I tip my hat...

...to event promoter Chris Skogen & his cast of merry helpers, they were awesome hosts. A well-oiled machine is an expression that comes to mind. From my perspective the Alamnzo 100 has raised the bar pretty damn high. Chris went waaaay out of his way to make this a top-notch gravel event, a free gravel event at that (that is if you leave out hotels, gas, food, & a quick drive to SE Minnesota).

the mint julip arrives in MN...

A question we raised on the trip as we passed through Iowa & then Minnesota...why are there 100's & 100's of windmills in the those 2 states & two in Nebraska? I'm not kidding, 100's upon 100's. Maybe there's some out in the panhandle but what gives?
Race started & finished in Spring Valley, MN which was the home of Laura Ingalls Wilder. For those who are familiar with these individuals you will understand why the race is named the Almanzo. I grew up watching Little House so its all very familiar. We detoured up to Rochester for packet pick up but weren't quite prepared for the personalized TLC we were about to encounter.

The race packet featured your name in an embossed envelope.

the back...
the front...
the first set of cue sheets...
a sweet patch...
The packet also included an Almanzo postcard, a sponsor's list, & a personal hand written note from Chris thanking you for your attendance (should have gotten a picture of it).

We arrived in Spring Valley early enough to check in & kit up. Headed East to find wind & mostly flat roads in impeccable condition. They had a bunch of rain earlier in the week but you really couldn't tell. Didn't really feel like I was outside of Nebraska as far as the scenery but I knew there were hills in these parts just didn't know where yet. We ended up with a pleasant 25 mile journey around the countryside before heading back to town for some chow.
Companions - Craigio & Cornbread...
I told you it was flat East of town...
Ahhh, now I feel like were in MN...
Saturday morning 9:00 am start, weather was unbelievably beautiful. MC Skogen just before the start...
C-bread & I lined up early & on the front, a small crowd gathers behind us...
Then this...400+ were registered, no idea how many started. My plan for the day was to stay at the front!
First 15 miles saw some hard accelerations & a fast tempo which cut the lead group down to about 25 riders. I snapped this picture of Geoff during a lull in the flurries...
and he returned the favor...
That serenity was short lived as we climbed & descended multiple hills, each crazy descent stretching out the group as we hit speeds routinely in the upper 30's & low 40's. The fastest I saw on my computer was 44. These weren't straight shot descents either but twisty downhills that required a keen focus at those speeds. My 1 x 10 set up (42 x 12-27) had me spinning madly as we reached the bottom of the descents. The deciding moment in the first 40 miles was a fast downhill followed by a hairpin that featured one of the longer climbs of the day. Everybody hit that corner in there biggest gear only to frantically start upshifting trying to get a smaller gear to start the next climb. This corner blew up the group with 4 people getting up the road (I think) & 7 of us chasing. C-bread had the misfortune of flatting at this critical junction & that was that. This was a 100 mile gravel sprint & we were gone, sucks man. He made the best of it, changed his flat & soldiered on solo to the finish.

So much happens in one of these events its impossible to tell the story & keep it relatively brief. I'll try. Our chase group of 7 rolled through the 40 mile point near the town of Preston & within the next 10 miles we had lost 2 of our group. Between miles 50 & the only checkpoint at mile 65, myself & another guy (don't know him but I'll look into that) were pretty much passengers on this 5 person train leading into the check point. Joe Meiser, Surly-guy, & Atlas guy were the driving forces of this group & powered the locomotive into the station, or something like that:)

My four companions quickly grabbed fresh bottles at the checkpoint & were off like a shot. I literally turned around & they were gone. I grabbed my bike, Skogen yelled something about team Nebraska, CX remount & I was off. Some of the biggest climbs of the day soon followed. I could already see someone coming unhitched from the group I was with just 10 minutes before. It was my fellow passenger on the before mentioned freight train that had rolled into the checkpoint. I passed him climbing the nastiest (personally) climb of the day on Maple Road. Nasty I tell you, nasty. About 5 miles later I caught up with a rider of who had been in the front group we had been chasing.

Exiting the only B Rd. of the day, moments earlier we had waded through a refreshingly cold stream crossing...
The B Rd. climb...
The last guy I had passed actually caught back up to me as I struggled with a debilitating right hamstring cramp. I didn't stop pedaling but I pedaled painful squares for about a 1/2 mile trying to work things out. It subsided, I had been having twinges since right before the checkpoint. BTW - when we rolled into the 65 mile checkpoint we had a 19.3 avg. We stayed together until the last 2 monster climbs of the day where I was able to establish a gap which stuck to the finish.

I had 5:31:53 on my computer & 101 miles. 8th place. Fastest gravel hundee I've done & I'm hoping I find someone who can get us an elevation gain stat because there were a freaking ton of hills.

Major award. They had a schwag table, grab any item. Computer's, light's, clothing, & so on...I went for the beans man!
G-man...
C-bread...
Schmidt-dog...
the sage imparts his wisdom...
downtown Spring Valley...
I'm kind of at a loss to describe this. 3 stooges golf outing tree sculpture's...
creepy curly...
Sunday morning allowed us one more ride in Minnesota. C-bread & I got out to explore just a bit more of MN gravel...
all good...
Thanks to all that made this happen. We'll be back...

Later,

TK