Lincoln’s Gravel Worlds long ago earned its place in the big three of Midwestern gravel racing (also known as the coolest part of cycling). Dirty Kanza in Emporia, Kan., has the corner on tallgrass-prairie beauty and bike-eating ruggedness. The Flint Hills are a sight to behold. (Photo, travelks.com) The Land Run 100 in Stillwater, Okla., … More Look What We Have Here: Gravel Worlds 2018
My favorite flavor of Kool-Aid is Husker. And let me tell you, I drink the Kool-Aid all summer long in order to be good and ready come football season. Flavor: Husker red (Image, koolaid.com) With no football to write about, the Journal Star’s Husker beat writers spent their summer covering a subject even nearer a … More Sink to the Level
Can I just say I love the classiness that drives this sport? Gravel cycling was on its best behavior (per usual) at the Cornhusker State Games on July 28 in Lincoln. And it showed before the riders even hit mile 2 on the 100-mile course. Our start at Backswing Brewery was delayed maybe 10 minutes … More The (Almost) Whole Story: A Cornhusker State Games Race Review
An advice column for gravel cyclists Well, cycling fans, it’s happened. Dirt Tan Bike Club has reached what motivational speakers call “a tipping point.” Together, after a couple years of internet tomfoolery and self-deprecating bike humor, we’ve reached a sufficient audience that, every now and again, a stranger will turn to us for “expert” advice. … More I’ve Already Told You More than I Know
(Photo, Hoffman Photography) Joe Billesbach’s Solstice 100 debuted in 2017. And in a single year, it’s made the leap from a nice local gravel event into an essential “This Is What We Do” expression of Nebraska’s cycling community. Most of us are already painfully aware of the bullshit that made this expression of community so … More Love Sloshes at the Solstice 100, 2018
Gravel cyclists get all aflutter over the tiniest questions. Are 1x drivetrains the future or another dark ploy to make you feel bad about the bike you already own? Are aerobars good for the sport or love handles for lazy cheaters? Don’t get us started… But the most important question in gravel cycling is a … More The Central Question
Today’s your lucky day. You’re on a solo training ride, doing the work on your favorite stretch of B road. Nobody’s been down this way all morning. And chances are good nobody will come along hours after you’re gone. You finish your interval and coast for a stretch. And looky here—your eye catches on a … More Cycling Tips: How to Burn a $50
Chapter One, in Which Your Narrator Worries Pointlessly “Quit checking the weather.” That’s the only cycling advice my wife has ever saw fit to give me, and it was sound. Because the early forecast for race day in Emporia was ugly, and I was officially in a wad about it. A high near 100 on … More Dirty Kanza 2018: A Dirt Tan Review
Last year at this time, I looked into the mirror and told myself I was finally ready for DK. After ignorance left me utterly unprepared in 2016, I considered all the work I’d done to make myself strong enough to race it right in 2017. The pre-dawn workouts. The miles. The sweat and soreness. I … More Mirror, Mirror
All right, then, I’ll go to hell. -Mark Twain, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn If you take one thing from Twain, let it be a willingness to give it hell. My last three springs have involved training for the Dirty Kanza 200—maybe the most sadistic single-day event you’ll find in cycling. It’s 200 miles of … More Hell Week Cometh
