The Legend of "Dustie Rhoads"

(the most awesome photo of me biking on a gravel road ever taken)

Posted by Kevin......

I have been looking forward to the 2010 Rawland Gravel Tour since.....well...finishing the ride last year. And this year did not disappoint. Much.

There was something lost during the annual "epic" unpaved bike tour this year. Me, and about 30 other riders. You see, the course was meticulously planned as a challenging and scenic mini adventure along seldom traveled but magnificent back roads of the beautiful Sogn valley.

Unfortunately, only written directions were given to the 60 or so riders....who were also instructed to stay in a tight group with a "no drop policy" (always slow down if riders are falling behind). This of course lasted for less than 30 minutes.

(I'm in the black with white stripes with some form of alien skull on my head.)

At many gravel intersections, packs of 10-12 riders arrived nonplussed, looked at the directions, turned and took off. It was like this all day. About 3 hours in, I was stopped on a paved rode with about 20 other bikers all looking at directions and arguing about whether we had taken a wrong turn (WE DID!) and if disc breaks are really that much better that cantilever brakes. (THEY ARE!)

Suddenly I yelled, "It doesn't matter. Let's just take ANY gravel road that goes west." I was amazed by my own assertiveness as well as how united this group was in it's choice to ignore me and keep looking at the "cheat sheet" for another 15 minutes.

The course was different than last year, and included some real grinder hills and even a few steep, rutted single lane road through thick woods which was awesome! However there seemed to be approximately 30% less "epicness" in this year's offering.

There was a big pasta lunch at the about the 22 mile mark, and of course there was almost nothing I could eat there. I had a bowl of almonds with my Hammer bars. As I sat on a bench, I felt a surge of melancholy.

(this is just a reenactment using a professional actor.)



(and here is an actual photo of us wondering if we will see our homes again)



(and here I am apparently about to ride a cyclo-cross bike off a bridge)

We made it back to Dennison with energy to spare.....which was nice since I had another 8 miles to my house.

Sixty one miles of dusty, rocky "Epic Lite".