I made my fourth trip to Lincoln Nebraska for the
Gravel Worlds again hosted by the
Pirate Cycling League. The course normally is a giant loop around Lincoln with a few minor changes each year to keep it interesting. This year the race started and finished west of Lincoln at the Reinkordt farm.
Racers need to stop at the towns of Hickman, Malcom, and near Milford to purchase Powerball tickets to prove they made the stops in order. There also was 2 oasis along the route and a secret checkpoint that riders were to get a pipe cleaner. Racers need to be self supported and must purchase water or whatever else they need in the small towns. The day before I prepared several plastic bags mixed with
Hammer Nutrition Perpetuem and HEED for each bottle I would need.
The weather was warm and humid 78 degrees at the start. The weather forecast was mid 90's and a strong south winds in the afternoon. My Garmin had a high temperature of 107 in the afternoon.
Weather Underground recorded the winds at a steady 20 with gust to 34. There were 203 racers lined up in the dark for the 6:00am start. By the end of the day the heat and the wind would take its toll on all of the riders and only 112 finished.
Riders at 5 miles on the Denton wall photo courtesy Craig Schmidt
Heading north after checkpoint #2 photo courtesy
Swanson
Branched Oak Rd around mile 95
MMR mile 99
168th looking north around mile 138
Potenza during pre-ride around mile 144
Despite having to ride the last 40+ miles by myself and battling the headwinds I ended up with a time of 11:29. My finish was good for 25th overall and 16th in Open Men's. Thanks Cornbread and the entire PCL crew for putting another great event.
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