The Good Life Gravel Adventure 2009

Dates are being pondered for the 2009 edition of the Nebraska gravel grinder. The adventure will take place sometime after TI and DK. Most likely in mid to late June. We're waiting for a couple of race schedules to come out before nailing down a date.

The adventure will be anywhere from 150 to 200 miles of 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. There will be prizes and medals, but most importantly, there will be Gravel Glory.

Stay tuned for more details...

Transportation for America

http://action.smartgrowthamerica.org/t/3224/petition.jsp?petition_KEY=152

How cool would it be to take a commuter train to Omaha and stop half way and ride out to Platte River State Park...How cool would it be to take a super commuter to Denver and then go and ski for the day and be home later that night...How cool would it be to be able to take a train up to Minneapolis for a bike feastival?

We're behind the ball...make some noise.

It's a wrap!

Here are the results to the Inaugural Pirate Cycling League's The Good Life Gravel Adventure. A big thanks to all the participants, sponsors (Cycle Works, Moose's Tooth, Bike Pedalers, Screen Ink and Jason, TMCO, War Axe, and Snappy Caps), and volunteers (Steph and DK). The event wouldn't have happened without ya!

Twenty one participants ended up hitting the gravel roads surrounding Lincoln at 6 AM on Saturday morning. Some had other obligations and had to end the journey at Cortland, but 16 riders finished the adventure (17 including myself, but I don't count as neutral support). The weather was beautiful and the wind was very timid for Nebraskan standards. We couldn't have asked for a better day to be on the bike. If you weren't there, you were missed and you definitely missed out.

The course ended up being around 135 miles. The mapping software used by Bikely.com was very inaccurate with the elevation gain. According to Bikely.com the total elevation gain was less than 1000 feet. Oly had a Garmin and measured close to 7700 feet of elevation gain during the event. Check out the stats here! For those of us that rode the whole route, the 7700 feet would probably seem much more accurate. Lots of rollers on the course especially on Pella Road and Branched Oak Road.

There was one error on the cue sheet (58th after Saltillo Road should have been 56th) and I apologize for the error, especially to those riders that were lead astray at that intersection.

Please let me know how the event can be improved upon for next time. I would appreciate feedback on any aspect of the event including start time and location, distance, terrain, checkpoints, purchase of lottery tickets, cue sheets, and the time of the year (late September). Feedback can be here via blog posts or to my email (see profile for address).

The Nebraska Powerball Lottery tickets are being reviewed. It'll take a while since over 60 tickets were purchased. If we win, you'll be receiving a phone call soon!

Again thanks to all that came out to enjoy the day. I was very excited to see some folks from Kansas, Missouri and Iowa. Hope to see you folks again at some cross races this fall or at events next year. Congrats to all the finishers!

Cue sheets

Need help posting the Cue Sheet!

Anyone have a clue how to post a Microsoft Word document on Blogger? The cue sheet is ready, but I am unable to post it here.

I can be reached via email at coreycycle@hotmail.com

If you email me, I can send you the Word document. Please feel free to format the cue sheet to your liking.

The Good Life Gravel Adventure - The Course is Posted!

The Good Life Gravel Adventure

Share your bike routes @ Bikely.com

The Good Life Gravel Adventure course is posted! The cue sheet will be posted shortly. Take a look of the route via Bikely.com. Use the zoom tool in the upper right hand corner to get a closer look. The start of the Adventure is located on 84th street in Lincoln (East side of map towards the middle). The total mileage per Bikely is approximately 135 miles.

The map can also be found on the Bikely.com website here!

The weather has been beautiful the past couple of days and the forecast is looking very promising for the rest of the week. Forecast for Saturday is a Hi of 79 and a Low of 59! All the dirt sections on the course should be dry with minimal or no mud at all.

Again, if you plan on attending, please send me an email. The rider check-in will begin at 5:30 AM at the Mopac trailhead on Saturday morning. The Adventure will be starting promptly at 6:00 AM.

Who's ready for some gravel!

Rough Riders...Any bike any where!

Ponderings...

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

The Good Life Gravel Adventure - Update

September 20th is fast approaching! The Good Life Gravel Adventure is almost upon us.

The route is being finalized this weekend. The route will be available via Bikely.com for folks to review. Matt Wills, has graciously posted a tentative route (see post below). The adventure will begin and finish at the Mopac Trail head located on 84th street. There are restroom facilities, a drinking fountain, as well as a candy and pop machine. Parking is also available, but we encourage all Lincolnites to ride your bike to the start as to save spots for folks traveling from out of town.

I will be posting some pics of the course as well as giving some details of the distances, elevation (flat vs. hilly - don't have a fancy computer on my bike), and checkpoints sometime in the next several days (most likely on Sunday).

Folks that are planning on attending, please email me! I can be reached at coreycycle@hotmail.com Please refer to the PCL Good Life Gravel Adventure as your subject in the email to prevent me from deleting it.

potential route

here's a route i drew. mileage looks good. let me know what you all think.

potential glga2008v1 route at bikely.com

Cirle the Wagons

http://www.bta4bikes.org/

Let me know if you are interested.

Happy Birthday Cornbread! love, the PCL

Don't Forget to Take Your Medicine.

Tour of Dirt Roads recap

The threat of rain didn't stop the Tour of Dirt Roads. About ten folks went out in search of dirt roads in the rural areas surrounding Lincoln. A great route with several dirt roads was put together. The rain earlier in the day kept the dust down. The cloud-cover made for great riding conditions as well. We wrapped up the ride with around 50 to 60 miles. It was perfect.

Thanks to Sam, Scott and TMCO for the refrigerator magnets! Also thanks to all the riders who came out for the ride. I'm sure we'll do this again sometime soon.

Tour of Dirt Roads

As a reminder, the PCL ToDR event will take place Saturday August 9th at 8 AM. We're hoping for better weather and dry dirt on August 9th as the first scheduled ToDR was postponed due to rain.

The ride will be leaving from the D Street Hotel. Fifty to 60 miles of gravel and minimum maintenance/dirt roads around Lincoln. Prizes to follow event!

Date set for The Good Life Gravel Adventure

Saturday September 20, 2008 6 AM Lincoln, NE

With the cancellation of the 24 Hours of Landahl, the date has been finalized for The Good Life Gravel Adventure.

The route is still being determined, but will consist of roughly 150 miles of rolling gravel, minimum maintenance/dirt roads, a dash of crushed limestone, and minimal tarmac surrounding the great city of Lincoln. More details to follow soon....

The Good Life Gravel Adventure

The PCL will be hosting a gravel race/ride this late summer or early fall. Dates are being determined. The route will go through Crete, Wilber, Cortland, Denton, Malcolm, Valparaiso, Ceresco, Eagle and maybe a few more towns. The exact route and direction of attack are being determined. The final distance will be announced soon.

In keeping with PCL tradition and mission statement, there will be no entry fee. Riders will be required to purchase Nebraska Lottery Powerball tickets as proof of reaching a checkpoint (date and time are indicated on the ticket). Four lottery tickets should cover ya (not every town will be an official checkpoint). The local convenience stores will serve as the checkpoints which will also provide nutritional support for your $.

There may be some prizes, but no guarantees. Smiles and good times guaranteed. More to come...

As always, suggestions are welcome.

Tour of Dirt Roads - Rescheduled for Saturday August 9th at 8 AM!

Thanks to all that came out for the event. Official head count is....well, I dunno. I didn't get a count. Probably around 12 to 15 folks.

Since the weather didn't cooperate, we weren't able to hit any dirt roads. So the event has been rescheduled for Saturday August 9th at 8 AM. Hopefully by then all the dirt roads will be dry and we'll be able to hit several of them along with some gravel to get 50 to 60 miles in.

We've got plenty of sweet prizes to hand out such as a Larry the Cable Guy DVD (no, not VHS...DVD dawg!), a Frisbee (works great!), and lot's of stickers (to put on stuff!)! Wow! AWESOME!!!

PCL Tuesday Night Crit!

John takes the sprint finish.



Five (John, Kev, Troy, Jordan and myself) showed up and did laps on Tuesday night. Two fast laps with a sprint at the end. Small recovery for a couple of minutes and repeat. It hurt.

Janna and company showed up towards the end for Yoga session courtesy Lindsey. That was just as tough as the crit, but so rewarding. I could almost touch my toes afterwards.

We'd love to have more folks out there on Tuesday nights. Come on out and work on your cornering.

TODR - Tour Of Dirt Roads

Saturday July 5th 8 AM.

Leave from D Street and ride SW of town looking for as many dirt roads as we can find. 50 to 60 tentatively with a likely stop in Cortland. All are welcome. Peel off at any time. No drop ride.

Tuesdays are now PCL Crit night

Tuesday nights at 6 pm. Get your crit on! Details of the course are below in previous posts.

The turnouts have been steady and the locals are pumped to have cyclists out there. The owner of the crit course has graciously offered to block off traffic with cones and provide water if we need it. Second hand information from riders that have met him indicate he is excited to have us out there and has offered to take riders on tours of the green homes that are located in the development. I don't know his name and have never met him, but will try to get some more details next week.

Come on out on Tuesday night and get some good training in.

PCL Crit Tomorrow!

The Pirate Cycling League will be having a Crit tomorrow (Tuesday June 3rd) 5:30 pm at the new roads North of W- Denton road in between SW 14th and SW 27th. All are welcome.

PCL Criterium Memorial Day Weekend!

What: PCL Criterium

Where: New roads North of W- Denton road in between SW 14th and SW 27th. New fresh black top roads.

When: Memorial Day 9:00am - If it's raining...likely won't happen, but you never know.

All welcome. Remember this is at your own risk. Get dropped - no big deal just jump back on when you can. Remember this is practice...big money is not on the line here so be safe, no risky moves or crashing allowed;).

Great feedback

We've received some great suggestions for the next event. Still in the planning stage. Keep the suggestions coming!

Thinkin' about the next PCL event

Requesting feedback from anyone interested in providing some in regards to the next Pirate Cycling League event.

As a reminder, the Pirate Cycling League is race promotion group focusing on fun, free, and friendly bicycling events. The PCL is run by no one and everyone. Anyone can organize a PCL event. The founding fathers will remain anonymous. I have taken the reigns to create a blog. If you would like to become a contributor, please send me an email and I'll send you an invite.

Previous PCL events have included: Denton-Wilbur-Denton, Lincoln-Elmwood-Lincoln, and another one that I don't recall at the moment. These have all been gravel events, but PCL events are not restricted to gravel. Dirt, tarmac, crushed limestone are also options.

Some folks have already offered suggestions. This is what have been suggested thus far:

-next event should be on Sunday
-give time bonuses for collecting empty aluminum cans (larger bonuses for certain brands, ie Guiness)
-Skid contest
-no one left behind
-pot luck gathering after the event
-start and finish at same location with food/beer

No dates have been determined. Look at your calenders and offer up suggestions. The crazier the better. Remember, it's all about having fun on a bike.