As I approach my 2nd retirement, I am looking for things to take up my time. I’ve been bike riding more than I ever have so I decided to take it to the next level and enter a gravel race. I traveled to tiny Eminence, Indiana to participate in the Dust Bowl 100 gravel race (dust being a very accurate description–see photo above). No. I wasn’t dumb enough to enter the 100-mile race; instead, I entered the less adventurous 44-mile category. The weather couldn’t have been better with gray skies and low 70-degree temps. A brief rain sprinkle as the race started was refreshing and I found a couple of guys who set a great pace and rode with them–mostly in silence–for more than half of the race. My goal was to stay upright and finish the race. I accomplished both, but staying upright was in doubt at one point when I took a hairpin turn way to fast and hung onto my handlebars for dear life as I managed to stay upright. I finished a hair under 3 hours (despite what the official time says) which was good for the middle of the road for my age category. I’m OK with that as a first timer. Now I’m ready for the 50-mile Unbound race in Kansas next June–if I win the lottery, that is.
I didn’t take many photos as I was busy taking everything in.
