure as the subject line and include your name, age, hometown and category (Open or Single Speed/Fixed). Email me at: coreycycle@hotmail.com

PCL T-shirts!

We've got a few PCL T-shirts available (medium and large sizes) for 10 bucks. 100% cotton with screen printing by Screen Ink. If you want one, you better get one now before they're all gone. Since Lance was seen wearing one, I'm sure the remaining stock will be depleted rather quickly.

The Good Life Gravel Adventure - Updates!

The second annual The Good Life Gravel Adventure is less than a month away! The PCL crew recently completed some recon and we're happy to announce that the course has being finalized! I am currently working on the cue sheet for the event.

NEW IMPORTANT INFO: I will be posting the cue sheet the week prior to the event. All participants are encouraged to make their own cue sheets (allows you to format to your liking). I will have cue sheets available at the start if you don't make your own.

We will begin and finish the event at the Mopac Trail Head (84th Street) in Lincoln, Nebraska (same spot as last year). The Mopac Trailhead is located at 600 S 84th Street in Lincoln, Nebraska (use Google Maps to find it!). The Mopac Trailhead has parking and restrooms available. I encourage all locals to ride to the Trailhead as to allow more parking for out of towners. If you have any questions about the start/finish area, please contact me.

The adventure begins on Saturday August 29, 2009 at 6 AM! Yes, 6 AM!

As a friendly reminder.....riders will be required to purchase Nebraska Powerball Lottery tickets as proof of reaching a checkpoint. All Nebraska Powerball tickets will be collected and verified at the finish line. The tickets will then be pooled and any winnings split amongst the race participants.

All riders are own their own after leaving the start/finish area. This is a self-supported event. You are responsible for you. Please train accordingly and bring all the necessary gear and equipment. Fortunately, most checkpoints will be less than 30 to 40 miles apart. The checkpoints (small town convenience stores) will have ample refreshments for thirsty and hungry riders. Bring some cash along!

This is a FREE event (actually you will need to spend about 4 bucks on Nebraska Lottery tickets). There will be prizes and medals, but most importantly, there will be Gravel Glory.

Please shoot me an email if you are interested in coming to the Adventure. Please use The Good Life Gravel Adventure as the subject line and include your name, age, hometown and category (Open or Single Speed/Fixed). Email me at: coreycycle@hotmail.com

Tuesday night PCL Crit at the Bridges!

Every Tuesday night 6 PM at the Bridges. Great for cyclocross training!

PCL Endorsed events - Farmhouse Classic and the Guitar Ted Death Ride Invitational

Gravel Brethen Joe Fox from down south is cookin' up a sweet gravel grinder for July 18th. Another great grassroots event! Here are the details from the Farmhouse Classic blog.

What: Farmhouse Classic Gravel Century

When: Saturday July 18th

Where: Our farmhouse in Lathrop, MO

Who: Any and all are welcome

Why: Because there is way too much pavement in the world

Troy and I are in. How about you?

Also on July 17 th & 18th Guitar Ted, Trans Iowa race promoter and big wheel bike Guru, will be hosting his annual Death Ride Invitational. Details are up on the GTDRI blog.

I really wanted to make it to this event, but have already committed to the Farmhouse Classic. Both are great events with plenty of gravel. Both are FREE!

So are Wills, Bonsall and MG going to the GTDRI again this year?

Ponca Ride!

Alrighty folks, here are the plans for the Ponca Ride which is Friday June 19th.

• Meet at D Street on Friday morning, early. Real early. Take off time from D Street is 4 AM. Please try to be here ready to go by 4.
  

• Matt Wills has the route. We'll follow him 155 miles to Ponca State Park and camp on Friday evening. Psycowpath race is Saturday. Camp Saturday evening.
  

• Sag support will be Steph in my Land Rover as well as a couple of spouses of riders. I have limited space in my vehicle. If you want anything brought up to Ponca, please contact me ahead of time. Please drop off all items to D Street sometime during the week. Suggested items to bring include: tent, sleeping bag, thermarest (or comparable sleeping mattress), pillow, shower supplies, extra clothing, bug spray, headlamp, etc.
  

• I will have a large cooler for food. If you want to put something in the cooler, let me know. I'd like to have food available for us once we arrive at Ponca State Park.
  

• The weather forecast is looking good for Friday, but it's still several days away. I don't know about anyone else, but I don't plan on riding in the rain all day. If the weather is crappy, I'll drive up to the race on Saturday and ride back on Sunday weather permitting.
  

• Riding back? I'm not sure who is planning on riding back. Doesn't sound like anyone has committed yet, but who knows. Maybe, that's all I can say.

• Please come prepared for the long ride ahead and have plenty of cash, sun block, spare tubes, water/water bottles, and front/rear blinky lights. It's gonna be a great day!

• Aaron Gammel is riding up on Saturday. If you'd like to join him post a reply or get ahold of me.
  

I'm looking forward to a great ride on Friday. Please let me know if you have any questions, comments or concerns.

The Good Life Gravel Adventure

Things are coming together for the second annual The Good Life Gravel Adventure. The course is being finalized, local sponsors are offering support/prizes, and medals are being fabricated.

As a reminder, the GLGA will be approximately 135 miles of challenging gravel and dirt roads (with minimal tarmac) surrounding the great city of Lincoln, Nebraska. Small town convenience stores will serve as checkpoints and aid stations. Start and finish will be in Lincoln, Nebraska! The adventure begins on Saturday August 29, 2009. Exact start time will either be 6 or 7 AM.

Riders will be required to purchase Nebraska Powerball Lottery tickets as proof of reaching a checkpoint. All Nebraska Powerball tickets will be collected and verified at the finish line. The tickets will then be pooled and any winnings split amongst the race participants.

All riders are own their own after leaving the start/finish area. This is a self-supported event. You are responsible for you. Please train accordingly and bring all the necessary gear and equipment. Fortunately, most checkpoints will be less than 30 to 40 miles apart. The checkpoints (small town convenience stores) will have ample refreshments for thirsty and hungry riders. Bring some cash along!

This is a FREE event (actually you will need to spend about 4 bucks on Nebraska Lottery tickets). There will be prizes and medals, but most importantly, there will be Gravel Glory.

Please shoot me an email if you are interested in coming to the Adventure. Please use The Good Life Gravel Adventure as the subject line and include your name, age, hometown and category (Open or Single Speed/Fixed). Email me at: coreycycle@hotmail.com

More details to follow soon!

PCL Criterium Practice - Tuesday nights 6 PM

PCL Criterium Practice starting next Tuesday June 2nd 6 PM at the Bridges which is located off of South West 27th street (just South of Denton road)…Look for the big Covered Bridge.

The Good Life Grave Adventure - Update

The emails are coming in with folks wanting to sign up for the GLGA. Thanks to those who have sent emails thus far expressing interest in the Adventure. Check out the updated roster to the right.

We're doing a lot of reconing of the gravel and dirt roads surrounding Lincoln and are finding a lot of potential routes. The gravel and dirt roads around Lincoln are endless. Northern Lancaster County has a lot of large rollers and is often referred to as The Bohemian Alps due to the large Czech population in the area. The PCL crew is going to include several miles of those rollers during the GLGA. Sure, it's a lot of climbing, but you know what they say, what goes up...

The Good Life Gravel Adventure Roster

The Good Life Gravel Adventure roster will be posted on the right side of the blog. If you are interested in riding the GLGA, please send me an email with your name, age, hometown and category (Open or SS/Fixed). My email address is in my profile.

Act fast, we're only allowing 500 participants.

The Good Life Gravel Adventure

The Good Life Gravel Adventure has been moved to Saturday August 29, 2009. Please mark your calendars accordingly. The GLGA has been moved to accommodate the event promoters (The Ponca Ride is the weekend before the previously set date of June 27th).

Speaking of The Ponca Ride, all are welcome to join the Lincoln crew for a no drop ride up to Ponca State Park on Friday June 19th. We'll take off early on Friday (4 AM) and ride the 155 miles up to Ponca State Park and camp Friday and Saturday. The Psycowpath XC race is Saturday June 20th at Ponca State Park. On Sunday June 21st, the brave will ride back to Lincoln.

The GLGA will be approximately 135 miles of challenging gravel and dirt roads (with minimal tarmac) surrounding the great city of Lincoln, Nebraska. Small town convenience stores will serve as checkpoints and aid stations. Start and finish will be in Lincoln, Nebraska!

Riders will be required to purchase Nebraska Powerball Lottery tickets as proof of reaching a checkpoint. All Nebraska Powerball tickets will be collected and verified at the finish line. The tickets will then be pooled and any winnings split amongst the race participants.

All riders are own their own after leaving the start/finish area. This is a self-supported event. You are responsible for you. Please train accordingly and bring all the necessary gear and equipment. Fortunately, most checkpoints will be less than 30 to 40 miles apart. The checkpoints (small town convenience stores) will have ample refreshments for thirsty and hungry riders. Bring some cash along!

This is a FREE event (actually you will need to spend about 4 bucks on Nebraska Lottery tickets). There will be prizes and medals, but most importantly, there will be Gravel Glory.

Please shoot me an email if you are interested in coming to the Adventure. Please use The Good Life Gravel Adventure as the subject line and include your name, age, hometown and category (Open or Single Speed/Fixed). Email me at: coreycycle@hotmail.com

More details to follow soon!

PCL Tour of Dirt Roads - Recap

We had a beautiful day for the Tour of Dirt Roads. Rain on Thursday created ideal dirt road conditions for the ride. No dust or mud, just sweet, sweet dirt.

The group rolled out of D Street around 9:20. The official headcount was 29. Usual suspects and a few faces we haven't seen in a while. Always great to see new faces.

Took awhile to get of out of town due to numerous pee breaks and one flat. Eventually the group found the first section of dirt just south of Saltillo road. I wasn't there, but I heard the pace picked up mightly a few times.

Road closed ahead.

Oh, that won't stop the PCL train.

Dirt roads rule!

Spilker Ales rules! Thanks for the Hopluia, Sam.

The crew rode most of the dirt roads on the course that was mapped out. A few sections were skipped for sake of saving time and getting to Cortland at a decent hour. The route was a bit longer than we had originally planned. Oops. Never trust my mileage estimates.

A few folks (Dave, Jim and Sam) rolled back in around 4:30ish to pick out a prize from the PCL prize vault. Not many made it back to D Street after the event. I'm sure most folks were over extended on time.

We've got plenty of PCL Tour of Dirt Roads (Second Edition) magnets courtesy of Dan Moore, Sam and Showen. Thanks again fellas! There are a few stickers left as well. Stop on by D Street to pick some up if you didn't get one today.

There are also some PCL Tour of Dirt Roads posters and maps available for FREE courtesy of Craig. Thanks dude!

PCL cotton T-shirts are available for 10 bucks. We've got medium and large sizes. Stop on by if you want one. Shot me an email and I'll be sure to be around the house.

The next Tour of Dirt Roads will take place sometime next year. We'll plan on hitting all the dirt roads on the route except the ones near Kramer for the next ToDR. That'll keep the route a little closer to 60 miles.

Thanks again to all that made the ToDR possible. Also thanks to all those who came by for the ride. Another great grassroots bicycle event based right here in Lincoln.