Gravel century done

GAWD! I had a wonderful post all done and ready and I was uploading pictures and then Agent went kamikaze style on the power cord and unplugged the computer... baw. So here is my best second effort: The first gravel century of the year is done and was a success. I rode the Eriksen and Steve McGuire rode with me, both on singlespeeds. Just under eight and a half hours of actual riding time. Steve is an awesome person to ride with. He is so inspirational/motivational, and helps my po' ass out with equipment... saddlebag, pogies. This was awesome to get a full one in during January because it keeps me in the running for 1200 miles in 12 months (at least one full a month). It is also one step closer to my year goal, which is 20 full offroad/gravel centuries, and 30 metrics (62 miles). I think I will get at least 5 fulls from events I'm registered in, and 4 or 5 metrics. It is a big goal but I am excited for it. This is going to be a big year. No super suckfest interactions with cars, great group of people to ride with, great support crew to put up with me (Karen, Agent, Maj y Paj...George). Also there is something possibly in the works that could provide me with a whole other level of motivation and excitement for the season, hopefully that works out. Not to bad for a much less inspired second version. This ride included: 100.2 miles of mostly gravel with some unfortunate paved section, 1 sweet level b road, 3000 ft of elevation gain, 9096 calories burned, 1 slice of pizza, 1 cheeseburger, 1 Mtn Dew throwback, 3 pop-tarts, 2 red bulls, 4 beef sticks, 1 larabar, x+1 number of awesome conversations with Steve, 1 epic snow-beard 8.5 hours of fun riding the bike. Postride saw: 1 large buffalo chicken sloppy joe, 1 box of mac and cheese (regular elbow style), and a half gallon of chocolate milk.

p.s. The saddlebag I used was from
Carousel Design Works. It is really nice and has a super large capacity which makes using it for long rides really sweet. I want a framebag of theirs...someday.

Check the pics: