“Gravel Worlds, AKA The Good Life Gravel Adventure, is just that:  A day on the bike on gravel having a good time.  The best part of GW is that you get to be a pirate for a day.  The PCL crew from Lincoln always make this a day a good one.

Late Friday afternoon downpours kept everyone guessing what the conditions of the Sat. start would be.  As it turned out, they could not have been much better as far as I was concerned.  I rolled out of bed about 4:30 to find a full moon, 20 mph winds from the North and 60 degree temps in the middle of August. The early morning rollout was relatively flat and with the full moon it made for a safe and fast start. 

Even though this was a self supported ride, 3 mandatory checkpoints along with several oasis’s allowed plenty of opportunities to refuel.  As the day progressed the rollers got a little tougher but with the cloud cover and mild temps I continued to press on at a surprisingly  good pace  It was turning out to be a perfect ride.  

With about 35 miles to go I did some math and realized that I was on pace to have my second best finishing time in  the past 7 years.  With that being said the rollers got a little easier and the wind a lot less noticeable.

 As I approached the last section of gravel I knew there were only 2 more rollers before I would finish.  That is when I went flat.

So there I was 2 miles out.  I thought about it and then decided it would take me longer to change the flat then it would for me to nurse myself in so on I went.  It was a good decision.  Ya, the tire was trashed but the rim was unscaved.  Besides that, it made for good conversation as I sat with friends and had a cold one.”

-Pete L.