Blood, Beer, and Bros: The Gravel Metric Pictorial

This past Sunday, our shop hosted the annual Gravel Metric: 100km on gravel and dirt roads in DeKalb county. Temperatures were at an all time high (just under 100 degrees), as was the turnout (just over 200 riders).



I rode the single speed All-City Nature Boy at a pretty moderate pace: trying not to get overheated and die, yet fast enough to get done at a reasonable time. I'd estimate my average was right around 14mph.



Derek and Marcus at the first checkpoint.



Cruisin' along with The Ross trailing behind.



The Ross took a spill on some loose gravel and earned himself a nice battle scar. He tied it up with the bandana Cue Sheet for protection and blood retention.



A nice rest stop between checkpoints 1 and 2, where some friendly locals provided kool-aide and oranges.



The Barb City Dandies grinding the gravel. It was a nice change of pace to be riding with everyone outside of The Polodrome. They're all strong riders and tough as hell out on the roads too.



We stopped at the Casey's in Creston to refuel. This was my lunch: A pint of Coors Light (in a resealable bottle which was put in the jersey pocket and finished on the road) and some cheesy potato bites. After this lunch I felt like I was on fire and started mashing away, fueled by empty carbs and alcohol.



Gurler Road was fun. Tall grass and dirt. The Naycha Boi handled it all perfectly.



Elva was a breeze this year. It had been re-covered and was smoother than some of the gravel roads.



The river crossing. A mere puddle in comparison to the year previous.



After the river crossing, I had finally caught up with T.J., who had started an hour and a half before everyone else in order to cruise slow on his Pugsley and pound brews. He was having some rack issues after carrying all that booze and sausage, but it was quickly repaired.



This was all that remained in his rack-mounted cooler. I grabbed a Leinenkugel and we cruised away together.



The mobile party himself, complete cooler and dance beats blasting out of his speakers. I've got to give him credit for hauling all that cargo for 63mi on a day as hot as this was.



Later I met up with Cookie, who was almost unrecognizable in full-on hesher mode atop The Necromancer. It was real good to finally ride with him again.



Cookie and the tandem, nearing the end of the ride. Towards this point I just wanted to get done and out of the heat. I ran out of water and felt the bonk approaching. I guess I just wasn't used to this kind of weather yet.



Post-Ride refreshments at Fatty's in DeKalb. Nothing has ever tasted better than that cold Pale Ale after 5 hours pedaling in the hot sun. All-in-all the ride was a lot of fun. I tried to ride along with as many different people as I could, and I was grateful for their company. I was also riding on a new pair of 700x35 Clement USH tires for the first time ever. Those tires are great and made the ride a lot more pleasant. They handled great on the gravel and rode smooth on the pavement. I rode single-speed on the Nature Boy and my gearing worked out perfectly. Never too high and rarely too low. Still love that bike.