A Gravel Odyssey

November 17, 2013:

Stillwater, Oklahoma;

It was a bright and sunny day ....(this isn't a mystery, if it was, it'd be a dark and stormy night) in Stillwater, Oklahoma, and the predicted high winds did not materialize, fortunately. There were some breezes of 10 to 12 from the northwest which were noted from time to time, but all in all, a 66 degree, clear, almost perfect day for a bike ride.

A short history of this ride .... it was thought about five days before and dropped on the bike shop's Facebook page when Salsa bikes Factory Reps were going to be there. (How's that for a short history). Not too often one gets to ride with factory reps. This was NOT an organized ride, no commitment, no fee, no sag...... but lots of fun. Gravel riding is becoming all the rage lately, and this group in Stillwater already puts on a 100 miler called "The Land Run 100" which is a gravel race. A very impromptu event like this one can be a lot of fun. Their description said "30 mile group ride, 10 to 12 av. no drop, re-group at corners" ......hey, this sounds like something I could do! So, I decided to join the other three riders from the Shawnee area and ride this gravel fun route. Of the four that went up from Shawnee, I was the only one with a mountain bike, all the rest had Cyclocross bikes. 'Cross bikes are becoming all the rage anymore. I suppose, a good choice for a bike owner with one bike. Light, easy handling, capable of both pavement and gravel roads, and fast, certainly much faster than a mountain bike. The ride started at 1:30pm on Sunday the 17th of November, Stillwater is only about an hour north of me, so, we decided to make a showing of Shawnee riders at their event, and carpooled up in two vehicles. The impromptu event was put on by District Bicycles of Stillwater, and as you can see, a great number of riders showed up for this event, around 40 of us in fact. Stillwater being a University town (Oklahoma State University), the average age of the riders was a couple years (or so) younger than me, but the diversity of age is what makes bicycles so attractive. Age isn't a dividing line, but instead a good chance for young and old to mingle and enjoy time together. I prefer thinking like that rather than the "age doesn't matter" that I hear from young competitors all the time. Age doesn't matter for a gathering of bicyclists, but, as far as this old guy is concerned, it most certainly does in a competitive event. We were all there to have fun, and fun was had.

 The inside of the shop was as neat as a pin! An old restored business building on Main street in downtown Stillwater, the restored interior and polished wood floors speak of an earlier era when times were slower paced.

Stillwater showed their interest in artistry and bicycles by combining art and bicycling together in this bicycle stand on Main Street.

There were a number of diverse bike styles there for this ride, everything from this Surly Big Dummy, who's owner liked to have a diversity of hand positions..... Jones "H" bars on top, with flat mountain bike bars under them.

A growing number of "FatBikes", like this one were also noted. These are getting to be very popular in this area, and there was around 6 of them on this ride out of 40 bikes. I chatted with one of the Salsa reps who was riding one of these and he told me his tire pressure was 8 pounds..... really .... who needs suspension! They appeared to be very soft riding. The rest of the bikes were pretty well evenly split between 'cross bikes, and mountain bikes.

This is the pretty young lady who belongs to the shoes under her bike... along with yours truly.....  snagged from the Stillwater club's photo page. (Keith Reed). 
 

The ride started out on pavement for the first couple of miles, and treated us to a slight downhill as we left the town behind.

Soon, however, the gritty nature of the ride became evident. This was very, very loose for a couple of miles and had the cross riders holding on tight. I didn't have very much concern with my mountain bike, it just slowed me down a bit, and the Fatbikes just roll over anything!

As we continued out into the countryside, the gravel improved for a bit, but the interesting thing about gravel is that you can't count on it to stay either good or bad. Hills are unregulated as to gradient, they just follow the contours of the land, surface can change from smooth packed, to loose, to washboard in the span of a mile. It does it's best to keep a rider on his (or her) toes.

A good shot of the Big Dummy rider and two of the Fatbikes all together. On flat ground, riders of these bikes stayed with all the rest of us, but when we got to the hills, it was a bit of a different story. The rider of the Big Dummy told me his bike weighed around 53 pounds the way it sat today, and the Fatbikes, while they could roll over anything, and had gears capable of climbing most hills, did so very graciously.

The backwoodsy area is starting to look like winter is just around the corner, so I'm glad we still are able to enjoy some nice weather for a few more rides.

A couple of riders coming down off a small hill to the rest of the waiting group at a "re-group" point. It was evident that this club had done a few of these impromptu rides before as everything was pretty well organized for an "unorganized" ride. This did make the ride so much more fun for everyone, especially for us "persons above college age", as we were able to stay with the group from time to time.

A picture of "The Old Man and the Bike" provided by one of the Stillwater club photographers.

Crystal is proof that one does not need to be neither big, nor fat to ride a Fatbike. This was her first experience with this bike and she did well ..... until we got into the really steep and long hills during the last seven miles of the ride. She sat at our table after the ride and enjoyed a brew with us and really didn't look the least bit worn down. She said afterwards that she loved it. Stillwater area bike clubs organize races just for these bikes and they are getting to be quite popular. I still look at them as a novelty, and don't think I would want to plunk down $2500 to $5000 for one.

After the ride was over, we all congregated at a little bar next door to the bike shop for a brew and conversation. This establishment served only liquid refreshment, but allowed us to bring our bikes inside. Two doors down, however was another bar, and while not quite as bike friendly (no bikes inside), they did serve killer sandwiches. Turns out that the sandwich place would deliver our sandwiches to the bar where all the riders congregated. So we ordered, paid and tipped the nice waitress who showed up with our sandwiches about 15 minutes later. All in all, the ride, the beer, the company, AND the sandwiches were awesome. The end of a great day in the country.