Real. American. Gravel.

The First Order wins by making us think we're alone. We're not.
Poe Dameron, Star Wars - The Rise Of Skywalker (2019).

Muscling into the gravel scene, corporate opportunists incessantly hype "premier" gravel races promising a "world class" experience, at least for those anointed as special enough to be allowed to start or those willing to pay dearly for the privilege. If you're not a chosen one, hey, maybe you will be fortunate enough to "win" entry through a contrived lottery. If you don't get in this year, well, here's a lesser status, satellite event for you to work your way up to the real one. Of course, we'll let a limited number of you pay for our special training camp for preferred status for entry next year. Pony up, peasants, maybe we'll let you in. Meanwhile, submit to your Supreme Leader.

Like the First Order Fleet pillaging the desert planet Jakku for the map to Luke Skywalker, the elitism that strangles sanctioned bicycle racing stalks the gravel galaxy for your fealty.

Fear not. Corporate behemoths will not subjugate the gravel community. When all the big hype boondoggles dissipate, folks will still gather for fun, challenge and competition at local rides and grass root races. Just look around. You're not alone.

Recon from the 2020 C.O.G. 100 course. (photo by Guitar Ted Productions)

Here's a great start, straight from the birthplace of the grass roots gravel scene. It's the second running of the C.O.G. 100 Iowa Gravel Single Speed Championship, hosted by none other than Guitar Ted and N.Y. Roll. 2020 C.O.G. 100. This is where it's at.

The C.O.G. 100 is open to all willing to take ownership of the experience, rather than buy one served up on a silver platter. That is, Guitar Ted clearly and repeatedly pronounces that YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOU and infuses that philosophy into the essence of the event:

• self-navigated by cue sheets provided at the start (no GPS, no course markings)
• self-supported (C-store re-supply, no crew, no aid stations, no caching)
• no outside support of any kind (no "film" crew on course, no outside "encouragement")
• no race organizer retrieval (ride in or arrange transportation if quitting)
• no sanctioning, no prizing, limited if any schwag (the experience is the reward)
• no one excluded (other than a generous field limit)
• no cycles with a motor (mind-boggling that this has to be said)
• modest entry fee to cover insurance and some expenses

It's just you, your fellow riders, and whatever you discover out there on an unknown course. All in all, it's a genuine Guitar Ted Production.

This is the heart of gravel. I'd love to return to the C.O.G. 100.

For more information, go to the C.O.G. 100 Blog. For my race report from last year's inaugural C.O.G. 100, go to A Fine Mess. For more gravel events, many of similar character, go to the Events Calendar at RidingGravel.com.


In the end, the people make the gravel community.

It's not a navy, sir. It's just . . . people."
First Order Officer, Star Wars - The Rise of Skywalker (2019).

B-Road recon for the 2020 C.O.G. 100. (photo by Guitar Ted Productions)

Keeping It Real - The C.O.G. 100

The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated.
Mark Twain

There's much angst in the virtual air about the commercialization of gravel races and the inevitable burst of the gravel bubble. The gravel darling of the mainstream cycling media, Dirty Kanza, continues to get more expensive, more exclusive and even more corporate with its recent sale to a big event production company. Many other gravel events also are morphing into conventional bicycle races, with professional riders, team tactics, expanding levels of support, little to no self-navigation, substantial entry fees and prizing, national media coverage and more enforcement of more rules due to racers cheating. Sound familiar?

Not to worry. What sparked and nurtured the gravel scene was not marketing and selling big production events. When all the big hype gravel stuff withers, folks will still get together to ride gravel for fun, challenge and competition at local rides and grass roots races.

New gravel races still pop up all over, many of which are small, low-key events operating on a shoestring budget by a dreamer and some volunteers. The grandfather of gravel, Guitar Ted, notes that such "under the radar" events continue to fill the RidingGravel.com calendar. The Message. Out here in the sticks of western South Dakota, engineer/beermeister Lucas Haan exemplifies the can-do gravel attitude by starting a spring gravel series that doubled in size twice in its first year, then doubled again to over 100 riders in its second. A Gravel Community Builds. That's where it's at.

Now, from the birthplace of today's gravel scene, none other than Guitar Ted recently announced a new gravel race out of Iowa that should warm the hearts of grass roots gravelleurs everywhere:  The C.O.G. 100 Iowa Gravel Single Speed Championship.  C.O.G. 100.

Drawing deeply from its Trans Iowa roots, the C.O.G. 100 squarely plunks ownership of the experience on the individual rider. Guitar Ted clearly and repeatedly pronounces that YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOU and re-inforces that philosophy into the very structure of the event:

• Self-navigated with cue sheets delivered at the start (no course markings, no GPS for navigation). 
• Self-supported (no aid stations, no crew, no stores on the route). 
• No outside support of any kind (specifically noting no outside "encouragement/cheering"). 
• No race organizer retrieval (arrange transportation if quitting). 
• No sanctioning, no prizing, no schwag (the experience is the reward).

That crusty curmudgeon Guitar Ted refuses to allow anyone to simply buy an experience served up on a silver platter. Instead, he provides written directions and you ride. It's just you, your fellow riders and whatever you discover out there on an unknown course. Oh, and single speed only. All in all, it's a genuine Guitar Ted Production.

The C.O.G. 100 reads like a Christmas wish list of everything I'd love in a gravel race. I wish I could be there.

Registration opens January 2, 2019 and is limited to 75. Expect it to fill fast.

On the volunteers ride at Trans Iowa v14, a flat stretch of rideable B-road somewhere around Grinnell, Iowa.
On the C.O.G. 100, I'd expect very few flat stretches. Very, very few. Maybe none. Likely none. OK, none.